#744, January 27, 2013
COLUMBUS: This was quite a week for President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton. The Inauguration was Monday, the Congressional investigation of Hillary Clinton was Wednesday, and their 60 Minutes interview was Sunday.
A highlight for the president was during the parade when NBC weatherman Al Roker shouted a question, “How do you like the weather?” That question was tougher than 90 percent of the ones Steve Croft asked Sunday. Do you remember Secretary Clinton’s defiant response to a Senator’s question about Benghazi when her answer included, “What difference does it make?” You may recall it took two weeks for her or anyone in the Obama administration to recognize that it was an organized terrorist attack on Sept. 11, and not triggered by a video, that resulted in four deaths, making it the worst diplomatic death toll in about 50 years.
Well, after showing the video of that defiant reply, Croft followed with a question that might earn him an Emmy, “How’s your health?”
Maybe that was a better question than I give him credit for. After all, when she went to testify to those Republicans she forgot to wear her football helmet. But even the Republicans only asked a couple of tough questions. Most of them made speeches and forgot to ask her anything. And the Democrats on the panel, they praised her for visiting 120 countries in 4 years, and finished by nominating her for the Nobel Peace Prize.
Why, my old newspaper friends, H. L. Mencken and Walter Lippman, would have dug into both of them. They would have asked, “Were you not informed about terror attacks in Benghazi several months before Sept. 11? If not, did you fire the person who should have kept you up to date? On Sept. 11, what actions did you take in the seven hours between the beginning and the end of the attack? ”
Then they would have zeroed in on the President. “In your Inaugural speech you hit on at least twenty different things – gay marriage, illegal immigrants, climate change – but you hardly mentioned the top issues for most Americans: jobs and the economy. What is your plan to tap our vast gas and oil resources, put Americans back to work, and reduce the $16 Trillion debt? Will you propose raising the eligibility age for Social Security and Medicare? If not, what new taxes will you suggest that everyone pay to cover that growing expense?”
Well, if you feel I’ve been mean or nasty or downright dirty, let me close with a clean story. It seems that several hundred cases of Tide detergent have been stolen in Colorado. No kidding. The surprise is that with marijuana now legal, there’s no need to launder drug money. Police are looking for likely thieves wearing sparkly clean clothes with no ring around the collar.
Historic quote by Will Rogers:
“Got a thrill this morning. Walter Lippman, a grand writer that I would no more miss reading than miss breakfast… Well, he had actually read something I had written about the debts. Course he didn’t agree with me. But just to be disagreed with by a man like him is a thrill.” DT #1966, Nov. 22, 1932