In this week's episode of "GOP Theater of the Absurd," former car thief Darrell Issa presented incontrovertible evidence that former Secretary of State/current 2016 presidential frontrunner Hillary Clinton personally murdered Ambassador Ben Ghazi—or something to that effect.
Despite this revelation being hyped as a "bombshell" by Fox News et al., it wasn't really all that shocking to anyone who's been following the Clintons for the past few decades; after all, their body count has been well documented.
In fact, being the Machiavellian-type characters that they are, it seems likely that Bill and Hillary orchestrated Ambassador Ghazi's murder (and the subsequent "cover-up") in order to get President Obama impeached (as retribution for his 2008 primary victory)—but only time (and "whistleblowers") will tell.
Be sure to tune in next week for the latest developments in this never-ending story.
Morning lineup:
Meet the Press: Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA); Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA); Former Ambassador Thomas Pickering; Roundtable: Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL), David Brooks (New York Times), Katty Kay (BBC) and Author Wes Moore.
Face the Nation: Former Defense Secretary William Gates; Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL); Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-NH); Poet Maya Angelou; Roundtable: David Sanger (New York Times), Bobby Ghosh (TIME), David Rohde (Reuters) and Sharyl Attkisson (CBS News).
This Week: Sen. John McCain (R-AZ); Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI); Foreign Policy Roundtable: George Will (Washington Post), Former Joint Chiefs of Staff Vice Chair Gen. James Cartwright, Ruth Marcus (Washington Post) and Jonathan Karl (ABC News); Political Roundtable: George Will, Democratic Strategist Donna Brazile, GOP Strategist Matthew Dowd, Former Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-NH) and Jonathan Karl.
Fox News: Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI); Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA); Rep.-Elect Mark Sanford (R-SC); Roundtable: Bill Kristol (Weekly Standard), Former Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), Kimberley Strassel (Wall Street Journal) and Juan Williams (Fox News).
State of the Union: Rep. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL); Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI); GOP Strategist Alex Castellanos; Democratic Strategist Mo Elleithee; Karen Tumulty (Washington Post); Reliable Sources: Pop Culture Commentator Lola Ogunnaike; Paul Farhi (Washington Post); Jim Warren (New York Daily News); Connie Schultz (Cleveland Plain Dealer); Margaret Carlson (Bloomberg News); Bob Cusack (The Hill); Jim Geraghty (National Review).
The Chris Matthews Show: Howard Fineman (Huffington Post); S. E. Cupp (MSNBC); Joe Klein (TIME); Kelly O'Donnell (NBC News).
Evening lineup:
60 Minutes will feature: an interview with Jessica Buchanan, the American aid worker who was rescued by Navy SEALs in the Somali desert (preview); an interview with Air Force veteran Mike Haynie, a business professor at Syracuse University, has created a course to teach vets how to start their own businesses (preview); and, an interview with Microsoft founder Bill Gates (preview).
On Comedy Central...
Jon Stewart weighed in on the latest "scandal" that Republicans have decided is bigger than Watergate.
The Daily Show
Monday: Director J.J. Abrams (ABC News)
Tuesday: Actor Nathan Lane
Wednesday: Former Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-NH)
Thursday: Author George Packer
And Stephen Colbert reacted to his sister's loss in South Carolina's special election.
The Colbert Report
Monday: Authors Jessica Buchanan & Erik Landemalm
Tuesday: Author Dan Brown
Wednesday: Singer Cindy Lauper
Thursday: Harvard University Prof. Daniel Lieberman
Elsewhere...
A bunch of gun nuts, apparently unfamiliar with the meaning of the word "subtle," are planning to openly defy Washington, DC laws by marching with loaded weapons.
From the event's Facebook invitation:
This is an act of civil disobedience, not a permitted event. We will march with rifles loaded & slung across our backs to put the government on notice that we will not be intimidated & cower in submission to tyranny. We are marching to mark the high water mark of government & to turn the tide. This will be a non-violent event, unless the government chooses to make it violent. Should we meet physical resistance, we will peacefully turn back, having shown that free people are not welcome in Washington, & returning with the resolve that the politicians, bureaucrats, & enforcers of the federal government will not be welcome in the land of the free.
There's a remote chance that there will be violence as there has been from government before, and I think it should be clear that if anyone involved in this event is approached respectfully by agents of the state, they will submit to arrest without resisting. We are truly saying in the SUBTLEST way possible that we would rather die on our feet than live on our knees.
Speaking of good ideas....
At last weekend's NRA convention, parents were offered the following foolproof advice:
"How about putting a quick-access safe in your kids' room? [...] Good idea or bad idea? We have an emotional pushback to that. Here's my position on this. If you're worried that your kid is going to try to break into the safe that is in their bedroom with a gun in it, you have bigger problems than home defense. [Laughter] If you think that the kid who's going to try to break into the safe because it’s in their room isn’t sneaking into your room to try to break into stuff, you’re naive and you have bigger problems than this. So let’s settle that issue and think about it. In the middle of the night, if I'm in the bathroom or getting a glass of water or in the bedroom or watching TV in the living room, if that alarm goes off and the glass breaks and the dog starts barking, what's the instinct that most people are going to have, in regards to, 'am I going to run across the house to get the gun, or am I going to run over here to help the screaming kid?' And if I'm going to go to the kid anyway, and I have an extra gun and an extra safe, why not put it in their closet?"
And, in other gun news...
Sen. Kelly Ayotte—who has recently come under fire for her vote against expanded background checks—is getting some help from unexpected sources.
Jayne Millerick is described as a "New Hampshire mom" in the spot. Referring to gun control groups' recent criticism of Ayotte, Millerick says, "Those attack commercials are partisan and deliberately misleading."
But left out of the American Future Fund ad is that Millerick is a former chairwoman of the New Hampshire state Republican Party. In May 2012, the political consultant wrote an op-ed in the New Hampshire Union-Leader titled, "A Republican advantage emerges on health care," which called for the repeal of President Barack Obama's health care law.
Barbara Dutile, described as a "New Hampshire law enforcement official" in the ad, says Ayotte has "worked closely with New Hampshire law enforcement to put violent criminals behind bars." What the ad doesn't note is that Dutile's husband is the Republican sheriff of Grafton County. Doug Dutile received $500 from Mitt Romney and hosted a lunch for him and Dutile's fellow sheriffs. He was also an alternate delegate for Romney at the 2012 Republican convention.
Judy Brown, described as another New Hampshire mom, says, "Kelly has the courage and independence to stand up and do what's right for New Hampshire." Brown received a "Republican of the Year" award for Nashua, N.H.
Fool me once, shame on—shame on you. Fool me—you can't get fooled again.
- Trix