Chicago - A message from the station manager

The [Tuesday] Papers

By Steve Rhodes

Obama’s America.


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Why Benghazi Matters
What I wrote last October:
“A clear-eyed review of the coverage and official statements clearly show that the Obama administration went to great lengths to portray the Benghazi assault as one of spontaneous mob reaction to a crappy anti-Muslim video. Why? Because a planned attack by Libyans upon a U.S. embassy consulate in which the ambassador is killed is a Tet moment; it demonstrates an organized opposition capable of such attacks that belie the rosy story we’ve been told about the president’s brave intervention there. A spontaneous mob action spurred by a video, on the other hand, posits an ambassador’s death as an ‘accident’ in the chaos of irrational extremists, even if aided by ‘opportunists.’
“This is why this is important. We were misled – and not just to preserve the president’s policy options (for example, not having to declare war on Libya or send troops or take retribution militarily, explicitly anyway, i.e., special forces are probably operating, but so the administration doesn’t have to respond immediately and publicly) – but also on behalf of the president’s political imperatives, particularly this close to an election.
“While Republicans have failed to articulate this dynamic, instead just repeating the apparent sin of not immediately labeling the attack as a terrorist act, i.e., in order to paint the president as a weak failure who does not stand up for America, the Benghazi critique remains essentially just as valid from a progressive perspective. But that perspective, one that takes great issue with the civil rights disaster this president has been as well as the his radically right-wing foreign policy approach that has gone further than Dick Cheney ever would have dreamed, including kill lists and civilian drone bombing campaigns, is missing from the media discourse.”
Also, Benghazi was more CIA station than consulate, and a lot of nasty shit was run through there. Do your homework, people.
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Why IRS Targeting Matters


See also: IRS Office That Targeted Tea Party Also Disclosed Confidential Docs From Conservative Groups.
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Elsewhere In The Beachwood Today
* SportsMondayTuesday: Reality Bites Bulls.
* Sneaker Con Brought The Heat.
“With over 60 vendors peddling their wares at the Broadway Armory Park, each with their own brand of heat of all makes, models, and sizes, there was something for sneakerheads of all ages and something for every collection.”
* Local TV Notes: No, This Illinois PR Firm Cannot Get You On Oprah.
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Bonus Tweet:


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The Beachwood Tip Line: Matter.

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Posted on May 14, 2013