Psst: Democrats - use "The Benghazi Standard"

Not Benghazi

As the second impeachment trial of Donald Trump begins today (with the results already known to anyone who’s been paying attention), I wonder why Democrats don’t hold Republicans to the “Benghazi standard.”  After all, the events of 1/6/21 are eerily similar to the events of Benghazi.

• Both were attacks on US government buildings by armed militants.
• Both were believed to have started out at a nearby protest.
• Both resulted in damage and destruction to government property.
• Both resulted in the deaths of several Americans.

There are a few differences.  For one thing, Benghazi happened BEFORE a Presidential election; the Capitol insurrection occurred afterwards.  Benghazi was deemed by Republicans to be the fault of Barack Obama and his administration; they blamed him for two things:

• Not providing enough protection prior to the attack, and
• Not telling the truth about the reasons for the event.

And yeah, that does sound a lot like what happened last month.  There is one more glaring difference.  OK, two, but I’ll get to the second one in a moment.  One BIG difference is that Obama wasn’t at that protest in Libya egging the protesters on, urging them to storm the embassy.   If he had, maybe the GOP would have considered impeachment proceedings against him.  Who am I kidding?  They did it, anyway.

And they held all sorts of hearings.  There were no fewer than eight investigations into the Benghazi attack, at the cost of tens of millions of taxpayer dollars.  All these investigations found no wrongdoing by the Obama administration. To put the GOP’s egregious political gold-digging into perspective, Republicans “investigated” Benghazi longer than congressional probes into the September 11, 2001 attacks, Watergate, the JFK assassination and Pearl Harbor. 

Benghazi happened in September, 2012…BEFORE Obama’s re-election.  THAT’S why the initial effort was to hang Benghazi around HIS neck.  Clinton was an afterthought and wasn’t the focus of the Uber-GOP investigations until she announced her presidential candidacy.  THEN it was Clinton = Benghazi.  And all of those investigations and hearings achieved the GOP’s main task; to defeat Hillary Clinton at the polls (and they needed additional help to do that).

But here’s the second, and more important, difference between Benghazi then and the Capitol insurrection now:  back then, the building that was attacked was on foreign soil.  The more current assault happened here.  In our nation’s capital.  In the Capitol.  In the very fucking building where many of the Republicans who called for all those hearings and investigations on Benghazi WERE WORKING AT THE VERY TIME OF THE ATTACK.

In other words, the assault was ON THEM.  We have ample proof that the domestic terrorists responsible for storming the Capitol were seeking congressional leaders and Vice President Pence.  Not to shake their hands or ask them for a grant, but to do them bodily harm.  How else do you explain the phrase “Hang Mike Pence?”  How else do you explain “Shirtless Horn and Facepaint Guy” screaming that this was their house, and that they were there to take the Capitol, and to get congressional leaders and used his bullhorn to communicate that they were there to take out several United States congressmen?

Why aren't Republicans calling for investigations like they did Benghazi?  Why aren't they calling for hearings?  Why aren't they outraged that an assault on their workplace happened a mere month ago and we still know very little about who, and why?

Will they ask these questions during the impeachment trial?  Or will they attempt to “move on” and “call for unity” until the next time a Democrat is in charge?

I leave you with this from one of the many Benghazi investigation reports.  I took out the one reference to the event, but you could use it for either one – Benghazi or the Capitol insurrection – and you’d be right.  Well, at least you’d be right about one of them.

“What we did find was a tragic failure of leadership – in the run up to the attack and the [during] – and an administration that, so blinded by politics and its desire to win an election, disregarded a basic duty of government: Tell the people the truth,” the congressmen wrote. “And for those reasons [this] is and always will be, an American tragedy.”