The dustbowl of forgotten history claimed some new names among the pathetic republican inquisitors yesterday during the appearance before the senate of Hillary Clinton. Backbenchers such a Rob Johnson of Wisconsin and Rand Paul of Kentucky joined the vindictive and spiteful John McLain of Arizona in a graphic demonstration of why attacking an intelligent, well prepared secretary of state with Fox News talking points, made utter fools of themselves in the eyes of the American public. They came across as whining little men whose agendas had less to do with the four men who were killed in Benghazi and how we could beef up security in our embassies, consulates, and other posts than as vindictive harpies whose only goal was to attempt to derail the potential presidential run of Hillary Clinton in 2016.
There was no coherent line of inquiry in the questioning. Each of the republican senators decided that they would take their five minutes of prime time television to ask, or rather pontificate, on "the worst disaster since 9/11" and that they all knew that Secretary Clinton was asleep at the wheel. Mrs. Clinton then proceeded, one by one, to surgically dismember each of the questioning clowns leaving them yapping like yelping eunuchs. Mrs. Clinton was prepared, they weren't.
Marco Rubio, a potential 2016 presidential candidate himself, tried to take a more presidential approach, but only succeeded in demonstrating that he was not yet ready for prime time. His questions were simplistic and the answers were evident. There was clearly the feeling that Mrs. Clinton was head and shoulders beyond him in the realm of knowledge of foreign policy.
What the republican party proved during the hearings of January 23, is that they are not ready for prime time in the world of foreign affairs of 2013. They don't understand the logistics of support, they don't understand the dangers of service, they don't understand the difference between an embassy and an outpost. They don't even understand that their own failure to fund security force for our diplomatic missions was one of the key problems in the Benghazi attack. I wonder how many of these "distinguished" senators know that in the Sandy relief bill, the republicans in the house took out a provision for additional money for the department of state. These men are ignorant and when given a microphone, dangerous. They rail and attack without full understanding. They think that being decimated by the Secretary of State in every answer she gives somehow equates to a victory for tea partyism. They think that our foreign policy should be dominated by the total destruction of everyone who doesn't believe in our right to rule the world.
Yesterday's hearings had merit for this country. It provided a stark contrast between the measured, thoughtful, diplomatic approaches of the Obama administration and the neo-con, shoot first, kill-em-all, justify later approach of the republicans. I, for one, watched Mrs. Clinton proudly as she stood up for a foreign policy based on rational thought.
