Benghazi And All That October 22, 2015October 21, 2015 In this crazy alternative-universe world the opposition party has created . . . I’d like to say the “loyal opposition” party but am not sure that applies . . . . . . a world in which Senate leader Mitch McConnell makes the President’s failure his #1 priority and then, years later, asserts in prepared remarks that “by any standard Barack obama has been a disaster for our country” (only in an alternative universe can averting global depression be considered a disaster, not to mention so many other standards*) . . . . . . a world in which John Kerry, who served bravely in Viet Nam, is mocked for his military service while George W. Bush, who avoided service, is given a pass for that by the G.O.P. (see the Truth about this, starring Robert Redford as Dan Rather) . . . . . . a world in which Al Gore is mocked for saying he invented the Internet, even though (a) he never said it and (b) “no other elected official,” in the words of the two guys who kind of did invent the Internet, “has made a greater contribution over a longer period of time” . . . serious, important work on this he did as early as the Seventies, long before it was sexy, during which period Bush describes himself as having been “young and irresponsible”** . . . . . . a world in which we are told that tax cuts for the rich will mainly benefit the poor . . . . . . and that climate science is a hoax . . . . . . in this crazy alternative-universe world, we have the eighth Benghazi investigation. Four Americans died! We should have eight hundred investigations! (Or at least 56, like the 56 votes to repeal the Affordable Care Act.) And believe me, they won’t be motivated by politics! You can watch Secretary Clinton’s testimony live all day today. Or you can read here, free, the chapter in Hard Choices that lays it all out. But what I really hope you may find time to read — because the Republican tactic is to attack our candidates on their strengths to try to turn them into weaknesses — is this not-entirely-laudatory description of the Clinton Foundation’s work, with a special focus on Rwanda. Because what it says to me is that, in a fiendishly complicated world filled with misery, poverty, disease, and corruption, where not every effort does succeed and not every choice is without trade-offs, the Clintons (and for that matter the Carters and Al Gore) have dedicated their lives since leaving the White House to truly large, important things for humanity. Yes, you can nit pick and find flaws . . . but I just don’t see the same passion and accomplishment in the post-White House lives of Nixon, Ford, Reagan, the Bushes, Spiro Agnew, Dan Quayle, or Dick Cheney. For my money, we get more bang for the buck having Democrats in the White House — and yet more bang still after they leave. I expect we will see the same from Barack Obama and Joe Biden as well. I remain enthusiastically neutral among all our fine Democratic candidates — Lincoln Chafee would be a far better President, in my view, than any of the Republican candidates — and will do my best to defend any of them when I think they are being unfairly attacked, as Hillary has been over Benghazi. And whichever one becomes the nominee, you know whom he or she should tap to run with? This amazing guy. *This site is also interesting; it lists 309 accomplishments. **The one time I met former President Bush — who is undeniably charming and well-meaning — I asked whether he remembered a friend of mine who I had been led to believe was a close friend of his at Yale. In an instant it was clear he did not, but did not want to hurt anyone’s feelings, and without missing a beat he said, “Well, was he drunk for four years? I might have!”