- Sometimes reading the news can induce a distinct sensation of déjà vu. Why, for example, is Benghazi suddenly in the headlines--again? This particular trip down memory lane comes courtesy of a batch of freshly-released e-mails. The revelation? A White House aide gave advice to Susan Rice, then the U.N. ambassador, about how to present the unfolding tragedy on national television.
- The magnitude of these revelations depends, invariably, upon your preferred source of news and outrage. Sean Hannity, Lindsay Graham, and Darrell Issa all say the emails are a "smoking gun."
- The main conservative talking point? The White House put "politics ahead of truth."
- For Republicans, the e-mails give new credence to their much-beloved theory that the fallout from the September 11, 2012, attack in Benghazi, Libya, was evidence of a Watergate-esque cover-up. Issa said the failure to turn over the e-mails was "in violation of any reasonable transparency or historic precedent at least since Richard Milhous Nixon."
- Lindsay Graham also didn't hold back. The Obama administration, according to him, is full of "scumbags" who "lied" about the attacks in Benghazi.
- So how bad is this, really? Dave Weigel admits that "it really does look like the administration chose not to send every single e-mail from the Night of the Talking Point, and that this one looked a bit worse than what was sent." But, he adds, the new batch of e-mails don't tell us anything new.
- Our own Paul Waldman says Republicans are clinging for dear life to the Benghazi scandal, not because they think there was any real wrongdoing, but because it's all they've got.
- They make keep the scandal alive simply because it motivates their base. Over the past month, there have been over 200,000 tweets about Benghazi.
- But one former White House official said it best: "Dude, that was like two years ago."
Daily Meme: The Gun That Didn't Smoke
You can count on the Prospect, can we count on you?
There's no paywall here. Your donations power our newsroom as we report on ideas, politics and power — and what’s really at stake as we navigate another presidential election year. Please, become a member, or make a one-time donation, today. Thank you!
