The Real Story about Benghazi

There's a tension in the air. No, it's not the looming reality of Election Day, it's the Benghazi campaign of misinformation by the right wing.

Fox News is frustrated. While I quietly cheer our Mainstream Media (a 4th Estate that has failed America on so many other fronts and specific issues) for resisting the sensationalism of the Charles Woods story, I can't help but sense the wall of resistance is about to give way. Ty Woods was killed in Benghazi after a Libyan Militia group attacked the US Consulate. His father is understandably upset and has been vocal in his criticisms of the President, in particular. In a televised interview by phone, he described the President as insincere and uncaring, going so far as to mock his "voice" when the President offered his condolences to him. With Charles Woods, it is "personal" and that is understandable, to a degree. Watching the Hannity Show, a repeat broadcast in the dead of midnight (ratings, ya know), I was reminded of Cindy Sheehan in 2004. Ms Sheehan was certainly granted plenty of news coverage and air time. Sunday Talk Shows will certainly offer an opportunity for pundits and surrogates to raise the issue just enough to force broader coverage of Charles Woods. But the real story isn't the factual events that occurred. The real story is the manufactured narrative, the "interpretation" of a simple quote, the application of wild assumption based on assumed "experience" and the victimization of the father of an American warrior and hero that saved lives.

My hope is that we can resist the temptation to blame or attack Mr Woods. He is a grieving father and he's been prodded into action with misinformation, grooming from vested interests and a promise of some form of misguided vengeance or revenge. The blame lies squarely with Fox News, in particular Sean Hannity. The blame lies with Glenn Beck, the desperately-seeking-relevancy radio personality. The blame lies with Pat Dollard, a surprisingly effective "repeater website" that has ramped up estimated earnings from web traffic into 6 figures. The blame lies with our good friends at Conspiracy Theory Central, otherwise known as Breitbart.com, as they shop around for another $10 million in "venture capital". They are the "story" that should be getting coverage. These are the same marketeers of conspiracy and confusion that pushed Darrell Issa into the abyss of a failed Fast and Furious investigation. These are the same money-grubbing dolts that prompted Darrell Issa to reveal our CIA locations, our Libyan operatives names and their locations to every terrorist cell in the World. The real "story" is not the incompetence or "cover-up" by government officials in Benghazi these grifters are selling. The real story is their own incompetence and mindless pursuit of manufactured conspiracy in the name of revenue...and they should be called out for it.

* Originally written on Saturday 10/27