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Following up on a story Rachel mentioned at the top of the show last night, Susan Rice will head to Capitol Hill today, where she's scheduled to meet with the same Republican senators who've spent a few weeks trying to destroy her reputation.
Ms. Rice, the president's ambassador to the United Nations and a front-runner to be the next secretary of state, will meet with Senator John McCain of Arizona and two other Republican senators who have excoriated her, saying she provided a misleading account of the attack on the diplomatic outpost in Benghazi, Libya.
Ms. Rice asked for the meeting, according to a government official. Mr. McCain seemed to soften his opposition to her potential nomination on "Fox News Sunday" and said "she deserves the ability and the opportunity to explain herself." Also attending the meeting will be Senators Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire, officials said. Ms. Rice will be accompanied by Michael J. Morell, the acting C.I.A. director.
In terms of the significance of the meeting, it now appears Rice's nomination to replace Hillary Clinton at the State Department is practically a foregone conclusion -- it's hard to imagine the White House going to such lengths unless Rice were slated for a promotion. Indeed, she has additional meetings scheduled for tomorrow with Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), soon to be the ranking member on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, as well as Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), the ranking member on the Senate Homeland Security Committee.
The fact that Rice will be accompanied by the acting CIA director is also significant -- the crux of the Republican smear campaign is that Rice, shortly after the attack in Benghazi, shared with the public the best intelligence available at the time, as prepared by the CIA and other agencies. Morell will be there to back up Rice's record, and remind McCain & Co. that condemning Rice doesn't really make any sense.
And in the larger context, don't be surprised if today's meeting becomes a face-saving gesture for the Republicans who've tried to sully her reputation.
By setting up a closed-door discussion, allowing participants to clear the air, the White House is giving McCain, Graham, and Ayotte some special attention and a way out of their own mess. They can, in other words, come out of today's meeting saying, "We had serious questions, and we're glad Rice took the time to answer them." If they then drop the filibuster threat, they'd look less ridiculous.
At least, that's the idea. In practice, the GOP campaign against Rice has always been detached from reality, and facts from Rice and Morell may not matter, but from the administration's perspective, it can't hurt to try.
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Will McCain even show up? He seems to be adverse to inconvenient truths.
"Sorry I missed the meeting. I was at a press conference demanding that Ms. Rice meet with me. There must have been a scheduling conflict."
as we now know, it was NOT a face-saving gesture.
they appear to be more dug-in then ever.
what the hell are they thinking?
very very bizarre political "strategery".
these repubs are looking like IDIOTS.
I am now officially in love with Katherine Lorraine.
~<3
Republican senators have no principles to stand on in their brutal scorched-earth campaign to smear and lie about Susan Rice. John McCain, Lindsay Graham and most of the same GOP bloviaters had nothing but praise and superlatives for people like Condi and the other Bush pals that lied our way into a war that killed thousands of Americans. This is partisan pettiness at its most disturbing. Susan Rice is the most qualified individual for the job, and if the President of the United States wants her at the state department, the Senate had better go along. This is why we need to kill the filibuster... - progressive
You're right the republicants lost their principles a long time ago, but it's said that "when an animal (wild dogs, lions, elephants, etc.) is dying - it is at it's most dangerous"! This crowd is at the verge of implosion and losing what little power they have - they're out for blood at all costs.....
So, Rice is meeting with that "Towering Intellect Troika" (IQ @150- too bad it is spread across three people!) in the Senate, do some 'splainin'.
And Morell is there to help! He will undoubtedly tell them some "SECRETS!", so they can have a thrill run up their leg when they get back to the Republican cloakroom.
(Dealing with Senators is easy, if you have spent some time running a Head Start program.)
Please. If Rice's defense is that she only said what she was told to say... Jay Carney could be SecState.
If Powell before the UN said what he was told then Eddie Haskell could be in that seat.
Jeez Blanks, you don't give up do you? That's a really weak one. You are beginning to sound like the rest of the fools in your party that can't respond to rational thought. Wake up, the world is moving forward without you and all the whining and pettiness just make you look weak and stupid.
You do realize Shooter that almost every Sec. of State in the last 40+ years. Have been basically told what to say, because they work for this guy you may have heard of, called the President. And as for it being a 'defense" it's a pretty solid and damn good one. Especially when she in fact said exactly what the CIA told her to say, and she's dragging along one of those guys who said to say it.
Some of you people on the right, have this inherent problem of being able to comprehend that, there was in fact to separate things happening in Benghazi at the same time. The notion of that, just boggles your mind.
Thirdly both Powell and Condi toured the Sunday talk show circuit and lied their collective asses off. And not one person from the right said a word. S Rice gets on and says what was known to her at the time. And you make it sound like it's the greats falsehood ever laid upon the American People. Sorry but that honor still belongs to W's entire Presidency.
I love how even though the loudest of the loudmouths on Capitol Hill have changed their tune on the Rice affair after they've heard all of the currently-available evidence and intelligence, noted internet troll and "Some Guy" shooter242 is spending a good portion of his day (at least) here and at Mother Jones proclaiming with certainty that Susan Rice and the Administration (what a great name for a 70's band!) are lying liars, and that the tragedy at Benghazi is worse than Watergate.
Give. It. Up.
Susan Rice wasn't given a list of talking points and ordered to say them a la Colin Powell. She was given the information that was available at the time and she did what it what was possible. When the shooter types start yammering about saying "extremists" instead of "terrorists," then you know they have nothing to argue with.
Thank you Calvin Lundy, nailed it. Rimkitty, I love "blanks", you've nailed it too. Honorable mention for the 70's band: Susan Rice and the Administration.
This constant blustering about nothing is detrimental to governing. When will we elect more adults to do their job? "Get off my lawn!" politics makes our country look pretty silly, and undermines the political standings of our appointees. Let us get dignity back in government.
The Benghazi-gate bubble has already collapsed, and McCain, Graham and Ayotte are already distancing themselves from their attempt to create a controversy and smear Ambassador Rice. If President Obama and Ambassador Rice were vindictive, they could bury them in the media for their little news conference and the comments that they made. Before all is said and done, it may turn out that McCain and his pals need Susan Rice more than she needs them.
I was watching The Daily Rundown this morning and they already had a clip of good old boy Lindsey spouting his garbage at... Fox News. My favorite was when he said something about a "smoke screen" in regards to Benghazi.
Seriously, I hope Ambassador Rice let's those three little beotches have it today.
As Steve suggested, this meeting is a generous effort by President Obama to alllow these three senators to save face. Susan Rice will be our next Secretary of State, with or withoutbtheir help.
Sun Tzu's The Art of War says always build a golden bridge, for your enemy's retreat.
I suspect Obama has a well-thumbed copy.
Yeah, a Golden Bridge to Nowhere
McCain, the guy who never met a war he did'nt like should call in Condi Rice right after his meeting with Susan Rice. We need to know why we lost over five thousand of our young men and women in a war that she "lied" about. And who the hell is Kelly Ayotte? Is she all knowing in the ways of national security? No she's just window dressing, the token woman for the party.
Sorry, but there is no way that these (R)-tards will ever look less ridiculous, save immediate resignation from their positions of abuse. And that would only be justice..
I do realize that the gesture is quite impressive, however the repetition of the same thing again expecting a different result is known by another name too; insanity.
This is going to be fun!
@Day- Leaving your adversary a way out is one thing, but letting your enemy get away so that they can come back even stronger is another thing all together. There is something to be said for mercilessly destroying your enemy, it sends a clear message of "Don't f with me." Just sayin'....
There are enough suspicions now that these allegations can no longer be dismissed without further inquiries," ................The only question now is the scope of the investigation and the form it will take.
I think something other than trying to discredit the Administration's effectiveness in the Middle East is going on. The Right always uses a misdirection ploy to achieve its goals. This is no different.
It is certainly possible terrorists were waiting for an appropriate moment to gain media attention and cause turmoil in our political process and stir up Libyans to their cause. The time was also ripe for tripping Libyans up with a horribly demeaning video against their belief system.
The fact that the Right is muddying the waters causes me to be suspicious of their ultimate motives.
Who funded that video anyway?
My first reaction was irritation that the Prez, in his characteristically grown-up way, was letting McCain, Graham, and Ayotte off the hook. Now I'm thinking this is win-win. The closed-door session a) lets the senators' inevitable subsequent apologies look bona-fide while still leaving them looking like sleazy snakes to people with a modicum of sense, b) leaves them 'owing' the prez, c) makes confirmation much easier, d) painlessly reinforces Obama's claims to bipartisanship and comity. A black president gets only so many "don't f with me" cards; I'm fine with pocketing this one for a rainy day.
Why don't we just put a Crown on his head and call him KING. Really what happen to democracy this country was founded on. Are we saying it is dead and old to be thrown out with the bath water???
Susan rice has more brains in her little finger than the Republican Senators have in their collective heads...
Unbelievable, the witch hunters have doubled down on their foray. Now that they have met they Susan Rice as troubling. What I find as troubling is the tres amigos: John McCain, Lindsey Graham, and Kelly Ayotte continual endeavor to find Susan Rice responsible for the report she was asked to give. Particularly, since the report she gave is no different than others given related to national-security-related reasons in Washington :
It was the Office of the Director of National Intelligence that took the words “al Qaeda” and “terrorism” out of Rice’s talking points for those Sept. 16 talk shows. It found also that both the CIA and the FBI approved of these edits, following standard operating procedure. The report states emphatically: “The White House or State Department did not make those changes.”
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/11/25/michael-tomasky-on-how-john-mccain-humiliated-himself-on-susan-rice.html
GOP ZOO Animals are always hunting for fresh meat just to harm President Obama indirectly through Susan Rice when there is nothing there for them to get !!!
But, what do these animals care? They are the domestic terrorist. I don't suppose for national-security-related reasons they would take into account the terrorist knowledge of being accused would put jeopardy toward Americans safety?
Oh well!
It was the Office of the Director of National Intelligence that took the words “al Qaeda” and “terrorism” out of Rice’s talking points for those Sept. 16 talk shows. It found also that both the CIA and the FBI approved of these edits, following standard operating procedure. The report states emphatically: “The White House or State Department did not make those changes.”
WOW, can we get a copy of the SOP, since your are in the inside. Please pass on to amigos so they will drop this craziness
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/dec/11/susan-rice-benghazi-secretary-state