Getting to the bottom of the Sept. 11, 2012, murder of four Americans, including Ambassador Christopher Stevens, in Libya is a must. The perpetrators should be brought to justice. And changes should be made to ensure the safety of U.S. personnel in hot spots overseas. Instead, Republicans remain in a tizzy over talking points. A flurry of fevered questions about what was said, when it was said and who said it. The fact that embassy security funding was cut seems to have fallen from their focus on casting blame.
This is one of many reasons Democrats are needed on Rep. Trey Gowdy’s (R-S.C.) kangaroo court. Even if the makeup of the special committee is seven Republicans to five Democrats, those are five more voices to push back. And by push back I mean the kind provided by Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) as the ranking member on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. From “Fast and Furious” to the never-ending probe of the IRS, Cummings has not shied away from holding committee chairman Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) accountable for overzealousness, rhetorical flights of fancy and selective editing of documents and omissions of material.
The Democratic members of the impending Benghazi special committee must serve the same function. If Republicans insist on refusing to govern for the rest of this Congress and perhaps through the 2016 presidential cycle to try to embarrass them, Clinton and President Obama, then Democrats must use the time to return the favor.
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