A couple days ago, Sen. John McCain labeled the Obama White House as "disgraceful" for its reporting on the attack on the the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi that killed four persons.
Sen. John McCain said Thursday it was “disgraceful” for the President Barack Obama’s administration to claim the attack on the American consulate in Benghazi, Libya, was the result of a spontaneous demonstration.
snip
McCain said the attackers’ use of heavy weaponry shows it was a preplanned assault.
“C’mon honey, bring your mortars, we’re going to a spontaneous demonstration,” McCain said, sarcastically. “It was obvious, it was obvious, that this was a planned attack, that they carried heavy weapons, mortars, RPGs. Clearly, it was not a demonstration.”
McCain also said he wasn’t sure if Al Qaeda was directly involved in the attack but said there was “a connection between these people.”
Politico
Today, the New York Times is carrying an article Shifting Reports on Libya Killings May Cost Obama, in which it reports
The Obama administration’s shifting accounts of the fatal attack on the American diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, have left President Obama suddenly exposed on national security and foreign policy, a field where he had enjoyed a seemingly unassailable advantage over Mitt Romney in the presidential race.
After first describing the attack as a spontaneous demonstration run amok, administration officials now describe it as a terrorist act with possible involvement by Al Qaeda.
This matter is quite likely to be raised by the moderator (Bob Schieffer) at the third debate on October 22 and probably sooner, either at the second debate - the 'town meeting' - or even the first as in some way a 'domestic' issue.
How does the President defend his administration's apparent reluctance to declare this a terrorist attack against our country?
I propose that the President say something like this:
First of all, the murderers of Ambassador Stevens and the other three brave Americans will be brought to justice. Make no mistake about that. That will happen, I assure you.
Regarding the manner in which the Administration has handled release of information to the public about this attack, I'm reminded of the TV show 'Law and Order'. I think most Americans - like me - have watched one or two or two hundred episodes of that series which follows investigators in tracking down the criminals responsible for various crimes. At the opening, they have a crime in front of them, and for an hour they carefully determine the facts of the crime and examine all the possibilities of who may have been responsible until, at the end, they are confident they know what happened. And know what? Every time we hear that little 'ding ding ding' ending one phase of the investigation, they do not hold a press conference to tell the public where they stand. Their job, and my job, is to go from beginning - the crime - to end - the arrest - as swiftly and efficiently as possible to protect the people to whom they are responsible.
Bob, I'd like to add here that I remember in particular one episode in which there is a group that, for its own reasons not really related to the crime at hand, wants to bring down the police department, and that group tries to roil up the people to demand information on the state of the investigation every single day. And - you may remember this one, Bob, and viewers at home - it's the character played by Fred Thompson who calls the investigators together and tells them that that is an illegitimate effort to make trouble and that they should pay no attention to it and just do the job they are being paid for, to protect the people of the city.
And, Bob, I think that may be some of what we are seeing here.
Let me emphasize again: we will identify the criminals in Benghazi, whatever organization they are working for, and we will bring them to justice. That is our job.
What do you think? Is the Obama campaign missing the boat by not adding
me to their strategy team?
What improvements would you make to my deathly deathless prose?