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big_dog

(4,144 posts)
Thu May 8, 2014, 05:46 PM May 2014

Dems Weigh Boycott of Benghazi Select Committee

Source: Real Clear Politics

Facing the formation of a select committee to investigate the 2012 Benghazi attacks, congressional Democrats are weighing whether to boycott the panel, with some of them wary of ceding control of the issue to Republicans and others concerned about participating in what they consider a political stunt. The House of Representatives is prepared to approve on Thursday a dozen-member committee consisting of seven Republicans and five Democrats. GOP leaders have dismissed a request from Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Whip Steny Hoyer for equal party representation, a decision committee Chairman Trey Gowdy said is intended to reflect Republican control of the chamber.


Speaker John Boehner -- who announced formation of the committee last week following newly released emails detailing how the administration crafted its explanation of the deadly attacks on the U.S. consulate in Libya -- insisted Wednesday that the probe “is not going to be a sideshow, is not going to be a circus.” Gowdy, a former prosecutor, told CNN he would conduct the investigation as he would a trial. “This isn’t going to be a kangaroo court,” he said. But the panel’s formation is already a source of drama on Capitol Hill. Democrats argue that the inquiry will serve no purpose other than to motivate the GOP base in this midterm election year and drag Hillary Clinton through the mud ahead of a possible 2016 presidential run. Others have drawn comparisons to the McCarthy hearings.

Debbie Wasserman Schultz, chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee, called for a boycott of the panel if its makeup is unbalanced. “It is nothing more than a political ploy, because continuing to focus obsessively on repealing the Affordable Care Act has lost its luster even among [the GOP’s] own party members,” she told reporters Wednesday at a Christian Science Monitor breakfast.

Others Democrats argued that they should participate in the investigation to help neutralize the panel. “I think we’ve got to be there to make sure people understand what’s really going on and not allow witnesses to be badgered,” said California Rep. Henry Waxman, the ranking member of the Energy and Commerce Committee. And one Democrat sees a silver lining in the committee’s formation. “This is the full neutering -- a full neutering! -- of Chairman Issa and his 16 months of work,” House Democratic Caucus Vice Chairman Joseph Crowley said, referencing House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa’s lengthy investigation of the Benghazi attacks.





Read more: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2014/05/08/dems_weigh_boycott_of_benghazi_select_committee_122569.html#ixzz31AAXHZec

14 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Dems Weigh Boycott of Benghazi Select Committee (Original Post) big_dog May 2014 OP
Good God ... GeorgeGist May 2014 #1
of course they know. There argument is that unless they are there the media will give them free lostincalifornia May 2014 #2
Never underestimate the Teapublicans ability to make fools of themselves... Blue Idaho May 2014 #3
Surely, the watchdogs in the nation's press will expose it for what it is! Octafish May 2014 #5
Surely not... Blue Idaho May 2014 #7
It will be 5 Dems, and it depends on what 5 Dems are there. SunSeeker May 2014 #10
Actually that is very true lostincalifornia May 2014 #13
911 911 911 billhicks76 May 2014 #12
This is ALL they are "good" at... Hulk May 2014 #4
They should boycott it. Archae May 2014 #6
Looks like Keefer May 2014 #8
Tough call. SunSeeker May 2014 #9
I say BOYCOTT Plucketeer May 2014 #11
demand equal representation or boycott Born Free May 2014 #14

lostincalifornia

(3,639 posts)
2. of course they know. There argument is that unless they are there the media will give them free
Thu May 8, 2014, 05:53 PM
May 2014

reign as though their every word is gospel. Most likely that will happen anyway.

In my view, no matter what a sham it is, Democrats should be there if for nothing else to call these ignoramus bullies on their misrepresentations and lies, and most important to bring up why the repukes voted against provided security to the embassies

The media sure won't do it

Blue Idaho

(4,988 posts)
3. Never underestimate the Teapublicans ability to make fools of themselves...
Thu May 8, 2014, 05:58 PM
May 2014

Its entirely possible this whole thing will blow up in their faces...

Octafish

(55,745 posts)
5. Surely, the watchdogs in the nation's press will expose it for what it is!
Thu May 8, 2014, 06:10 PM
May 2014

Like they did in the run-up to the illegal, immoral, unnecessary, disastrous and ruinous for American democracy Afghanistan and Iraq wars.

SunSeeker

(51,368 posts)
10. It will be 5 Dems, and it depends on what 5 Dems are there.
Thu May 8, 2014, 07:17 PM
May 2014

Cummings did a masterful job of demonstrating what a evil fool Issa was in the IRS hearings.

 

billhicks76

(5,082 posts)
12. 911 911 911
Thu May 8, 2014, 07:29 PM
May 2014

Tell them only if there is a new 911 Commission formed. Deems dropped the ball in 2001 onward by not bringing up the failures, lies and inconsistencies about 911 at every turn. Blew it frankly.

 

Hulk

(6,699 posts)
4. This is ALL they are "good" at...
Thu May 8, 2014, 06:04 PM
May 2014

Think about it. This is all they have accomplished since the black man moved into the White House. Anything and everything they can do to try to destroy this President, this administration, the Democratic Party, the middle class, the American economy, and the future of this country.

They have not done one fookin' thing to support this administration, the middle class, the poor or weak, the future of this country. Not one thing. They scream about this terrible debt that our children and grand children are going to inherit, yet couldn't care less about the ass-backward country they are going to leave their children and grand children with. They couldn't care less about the growing disparity between the wealthy 1% and the struggling "47%", but really the other 98%.

These clowns honed these monstrosity wastes of resources and time during the Clinton administration, and they have learned how to dig their feet in and put the brakes on progress in this country until "they get their way"...whatever the fook that is.

And they have also mastered the art of deception, thanks in large part to fox-nonsense and reich winger radio snake-oil salesmen. They rely on the busy, ignorant masses to swallow their sound bites and vote against their own interests so that they can continue to drag this country further into the sewer.

It's what they do. It's what they have been doing since "The Great Actor" left the stage. Sad. A nation filled with hope and promise, strangled by a party of greedy, selfish fools and cheats. I will never see our greatness in my lifetime...I can damned sure bet on that.

Archae

(46,261 posts)
6. They should boycott it.
Thu May 8, 2014, 06:23 PM
May 2014

It's nothing but a partisan witch-hunt that the chairman, (Gowdy) has already admitted will not be an investigation, it'll be a trial.

Boycotting it will make the republicans look like the total boobs they are.

SunSeeker

(51,368 posts)
9. Tough call.
Thu May 8, 2014, 07:11 PM
May 2014

Cummings' embarrassment of Issa when Issa cut his mic really killed Issa. That is why this committee is not being headed by Issa.

I can see why boycotting would send the message that this committee is a farce. And without the Dems being there and creating the fireworks that attracts media, this farce may be ignored.

However, some press will inevitably attend, and we no longer have an independent press. The press seems happy to repeat what the GOP says and will not raise any irregularities they see and they will certainly not raise any objections. Only panel Dems would do that.

It's a close call, but I think the Dems need to be there.

 

Plucketeer

(12,882 posts)
11. I say BOYCOTT
Thu May 8, 2014, 07:27 PM
May 2014

Even playing a bit part in their "production" would help validate the whole damned charade. Stay out of the room and make sure they have PLENTY of rope to dangle themselves from!

Born Free

(1,612 posts)
14. demand equal representation or boycott
Thu May 8, 2014, 07:32 PM
May 2014

simple, if Dems are reduced to a role where they have NO influence, unable to do anything more than whine about what is going on they would do better to boycott it and campaign against it as political move by the RWNJ GOP in control

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