Opinion columnist and former editor-in-chief of Occupy Democrats. He graduated…
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The House Committee on Benghazi is the longest running Congressional investigation in our nation’s history, and like everything House Republicans put their minds to, has been the least productive. For months now, it has been painfully obvious that the Benghazi committee is nothing more than a taxpayer-funded smear campaign against former Secretary of State and Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton- which was just publicly confirmed by House Majority Whip and possible next king of the rabble Speaker of the House, Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) in a slip-up on FOX.
Sixteen months and $4.5 million taxpayer dollars have been spent on ridiculous witch-hunt, all of a vehicle to hurl patently false and intellectually offensive allegations that lied to our nation and tried to convince us that the Secretary of State of the United States of America somehow colluded with Libyan militants. McCarthy was caught boasting about the “effectiveness” of their relentless efforts to besmirch the reputation of one of America’s most devoted public servants in an interview with FOX:
“What you’re going to see is a conservative Speaker, that takes a conservative Congress, that puts a strategy to fight and win. And let me give you one example. Everybody thought Hillary Clinton was unbeatable, right? But we put together a Benghazi special committee. A select committee. What are her numbers today? Her numbers are dropping. Why? Because she’s untrustable [sic]. But no one would have known that any of that had happened had we not fought to make that happen.”
It is a horrifying insult to the lives of Ambassador Stevens and the Marines who perished that day in Benghazi for their deaths to be hijacked for use in such an insipid and petty political game; for the committee “investigating” the incident to come to represent everything that is wrong with modern American politics and the dysfunction that rots at the heart of the Republican party. Ranking Committee member Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD) had this to say on the matter: “The Committee has squandered the last 16 months and more than 4.5 million taxpayer dollars dredging up political attacks to impact the 2016 presidential election — a severe misuse of taxpayer funds and Congressional power. The Committee has turned into a political punchline. Sadly, that comes at the expense of being taken seriously and being able to take effective, bipartisan actions to improve the security of our diplomats abroad.”
It is galling to see the House Republicans gloat about the damage they’ve done to Hillary Clinton’s reputation through relentless lies, and it is painful to know that this admission, right from the horse’s mouth, will not get the coverage it deserves. There will be no rehabilitation for Hillary, no apology, no vindication for one of America’s most accomplished stateswomen- at least, not until she walks into the White House as President in 2017.
Opinion columnist and former editor-in-chief of Occupy Democrats. He graduated from Bennington College with a Bachelor's degree in history and political science. He now focuses on advancing the cause of social justice and equality in America.
