Clinton.com Potpourri

Today's collection of news from the Clinton.com political crime syndicate is quite a mix

Rose to Rubio: What were you thinking when saying Hillary lied about Benghazi?

Er … that she lied? In case you missed it, Marco Rubio cited Hillary Clinton in one of his broadsides on the media, calling it the Democrats’ best super-PAC. Rubio expressed amazement at the fawning coverage Hillary received even after e-mails emerged that showed Hillary informing Chelsea Clinton and the Libyan government as the attack on the Benghazi consulate unfolded that it was a terror attack being carried out by Ansar al-Sharia, al-Qaeda’s affiliate in the region. That was in direct contradiction to her insistence over the next two weeks that it was a spontaneous demonstration over a YouTube video that turned violent . . .

In fact, that response never even produced a follow-up from the CNBC panelists, a mind-boggling decision in the middle of a presidential debate. CBS’ Charlie Rose instead followed up this morning, demanding to know why Rubio thought Hillary is a liar (via Daniel Halper):

“You called Hillary Clinton a liar, senator,” said Rose. “You called Hillary Clinton a liar.”
“Well,” Rubio responded, “I said Hillary Clinton lied about Benghazi. There’s no doubt about that, Charlie. I mean, there are emails in which she was talking to her family and she was telling them that there was an attack on that consulate that was due to a terrorist attack by al Qaeda elements, and then she was going around the country, talking to the families of the victims and to the American people, saying, No, no, this is because [of a video].”

Rose then tries to shift blame for the inconsistency to the CIA, but Stephen Hayes reminded people on Twitter today that the CIA never blamed the YouTube video. That, says Mike Morell in his memoirs, came from the White House:

We need a name for this type of ignorance (or is it knowing misdirection?) from the media. Committing a Crowley?

Perhaps Rose only got the U.S. version of the story from his democratic handlers: Emails show Clinton had 2 Benghazi stories: 1 for Libyans, 1 for Americans

An email released by the House Select Committee on Benghazi Saturday suggests Hillary Clinton's State Department was advised to tell two different stories about what sparked the 2012 Benghazi terror attack: one to the U.S., and another in Libya.

"[O]ur view at Embassy Tripoli is that we must be cautious in our local messaging with regard to the inflammatory film trailer, adapting it to Libyan conditions," wrote an embassy official whose name was redacted from the Sept. 14, 2012 email.

The unidentified official said the offensive YouTube clip was "not as explosive as an issue" in Libya as it had been in other countries, such as Egypt.

"[I]f we post messaging about the video specifically, we may draw unwanted attention to it," the official said. "And it is becoming increasingly clear that the series of events in Benghazi was much more terrorist attack than a protest which escalated into violence."
. . .
The newly-disclosed email contrasts sharply with a memo obtained through the Freedom of Information Act in April of last year that outlined talking points for Rice's Sunday show tour.

That memo, sent by Ben Rhodes, then a White House communications adviser, to top administration staff, said one of the "goals" of Rice's appearances was "to underscore that these protests are rooted in an Internet video, and not in a broader failure of policy." The memo was obtained by Judicial Watch.

Ben Rhodes is the brother of David Rhodes, President of CBS, and therefore, the top of Charlie Rose's food chain. Who is he going to take his marching orders from, the truth, or the guy that signs his paycheck?

And now for some light-hearted entertainment brought to you from Weasel Zipper through Wombat-socho's  "In The Mailbox: 11.02.15" - Video: Cute but Dumb Broads Hillary Clinton Supporters Endorse Sharia Law In America…

But then, Democrats widely support Socialism as well: For First Time Ever=> Majority of Democrats Now View Socialism Favorably

Over at Rasmussen, the pollsters have discovered that — for the first time in history — self-identified members of the Democrat Party now view socialism favorably.

The man currently running a distant second for the Democratic presidential nomination, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, is a self-declared socialist, and most of his party’s voters now have a positive view of socialism. They are almost evenly divided as to whether they like capitalism or socialism more.

Meanwhile, Venezuela, awash in oil, is rapidly running out of money (as well as cooking oil and toilet paper) due to it's socialist policies.


Clinton allies shout ‘sexism’ at Sanders

The once respectful Democratic primary has devolved into a slugfest about gender, with Hillary Clinton surrogates expressing outrage over how Bernie Sanders is conducting his campaign — even calling for him to fire his staff over alleged sexist remarks.

The ugly dispute has knocked Sanders back on his heels, and placed him on the defensive — an unaccustomed position for a progressive who describes himself as a feminist. And it’s sent a signal flare to Republicans, who have been reminded of the pitfalls of using the wrong language when taking on Clinton — and also of her campaign’s ability to turn it to her advantage.

“I’m stunned that a man like Bernie Sanders, who has clearly committed his life to making the country a better place, would get sucked into this very dangerous rhetoric, which perpetuates sexist and misogynistic stereotypes,” fumed Christine Quinn, the former New York City Council speaker who sits on Clinton’s New York Leadership Council and does fundraising for her campaign.

“The candidate is supposed to set the tone, set the agenda. If Bernie Sanders does not want to be seen as someone who uses sexist language and perpetuates a dangerous sexist stereotype of strong women, then he should tell his people to stop. And if they don’t stop, he should fire them.”

Quinn, who ran for New York City mayor in 2013, said a recent Bloomberg Politics story that quoted Sanders campaign manager Jeff Weaver as joking that “we’re willing to consider her for vice president ... we’ll even interview her” was beyond the pale.

From the files of "Laws are for the little people: Clinton Foundation spinoff won’t refile tax returns

A series of articles published as Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign kicked off this spring noted that the Clinton Health Access Initiative, set up in 2002 as the Clinton HIV/AIDS Initiative and spun off from the foundation in 2010, had not fully complied with aspects of a conflict-of-interest agreement negotiated before the former first lady and senator became secretary of state in 2009. The HIV program did not seek a State Department ethics review of several donations from foreign governments, including Switzerland, Rwanda, Sweden, Papua New Guinea and the Belgian region of Flanders, officials said, while acknowledging that the initiative also failed to publicly report its donors at all after the spin-off.

An April 2015 Reuters story reported that Clinton Health Access Initiative spokeswoman Maura Daley conceded that the nonprofit organization made errors reporting the amounts of government grants on its 2012 and 2013 tax filings and said the group planned to refile those returns with the Internal Revenue Service.

However, in a recent exchange with POLITICO, Daley denied the initiative ever committed to refiling and said no revised forms are being prepared.

"Contrary to what was reported, CHAI has consistently stated that they would conduct a review process to determine whether the transposition errors required a refiling," Daley said Monday. "After conducting the review, the transpositional errors made had no material impact, and we do not believe a refiling is required."

Wombat-socho has "Rule 5 Sunday: The Hearts of Space" up at The Other McCain.