Monday night, suddenly and without warning, Hurricane Hillary hit every shore of the United States from a location in Peru.
On CNN to Elise Labott:
QUESTION: You say you don’t want to play the blame game, but certainly there’s a blame game going on in Washington. In fact, during the presidential debate, Vice President Biden said, “We didn’t know.” White House officials calling around saying, “Hey, this is a State Department function.” Are they throwing you under the bus?
SECRETARY CLINTON: Oh, of course not. Look, I take responsibility. I’m in charge of the State Department, 60,000-plus people all over the world, 275 posts. The President and the Vice President certainly wouldn’t be knowledgeable about specific decisions that are made by security professionals. They’re the ones who weigh all of the threats and the risks and the needs and make a considered decision.
That this came the night before a presidential debate some thought significant. Others considered it high time someone in the administration stepped up with a definitive statement of responsibility. The probability that this issue would arise in the debate the next evening loomed, and many expected Mitt Romney to be the one to inject it. That is not, however, the way the debate rolled out. It was a question from the audience that brought up the topic, and in his response, Romney focused not on the secretary of state or responsibility, but rather on the president, the White House, and their remarks on the cause.
Hmmmmmm … some of us thought Romney might take this opportunity to grandstand – make a “buck will stop with me” sort of statement. He did not. Instead he remained locked on the confusion that emanated from the White House for weeks following the Benghazi attack.
Just when it appeared that Hurricane Hillary was not going to hit Long Island, the moderator chimed in.
CROWLEY: Because we’re – we’re closing in, I want to still get
a lot of people in. I want to ask you something, Mr. President, and
then have the governor just quickly.Your secretary of state, as I’m sure you know, has said that she
takes full responsibility for the attack on the diplomatic mission in
Benghazi. Does the buck stop with your secretary of state as far as what went on here?
Aha! Now that was along the lines of what we expected from Romney. It provided Obama the opportunity for this response.
OBAMA: Secretary Clinton has done an extraordinary job. But she works for me. I’m the president and I’m always responsible, and that’s why nobody’s more interested in finding out exactly what happened than I do.
The day after the attack, governor, I stood in the Rose Garden and I told the American people in the world that we are going to find out exactly what happened. That this was an act of terror and I also said that we’re going to hunt down those who committed this crime.
And then a few days later, I was there greeting the caskets coming into Andrews Air Force Base and grieving with the families.And the suggestion that anybody in my team, whether the Secretary of State, our U.N. Ambassador, anybody on my team would play politics or mislead when we’ve lost four of our own, governor, is offensive. That’s not what we do. That’s not what I do as president, that’s not what I do as Commander in Chief.
Wait a minute. What was that? Someone was playing politics? Where did that come from? Who said anyone was playing politics? Romney did not. In fact he did not take this bait . He never mentioned the secretary of state at all! Oh wait! Someone had … earlier in the day. It came from the Obama camp.
By Justin Sink – 10/16/12 05:00 PM ETObama campaign traveling press secretary Jen Psaki said Tuesday that Hillary Clinton’s statement Monday night that she was taking responsibility for the attack on the American diplomatic mission in Libya was “absolutely not” a political move to shield the president.
“President Obama takes responsibility for the safety and security of all diplomats serving overseas,” Psaki told Fox News. “Secretary Clinton, of course, has a great amount of responsibility as Secretary of State and she was doing interviews yesterday as she often does on the first day of a foreign trip and said, ‘Look, we do own, the State Department does own decisions around funding for diplomats.’ ”
So for weeks no one in the administration accepts responsibility for whatever security lapses might have failed to sustain two stations in Benghazi and their occupants (arguably perhaps nothing and no force could have held off that attack). The Secretary of State steps up to the plate and says it is her department, they are her people and her structures, and she is responsible for them. The administration’s reaction, rather than taking a positive and supportive stand, is negative – a denial. She is not playing politics. First from Psaki, then from Obama, and a little while ago Ohio State Senator Nina Turner.
There is something disingenuous in the denial. First Psaki, then Obama:
“President Obama takes responsibility for the safety and security of all diplomats serving overseas,” Psaki told Fox News.
“Secretary Clinton has done an extraordinary job. But she
works for me. I’m the president and I’m always responsible….”
Arguments about what precipitated the attack aside, if Obama accepts responsibility, why did he not say so until after Secretary Clinton did so? In fact, why did he send a spokesperson out to say it before we heard it from him in the debate last night?
There is a ring of familiarity to this.
- 2008 primary debates: Hillary got the hard questions first, and Obama’s frequent refrain was “Senator Clinton is right about that.”
- 2009: HRC holds a town hall meeting at the State Department (February, I think). Someone asks if she would consider extending benefits to domestic partners of employees. She promises to look into it. In June, she comes back to the LGBT association at the department and announces that they studied the possibility, found it doable, and were going ahead and extending the bennies. Months later Obama does the same at the White House.
- Earlier this year Joe Biden said he has no problem with gay marriage. First everyone freaks. There’s old Joe again shooting his mouth off. Second some wonder how Joe can be so definitive on this issue while Obama claims to be evolving. Days later, Obama finally evolves.
This is a pattern. Yes, we knew about this well before Obama was nominated in 2008. At the time, many of us thought this indicated a lack of imagination and absence of real plans. Today, it indicates something even more serious, a Commander-in-Chief who not only leads from behind, but leads only on second thought. And he is out there right now asking for your vote. As Uppity Woman has been reminding us lately, you coulda had a V-8.
We continue to accord Mme. Secretary a standing ovation for her courage, maturity, and professionalism in stepping up on this. Someone had to, and, as you said, Mme. Secretary, it is your department. Until you said it, apparently the president forgot the hierarchy.
FTR Mr. Obama: You do not write her paycheck. The American people do. She works for us, not for you. Very interesting phraseology in contrast to what she said about State Department staff.
Look, I take responsibility. I’m in charge of the State Department, 60,000-plus people all over the world, 275 posts.
She knows for whom she and they work.
The transcript of the debate is available here.
well-said! bill’s also very proud of hillary for saying what she did. 🙂
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I’m sure he is. Did he make a statement?
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Yes he did http://www.capitalnewyork.com/article/politics/2012/10/6538343/bill-clinton-benghazi-inquiry-nobody-thinks-theyre-going-whitewash-?politics-bucket-headline The funny thing is is that Hillary said this same thing a week ago in an interview with WSJ they just decided to hold the story and then got scooped when she said the same thing in an interview this past monday in peru.
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The wall street journal hillary-clinton-libya-wall-street-journal_n_1969817.html
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Hillary is no dummy. She probably gave the interview to the WSJ knowing they wouldn’t run the story until after the second debate (the WSJ is owned by Fox owner Murdock). So then she gave interviews to other outlets who she knew would run it. It seems to me that Hurricane Hillary set up Romney and the Reps giving Obama a chance to respond to any questions that might come up on the subject. This woman is politically very smart .
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How did she set Romney up? He never mentioned her name. If what you say is true, then you are saying that indeed she was playing politics. I very much doubt that she was.
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Romney never had to mention Hillarys name, the subject would come up by either Romney, a questioner or in this case the moderator. What she did by taking responsibility for her department was not politically intended, because she is a person of character and I’m sure she thought it to be the right thing. But there is one thing Hillary is not and that is naive. She has been dealing with the Reps for a long time and even if she did’nt take responsibility for political reasons she knows how they think and operate. So she’s not playing politics but she had to know the Reps would.
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Thanks for clarifying. I am also sure she thought it was the right thing to do, and that her motivation was not political.
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Thanks for the article. I saw that about WSJ, If they had not held it, they would not have been the-night-before-the-debate drama.
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That is right still.
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Our Smarter-than-anyone-evah-in-the-White House said this: “…that’s why nobody’s more interested in finding out exactly what happened than I do.”
Ok then.
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his debate response was basically to mimic hillary. how sad …
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Great article, admin. Yes, you are 100% correct. It was apparent the WH had every intention of scapegoating HRC on this but her strong statement of responsibility made them look small and foolish. HRC was ALWAYS right. Obama was NEVER ready for the 3 am call. When he eventually got it, he went to bed–and then–woo-hoo–off to Vegas. What a miserable excuse for a human being. Vote the turd out.
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Thanks Paulie! Huge compliment from you! 🙂
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the fact that the WH was willing to say stuff like, “um, we didn’t know about the requests for extra security,” proves you’re right, paulie. they weren’t exactly stepping up the plate, were they?
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The white house knows its not telling the truth. Whether they knew about requests for security may be debateable, but they would have known about any previous attacks.
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Obama has always been about Obama. I don’t believe for a minute that he cares two figs about the plight of the people he governs. It’s all done for the glorification of self.
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I don’t recall despising any president as much as I despise this man. I recall the way he used to look down at Hillary during the debates, while at the same time having his nose up in the air. I’ll also never forgot his arrogant, “You’re likeable enough, Hillary”. That was the moment when I decided that if he managed to get the nomination I wouldn’t vote for him. NY magazine has an interesting article about Obama and the Clintons. Obama is a user and a manipulator. I assume that he’ll win reelection, but when he finally boards Marine One for the last time, I will throw a party.
As for Hillary, she’s a class act and a true leader.
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That was such a nasty comment. She was so cute about it too. I read that article. It’s good.
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Well, what can you expect from a narcissist like Obama? It’s always all about him. I detest how he said that she worked for him. It’s always my cabinet, my VP, my SOS, my WH, my, my, my. When he says it I yell at my TV, “it’s not yours!!!”. They all, including himself, work for us the people. I know that all presidents have a healthy ego, they have to get to the top of the food chain, but Obama is in a category of his own.
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I wonder how many of us talk to the TV when he’s on.
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Some times my fingers do the talking when he’s on. Is there a link to the new york mag.
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Here you go!
http://nymag.com/news/politics/elections-2012/bill-hillary-clinton-2012-10/
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I usually change the channel. I can’t stand to hear his voice. I find him boring: hmm….hmm….hmm…..pauses that you could drive a truck through.
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Whaaaaaa….? Theeee most Eloquent One evah?
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After your Benghazi posts earlier this week I was beginning to think this was just another group of democrats disguised as Hillary fans. This post seems to at least correct that impression to some degree. However, I see there are some who fit the description of democrats still. I don’t see how anyone who lived through the excrusiatingly painful 2008 dem primary could possibly still call themselves democrats, especially if they followed it as closely as some of us. Except for the Clintons, I lost all respect for every single one of the dem leaders, the DNC, or any of the back-stabbing elected officials who helped catapult this man into office. And don’t get me started on *how* he *won* enough delegates to get the nomination. It continues to make me sick to my stomach. It is unimaginable to me that Hillary supporters would have the audacity to help re-elect this man whom I find dangerous, ill-informed, and clueless on how to fix this economy. At the same time it is very painful (not to mention frightening) to see Bill Clinton work so hard on his re-election. Only thing is these two are political geniuses and I’m sure they have a purpose that we will all know at some point. I know I will be really angry if we don’t find out how they really feel.
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Whatever. I am still a registered Dem and will be until the day the Clintons are banished. Right now, it appears that they are regaining authority and power there, and I am along for the ride. I don’t believe the party can be changed from the outside, and I want my party back. We all went through that year, not you alone, and that is why we come together here. We’re ready to fight again. We have been since 05/31/08. I have drawn fire from both sides. I don’t care. Neither candidate is the best we have. For comic relief I went to #HillaryAlsoTookTheBlameFor on Twitter. Sometimes it’s good to lighten up. I can’t get through life without humor and fun. So -ooo here is one of my favs from my friend Jen
Jennifer L @JenMichigander
#HillaryAlsoTookTheBlameFor whacking Nancy Kerrigan on the knee.
These are fun, and we all need to laugh sometimes.
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I couldn’t resist making it about figure skating. 😀
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I knew that! 😀
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I’m with you, after what the unDem party betrayed Hillary, I left them for ever!I became Independent and find myself more conservative as the time goes by.The only Dem I love is Hillary, nobody else.It would take a lot of time for me to vote for a Dem again.It’s great to feel Independent as you can chose what option is best for the country without a closed mind and loyalty to one party, and right now the cancer for our country is BO.I ‘m with RRNA all the way, honorable and successful man who loves our country and want to serve, that’s fine with me!Maybe with that we can have HILLARY 2016, who knows?
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Obama is no way no how getting my vote, that said, I always find him suspect and a user. I have been a Democrate all my life and this is not the Democratic party I used to know. Mr President your not Hillary Clinton you don’t come up to her standards. she has saved you many times and now in the debate you say I am in charge. Give me a break. She made you own up Mr President. This will not be blamed on the Sec. of State. President Clinton stop campaigning for Obama he can’t win without you working so hard and for what? there are using you. Sorry guys I had to vent.
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Laughed at Bush, Yell at Obama… big difference.
As for Hillary, she just keeps Rising!!!
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[…] guess MoDo missed this: Aftermath … Benghazi, The Great Debate, and Hurricane Hillary. I have repeatedly countered such charges here in the nearly three months since the assault on […]
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[…] On CNN to Elise Labott: […]
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[…] Aftermath … Benghazi, The Great Debate, and Hurricane Hillary […]
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