Author: jay-dubya

The Dems are going to have to decide quickly what side they are on. As Wretchard says

It is in the long-term interest of the Democratic Party for their foreign policy in the Middle East to succeed, because even with the press on their side they cannot wholly escape the effects of failure.  By contrast candidates have shorter cost/benefit horizons. They only need to survive long enough to get theirs.  Once that is done their loyal serfs are left to make shift as best they can. Defending the leadership at the cost of courting a foreign policy disaster must mean that the Party will eventually hold the bag.

But anyone who thinks Hillary and Barack will reward them for their sacrifice should ask themselves how Chris Stevens fared when he pleaded for help. Can they expect better?

So the basic problem with defending Benghazi at all costs is that a political party has effectively painted itself into the corner of failure; maneuvered as it were by Darrel Issa into taking the wrong side, into reinforcing failure just to prove they can do it. They have to keep eating the broken glass if only to demonstrate that it is delicious.

Maybe they can do it. But a moment’s reflection will show it is a dumb thing to do. For there are two hearings on Benghazi; the first is taking place in Congress, which may or may not be successfully spun. But even if it could be, there’s a second hearing concurrently running in the halls of history which they have no prospect of winning. The demons that ate up Benghazi have joined  into a mighty river of chaos that is washing away national boundaries in Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and in the Kurdish regions. The Son of Benghazi is spreading chaos and destruction everywhere.

Cornered rats, the lot of them. Of course, I have my own opinion…

A musical comment.

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(click to embiggen)

pic courtesy Lileks

Dan Jackson is somewhat pessimistic about our future as a nation:

• We elected not once, but twice, as President a man who openly practices class warfare and who believes government is not a protector of liberty but a glorified nanny that needs to take care of us because we are too stupid to take care of ourselves.  While it is disputable as to whether he “hates” our country, he certainly does not believe in American greatness or exceptionalism.   I truly never thought I would see the day when an American president would actually apologize for our country to such stewards of human fairness and equity as the Egyptian parliament.

• The voting public rejected Mitt Romney, who in addition to being eminently qualified for the job of President, was perhaps the most fundamentally decent man to ever run for that office.  Instead solid majorities chose to believe obvious and vitriolic lies about him being an indifferent and none-too-bright plutocrat who relished firing people and watching their wives die of cancer.  For a majority of American people to accept without question such a ridiculous caricature of Governor Romney speaks poorly of our collective ability to exercise our democratic rights.

• Our federal government is pursuing ruinous financial policies such as spending a trillion dollars per year more than it collects.  No business, household or government can spend 40% more than their revenues over a prolonged period of time without going bankrupt.  Yet any attempt to make the rational point that we must reign in our out-of-control spending is met with a combination of disdain and venomous character attacks.  There is an utter lack of seriousness among the public and the ruling class to correct or even address the serious financial mismanagement that could in short order ruin both our currency and our economy.

• We are rapidly adopting the European model of speech control, with certain subjects simply considered to be “off limits” for discussion.  People who believe in centuries-old customs like traditional marriage or second amendment rights are now openly branded as “haters” unworthy of either serious consideration or protection under the law. It is the same kind of strong-armed intimidation that is practiced by authoritarian dictatorships to effectively quell freedom of speech or thought.

• Our culture ever more aggressively mocks and dismisses mainstream American values like patriotism, family and monogamy.  Our “heroes” are not those who fight and die for liberty overseas but instead are narcissistic singers, actors and sports figures who display open contempt for those who pay their ridiculous salaries.  What does it say about a culture when Dennis Rodman is a household name but Medal of Honor winner Dakota Meyer is
• (All links added by me- ed.)

I find little to argue with.