Hillary’s day in the Benghazi spotlight: Don’t get your hopes up

Photo of Mrs. Clinton: From TV broadcast, via C-SPANSec. of State Hillary Clinton will testify about the Benghazi scandal on Wednesday, but don’t get your hopes up. Mrs. Clinton is the doyenne of Democrat spin, evidenced by her own amazing political rehabilitation after serving as de facto co-president with her husband in the 1990s.

Clinton will deal with the Senate at 9 a.m. and the House at 2 p.m. The House testimony, I think, will be more interesting for obvious reasons.

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As U.S. focuses on gun rights, epic hostage crisis unfolding in Algeria

The village of Taghit in the Sahara in western Algeria seems to have frozen time. The 1,000 year old village is a popular tourist destination. (Photo: CIA World Fact Book/US Government)President Barack Obama claimed during his campaign that al Qaeda is “on the path to defeat,” but somebody forgot to tell the numerous groups who affiliate with al Qaeda through common religious roots and the quest for Islamist power. Many al Qaeda affiliated groups want Islamist rule for all.

As U.S. citizens watch theatrics about gun control play out in media and backrooms in Washington, a hostage crisis has unfolded in Algeria, a crisis The Financial Times called “one of the biggest hostage crises in years.”

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Obama’s Libya experiment: BP a big winner but conflict over Syrian opposition

Map: CIA World Fact Book/U.S. GovernmentPresident Barack Obama can lay sole claim to the war in Libya regarding U.S. involvement—he sought no cooperation from Congress when he decided to engage in the civil war.

Americans were rightfully perplexed about Obama’s reasons for the engagement, but some clear winners are emerging. At the top of the list is a company whose mention will probaby raise a few American eyebrows: BP.

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GAO report points to government failure in BP disaster

An update from the General Accounting Office details high risk areas, seeking to “focus attention on government operations that it identifies as high risk due to their greater vulnerabilities to fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement or the need for transformation to address economy, efficiency, or effectiveness challenges.” The latest addition to the high risk series is management of federal oil and gas resources.

You have to read between the lines—after all, this is a government document. But there’s a red flag in the GAO update. In ‘governmentese’, the red flag is called “human capital resources” and GAO suggests failures in those government resources for various reasons. What does that have to do with the BP disaster?

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Jimmy Buffett blames Bush for BP

Jimmy Buffett is the latest in a long line to jump on the ‘It’s Bush’s fault’ bandwagon.

From Fox News, reporting on a telephone interview with Margaritaville’s most famous resident:
Buffett, a supporter of President Barack Obama, said the roots of the spill lie with the administration of former President George Bush, which was often criticized for being too cozy with the petroleum industry. "To me it was more about eight years of bad policy before (Obama) got there that let this happen. It was Dracula running the blood bank in terms of oil and leases," he said. "I think that has more to do with it than how the president reacted to it."

Say it ain’t so, Jimmy! Really.

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Obama official hearts BP

by Kay B. Day

When Politico reported that President Barack Obama was the biggest recipient of campaign contributions from BP employees and PACs, the president's spokesman said, “President Obama didn’t accept a dime from corporate PACs or federal lobbyists during his presidential campaign.” And Democrats sang the same song in unison, blaming the GOP for BP's crony status.

Truth always outs and it sometimes hurts. Politico said: "During his time in the Senate and while running for president, Obama received a total of $77,051 from the oil giant and is the top recipient of BP PAC and individual money over the past 20 years, according to financial disclosure records."

The most recent demonstration of BP's crony ties surfaced in a YouTube video wherein Secretary of Energy Steven Chu 'hearts' BP when Obama was still a junior senator. The video speaks for itself.

Will BP grilling backfire?

Updated on Monday, June 21, 2010 at 4:12PM by Kay B. Day, Editor

By Kay B. Day

Criticism of BP is certainly warranted, considering the damage from the Gulf Oil Spill. But other recent manufacturing and financial lapses have gone unchallenged. And there’s a chance public grilling for nothing more than political purposes could backfire.

The political topic of the day is conduct by BP in the Gulf Oil Spill disaster. Congressional leaders shook fingers and levied snarkisms at the company, yet gave federal oversight agency heads a pass.

Such a disaster warrants federal attention, of course, but our federal government tends focus on politics and self-growth rather than on common sense matters the government should be looking after. At present, the government can't run the government.

But if you think BP’s lapse is the only dastardly action harming Americans, you’d be wrong.

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