Now that House Speaker John Boehner has made it clear he will ignore Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi's
request for a non-partisan approach to the GOP's #Benghazi committee, Greg Sargent
reports that Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Steve Israel is throwing his weight behind the movement to boycott the committee. According to Sargent's source, Israel told Democrats:
“If this were a fair inquiry, the Republicans would’ve accepted our offer for balanced rules. Instead, it has become a Republican political strategy meant to raise money and excite their base. The American people want us to be focused on creating middle class jobs, not jobs for lawyers investigating Democrats. Republicans have now totally crossed the line by exploiting and fundraising off of this tragedy and the loss of brave Americans. We should have nothing to do with that.”
Israel's argument is basically that Democrats shouldn't get sucked into wasting time on the GOP obsession. It's hard to argue with that given that the GOP (a) refused to take a non-partisan approach to Benghazi and (b) is behaving like a bunch of tinfoil lunatics.
If this were an issue like Obamacare where Democrats have both an opportunity and obligation to make their case, it would be a mistake. But the GOP's Benghazi conspiracy theories are so disconnected with reality that you can't even have a debate about them. They believe what they believe and they believe it with religious fervor, evidence be damned. In some ways, I'd enjoy seeing a Democrats make that point directly to Republicans, but it wouldn't do any good. Given that fact, Israel's approach of having nothing to do with it makes a lot of sense. And in the end, perhaps voters will realize that the GOP's Benghazi hearings say more about the GOP than they do about Benghazi.