Lawyer for Susan Rice explains that Obama Administration was justifiably worried about sharing classified intelligence with the Trump team. Gee, really?

Courtesy of Politico:

A lawyer for President Barack Obama’s national security adviser, Susan Rice, told Congress late Friday that the outgoing administration was fearful of sharing classified intelligence with members of the incoming Trump team, especially Rice’s successor, Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn. 

In a letter to lawmakers, Rice’s lawyer Kathryn Ruemmler, said Rice drafted a Jan. 20, 2017, email to herself on the advice of White House counsel to memorialize the outgoing administration’s reluctance. 

“President Obama and his national security team were justifiably concerned about potential risks to the Nation’s security from sharing highly classified information about Russia with certain members of the Trump transition team, particularly Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn,” 

Ruemmler wrote. Ruemmler’s letter was a response to GOP Sens. Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who had inquired about the email that Rice sent herself just hours before the Obama administration left office.

I would say that the Obama Administration was quite justified in their apprehension.

After all keep in mind that Rice was handing her job over to Michael "I'm a foreign agent" Flynn. 

And since that hand off of power literally EVERYTHING that Trump and his people have done reinforces the idea that Susan Rice and her boss had very good instincts.

This bullshit inquiry was launched because the Right Wing seems to think that this meeting that Rice had with Obama was all about the  Steele Dossier, and that it was being used to justify the Justice Department investigation, but in fact as the lawyer explains the meeting had nothing to do with that dossier.

Damn do I love the smell of desperation in the morning.

Susan Rice refuses to serve as a pinata for the Republicans anymore.

Courtesy of Politico: 

Former Obama administration National Security Adviser Susan Rice on Wednesday declined a request to testify next week before a Senate subcommittee, citing separation of powers between the executive and legislative branches and the fact that the invitation was not bipartisan. 

Rice’s decision to decline the invitation to testify on Russia’s election meddling came in a letter from her lawyer, Kathryn Ruemmler, to the leaders of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism, Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.).

The letter, first reported by CNN, notes that the invitation to testify came only from Graham and that Whitehouse “has informed us by letter that he did not agree to” the request, which Ruemmler calls “a significant departure from the bipartisan invitations extended to other witnesses.” 

“Moreover,” Ruemmler writes, “Chairman Graham's invitation was extended only after the hearing was noticed, less than two weeks before the hearing was scheduled to occur, and without consultation with Ambassador Rice, a professional courtesy that would customarily be extended to any witness.”

One can hardly blame Susan Rice for not wanting to subject herself to the kind of harassment by the Republicans that she has been subjected to for years now.

After all she is no longer a part of the Obama Administration, and has already concluded her public service.

Of course as you might imagine this has really disappointed the Republicans who were looking forward to getting a few more shots at one of their favorite targets.

Rep. Trey Gowdy is even threatening to subpoena Rice if she will not come willingly, while Trump took to Twitter to bitch about it publicly.

Susan Rice, the former National Security Advisor to President Obama, is refusing to testify before a Senate Subcommittee next week on.....

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 4, 2017

...allegations of unmasking Trump transition officials. Not good!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 4, 2017

Clearly the Republicans are going to attempt to obfuscate the evidence about Trump's collusion with the Russians by trying to make this all about the Obama Administration.

Can't blame Susan Rice for not wanting to help them do that. 

After reviewing the data a bipartisan group of both Democrats and Republicans have found that Susan Rice did nothing wrong. But then you knew that already, didn't you?

RICE ORDERED SPY DOCS ON TRUMP? https://t.co/bL2nZRFxk9

— DRUDGE REPORT (@DRUDGE_REPORT) April 4, 2017

(This is what Trump retweeted on April 4th.)

Courtesy of NBC News: 

A review of the surveillance material flagged by House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes shows no inappropriate action by Susan Rice or any other Obama administration official, Republican and Democratic Congressional aides who have been briefed on the matter told NBC News. 

President Donald Trump told the New York Times he believed former National Security Adviser Rice broke the law by asking for the identities of Trump aides who were mentioned in transcripts of U.S. surveillance of foreign targets. Normally, the identities of Americans are blacked out in transcripts circulated by the National Security Agency, but they may be "unmasked," if their identities are relevant to understanding the intelligence.

Members of the House and Senate intelligence committees from both parties have traveled to NSA headquarters to review the relevant intelligence reports. 

"I saw no evidence of any wrongdoing," said one U.S. official who reviewed the documents, who would not agree to be identified further. "It was all completely normal."

His assessment was shared by a senior Republican aide who had been briefed on the matter but declined to speak on the record.

So that means when Devin Nunes called those press conferences and rushed to the White House to breathlessly warn Trump that he and his associates were under surveillance, that he was simply making the whole thing up?

The House Ethics Committee is already supposedly investigating this, but I think there needs to be a full blown investigation by the FBI that looks into exactly what, or who, convinced Nunes to attempt to sabotage the House intelligence Committee investigation and to then try to pin blame on Susan Rice.

Dakota Meyer appears on Fox and Friends to babble incoherently about Susan Rice.

Jesus, it's like watching an infant trying to say words for the first time.

The very idea that the guy who married into the Palin clan would have the audacity to call ANYBODY ELSE a liar is so ironic that it makes my teeth hurt.

Then he goes on to defend what Trump did in Syria as moral, and claims that nothing President Obama did was moral?

Well at that point there is really nothing more to say except that he is now officially a Palin.

I would also add that he is clearly preparing to run for office.

I am not sure which political position he is angling for, but that is certainly the plan.

Donald Trump accuses Susan Rice of committing a crime, and defends Bill O'Reilly as a "good person" who should not have settled over those claims of sexual harrassment.

Courtesy of the New York Times:  

President Trump said on Wednesday that he thought that the former national security adviser Susan E. Rice may have committed a crime by seeking the identities of Trump associates who were swept up in the surveillance of foreign officials by American spy agencies and that other Obama administration officials may also have been involved. 

The president provided no evidence to back his claim. Current and former intelligence officials from both Republican and Democratic administrations have said that nothing they have seen led them to believe that Ms. Rice’s actions were unusual or unlawful. When Americans are swept up in surveillance of foreign officials by intelligence agencies, their identities are supposed to be obscured, but they can be revealed for national security reasons, and intelligence officials say it is a regular occurrence. 

“I think it’s going to be the biggest story,” Mr. Trump said in an interview in the Oval Office. “It’s such an important story for our country and the world. It is one of the big stories of our time.”

Trump then goes on to claim that he has evidence that he will introduce at the "right time."

I imagine that will be the same "right time" that Trump is waiting to arrive before sharing what his investigators discovered about Obama's birth certificate, and the same "right time" he is waiting for before sharing the data that proves millions of undocumented people voted for Hillary Clinton.

In other words don't hold your breath.

As reported yesterday the former National Security Adviser did NOTHING wrong and is almsot certainly NOT the person who leaked Michael Flynn's name to the media.

Later in this same interview there is this exchange: 

Mr. Trump also criticized media outlets, including The New York Times, for failing to adequately cover the Rice controversy — while singling out Fox News and the host Bill O’Reilly for praise, despite a Times report of several women who have accused Mr. O’Reilly of harassment. The president then went on to defend Mr. O’Reilly, who has hosted him frequently over the years. 

“I think he’s a person I know well — he is a good person,” said Mr. Trump, who during the interview was surrounded at his desk by a half-dozen of his highest-ranking aides, including the economic adviser Gary Cohn and the chief of staff, Reince Priebus, along with Vice President Mike Pence. 

“I think he shouldn’t have settled; personally I think he shouldn’t have settled,” said Mr. Trump. “Because you should have taken it all the way. I don’t think Bill did anything wrong.”

This should be a surprise to no one since Trump himself has been accused of numerous incidents of sexual harassment and assault, and is in fact still facing a lawsuit over at least one of them. 

These are older, vulgar, and incredibly unfortunate looking men, who have learned that the only way they can get their pee pee wet is to either use force, power, or money to bend women to their will.

They are birds of a feather, or in this case pigs of a sty, so of course Trump has Bill O'Reilly's back on this.

The conservative's new Benghazi is accusing former National Security adviser of "unmasking" the names of Trump aides caught up in the Russia collusion investigation. Update!

Courtesy of NBC News: 

It doesn't have the ring of "Benghazi," or "Whitewater," but Republicans are seizing upon what they see as a new scandal: "Improper unmasking."

"Now we know that someone in the Obama administration was eavesdropping and specifically searching a databank looking for the Trump (people)," Sen. Rand Paul proclaimed Tuesday on MSNBC's Morning Joe. 

In fact, there is no evidence of that.

Senior Obama administration officials don't dispute that Rice requested the "unmasking" of certain Americans whose names appeared in intelligence reports resulting from eavesdropping on foreigners — meaning the foreigners were discussing the Americans or talking to them. Usually, those names are blacked out. But the blackout can be lifted if doing so is necessary to help understand the intelligence. 

Requesting that is a routine thing for national security advisers to do, according to former senior officials, including Keith Alexander, who directed the National Security Agency.

Rice didn't and couldn't "order" the unmasking of any American, current and former officials say. The agencies that hold the raw surveillance transcripts — usually the NSA or the FBI — make that decision. It's a process subject to rules and reviewed by lawyers, and it has to be justified by an intelligence purpose.

It should be noted that a request to unmask one of these names only reveals that name to the person making the request, it does NOT make the name public.

And to be clear if Rice did make this request it was only because she was doing her job, and NOT because she was necessarily targeting Donald Trump and his associates.

However considering what we have learned since the election I am pretty upset that she WASN'T targeting Trump and his associates.

For her part Rice says she had nothing to do with the names becoming public:

“I leaked nothing to nobody,” she said.

By the way the person who supposedly "broke" this scandalous story was Mike Cernovich famous for his role in spreading the Pizzagate story.

Donald Trump Jr. is so impressed with his work that he is suggesting that he receive a Pulitzer.

Congrats to @Cernovich for breaking the #SusanRice story. In a long gone time of unbiased journalism he'd win the Pulitzer, but not today!

— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) April 4, 2017

Thought I was kidding didn't you?

Clearly this is just more obfuscation on the part of the Trump team, much like their suggestion that the real scandal is not that they have so many ties to the Russians who hacked our election, but that the information concerning that fact was leaked to the media.

Attack the media, attack the leakers, and attack the intelligence professionals conducting the investigation.

Richard Nixon would be VERY proud.

Update: Here is a little more on this Mike Cernovich douche nozzle.

This is the guy the White House is promoting today, in case for a second you thought this wasn't all a dumpster fire. pic.twitter.com/iiVdxPWLBf

— Kyle Foley (@KFoleyFL) April 4, 2017

Gee, I can't imagine why he does not have a Pulitzer already.

Captured Benghazi suspect says attack WAS inspired by anti-Islam video. That popping sound you hear? Right Wing heads.

Still from "The Innocence of Muslims."

Courtesy of TPM:  

Ahmed Abu Khatallah, the suspect captured by U.S. special forces on Tuesday for his role in the 2012 Benghazi attack, reportedly said he was motivated in part by the anti-Islam online video made in America, according to the New York Times. 

"What he did in the period just before the attack has remained unclear. But Mr. Abu Khattala told other Libyans in private conversations during the night of the attack that he was moved to attack the diplomatic mission to take revenge for an insult to Islam in an American-made online video," Times reporter David Kirkpatrick wrote in a story on Khattala on Tuesday.

So to be clear Susan Rice was right!

President Obama was right!

And the Right Wing attack machine, was wrong, wrong, wrong!

GOP Chairman Reince Priebus says Hillary Clinton is disqualified from running for President. If you guessed because of Benghazi you get a gold star!

Courtesy of MSNBC:  

Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus on Sunday said Hillary Clinton should be “disqualified” from running for president because she declined to appear on five Sunday news shows days after the deadly 2012 attack at the American embassy in Benghazi, Libya. 

Then-UN Ambassador Susan Rice went on the shows in her place, explaining that Clinton was too exhausted to make an appearance after a “grueling” week. 

“One of two things was true: Either Hillary Clinton had a grueling week and was tired and failed to report for duty, and therefore I don’t know how she can be president of the United States,” Priebus said on Fox News Sunday. “Or second, Susan Rice was lying and, in fact, Hillary Clinton wasn’t tired and that’s not the reason she didn’t report for duty.” 

“If she’s even thinking of running for president, I think she has been disqualified because of her actions here,” Priebus stated.

Yes because there has NEVER been a male President who became exhausted on the job, or who sent out a surrogate instead of doing interviews themselves, right?

By the way this is how Susan Rice herself explained why she appeared on the talk shows instead of Hillary:

'Secretary Clinton had originally been asked by most of the networks to go on,' Rice told Williams. 'She had had an incredibly gruelling week dealing with the protests around the Middle East and North Africa that enveloped our embassies. 

'She had to deal with the loss of our four colleagues in Benghazi and console the whole State Department, greet the families and the bodies. And she declined to do it. And I was asked by the White House if I would do it as the next senior American diplomat.' 

'We were talking about a range of issues that week,' she said. 'It wasn't just Benghazi, as you`ll recall. It was a broad spectrum of foreign policy and national security issues that I talk about publicly every day. So I was asked. I was willing to do so. 

 'It wasn't what I had planned for the weekend originally, but I don't regret doing that, Brian.'

Yeah dealing with grieving families, and doing her job, instead of appearing on Sunday news shows to explain an investigation that was still ongoing, how unprofessional of her.

This outrage on the part of Priebus, of course, is in response to the leaked chapter of Hillary upcoming book in which she states, “I will not be a part of a political slugfest on the backs of dead Americans. It’s just plain wrong, and it’s unworthy of our great country. Those who insist on politicizing the tragedy will have to do so without me.” 

That is what is driving Priebus and others in the GOP out of their freaking minds.

Which is made quite evident by this statement from the Chairman earlier today: 

“How did this chapter get leaked to the newspaper? It got leaked because their people are trying to stop any more criticism that she’s been receiving on Benghazi,” Priebus said on Fox. “Hillary Clinton is politics 24/7. This is no different.”

Yep, right out of their freaking minds.

Chris Wallace of Fox News pissed that White House has shunned him for the second week in a row. Aww!

Courtesy of Mediaite:  

Last week, Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace was peeved that National Security Advisor Susan Rice appeared on NBC’s Meet the Press, but not on his show — perhaps, he suggested, due to the fact that he would have asked her the “tough questions” about Benghazi. 

This week, it was John Kerry who left Wallace hanging, as the Secretary of State appeared on Meet the Press, This Week With George Stephanopoulos, and Face the Nation to discuss Russia’s invasion of the Crimean peninsula — but skipped Wallace’s show. 

“For the record, we invited Secretary of State Kerry to join us today,” Wallace said, “but although the White House put him out on all the other Sunday shows*, they declined to make him available to us, or you.” 

Wallace then pivoted right to House Oversight Committee Chair Darrell Issa (R-CA), who spent the entire next segment discussing last summer’s IRS investigation.

So first Wallace bitches that he can't get the White House to take he and his network seriously, and the next he engages in a conversation with a well known Republican attack dog about a made up controversy.

Yeah I have NO sympathy for this guy. None.

Sarah Palin goes to the social media outlet used by teenage girls to talk about their hickey's, to accuse the Obama administration of acting immature.

Courtesy of the poor man's Tracy Flick's Facebook page:  

Israel is once again feeling the brunt of the Obama administration’s enemy centric foreign policy. First, Secretary Kerry put our ally Israel in an untenable position with the deal he brokered with Iran over its nuclear ambitions, then he suggested that Israel could face “delegitimization” and “boycott” campaigns if it didn’t agree on the Obama administration’s idea of a peace deal with the Palestinians, and now he’s denouncing Israel for building homes in a Jewish neighborhood in Jerusalem. The Israelis are quite appropriately upset about the treatment they’ve received from Kerry. (And remember kids if we don't stand up for Israel there will be no second coming of Jesus, so we have to support EVERYTHING they do!) And how has the Obama administration responded? Well, National Security Advisor and former UN Ambassador Susan Rice went on Twitter to chastise Israel for criticizing Kerry! 

Personal attacks in Israel directed at Sec Kerry totally unfounded and unacceptable.
— Susan Rice (@AmbassadorRice) February 4, 2014

What is this – junior high school diplomacy? What next – using Facebook to “unfriend” Israel? Isn’t it about time for the Obama administration to remember who our friends are and to treat them like friends? (Yeah, how can we have Armageddon without them?)


- Sarah Palin

Should I mention that Susan Rice was responding on Twitter to a video made by the Israeli settler's lobby to mock the Secretary of State and then posted on the social media site YouTube?

Seems like Twitter would be the appropriate forum in which to respond to me. What should she have done instead? Called a press conference and condemned them formally?

I mean it's not as if she were lame enough to constantly bitch about the President on Facebook, hoping that some news organization might notice or anything.  After all that would be pathetic.

Let's face it Palin does not care about Israel, but she is afraid that if President Obama makes peace with Iran she will not get to meet Jesus. And for a crazed Christian Dominionist that is the worst of all possible scenarios.  

(P.S. For those who did not get the Tracy Flick reference.)

President wins support from top leaders in Congress to take action against Syria.

"Whatcha going to do buddy?"

Courtesy of the Chicago Tribune: 

President Barack Obama today urged quick congressional action authorizing the use of military force against Syria and won the support of leaders from both parties in the House of Representatives. 

Obama told congressional leaders at a White House meeting that the United States has a broad plan to help the rebels defeat Syrian government forces. 

After the meeting, the top two Republicans in the House — Speaker John Boehner and Majority Leader Eric Cantor — and top Democrat Nancy Pelosi said they would back military action against Syria. 

"Only the United States has the capability and the capacity to stop Assad and to warn others around the world that this type of behavior is not going to be tolerated," Boehner told reporters. "I believe that my colleagues should support this call for action." 

The support came as Obama ramped up his lobbying effort for military action in response to what Washington says was a sarin gas attack by the Syrian government that killed more than 1,400 people, hundreds of them children, near Damascus on Aug. 21.

Now what are the Right Wing pundits going to say in order to attack the President on his decision to deal with Syria?

Especially since this news comes on the heels of this incredibly awkward meeting from yesterday.

That is Senators Lindsey Graham and John McCain discussing taking action against Syria with President Obama and National Security Advisor Susan Rice.

Y'all remember Susan Rice don'tcha? She was the person who the Right Wing lost their minds over concerning Benghazi.

She was also the person that McCain and Graham mercilessly smeared, even refusing to apologize after e-mails were made public which absolved her of blame.

Yep, must have been AWKWARD!

However I have no doubt that President Obama and National Security Advisor Rice handled it professionally, and did not use it as an opportunity to shame the two Senators. After all SOMEBODY has to be the grown up.

Now I assume that Rand Paul, like his father before him, will continue to stick to his guns. But let's face it by doing so he simply isolates himself even further from the mainstream. And that goes for his teabbagging buddy Ted Cruz as well.

If this goes off cleanly, and ends up being another feather in Obama's war bonnet, that will only reinforce his military credibility and help the next Democrat seeking office. ESPECIALLY if that Democrat is Hillary Clinton.

However any possible GOP contenders who do not support this action will look weak and open themselves up to attacks from the very people who typically support them without question. Essentially the President has taken the Republican's biggest selling point, being strong on defense, completely away from them.

(Photos courtesy of the Obama Diary.)

You knew it was coming! The Right Wing flips out over Obama appointing Susan Rice as National Security Adviser. And Sarah Palin leads the charge.

Dammit! Nothing is working out the way I expected. Gotta be Obama's fault!

Courtesy of Tundra Twit's ghostwritten Facebook page:  

We're in for a helluva' ride, America. Obama just named Susan Rice as his National Security Adviser and nominated Samantha Power to replace Rice as our U.N. ambassador. Samantha Power is married to Cass Sunstein, the very, very strange Obama pick for an early "czar" position who wowed us with his numerous bizarre claims including the wacko belief that animals should have the right to sue in court, that hunting should be banned as genocide, and that pet ownership is akin to “slavery.” But Mrs. Cass Sunstein’s character judgment in choosing her life partner is the least of America's worries. Information about Obama's new picks will be revealed in coming days. Pay attention to who they are; what they stand for; and what their records, associations, and statements reveal about them and their intentions. Especially consider Obama's chosen ones as evidence of his skewed thinking as he "fundamentally transforms" our great nation. 

OMG! OMG! Obama picked a woman whose husband loves animals and Susan Rice who according to conservatives killed those four Americans in Benghazi with her bare hands and then tried to cover it up! It's the End of Days!

RAM continues her freakout on behalf of the Queen of Mean by citing various Right Wing new outlets like Breitbart, The Blaze, and the Daily Caller to help make her point that the sky is clearly falling. You know, to add credibility.

And then sums it up thusly:

Nah, America... I shouldn't have prefaced this post with a warning to hang on because "we're in for a helluva' ride." Sorry. That was crass and inaccurate. I should have just said about Obama's judgment and unchecked power, "America, we are so screwed." 

- Sarah Palin

Have you ever noticed that people on the Right like this dipshit, NEVER seem to recognize when the actual "screwing" is taking place but only get upset when they notice somebody trying to deal with the aftermath of that screwing?

There is very little of Palin in this post, and the only reason I remarked on it is because it is an indication of how pissed off the conservatives are that their plan to destroy Susan Rice and the President has failed so spectacularly.

For me the only thing better than watching the President outmaneuver these idiots is watching their temper tantrum afterward.

Keep stomping your feet and tearing out your hair Sarah, even though doing so will only result in premature baldness and fallen arches. Or is it already too late top prevent that?

President Obama appoints Susan Rice as national Security Advisory. Essentially giving the Right Wing a giant middle finger.

Courtesy of NBC News:  

Hailing her longtime role as a “trusted adviser,” President Barack Obama formally named U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice as his next national security adviser on Wednesday. 

Obama tapped Rice, a target of Republican criticism in recent months, to succeed Tom Donilon; the president also nominated Samantha Power, a longtime foreign policy adviser, to take over Rice’s role at the United Nations. 

“I am absolutely thrilled that she'll be back at my side leading my national security team in my second term,” Obama said of Rice, a longtime confidant whose role in publicly explaining the administration’s initial assessment of last year’s terror attack in Benghazi, Libya, has made her a lightning rod for criticism.

This role will actually give Rice MORE access to the President, and she will be instrumental in helping to make virtually all of the foreign policy decisions, whihc means that in many ways it has more power than the Secretary of State position that, if she had been nominated, the Republicans threatened to filibuster.

Once again the GOP is playing checkers while the President plays a game of three tiered chess.

"How you like me now?"

Update: The victory lap.

Courtesy of the Obama Diary

Bill Maher's New Rules from Friday night's Real Time.

"Yes to explain Benghazi Susan Rice used talking points, but at least she did not have to read them off her hand!"

Love that!

(H/T to Crooks and Liars.)

Susan Rice is President Obama's top pick for National Security Adviser. I can hear the conservatives sharpening their knives already. Update!

Courtesy of the Washington Times:  

Susan E. Rice, the current U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, is President Obama’s top choice for national security adviser, political insiders say. Mrs. Rice is the “far-and-away” favorite for Thomas Donilon’s spot, The Guardian reports, citing other media. 

Mrs. Rice faced political fire as Mr. Obama’s candidate of choice for secretary of state, mostly over her role in explaining the administration’s response to the U.S. Consulate attack in Benghazi, Libya, that left four Americans dead. She has maintained a quiet image since then. 

But insiders say she soon could reappear on the national political scene. 

Mr. Donilon might be out, and she might be in, The Guardian reports. Some insiders, unnamed in the report, say she could be recommended for the national security adviser spot before the end of this year.

Gee another chance for the Republicans to try and get a little more mileage out of the Benghazi  attacks. They will be thrilled.

Somehow I doubt that THIS time it will get very much traction, as most people, with the exception of Lindsey Graham and John McCain of course, have moved on.

Still I would be surprised if they did not take this opportunity to puff out their chests and act like tough guys since they always seem to feel so emboldened when attacking a woman.

Update: As others have pointed out, and I was remiss in leaving out, this position does NOT require Senate confirmation,  which means that though these conservative buffoons will surely complain and kvetch on Fox News ultimately they will have little impact on her appointment.

John McCain loses his cool on Meet the Press when pressed about what exactly he thinks the President is covering up concerning the attack in Benghazi.

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Courtesy of Politicususa:

JOHN MCCAIN: So there are many, many questions. And we have had– a massive cover-up on the part of– 

DAVID GREGORY:But a massive cover-up of what? 

(OVERTALK) 

DAVID GREGORY:–I mean, Susan Ri– wait a minute– 

(OVERTALK) 

DAVID GREGORY:Susan Rice said there was a lot of– 

JOHN MCCAIN: Do you care– 

DAVID GREGORY:–confusion. 

JOHN MCCAIN: Do you care– 

(OVERTALK) 

DAVID GREGORY: I’m asking you– 

JOHN MCCAIN: Do you care to– 

DAVID GREGORY:–what is the Republican way– 

JOHN MCCAIN: I’m asking you, do you care– I– I’m– I’m asking you, do you care whether four Americans died? Or do you– the reasons for that? And– and shouldn’t pe– people be held accountable for the fact that four Americans died– 

DAVID GREGORY: Well, what you said was the cover-up– 

(OVERTALK) 

DAVID GREGORY: A cover-up of what? 

JOHN MCCAIN: Of the information– concerning the deaths of four brave Americans. The information has not been forthcoming. You can obviously believe that it has. I know that it hasn’t. And I’ll be glad to send you a list of the questions that have not been answered, including what did the president do and who did he talk to the night of the attack on Benghazi? And why was it? Why was it that we– that the f– the people who were evacuated from the– from the consulate the next day were not interviewed the next day. And then they would’ve known that it was not a spontaneous demonstration. Why did the president for two weeks, for two weeks during the heat of the campaign continue to say he didn’t know whether it was a terrorist attack or not?

Am I losing my mind or was that David Gregory ACTUALLY doing his job, and refusing to let a politician off the hook?  I have to say THAT was a thing of beauty.

And I also have to hand it to Gregory for not losing his shit when McCain asked him "do you care whether four Americans died?" That would have been it for me and I would have ripped McCain a new asshole.

When I watched this in the morning I actually cheered out loud at this portion of the show. The only thing that would have made it better is if Gregory had said, "Are you seriously suggesting there was a coverup, Senator? Well then I have one word for you sir, 'yellowcake uranium.'"

But what he did was far better than many other journalists have been willing to do. So good for David Gregory.

Oh, and fuck John McCain!

I think I know why the Democrats are not worried about Scott Brown getting elected to John Kerry's Senate seat.

Courtesy of Boston.com:  

Former U.S. Rep. Patrick Kennedy confirmed Saturday that his Connecticut-based brother, Ted Kennedy Jr., is considering running for the Massachusetts Senate seat that will become vacant if U.S. Sen. John Kerry is confirmed as the next secretary of state. 

Patrick Kennedy told The Associated Press that his 51-year-old brother has been receiving calls from their late father’s former colleagues and friends, including former Connecticut Gov. Lowell Weicker Jr., urging him to consider running in the anticipated special election. 

Patrick Kennedy said he expects his brother could announce a decision before Tuesday, which is Christmas.

Okay let's face it, NO WAY is Scott Brown going to beat Ted Kennedy's son in Massachusetts. No way!

This is not for certain yet, but I have to believe that for it to have been leaked by Patrick Kennedy it is all but a done deal.

Gee I wonder how John McCain and Lindsey Graham feel about their efforts to vilify Susan Rice now?

Susan Rice withdraws her name for Secretary of State.

Courtesy of NBC:  

Embattled U.N. envoy Susan Rice is dropping out of the running to be the next secretary of state after months of criticism over her Benghazi comments, she told NBC News on Thursday. 

“If nominated, I am now convinced that the confirmation process would be lengthy, disruptive and costly – to you and to our most pressing national and international priorities,” Rice wrote in a letter to President Obama, saying she’s saddened by the partisan politics surrounding her prospects. 

“That trade-off is simply not worth it to our country...Therefore, I respectfully request that you no longer consider my candidacy at this time,” she wrote in the letter obtained by NBC News.

Can I just say that this is total BULLSHIT?

The conservatives blew the fact that Rice was the one that had to go on the Sunday talk shows to deliver the unclassified Benghazi talking points WAY out of proportion simply to damage her chances to be named as Secretary Clinton's replacement. That was clear to everybody!

And they obviously did that to clear the way for Senator John Kerry, open up his Senate seat, and then run Scott Brown in 2014, since HE just had both his lunch money and his Senate seat to the incredible Elizabeth Warren.

There is a lot of talk about whether this was orchestrated between Rice and the White House to avoid a confirmation battle, while also not having the President look like he was backing down. I tend to believe it was since the President had this statement ready only minutes after Rice withdrew her name:

Today, I spoke to Ambassador Susan Rice, and accepted her decision to remove her name from consideration for Secretary of State. For two decades, Susan has proven to be an extraordinarily capable, patriotic, and passionate public servant. As my Ambassador to the United Nations, she plays an indispensable role in advancing America’s interests. Already, she has secured international support for sanctions against Iran and North Korea, worked to protect the people of Libya, helped achieve an independent South Sudan, stood up for Israel’s security and legitimacy, and served as an advocate for UN reform and the human rights of all people. I am grateful that Susan will continue to serve as our Ambassador at the United Nations and a key member of my cabinet and national security team, carrying her work forward on all of these and other issues. I have every confidence that Susan has limitless capability to serve our country now and in the years to come, and know that I will continue to rely on her as an advisor and friend. While I deeply regret the unfair and misleading attacks on Susan Rice in recent weeks, her decision demonstrates the strength of her character, and an admirable commitment to rise above the politics of the moment to put our national interests first. The American people can be proud to have a public servant of her caliber and character representing our country. 

Okay look I understand the politics behind this and recognize that the President has to choose his battles wisely but if it were up to me I would have put Rice and taken this fight to the mat!

The Republicans are testing the President's mettle right now and he needs to represent if he wants them to take him seriously.

However I recognize that I am a hot head and the President is the chess master so maybe he has this thing worked out several moves ahead of he Republicans and will knock their legs out from under them in the coming weeks.

I certainly hope so.

I also hope that. IF John Kerry gets this appointment, the Republicans run pretty boy Scott Brown for his seat so that we can kick his loser ass TWICE!

P.S. Keep an eye out for Susan Rice in the future, I don't believe we have heard the last from her.

The best reporting on the Republican attacks on Susan Rice is being done by Rachel Maddow. Don't take my word for it, watch it for yourself.

I do have to do a mea culpa. Yesterday I posted another video of Rachel's show dealing with this issue, in whihc I said the following:  

I had already been convinced that this desire to get their hands on John Kerry's Senate seat had to be the underlying reason for this bizarre fake outrage over the talking points that Susan Rice shared on those Sunday morning news shows right after the Benghazi attacks.

Which is true, except at the time I wrote that I could not exactly rememeber where I FIRST heard of this explanation for the Republican's bizarre fixation on this seemingly inconsequential flub by Susan Rice.

Somebody in the comments section, then reminded me that Lawrence O'Donnell had been one of the first, if not THE first, people to put two and two together.  That is of course absolutely correct, and once my memory was jogged I have to admit it was indeed on the "Last Word" that I was fist made aware of this blatant political gamesmanship.

So huge hat tip to LD, for seeing through the BS yet again. Lawrence has an uncanny gift for seeing through the obfuscation better than just about anyone in the business, AND unlike some of the more reserved MSNBC hosts he never holds back from calling people out.

However having said that I STILL think that Rachel is knocking out of the park right now, and she remains my go to person on this issue.

Rachel Maddow puts her finger on the REAL reason for the constant GOP attacks on Ambassador Susan Rice.

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I had already been convinced that this desire to get their hands on John Kerry's Senate seat had to be the underlying reason for this bizarre fake outrage over the talking points that Susan Rice shared on those Sunday morning news shows right after the Benghazi attacks.

Yesterday Rachel only confirmed that theory for me.

And then today Susan Rice met with Republican Senator Susan Collins, who then brought up a whole new set of reasons for NOT supporting Rice's appointment as Secretary of State: 

Collins also noted that Rice was working at the State Department in 1998 — and was the assistant secretary for African Affairs — when U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania were bombed. Requests for additional security at both outposts had been denied and Collins said she asked Rice on Wednesday whether she had been involved in those decisions. 

“She [Rice] said she would have to refresh her memory, but that she was not directly involved in turning down the request,” Collins said. But the senator said Rice must have been aware of the requests.

So to be clear, now that they are losing traction with the Benghazi excuse for questioning Susan Rice's qualifications, they are now going ALL the way back to 1998 to find a reason.

Seriously?

And if that were not enough of a tell, then Collins followed that statement up with this:

"I think John Kerry would be an excellent appointment and will be easily confirmed by his colleagues."

And there you have it. The argument now is that Susan Rice is a deeply flawed candidate, for a number of evolving hard to define reasons, but damn that John Kerry, who the Republicans have NEVER supported for ANYTHING, sure makes a fine choice for Secretary of State. And what a coinky dink, his appointment also opens up a very valuable Senate seat.

Give me a fucking break!  This could not be more obvious if they had "We want John Kerry's Senate seat!" tattooed on their foreheads.