big GOP masturbatory thread over Hillary's testimony today

[Razgovory]

I still don't understand the substance of this alleged "scandal".

There wasn't much substance here.  Republican politicians know what their constituents want to see.  They want to see their congressmen and senators "ripping into" Hillary Clinton and any other officials in the Obama administration.  They might have hoped to find something really incriminating, but as Derspeiss admitted, this was political theater.

[The Minsky Moment]

I agree they were sacked as scapegoats.  But that is in tension with the "negligence" explanation

How so?

Because it was an exercise in CYA round up usual suspects, and thus any correlation with actual fault would be coincidental.

My essential problem with the whole inquiry re the size of the detail is that is a classic example of hindsight bias.  Of course, the optimal thing to have done was to have deployed an entire batallion of SF and have them set an ambush for the jihadists.  Except of course for the obvious fact that lacking 20-20 hindsight there is no way to know the jihadists would strike then and there.  What is comes through from the documents is that State was juggling limited resources and moving guys around as they could.  State did initially respond to the late 2011 requests by boosting the Benghazi detail to 5 but later rotated them out, presumably to deal with some other need elsewhere, or because some budget bucket was being exhausted.  The reality is that State has 300 bases to cover, and the jihadists have the luxury of striking at the weakest and most convenient point to them.  Of course it's easy with 20-20 hindsight to point out that the place where the attack eventually came was the place to dedicate extra resources.    It's a fundamentally dishonest exercise.

[DontSayBanana]

Less lawyer-y: there's a bad case of correlation being mistaken for causation going on here.

[Admiral Yi]

Because it was an exercise in CYA round up usual suspects, and thus any correlation with actual fault would be coincidental.

Shitcanning four political flunkies is not standard DC CYA.

[Razgovory]

It isn't?  Are there usually more?

[DontSayBanana]

Shitcanning four political flunkies is not standard DC CYA.

Shitcanning four political flunkies

political flunkies

flunkies

It's not just standard DC CYA, it's CYA all over the damn world.  If anything, DC CYA is weird because it usually involves some mid- to low-profile official "resigning," only to show back up in a similar position in the near future.

[Sheilbh]

Shitcanning four political flunkies is not standard DC CYA.

I always think of the Thick of It bit on how you can have a good resignation, 'look, people really like it when you go just a bit early! You know; steely jawed, faraway look in your eyes! Before you get to the point when they're sitting round in the pub saying "Oh, that fucker's got to go!", you surprise them! "Blimey, he's gone! I didn't expect that! Resigned? You don't see that much anymore! Old school! Respect! I rather liked the guy! He was hounded out by the fucking press!" How about that, eh? What a way to go!'

Alastair Campbell (Blair's PR man) used to say if a story lasts for two weeks then someone needs to go, he'd draft the exchange of letters.

But maybe I'm being too cynical. I remember Meri saying something about the Susan Rice nomination that she thought a bit conspiratorial, but it was my standard assumption.

[Admiral Yi]

@ Banana: Name one instance prior to Benghazigate.

[Razgovory]

@ Banana: Name one instance prior to Benghazigate.

What exactly are you asking for here?

[DontSayBanana]

Let me amend what I said: resign and show up in a comparable private sector position.

Van Jones.

[Admiral Yi]

What exactly are you asking for here?

I'm asking for one instance during Obama's tenure prior to the resignation of the four State Department officials in which one or more people were fired as an excercise in scapegoating/ass covering/damage control/PR.

[Sheilbh]

Surely the agriculture woman you mentioned?

[Razgovory]

What exactly are you asking for here?

I'm asking for one instance during Obama's tenure prior to the resignation of the four State Department officials in which one or more people were fired as an excercise in scapegoating/ass covering/damage control/PR.

Okay, he gave you one, and Shelf alludes to another, Sherrod.

[CountDeMoney]

What exactly are you asking for here?

I'm asking for one instance during Obama's tenure prior to the resignation of the four State Department officials in which one or more people were fired as an excercise in scapegoating/ass covering/damage control/PR.

Luckily, there aren't examples, since the Obama administration has avoided such fuck ups that would require sending the help to the guillotine.

[dps]

It's more Obama's style to throw people he's nominated to positions under the bus before they even get confirmed than to fire them later.