I THINK I PREFER THE FIRST LIE

When the Benghazi tragedy happened we were treated to a litany of explanations by several officials about what it was and what caused it. Initially, Obama, Hillary, and of course, Susan Rice all spoke the talking points that this was a mob action caused by some obscure video on the internet. After all, the election was at hand and the administration couldn’t tell the American people that we were attacked by an enemy that they had publicly stated was on the run and basically impotent. Obama addressed the UN and the rest of the administration went on the TV shows. Their protestations were loud and clear. Sadly, they were lies. Bald faced, out and out lies.

Well, as is always the case, the truth is now starting to come out. More facts are now being divulged and the cover up is getting to be more difficult. Hillary had to finally face an inquiry from the Congress. I watched it. I heard what she had to say. I listened as she said that it did not matter that we were lied to. All in all, her appearance was typical. She toted the company line and hid behind the talking points. I could say that I was disappointed but that would be a stretch. I try to live by the “Eleventh Beatitude,” “blessed is he who expects nothing for he shall not be disappointed.” She certainly did not exceed my expectations. She did the Hillary Clinton thing.

Now we have the testimony of Secretary of Defense, Leon Panetta, and with it a whole new version of so called truth. One of the most striking admissions from Panetta was that while we indeed did have fighter jets available and within thirty minutes of the Embassy under  attack, it would have taken several hours to prepare them for actual fighting. What? Are you kidding me? You want me to believe that we are so ill prepared that we could not put fighters in the air on a moments notice ready and able to take out a bunch of rag tag donkey herders? This is not the military in which I once served. This is not the military that represents the most powerful country on earth. Try buzzing the White House in a small plane and see how long it takes for you to be accompanied by a bevy of fully armed fighter jets. No, Panetta’s version sounds more like another excuse for incompetence.

So, here we have the many and varied versions of this story. There will probably be more coming soon. The Administration is going to continue offering explanations until the story either goes away or the total truth finally is revealed. I have listened intently to all the stories. I have tried to believe their explanations, but I cannot. What were obvious lies when the matter first broke have been completely discredited. I suspect most of the current “facts” will suffer the same fate.

As I consider all the positions proffered by Obama and his minions, I have come to a decision. I think I prefer the first lie. It is much easier for me to swallow that mobs of morons representing radical factions of an ancient religion stumbled upon an unprotected embassy and, being stirred up by a YouTube video, decided to kill four Americans. The alternative would be that we are in The Middle East with an ill prepared military unable to respond to threats unless we have a several hour window to prepare ourselves. That is totally unacceptable. That is a particular lie that I absolutely cannot believe, period. No, I’m going to go with the first lie.

Ron Scarbro