Déjà vu

Sitting through much of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee’s Benghazi whistle-blower hearings yesterday, I had a creeping case of déjà vu.  It seemed to be playing out a lot like those Watergate TV hearings that I slavishly followed all those many years ago.  It is a soap opera and a passion play wrapped in a fact-finding mission.

Already Twitter and the blogosphere is alive with speculation, interesting insights, and dire predictions.  And, unless the White House can get its media ducks in a row, I think that we may have an entertaining summer of more such melodrama, particularly if Jon Boehner appoints a special select investigative committee. If you want to get your feet wet on what transpired, read more from these two perspectives: Time Magazine and NY Post.  And, for those so inclined, here is a long on-the-scene narrative of what happened last Sept.11th: Greg Hicks' Transcript.

I will not jump to any hasty conclusions now (not that I don’t already have some) but I do intend to follow these Benghazi-gate developments closely and will do my best to cut through the political gristle to find those morsels of viand veracity. 

Stay tuned.

Libretto

A libretto is the script or narrative for an opera ... often in English.  You can frequently see the standees at the back of the opera houses following all the singing and arm waving with their libretti ... even silently mouthing the words.  Now we have such a narrative for the Republican nomination process which is as melodramatic as many of these German or Italian arias.  Basically, the theme is -- even though Mitt Romney has a virtual overwhelming chance of winning the Republican nomination, there is still a statistically measurable chance (if the moon turns blue on the same night as a Martian landing in Hoboken) that there will be a brokered convention (no candidate gets more than 50% of the delegate votes).

Why do these media pundits sound so slavishly hopeful (and silly) for this to occur?  It's the money honey ...  The news media wants to maintain the high ratings and circulations that they have enjoyed so far in this Wagnerian political songfest.  And, if they can keep the American public on the edge of their seats for the rest of the Republican primary/caucus season, maybe they can just continue to pay those high salaries to their rabid talking heads and Op Ed writers.   How did that line go in the Watergate hearings?  "Follow the money ..."  [Also, many on the media left hope against hope that continued hostilities can also fatally damage Romney.]

Readers, don't be sucked in ... the fat lady has already sung.