On a recent road trip, during my 75-minute workout at the
hotel fitness center, I noticed one of the TVs was tuned to Fox News. For more
than an hour, their only focus was attempting to affix blame on Hillary Clinton
for the four deaths in Benghazi 2 ½ years prior.
It’s interesting at no time during the broadcast was there
any acknowledgement that while they were discussing Benghazi, four more
Americans were shot on American soil, as there has been approximately every 75
minutes for many years now. In fact, more than 80,000 Americans have died from gunshots on our streets
and within our homes and schools since the Benghazi attack, more Americans as we lost in the entire Viet Nam War.
Why is it that when 4 Americans are killed by foreigners, it
demands top attention from the tabloids years later, but when Americans kill
each other on a daily basis, its not worthy of attention from these sensationalist
“news” programs?
Some would say it’s more than just the deaths, but the
suspicion that Clinton ignored the need for additional support for the Benghazi
compound.
Does the fact that she was responsible for more than 270
embassies and consulates at once leave room for the possibility of an isolated
attack in a dangerous part of the world?
Does it make any difference that security upgrades had
already been made to the Benghazi compound, and when Clinton requested more
resources to protect embassies like Benghazi, such funding was denied by
Congress as being too expensive?
Does it matter that the Republican-led House Select
Committee, among others, has launched 8 investigations of the Benghazi
incident, with 13 hearings and 25,000 pages of reports, and that in all cases it
was determined Clinton, the military, the intelligence network, and the CIA all
acted appropriately?
And isn’t ironic, that far from being an oversight by the
Secretary of State, the reasons given by the attackers at Benghazi for their
assault of the Embassy was to defend against the insults of a conservative
Florida pastor Terry Jones’ promotion of
a film humiliating their spiritual leader, even after the State Department
asked him to back off because it was putting Americans overseas in danger? You may recall that Pastor Jones' previous actions in promoting the burning of Korans also led to 7 other American deaths.
I’m not promoting Clinton here or bashing conservatives; I
am advocating for rational thinking and respect.
We must rise out of the immaturity of tunnel vision,
misplaced anger, and petty attack of one another. Let’s support each other in
growing up. Let us all, republicans and democrats, quit trying to find fault
with each other, and do what good American leaders do. They work together and cooperate for a future
that benefits all Americans.
Let’s support politicians that lead with reason. In order to do this, we as voters must lead with reason and level-headedness first, for it is us who listen to ill-informed
“news” tabloids, and it is us who elect those without sound judgment.
Profound disrespect from Pastor Jones and misguided film makers led to American deaths
on more than one occasion. Profound
respect for each other can lead to saving lives in the future.
