Panetta said that, save their 5 o'clock prescheduled meeting with the president the day of September 11, Obama did not call or communicate in anyway with the defense secretary that day. There were no calls about the what was going on in Benghazi. He never called to check-in.
February 7, 2013
"Panetta: Obama Absent Night of Benghazi."
"Panetta said that Obama left operational details, including knowledge of what resources were available to help the Americans under seize, 'up to us.'"
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1 – 200 of 237 Newer› Newest»Eastwood had him pegged....
He was probably home waiting for the 3 AM phone call.
That is a stunning statement.
If true.
I am thinking "birther" type stirring up here to discredit critics.
Perhaps I Machiavelli too much.
-XC
So Hillary's ad was right, but it just doesn't make any difference to her. In short, she won't answer the call either. Hillary2016!
"What difference ........"
Don't know what to make of that. One of the most irritating features of this administration is the constant lying, which goes unquestioned in major media.
I'm sure a lot of libs will say that Panetta is naught but a prevaricator with his pantaloons aflame.
Sometimes I get the impression that U.S. politics, the military, the Democratic party, is all kind of viewed from the outside in by Barack Obama.
He's an observer, a writer, a global vagabond voting present, looking for some blackness, some roots, some ideology, some dreams from his father to believe in.
He's most comfortable when you believe in him.
But so what, Bush sat there stupefied, with a My Pet Goat book in his lap for six minutes and then in another instance he had his gigantic luxury plane over the Gulf Coast surveying the damage from high above when people were suffering below and that was very bad of him to look out the window. And by the way, those are NOT crickets, that tinnitus, and it's very annoying so just turn on something else that's noisier.
So who exactly is "us"? Is Panetta saying he refused to send cover? If so this seems like the right time to ask why.
So no Hillary, no Obama? Biden?
Don't they have a cell phone? Or the Secret Service has one?
Was Obama snort'en cocaine again?
Hillary have PMS?
Biden have mouth diarrhea again?
These jokers didn't vote 'present', they voted "WHO CARES!"
Now what would have happened if President Bush (either one of them) and missed such a crisis and let people DIE??
None of these people are fit for the offices they hold (on in Hillary's case, office she held.)
Typo: Under seige, not under seize.
"Bush sat there stupefied, with a My Pet Goat book in his lap for six minutes"
Six minutes?
That's all? And what? Obama didn't just sit there for SIX MINUTES, he sat at whereever he was for the whole damn night!! Same for Hillary and Biden.
Well, this is going to make for a lot of discussion and a lot of fingers pointed. That's going to help us get to the bottom of this. Now the question becomes: where was Obama and what was Obama doing? He has to tell us.
AWOL.
Why is anyone surprised?
Obama is not your go-to guy in a crisis.
I always knew to adminstration was full of incompetent, lying gutless cowards.
What I don't understand is why General Ham, whoever was in charge of Sigonella AB, the 6th Fleet, and the drone squadron providng cover didn't sound boots and saddles and launch toward Benghazi.
Then call home and ask for permission to enter Libyan airspace.
Let the cock suckers go on record then.
The whole thing sounds like a Clancy novel. "Clear and Present Danger"
"Variable, This is Knife, come in?
Variable, This is Knife, Where are you, we're getting killed down here!!"
Well of course not! He needed his beauty sleep for that fundraiser the next day in Vegas! Priorities, people, priorities! Raising money for his campaign was far more important than the fate of a few of the little bumps in the road working for us over in Libya.
Everyone knows the president has more important things to tend to than a simple embassy being attacked. For Heaven's sake!
Obama was up and was aware of what was going on. He couldn't find Valerie Jerrett to tell him what to do, so he did nothing.
And there you have it.
The election is over, we have new people in cabinet positions.
Nothing to see here.
We are well and truly screwed.
This is what passes for accountability and transparency.
While a drone is not necessarily an upgrade over uniformed military personnel, one drone, any drone, no matter how obsolete, would be better than our current poseur in chief.
Serious question, Professor, does this not constitute misfeasance and nonfeasance in office and, therefore, an impeachable offense?
I know there are potentially dozens, but this seems to nail it.
No wonder he kept calling for an investigation. He had no idea what the hell happened, because he wasn't even there. Maybe getting dressed for his Vegas party, or Jay Z or something.
Obama is a Community Organizer. He is clueless as CIC, and if he had been involved, the outcome may well have been worse. I wouldn't have called him either.
""Obama is not your go-to guy in a crisis."
Oh, that's not true at all.
"When it absolutely, positively has to be ignored overnight" (with apologies to FedEx), Obama is your go-to-guy.
None better than him.
The majority of Americans voted for him because, not in spite of, behaviors like this.
They don't care about Benghazi.
It'll never have a Four dead in O-hi-o folk song known word for word by every 19-year-old.
They. Don't. Care.
Say it loud and proud.
Of course, we knew this. Otherwise, we'd have been shown pictures of Obama "in command".
Not that it isn't important for someone on the inside to say it.
I for one look forward to more insightful commentary on this issue from everyone's favorite fabulist, Inga the Bug-Eyed Nurse.
Besides, what does any of this have to do with the campaigning of Activist in Chief? Get off his back. You keep mentioning military things in distant outposts as if that matters to us right here when polls show the American people are deeply concerned about the sudden plague of mass murders and passing reasonable restrictions on assault weapons. This is what's wrong with the Republican party, you keep talking about the wrong things. That's why nobody supports you.
))) woowoowoo(((( )))woowoowoo(((( *reality phase* )))woowoowoop(((
the administration, aided and abetted by candy Crowley was able to make the Benghazi situation a non-campaign issue---that's all they wanted to do--as pointed out above, the four americans killed were merely bumps in the road.
a genuinely sad insight into the this worthless president's administration. And most telling: this worthless president.
"Now the question becomes: where was Obama and what was Obama doing? He has to tell us."
Who's going to ask him?
Of course, we knew this.
No.
"We"--Altcons--"knew" this, in the sense that it was indicated by our prior beliefs. But those beliefs could be, and were, dismissed by libs as typical Obama hatred.
Now we--all of us--truly know this.
We know why Bad Video Guy languishses in prison.
We know why Susan Rice was sent forth to lie in spectacular fashion, even at the cost of her own career.
We know why Candy Crowley acted as a blocking back for Obama when Romney came after him on this.
We know that our "Commander in Chief" is a disgrace to the office he inexplicably occupies.
We know that this all had to be covered up in order to keep him in that office. And the media did the job.
That is what we now know.
"...if [Obama] had been involved, the outcome may well have been worse. I wouldn't have called him either."
Gotta point.
Fast and Furious Obama was running guns from Libya to his muzzie allies. Huma's lover was in on it. Ambassador Stevens knew. He was almost certainly a participant. From Obama's standpoint a dead Ambassador Stevens was a GOOD outcome at Benghazi. That's why the CIC went missing.
Libyan Embassy Guy calling for help:
Obama's teleprompter: "Sorry, I'm out of the office at the moment, please leave a message. If its an emergency, don't call me. Call Hillary."
Hillary: "If from NY, Yo sup! If from Arkansas, Howdy ya'll!"
LEG: "Help, the Ambassador is under attack in Benghazi!"
Hillary: "Benghazi? Libya? What difference does it make?"
LEG: "He's the US Ambassador! He's the US representative to peaceful trade and negotiations with Libya!"
Hillary: "Again, what difference does it make? Libyans hate us because of Reagan. If the Ambassador is killed, I'll just recommend another one of those bastards that donated to Obama in the primary and not to me."
Democrats and the media are still just so proud that they voted for Obama - because of what it says about themselves. Facts, reality, and a dead ambassador just don't amount to a hill of beans.
"America fell short."
How are the Dems owning it now, Professor?
Original Mike said...
Of course, we knew this. Otherwise, we'd have been shown pictures of Obama "in command".
Where he would have been sitting off to the side in a little chair, wearing his golf shoes. That was my big takeaway from the famous picture of the situation room during the Osama Bin Laden operation. He was an adjunct; if he'd been running things, he would have been there from the start, sitting in the big chair at the head of the table instead of the Air Force guy who was sitting there. But since they had just yanked him off the golf course, he grabbed the only empty chair left, off to the side. That picture was worth well more than a thousand words to anyone with knowledge of protocol: Why was the man with the most power in the world NOT sitting in the power chair at the head of the table? Because he'd just arrived.
I call bs.
Wow. If you haven't, go watch the video.
How does this square with Obama saying he ordered that everybody do whatever could be done to aid the embassy?
Sounds like a cop out, but I could believe it. Either he's lying or Obama was irresponsible. Not good either way.
On the bright side, there are 4 less breeders. Fewer evil AmeriKKKans.
Inga's thread crapping incoming...
I think Obama is way in over his head and totally unprepared and unqualified for even a middle management job. That said I am absoultely incredulous about Panetta's claim.
Can he really be telling the truth? If so, WTF was Obama doing that night that was more important? And where was Hillary?
Is this even news?
I mean, CBS doesn't think so.
Neither does CNN.
What about ABC?
There was somebody in Washington, probably someone working at State and probably the CIA that knew exactly what was going on there, why the ambassador was in Benghazi meeting with the Turks. Yet in that crucial period of time, no plan was enacted, no decisions made except to do nothing. No price beyond the four lives in Libya and the lowered confidence of some minority of Americans has been paid. Hell Hillary will be elected despite her actual experience, not because if it. Sandra Fluke is happy though.
President Alfred E Newman. "What? me worry?"
My guess is that Obama was outside smoking cigarettes to better focus his mind on a story we will believe.
Being a liar gets harder and harder the older one gets.
"I can tell you, as I've said over the last couple of months since this happened, the minute I found out what was happening, I gave three very clear directives. Number one, make sure that we are securing our personnel and doing whatever we need to. Number two, we're going to investigate exactly what happened so that it doesn't happen again. Number three, find out who did this so we can bring them to justice. And I guarantee you that everyone in the state department, our military, the CIA, you name it, had number one priority making sure that people were safe."
Per Kirby Olson 3:06pm
" Now the question becomes: where was Obama and what was Obama doing? He has to tell us. "
- - - - -
Duh... He was polishing his Las Vegas campaign speech.
Priorities!!!!!
Scott M said...
Obama was up and was aware of what was going on. He couldn't find Valerie Jerrett to tell him what to do, so he did nothing.
With lives on the line, when it came time for Obama to make a decision, he voted "present."
Notice that the survivors from the CIA safe house that got rescued have said nary a peep to Congress or the press.
I'm sorry, this just stinks to high heaven of major incompetence. It really does.
What difference, at this point, does it make?
Huh? Huh?
I wasn't surprised at first because, like I said, I thought I knew this already. But the more I think about it, the more shocked I become. Obama didn't even communicate with Defense to keep track of what was going on that night?????
Rabel said...
"I can tell you, as I've said over the last couple of months since this happened, the minute I found out what was happening, I gave three very clear directives. Number one, make sure that we are securing our personnel and doing whatever we need to
I think, like with Clinton, it all depends on what 'secure" means.
Most of use think it means "safeguard"
But what if he was thinking crime scene and he meant, "recover the bodies"
So unfair of us, so wrong, so wrong, SO unreasonable to push this before the election, so very very wrong. *sniff*
"There's a widow in sleepy Chester
Who weeps for her only son..."
think, like with Clinton, it all depends on what 'secure" means.
It could be what "personnel" means. Perhaps making sure everyone would be safe in Vegas, or make sure nobody in DC would take the blame.
I remember noting Obama's utter uninvolvement live while it happened.
So I know it's not BS.
Enjoy the decline!
"Why didn't you put forces in place to be ready to respond?," Senator John McCain asked the general.
Dempsey started, "Because we never received a request to do so, number one. And number two, we --"
McCain iterrupted, "You never heard of Ambassador Stevens's repeated warnings?"
"I had, through General Ham," responded Dempsey, referring to the commander of AFRICOM. "But we never received a request for support from the State Department, which would have allowed us to put forces--"
"So it's the State Department's fault?"
"I'm not blaming the State Department," Dempsey responded.
So, not even "present."
Template for all future discussions:
"[Insert Official here]: Obama Absent Night of [insert Obama fuck-up here]."
On the other hand, the *ss is re-elected now so what difference, at this point, does it make?
It's entirely irrelevant, all of it, because we're stuck with that leadership, or lack of leadership, that competence or lack of competence, for the next four years, no matter what happened.
So what difference, at this point, does it make?
Exactly none.
I don't require our President to be in constant command, 24/7, of every situation that requires close attention. He/she can reasonably delegate operational command even in crises like Benghazi to subordinates. He didn't murder those four Americans.
But then he lied like a lying liar for weeks afterward; he commanded or allowed his SecState to lie about it; he commanded or allowed his UN Ambassador to lie about it; he went before the UN and lied his ass off, selling out our prized freedom of speech in the process. What an asshole!
More likely Mr. Obama was actually involved and gave orders that turned the situation into crap and that lead to abandonment and death. Better to take the rap for not being involved than responsibility for screwing up. Same with Hillary. Panetta is doing all he can to save two Democrat administrations.
I have a question for a zoomie.
What sort of posture would a place like Sigonella operate under on a day like 911. Not wartime, but you just launched hundreds of missions into Libya, and were conducting drone and manned recons across border. so:
- would they keep a pair of F-16's on 15 minute alert?
AJ Lynch said...
I think Obama is way in over his head and totally unprepared and unqualified for even a middle management job. That said I am absoultely incredulous about Panetta's claim.
Can he really be telling the truth? If so, WTF was Obama doing that night that was more important?
If memory serves, he had a fundraiser in the morning, so he needed his beauty sleep, so he could look AWESOME.
Again, doesn't this constitute nonfeasance and misfeasance in office and, thus, an impeachable offense?
Bueller, Althouse, anyone?
"It's entirely irrelevant, all of it, because we're stuck with that leadership, or lack of leadership, that competence or lack of competence, for the next four years, no matter what happened."
You know, unlike bopping an intern, this actually is an impeachable offense.
There have been 8 American Ambassadorial deaths in its history. One of whom was Ambassador Stevens.
My question is: At what point do Democratic partisans and Electeds call on President Obama to step down over this?
Or are dead Ambassadors now the rule of thumb in future Democratic Administrations?
Unless it involves lady parts, gay rights, immigration (which is how the dems are on the gerrymandering, Inga) or the destruction of the GOP/teabaggers who tell them no you can't spend more money than you make, party's over, the progs won't say nuthin.
No one cares.
Menendez, maybe someone cares, but they'll dance fast or neuter Christie.
Marco Rubio, just a bit ago, asked John Brennan, how whether "the Article 3 process" is the best way to gather intelligence from captured, suspected terrorists that might thwart future terrorist attacks.
Brennan: "Sometimes an individual will be Mirandized. Sometimes they will not be Mirandized right away...Mirandizing an individual means only that the information you get before then cannot be used in an Article 3 court. But in fact the FBI do a great job as far as eliciting information after Mirandizing them so they can get information as part of that type of negotiation with them letting them know that they can in fact languish forever, or we can in fact have a dialog about it..."
Rubio interrupted Brennan there.
That quote seems incredibly corrupt. Brennan was trying to point to the rule of law as the system by which we decide the basis on which we interrogate detainees. Then he talks of languishing forever as a tactic.
Brennan is not a lawyer. Good thing, that. Rubio is one.
Wow. Just wow. It must look bad for POTUS because the usual suspects are absent here to defend him.
Duly noted
Dempsey 10-25-2012:
"I can tell you, however, sitting here today, that I feel confident that our forces were alert and responsive to what was a very fluid situation."
Panetta 10-25-2012:
"We -- we quickly responded, as General Dempsey said, in terms of deploying forces to the region. We had FAST platoons in the region. We had ships that we had deployed off of Libya. And we were prepared to respond to any contingency and certainly had forces in place to do that."
Today Dempsey said that no one with proper authority told him to take action.
Today Panetta said that despite his previous claims, he did not have military assets capable of effective action.
Are they lying now or were they lying then?
Bueller, Althouse, anyone?
I think Althouse has been on the right side of history on Benghazi. As for the other usual suspects...we knew they were fluffers.
Don't give up on the usual suspects to pop in and try and explain how everyone is wrong here and Barry was trying to get on the plane himself--fully armed of course-- to save those people.
It's early. Inga probably hasn't even had her 4th drink yet.
JSF said...
My question is: At what point do Democratic partisans and Electeds call on President Obama to step down over this?
There is literally nothing that could make this happen.
Don't give up on the usual suspects to pop in and try and explain how everyone is wrong here...
It'll take a while.
First, HuffPo has to come up w/ a way to spin this. So far, they've got nada. (Over there, it's Fox News's credibility that's "at an all-time low", not Obama's.)
Obama is trailed by a military aide 24x7 with two items. One is the "football", a briefcase carrying the nuke codes. Two is secure "phone" to make calls to the White House, State, and Defense command posts. All he had to do is say to the aide "Get me State" and he talks secure direct to State's command center. That he didn't is
Do you think there's a journalist anywhere who feels bad about giving this Administration a pass on Benghazi before the election?
Me neither.
It seems like only yesterday that Politico was telling us
by the end of campaign, Fox could seem like an alternate universe, one in which the Benghazi killings were the most important story in America...
Oh, wait. It was only yesterday.
To me, the outrage isn't what Obama did on 9/11. It's what he did on 9/12. If he said, "Do whatever it takes" and everyone sat around with their thumbs up their asses, he should have had someone's head on a platter the next day. He's supposed to be a president, not a general.
The outrage is that he sent the clear message that the best way to get along in the Obama White House is to keep your head down, your mouth shut, and don't do a damned thing.
I think it was Hoover who said that the President should have the authority to have one person per year executed without giving a reason. I'd be for it as long as the person had to be a member of the executive branch of the federal government.
Are they lying now or were they lying then?
Yes. Their mouths are moving.
Brew Master said...
I'll echo other commentors...
We are so screwed.
This will be ignored and swept under the rug, with even more vigorous force than we have witnessed over the last four months. The next 4 years are going to be a repeat of this collosal failure of a president with the press running cover the whole time.
The electorate is no longer educated enough to make smart decisions about the future of this country and has debased elections into an American Idol contest of the worst sort. Immediate gratification has taken the place of long term planning and sober reflection, thus we end up with empty suits of feel good lack of leadership while capable leaders are mocked and driven from power.
Throughout history, poverty is the normal condition of man. Advances which permit this norm to be exceeded — here and there, now and then — are the work of an extremely small minority, frequently despised, often condemned, and almost always opposed by all right-thinking people. Whenever this tiny minority is kept from creating, or (as sometimes happens) is driven out of a society, the people then slip back into abject poverty.
This is known as "bad luck."
- Robert Heinlein
I flew 332 combat missions over N. Vietnam, Laos and S. Vietnam out of DaNang 67-68.
Obviously I was dropping my bombs on the wrong people..
I keep getting conflicting bullshit from Blogger. Good thing that I've learned to copy before hitting Publish.
Obama and Hillary, et al, helped get rid of the previous administration in Libya. Without a doubt, early on, this administration must have realized that their well thought out plans were going terribly wrong. When the shit hit the fan, everyone went into CYA mode. It probably didn't take too long for the 4 Americans in Benghzai to realize that they were on their own. It must have been a terrible feeling.
Bob said...
Obama is trailed by a military aide 24x7 with two items. One is the "football", a briefcase carrying the nuke codes. Two is secure "phone" to make calls to the White House, State, and Defense command posts.
hence why a reinforced Army Signal company pretty much goes with Obama on any away event
Not only is the reverse also true... e.g. Hillary calls the WH switch and the POTUS can be reached.
Also, there is this pesky thing called a Critic. Critical Intel Communications
Designed to go (in my day) from the Intel source, like the CIA Annex in Benghazi to DIRNSA, the WH, CIA, DIA, DoD, State, and 10 other addresses, in under 15 minutes.
Once in the WH, some Signal Corps Major is going to hand carry that to either POTUS or the National Security Advisor. You can't hide from those logs...
Drill Sgt: You might not be able to hide from the logs, but I betcha you can hide the logs.
Do they follow Obama to bed? Because that's where he was.
chickelit said...
Bueller, Althouse, anyone?
I think Althouse has been on the right side of history on Benghazi. As for the other usual suspects...we knew they were fluffers.
Don't anyone misunderstand me, I agree with you when you say Ann's been right on this; I give her all the props in the world since she pretty much made this her "How Choom Lost Me" issue.
The lady has integrity and I admire her all over the place for it.
I really do want to know from a Constitutional POV, does this constitute misfeasance and/or nonfeasance in office and, thus, an unanswerably impeachable offense?
AllenS said...
I keep getting conflicting bullshit from Blogger. Good thing that I've learned to copy before hitting Publish.
If it's conflicting edits, try clearing your cache.
Not always the case.
YMMV.
There is nothing Obama can do that would make the usual suspects stop their total defense of his every action.
He could kill, cook and eat a child on national television and it would not matter.
He is beyond reproach.
In the reality based community. Just sayn'
Obama daily schedule for 9-11-12
8:45 am || Observes a moment of silence to mark the 11th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks; South Lawn
9:30 am || Attends September 11th Observance Ceremony; The Pentagon
2:15 pm || Visits with wounded warriors who are being treated at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center; Bethesda, Maryland
5:00 pm || Meets with Secretary of Defense Panetta; Oval Office
so, he must have been too busy to deal with "bumps in the road." Just a bunch of white racist honkies getting dealt with by his Muslim pals.
Nothing required the talents of a community organizer.
Where is my cache?
I'm stunned that we are learning this news ever, at all. But if it is true, then why are we hearing this for the first time NOW? Wouldn't this information have been extremely relavant the very next day?!? Does someone as highly placed and informed as the SECDEF not think the abasence of the present during a crisis is noteworthy information until someone asks him directly "Did youj speak to the President on that evening of September 11?" Jesus this just stinks to high heaven.
"Where is my cache?"
You're sittin' on it.
"I'm stunned that we are learning this news ever, at all."
I have a sneaking suspicion that Panetta actually enjoyed spilling the beans.
We're WAAAY past impeachment time--as if that day'll ever come--time to set up the Duck Blind oppo 1600 Penn Ave..
If only I had an inoperable stage-4 cancer tumor..
But then there's Joe Biden...one HELLUVA of an ins policy...but I'll still go with stupid over active malignancy any time..
(PS: Tell the NSA and Big Sis I'm only dreaming Barbancourt-infused dreams--unfortunately)
Obama voted "Absent" on this one.
So -- WHEN did PANETTA tell the President of the United States of America that the United States Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens WAS D.E.A.D. ???
Really, what does it matter?
"Desertion In The Face Of The Enemy" is a capitol crime under our military law. As Commander-in-Chief, is he subject to that provision?
Mmm. Barbancourt. I'm sipping some 15 year as I write this. Small world.
AllenS said...
Where is my cache?
Look in the Settings/Options page of your browser's Help.
If you're using Chrome, it's in Advanced Setting/Privacy/Clear Browsing Data.
In IE, use Tools/Internet Options.
Under Browsing History/Delete, select Temporary Internet Files.
If you're using another browser (I don't remember the Firefox menu), someone here will know.
Say, Virgil? Is that a drone buzzing around your place?
So? What difference, at this point, could it make?
The White House has just released this photograph of Obama on the evening of 9/11/12.
Ditto what Bob_R said:
If Panetta is being honest about what happened, then Obama's failure was in not giving Panetta his walking papers on 9/12.
If a big donor called do you think it would get thru?
It is sad to see how thoroughly the 4th estate has given up its responsibility
Don't give up just because you see sooner than the rest that Obama is the most totally no good president we have ever had. Here's a lesson from history. Just before the Civil war President Buchanan, a slavery sympathizer, moved most weapons to Southern Arsenals and most Army regiments to the far far West so the Government had no defenders. Some people saw what Buchanan was doing and were screaming about it; nevertheless the attack on Fort Sumter and the early losses to the Confederacy were a complete shock to most of the country. But they rallied because the United States is a country worth fighting for.
Benghazi isn't the only thing Obama is ignoring. As I keep saying the African-American birthrate has been below replacement level since 2006 and is still falling. They are dying, America, dying. And no one hears. And Obama accelerated the rate of this collapse by free birth control. Liberals on this blog like to sneer that they are in charge - do something about this; do something about Benghazi.
Timely image:
If you don't keep the walk shoveled the snow becomes glare ice.
If they can zero-in on a Faraday-cage mebby so..
I am glad Chip Ahoy makes me laugh outright at this miserable Carnivale. And then Chip S holds reality up for us. Thanks, Both of you Chips!
These crooks have been Slow-walking us since the early orgies of exuberance of that One Perfect Spring, after the elections and coronation, starting with Pelosi's lovely Omnibus Bill that poured out big Gushes of spending retroactively into 2008, stuffing a pig's budgeting under Bush who had been hog tied all that last year. Then came the Stimulus, oh God. Then, the one and only budget of Obama's first Administration. What a Triad of whopping unseemly indulgence that Democratic majority Spring produced.
Everything stopped except and until PelosiCare belched out, and after that every. thing. Just. Stopped. No Governance at all. Rahm went elsewhere, who cares? No budgets. Just keep shoveling at the 2009 spring levels. Slow-walkin everything but votes and bundlers. Shut up and sit and wait, we're getting re-elected and everything is . . . Hey! We're slow-walkin here.
Sept. 11, 2012? I gotta plane to catch and some pretty eye-candy to be on the West Coast for votes and bundlers, leave me alone, sit down and shut up and like it.
----
OK. Totally believable. (and just as easily totally false, haha, who cares?)
So, now can we get somewhere and, maybe in another five months, will Mr. TeddyBear Panetta tell us who exactly will be fingered for having called off the reflexive military responses of that night?
Who did it?
Dreary zealots and fascists, every one of them, but the one who made that call will be one of the dreariest of all.
Obama's scapegoat still sits in prison. You know, Obama's "shadowy character".
To all you leftist progressive democrats who claim to care about civil liberties. NO YOU DON'T. Don't ever say you do. You don't and you have lost all credibility on the subject.
Blaming Obama for being uninvolved is old news. He's been president for more than 4 years. When has he ever taken charge of a crisis?
Anyway, the people will never hold him accountable, no matter what.
But there must be a standard operating procedure for what to do when a US diplomatic post is attacked. I assume (but don't know) that the call for help goes up the chain of command in State, and then someone in State is responsible to call on Defense. In this case, some of the US personnel were CIA, so maybe there was another chain of command involved.
But certainly, it can't be the case that the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of State and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs can sit on their respective asses and DO NOTHING. They must have been waiting for the responsible person to give the order.
SOMEBODY WAS RESPONSIBLE. My guess is that it was someone at State, but can't the Great Honored Essential Free Press get off it's ass and find out? Think of all the kudos that Woodward and Bernstein won for their role in uncovering a cover-up of a little bitty burglary. Isn't there anyone out there that wants a Pulitzer for uncovering this disaster?
@Chef Mojo II/
Barbancourt is great for "sippin' "--as you obviously know, it's double-distilled in copper pots like Cognac. I do my best to support the Haitian economy..
PS: When I REALLY want to do serious damage to my liver I opt either for what we in the AF used to call Mig-15's--a double shot each of Cognac & Drambuie on the rocks--or French 75s--Champagne & Cognac with bartenders sugar in a tall glass on the rocks...another time-honored USAF fighter-pilot favored drink suitable for ALL occasions from breakfast to o-dark thirty late-nite libations..
@Chef Mojo/
Remember, I'm a denizen of New Orleans..
wow, just wow! and he got reelected and people voted for him..just unbelievable.
Panetta was originally a Clintonian, so maybe he's not that fond of Obama?
I want to hear the Dem Representatives and Senators defend this.
"I want to hear the Dem Representatives and Senators defend this."
I just don't think its going to happen. Nobody cares. We are past the point of no return, and the country is irreperably fucked. It's sad.
Mumbles is shutting down the trains tomorrow, so I'm going to go get drunk. I appreciate that there are still a few people who still care about outrages like this. There are just way more of them than there are of us these days.
Fuck it.
Pogo@3:18 unfortunately has it nailed--all else is simply esoteric BS..
"Nobody cares."
I think that is about right.
This does not matter to the Obama voter. It never did and it never will.
So we should stop worrying about it. Because nothing will ever happen that will cause the Obama worshipers to doubt him in anyway.
If Obama was making all the decisions that evening, Benghazi would have turned out better than it did.
Is that the argument?
Oh, and plus President-Mom-Jeans I should add..
hehe Virgil,
what about my question earlier.
What would the normal reaction of the Sigonella Base Commander be, before he gets orders. to stand down or launch?
- does he have assets on alert?
- does he go ahead and at least arm some birds to improve his response time?
- does he launch an unscheduled armed recon, because he can?
No the argument is that the President didn't care enough about an invasion of our embassy to even ask a question about it. Or follow it through in any way. He is disengaged from it. He just didn't care.
I mean it wasn't something important like golf.
Obama putted. People died.
*were in charge.
What difference at this point does it make?
For all 3:00am phone calls Obama call forwards them to his underlings.
It's the thing called callous disregard that's the outrage, garage.
Believe it or not, it's not a quality some people like in their leaders.
Baron send me an email.
Virgil, a few more:
It's been a hot AO, and they had been launching cross border strikes daily. so,
I assume he had the ability and the capability to launch a SAR mission into Libya with something. Either Pave Lows or CV-22's. They made at least 1 extraction in Libya previously. May 2011, F-15 crash near Benghazi. a CV-22 SAR bird went in...
I expect that he had standing orders that allowed him to do that, but maybe not.
I don't see much difference in missions. a CV-22, with a team, along with a couple of F-16s of FA-18's for cover.
Why can a SAR of a F15 crash be easy and the same sort of thing later be impossible without support from CONUS?
"If Obama was making all the decisions that evening, Benghazi would have turned out better than it did.
Is that the argument?"
People are aghast that he didn't even keep track of what the hell was going on. I have virtually no respect for the man as it is, and yet I can still hardly believe it.
People are aghast that he didn't even keep track of what the hell was going on. I have virtually no respect for the man as it is, and yet I can still hardly believe it.
Stevens, the Obama voter and the other State guy? already dead. No more checks from him.
The ex-SEALs? not his voter demographic. Let Romney save their a$$es
Ermagerd.
Allen, any luck?
Leon Penetta,
Much to my surprise has shown me to be a far more honest administrator than for which I would have ever given him credit. Kudos to him. Now I'll read the comment thread and find out how stupid I am.
@Baron
I wouldn't trust any President to be running the show in that situation. Obama included. You also seem to know a lot more details about Obama's emotional state that night than I do.
In Obama's defense, there was no evidence that there were any Americans among those who were attacking the Embassy. Had there been, Obama would have lauched every drone missile he could get his hands on.
Without any Americans involved, as Obama has taught us, we must be sensitive to the reality that different cultures have different ways of letting off steam.
All I know is that he voted present.
Is it your position that he should just walk away and not pay attention to this? While it was happening? Seriously?
Is that what you are saying?
Because wow....just wow!
I've only commented once, and it worked. When I delete all of the temporary files, I lose all of my drop down files. It took a long time to re-enter them. Blogger sucks. Notice how many people double post?
garage mahal said...
@Baron
I wouldn't trust any President to be running the show in that situation. Obama included. You also seem to know a lot more details about Obama's emotional state that night than I do.
garage, it's his freaking job, what he ran for.
I know the Constitution is a "Living Document", but what part of "The President shall be commander in chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the militia of the several states, when called into the actual service of the United States;" is up for interpretation?
FDR made this type of decision, Lincoln did, LBJ did, Reagan did.
What gets Choomie a pass?
Other than he's half-black and, if he screwed up, criticism would be RRAAACCCIIISSSTTT.
Allen, it's happened to me, too.
What browser do you use?
Internet explorer.
Pogo said...
The majority of Americans voted for him because, not in spite of, behaviors like this.
They don't care about Benghazi.
It'll never have a Four dead in O-hi-o folk song known word for word by every 19-year-old.
They. Don't. Care.
They do, but they contrast Obama's 4 casualties in Benghazi with 43,000 under Bush on behalf of his "Noble purple-fingered Freedom Lovers!!" of what Bush called "The Religion of Peace".
Part of Reagans grace was he followed Carter. Part of his ideological dispensation was that the country - like with the warhappy Neocons - had grown sick of the post-Watergate liberals.
George W. Bush's 10 minutes of bunkering down with "My Pet Goat" is justly reviled as a disgrace on his ability to be President.
But down the road, Obama and "Cankles" being AWOL while the "4 Heroes" were being whacked by jihadis, and the ensuent liberal and progressive Jewish media controllers will be regarded as the greater disgrace.
Say it loud and proud.
@Drill Sgt@6:11
In the old days long, long ago in a Galaxy far, faraway, assuming a) b& c would automatically follow--they can always be recalled.
In the uber-PC era of the Obamassiah? Do so at the certain risk of loss of command..
Drill Sgt@6:21/
Hell, forget laser/Gps ordinance-equipped ac, there were enough F-16 assets in Italy to launch out clean with nothing but the 20 mike-mike internal gun and get there in 30-45 min at full burner--could have done plenty of damage. Overweening PC fear of "collateral damage" to "innocent Muslims" is the explanation I'd go for..
I guess psychopathic wingnuts, who never once imagined Obama was qualified to be Commander in Chief, now imagine that he could have magically done something that would have changed the outcome had he been directly involved in this crisis.
You nuts have no idea how transparently foolish you are.
Here's a lesson for you sit-on-your-ass-whining-all-the-time zealots: We have this thing in the military called "chain of command." And, believe it or not, the President of the United States does not personally micromanage every conflict unfolding in every corner of the world. We have a thing called "the US military" for that. And a thing called "the Pentagon."
And you all know this. But these sober facts are of no use to you in demonizing the president, so you ignore them.
Also, I seem to remember wingnut dipshit Ann Althouse declaring on Bloggingheads that Barack Obama ordered the lives of those four Americans sacrificed so he could more easily be reelcted.
I know lying is Ann's basic mode of operation; she is infamous for her dishonesty, and her worship of pill popping fatso Rush Limbaugh. It's way too much to expect she would apologize for the insinuation now that she has moved on to pimping the latest nontroversy about the "absentee president."
Cedar, one was a valid operation that ended up gutting Al Qaeda, but that's of no moment because all those wars are run by the Jooz.
You're going to have to work a lot harder to do the moral equivalence thing.
Virgil,
I was thinking a pair of F-16's.
1 with a sniper pod at 10,000 feet looking at the area around the annex.
the other coming in at Mach 1 at 500 ft and doing a bit of message sending, to both sides...One low fast pass at night, I don't see any Manpad threat in that.
That was the other shoe dropping.
As Tony the Tiger said:
"SOOOUUUUNNNDDDSSSS GGGRRRREEEAAATTTTT!!!"
PS to Drill Sgt/
And trust me, I know something of the area. We used to reflex down from the UK to Wheelus AB@Tripoli to do bomb & gunnery tng in the days of old King Idris. My squadron and I happened to be there the night of the revolution when King Idris was overthrown by Omar baby and we had to launch out at O-dark thirty back to the UK. I still have the old Holiday-Inn style plastic fob and key to my BOQ room as a souvenir, lol..
I'll take Cedarford's 6:53 comment as representative of the "usual suspects."
You have to understand that Obama is not responsible for anything that happens while he is President.
Not unemployment.
Not the economy in the dumper.
Not a nuclear Iran.
Not dead ambassadors.
Not nothing.
I blame Bush.
Jackass said...
I guess psychopathic wingnuts, who never once imagined Obama was qualified to be Commander in Chief, now imagine that he could have magically done something that would have changed the outcome had he been directly involved in this crisis.
No, he could have said he screwed up and taken his lumps in the election and not made Candy Crawley look like a stooge for the rest of her career.
Oh.
He is personally responsible for killing Bin Laden.
That he approved and sat throught and was the go-to guy.
But nothing else.
Is it your position that he should just walk away and not pay attention to this? While it was happening? Seriously
Of course not. I've heard about ten different versions of events on Benghazi though, and I'm not sure what your version is.
He was there, he wasn't there, he was there but was just watching, he was there and watching and decided to do nothing, he was there watching and decided to do nothing because he loves his Muslim brothers, he was there but insufficiently emotionally attached, he was there but wasn't really there because he was too tired, he wasn't there period because he went off to Las Vegas fundraising, etc etc etc
Starting to sound like my ex wife!
What we are all unfortunately witnessing is what happens when one has a totally unqualified poseur/poser for a President who is an extreme lefty ideologue...i.e., life imitating art: a "Manchurian Candidate" sadly come to life..
Garage reveals: Starting to sound like my ex wife!
You're on number two?
That is why there were supposed to be hearings where people testify under oath.
Of course you wanted to wait until after the election.
Now you say that it doesn't matter. Per you girl Hillary.
"What did the President know, and when did he know it" to coin a phrase.
I must admit that this account is the most credible one we have seen so far.
"The President didn't know because he didn't give a shit."
Kate@smalldeadanimals says it best: "So he was AWOL while people were dying." But worse, both of them--the Bamster and the Hildabeast..
GM, Nobody expects a POTUS to be a world class Military leader, but somebody like General Jones should have given him the short course on "Commander's Intent"
1. Staff briefs POTUS on emerging crisis.
2. POTUS says, "I want us to do whatever it takes to safeguard the US Staff. General, what are the options?"
3. General, "option 1, option 2, option 3"
4. POTUS, "General, what do you recommend?"
5. General, "Option 3"
6. POTUS, "Go with 3, Keep the SECDEF in the loop. let me know when our forces cross the border, when they get to the Annex, when they recover all the staff"
7. General, "Yes Sir!"
8. POTUS, "I'll be in my quarters"
Allen, deleting your temp files shouldn't blow all your settings (bookmarks?) away.
What version of IE do you have?
If it's 5 or something old, you probably ought to upgrade.
Jackoff said...
Here's a lesson for you sit-on-your-ass-whining-all-the-time zealots: We have this thing in the military called "chain of command." And, believe it or not, the President of the United States does not personally micromanage every conflict unfolding in every corner of the world. We have a thing called "the US military" for that. And a thing called "the Pentagon."
Explain to me, this chain of command thing. Who is immediately above an ambassador? Someone in the military?
PS: The pieces of the story now seem to be:
POTUS, "Number one, make sure that we are securing our personnel and doing whatever we need to"
Later Panetta and General Ham talk, and everything looks hard. So they agree nothing can be done.
People die
Nobody calls the POTUS to tell him that his orders won't be obeyed.
The Next day, POTUS isn't the least bit curious, and nobody gets fired.
I find that amazing, simply amazing....
Explain to me, this chain of command thing. Who is immediately above an ambassador? Someone in the military?
Officially, an Ambassador is a direct personal representative of God on High (e.g. POTUS). In reality, they take day to day instructions from the Sec State...
They are in theory responsible for all US government activities within the host country and out rank any general in country in some matters
I didn't lose my Favorites, but the stuff on the very top that has the drop down feature. I'm not sure which IE, but I think that it's 6. I update when notified that it's a good idea. I'm at their mercy.
The Drill SGT said.....
People die
Nobody calls the POTUS to tell him that his orders won't be obeyed.
The Next day, POTUS isn't the least bit curious, and nobody gets fired.
I find that amazing, simply amazing...."
I don't see why you feel that way. Nothing is ever his fault. He is above all that.
To suggest that as President he had a duty to people in harms way is foolish. Just because every other President since the Barbary fuckin' Pirates was held to that standard is just bullshit.
Leave the President alone.
He got Bin Laden you know! What about that there!
AllenS said...
I didn't lose my Favorites, but the stuff on the very top that has the drop down feature. I'm not sure which IE, but I think that it's 6. I update when notified that it's a good idea. I'm at their mercy.
The rest of the world uses IE9. the next option below "internet options' is "about internet Explorer". go there to get the version #
Thanks, Drill, but I wanted this Jack character to explain to me the workings of this chain of command thing. He sounds like a General or something.
Outrageous but not surprising.
After all there was an election going on.
President Empty Suit(tm)
I don't see why you feel that way. Nothing is ever his fault. He is above all that
I'm ok with that, but then he should be channeling his inner Wildford Brimley:
James A. Wells, Assistant U.S. Attorney General: Now we'll talk all day if you want to. But, come sundown, there's gonna be two things true that ain't true now. One is that the United States Department of Justice is goin' to know what in the good Christ - e'scuse me, Angie - is goin' on around here. And the other's I'm gonna have somebody's ass in muh briefcase.
OMike,
"I have a sneaking suspicion that Panetta actually enjoyed spilling the beans. "
Interesting observation; you may very well be right. I don't agree with Panetta's politics much, but he does seem like a Real Person™.
"As Commander-in-Chief, is [the president] subject to [the UCMJ]?"
Nope.
Allen S,
"Internet Explorer"
There ya go.
Wilford
How can I tell which IE that I have? Where do I look.
AllenS said...
How can I tell which IE that I have? Where do I look.
You read my post
the about function is also under the "Help" tab
@Virgil:
Was playing around with French 75s last weekend. A group of us got wicked smashed perfecting this recipe:
In a champagne stem...
1/2 shot chilled Bombay Sapphire Gin
1/2 shot chilled Grand Marnier
Top with a good brut champagne
Twist of lemon & twist of lime.
Freakin' awesome.
As a denizen of NOLA, I'm sure you play around with stuff like this regularly.
Garage et al: he is the President. It's his job. His responsibility. His obligation. His sacred duty. He is without honor. He is unworthy of his command. He is utterly contemptable. And to boot he's a gutless pussy. It was a United States Ambassador for God's sake. When he needed the pre-election photo op he was there (so was Hillary). Once again he votes "present".
BTW the reason there are different versions out there is becsuse he has played cutsy with the info. However, there is no version that makes him look competent or remotely presidential. Garage et al he is the President. It's his job. His responsibility. His obligation. His sacred duty. He is without honor. He is unworthy of his command. He is utterly contemptable. And to boot he's a gutless pussy. It was a United States Ambassador for God's sake. When he needed the pre-election photo op he was there (so was Hillary). Once again he votes "present".
BTW the reason there are different versions out there is because he has played cutesy with the info. However, there is no version that makes him look competent or remotely presidential.
Jack, your defense of Obama is hilarious, since Obama himself claimed to be in charge and leading. Now you tell me that wasn't the case?
So Jack, you agree that Obama is a liar?
Checking Help, I have IE8. The possibilities of me changing over to something else is zero unless someone is here to do it for me. I'm surprised that I can comment, link and post pictures. When I first started to use a computer, I wasn't even using capital letters. So, I've come a long way.
The Drill SGT said...
I didn't lose my Favorites, but the stuff on the very top that has the drop down feature. I'm not sure which IE, but I think that it's 6. I update when notified that it's a good idea. I'm at their mercy.
The rest of the world uses IE9. the next option below "internet options' is "about internet Explorer". go there to get the version #
8 is considered minimum (I had to upgrade The Blonde's laptop) and will work, but, yeah, get 9.
Allen, on the help tab, there should be a option called 'online support'
clicking takes you to a MS page that has an option to update IE (free).
my page takes me to:
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/internet-explorer/download-ie
@ Drill SGT -- I don't think there are any Pave Lows in service. Think they retired the last ones years ago mid Iraq?
Much a ado about nothing, a president has to trust his generals to run the war or an embassy attack, until proven wrong--should Obama be called to supervise every incident of enemy fire? Give me a break.
AllenS, try Firefox. IE is buggy. Chrome is ok, but Firefox is sort of a testing standard, and it works very well.
Drill SGT -- I don't think you can download IE 9 if you have XP.
rv Much a ado about nothing, a president has to trust his generals to run the war or an embassy attack, until proven wrong--should Obama be called to supervise every incident of enemy fire? Give me a break.
An example of the reality folks.
Apologies for the repetition on my post. Technical difficulties. But it bared repeating anyway.
JAL,
yeah, i'm dated and said Pave Low, and showed my age. Pave Hawk OK? or am I out of date there as well ?
roesch/voltaire said...
Much a ado about nothing, a president has to trust his generals to run the war or an embassy attack, until proven wrong--should Obama be called to supervise every incident of enemy fire? Give me a break.
Trust but verify.
He says he gave the orders.
They say they didnt carry them out.
He doesn't seem to care.
somewhere in there, there is a problem staring at you...
"I wouldn't trust any President to be running the show in that situation."
He IS running the show, moron. He's the fucking President and CIC!
Nothing is ever the Presidents fault.
Please do not blame him for anything that happens on his watch.
It is always somebody else who is responsible.
(Except for Bin Laden. That was all him. Not the Seals. Not the Generals. All him and nobody else)
I blame Bush.
For the love of Brin and Page, switch to Chrome. Internet Explorer is an abomination.
Awww Sarge, s'okay. I just have been impressed with Pave Lows since I saw a couple hovering at the end of our local airport runway about 15 years ago. (The AF / reserve? uses our airport for practice runs.) I thought "Holy cow!"
I just happened to look them up again a couple months ago to answer a question.
I appreciate your excellent info on how things work in the military. Thank you (and your wife) for your service.
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