TMCP calls back the lynch mob
by digby
Oh my goodness. Guess who just confirmed that the CIA gave Susan Rice her information?
Contrary to the current GOP narrative, Petraeus’ testimony made clear that various intelligence sources at of the time of his initial briefing to Congress indicated that a protest arising in response to a similar one in Cairo was the impetus for the attack in Libya. While those initial assessments were later disproved, the Wall Street Journal has previously reported that this change in thinking began too late to alter Rice’s talking points.
I guess the question now is whether the right will simply say that Rice should have known better than to trust General Betrayus. It will be quite a turn if they decide to completely throw him on the pyre. There was a time when even hinting that he might be just the tiniest bit mistaken about something was tantamount to treason.
Keep your eye on McCain. He's gone so far over the edge that I fully expect to see his head whirling on his shoulders if Susan Rice isn't tarred and feathered. He and little Lindsay Graham have worked themselves up into full blown hysteria over this one and it's hard to see how they get out of it without a full apology.
Update: This was written earlier and I've since had a chance to gauge the reaction. Needless to say Fox News sees this as further evidence of a cover up, wherein the White House or "someone" changed the talking points for nefarious purposes. (Again, the reason for this cover up is some vague notion that the president would have lost the election if the people had known it was a terrorist attack.)
If you are still somehow moored to reality, this might clear up some of the mystery:
Petraeus, who gave evidence to both the Senate and House intelligence committees, said that references to the group alleged to have been behind the 11 September attack were in the CIA's classified talking points, which were classified, but removed from the unclassified memo relied upon by Rice. The reason, he said, was not to tip off the group about what the US authorities knew.
The bastards!
As you might guess, this is completely unsatisfactory to the wingnuts:
Peter King, the Republican chairman of the House intelligence committee, said he was not satisfied with Petraeus's explanation of the talking points. King said: "It is still not clear how the final talking points emerged. He said it went through a long process involving many agencies including the Justice Department and including the State Department.
"No one knows yet who came up with final version of the talking points other than to say the original talking points prepared by CIA were different from the ones that were finally put out."
Dianne Feinstein, the Democratic chairwoman of the Senate intelligence committee, accused McCain and Graham of unfairly targeting Rice. Feinstein, who did not refer to the senators by name, accused them of trying to "assassinate her character".
She added: "The key is they [the talking points] were unclassified talking points at a very early stage. And I don't think she should be pilloried for this. She did what I would have done or anyone else would have done who was going on a weekend show."
What about the Man Called Petraeus, erstwhile hero of the empire?
A Democratic member of the House, Adam Schiff, said: "The general was adamant there was no politicisation of the process, no White House interference or political agenda. He completely debunked that idea."
Oh, who cares what he thinks ...
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