Benghazi-gate: Geraldo displays firewall protecting the common sense region of his brain... twice

To fully appreciate Geraldo Rivera's two appearances on Fox News (Fox & Friends and then the O'Reilly Factor) to discuss Benghazi-gate, consider three issues relative to the attack:

1. The lack of security for months leading up to the attack
2. The attack itself coupled with the Obama administration's failure to respond
3. The decision to point to the anti-Muhammad video for two weeks after the attack

Rivera has decided to side with the administration lock, stock, and barrel but he obviously believes that a vigorous defense of team Obama on issue number 2 is the best course. He obviously wants to talk about the other two issues as little as possible. When Eric Bolling brings up issue number 3, Geraldo shamefully doubles down on issue number 2 while also implying that Tyrone Woods' father is a liar but only because the father of the slain Navy SEAL has been misled by right-wing partisans (yes, that sounds like an insult to Charles Woods' intelligence).

Geraldo has no answers for issues number 1 and number 3 (this becomes blatantly obvious in his interview with O'Reilly, who made Rivera look like an unhinged adolescent who was growing increasingly frustrated with his inability to successfully argue with an adult).

First up, Geraldo vs. Bolling via MediaIte:

That night, Geraldo appeared on the O'Reilly Factor to discuss Benghazi-gate in general and his exchange with Bolling in particular. To call what Geraldo did filibustering would make a seasoned politician blush. O'Reilly kept pushing Rivera to talk about issue number 1 but the Fox News liberal simply couldn't go there until about three minutes in and even then, he meandered around the issue and actually said he hates to agree with O'Reilly, which could explain why he refuses to lower the self-constructed firewall he's placed in front of the common sense region of his brain.

O'Reilly makes mincemeat of Geraldo here. Actually, Geraldo does it to himself and O'Reilly seems to enjoy watching him do it.

Geraldo. Looking. Foolish.

Via MediaIte:

Video: 9 Year-old black boy in Daytona thinks Romney would send him to 'Crop Fields'

While in Daytona Beach, FL to see Michelle Obama, 9 year-old Brandon was asked why Obama needs to win on Tuesday. His response?

"If Mitt Romney wins, we'll be going back to the crop fields."

Via RightNewz:



Gee, I wonder where Brandon got that idea...

Darrell Issa and Jason Chaffetz send another letter to Hillary

On the heels of a classified cable provided to Catherine Herridge of Fox News that shows Christopher Stevens issued a cry for help to Hillary Clinton's office on August 16th that was ultimately ignored, Foreign Policy has come into possession of two damning letters for the State Department, obtained from the consulate. House Oversight Committee chairman Darrell Issa and Rep. Jason Chaffetz have taken notice and are demanding answers from Clinton.

Via FP:

One letter, written on Sept. 11 and addressed to Mohamed Obeidi, the head of the Libyan Ministry of Foreign Affairs' office in Benghazi, reads:

"Finally, early this morning at 0643, September 11, 2012, one of our diligent guards made a troubling report. Near our main gate, a member of the police force was seen in the upper level of a building across from our compound. It is reported that this person was photographing the inside of the U.S. special mission and furthermore that this person was part of the police unit sent to protect the mission. The police car stationed where this event occurred was number 322."

The account accords with a message written by Smith, the IT officer who was killed in the assault, on a gaming forum on Sept. 11. "Assuming we don't die tonight. We saw one of our ‘police' that guard the compound taking pictures," he wrote hours before the assault.

A potential bold red flag is raised about Obeidi a little later in the article:

Obeidi, the Libyan official named on one of the printouts, said he had not received any such letter, adding, "I did not even know that the U.S. ambassador was visiting Benghazi." However, a spokesman for the Benghazi police confirmed that the ministry had notified the police of the ambassador's visit. "We did not receive that letter from the U.S. consulate. We received a letter from Ministry of Foreign Affairs Benghazi asking for additional security measures around consulate during visit of the ambassador. And the police provided all extra security which was asked for," the spokesman said.

So Obeidi is essentially pleading total ignorance when it comes to being aware that Stevens was even in  Benghazi while a spokesman for the police says his office was made aware. Perhaps the claim that Obeidi never saw one of the documents that mentioned him by name could be believed (because they were found in the consulate) but his not knowing that Stevens was in Benghazi strains credulity. Even if he is to be believed about that, he should have known, which still points to the likely infiltration of security forces.

Here is an excerpt from the letter to Clinton from Issa and Chaffetz:

These documents paint a disturbing picture indicating that elements of the Libyan government might have been complicit in the September 11, 2012, attack on the compound and the murder of four Americans. It also reiterates the fact that the U.S. government may have had evidence indicating that the attack was not a spontaneous event but rather a preplanned terrorist attack that included prior surveillance of the compound as a target.

Given the location where they were found, these documents appear to be genuine and support a growing body of evidence indicating that the Obama Administration has tried to withhold pertinent facts about the 9/11 anniversary attack from Congress and the American people.

Issa and Chaffetz conclude the letter with a demand for answers about why the State Department said there were no indications that anything was wrong at the consulate at all on 9/11/12. Pointing to an October 9, 2012 State Department briefing in which it was alleged that "Everything was calm at 8:30 p.m." the Oversight Committee members rightfully raise concerns that the documents recovered at the scene by FP belie that claim.

They want answers by November 8th.

To view the two documents recovered by FP, click here and scroll to page 4.