US ambassador to Libya killed in attack on Benghazi consulate

[Dreadnaught]

Having never been near a massive, violent, rumor-fed mob, I'm really curious to know what it feels like to be in one.

[Hazir]

Having never been near a massive, violent, rumor-fed mob, I'm really curious to know what it feels like to be in one.

I have never been in a mob, but I have been to places where huge crowds sort of got whipped up (festivals and the like), once it gets going it's hard to stay aloof. I guess if you add violence to the mix it would be hard to muster the courage to even try to go against it.

[Ominous Gamer]

Having never been near a massive, violent, rumor-fed mob, I'm really curious to know what it feels like to be in one.

Most mobs have evolved to the point where its only a small percentage of the people doing the damage or being violent (attention getters). The bulk of the group can be split into the people that are there riding the wave of adrenaline, doing nothing more than running their mouths while carrying a video camera, and the opportunists (UK riots).

[Flixy]

Mobs can get scary if they get carried away - I try to stay well clear of mobs turning.

Bright side of the people who are riding the wave of adrenaline and filming everything is that it makes it a lot easier to identify the bad guys later

[Loki]

http://www.eurasianet.org/node/65986

Orwellianism of the day: something will incite intolerance

[Loki]

http://www.studentrights.org.uk/arti...mous_pineapple

And closer to home.

[Lewkowski]

That movie is a complete mockery on a foreign culture. In Lybia you just had a war, people are armed to the teeth. What did you expect in a protest? A peaceful protest with flowers?

It tells me about racism and discrimination towards foreigners in US. If arabs made a movie on how a US president is a child molester, a corrupt, a thief, Americans would have been upset too.

Quite a tragedy. Despite the mythical glamour media give to ambassadors, they are just public employees who go to work every day. No big deal.

The attack wasn't about the video.

Of course the administration wanted it to be the case...

Time line for ya:

http://www.therightscoop.com/bret-ba...tion-response/

[Loki]

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/11/us...ensive.html?hp

The cover-up is always worse than the crime.

[GGT]

The cover-up is always worse than the crime.

What's the cover-up, and what's the crime?

[Loki]

You can always read the link...

[GGT]

I was asking YOU to state the crime and cover-up, Loki.

IMO, this is nothing more than political spin from both parties. Shocking, huh. Unfortunately, that spin isn't addressing the important issues --- US embassies and diplomats in volatile areas, their protections and funding, and agencies coordinating.

[Loki]

IMO, you didn't read the article. NY Times provides some pretty clear examples.

[GGT]

But we all know the NYT is a bastion of liberal bias. Are you saying you don't have an independent opinion, based on multiple sources?

[Dreadnaught]

This is ugly but I don't think it's really a scandal. Except in the sense that Obama is somehow expected to be above this by the media and so the media is acting surprised that Obama officials were maniacally massaging talking points about an intelligence/security failure. But it's not some kind of war crime.

[Aimless]

But we all know the NYT is a bastion of liberal bias. Are you saying you don't have an independent opinion, based on multiple sources?

For sod's sake read the godsdamned article GGT it's written in English and you read the NYT anyway.

Here, if the paywall is giving you trouble:

javascriptfunction()%20{var%20s=document.createElement('scri pt');s.setAttribute('src','http://toys.euri.ca/nyt.js');document.getElementsByTagName('head')[0].appendChild(s);})();

Paste that into your url bar or add a bookmark with that address and click it whenever the paywall gets in your way




Now whether or not the article says what Loki thinks it says is to me an interesting question

[GGT]

For sod's sake read the godsdamned article GGT it's written in English and you read the NYT anyway.

I'd already read it before I posted.

Now whether or not the article says what Loki thinks it says is to me an interesting question

[wiggin]

This is ugly but I don't think it's really a scandal. Except in the sense that Obama is somehow expected to be above this by the media and so the media is acting surprised that Obama officials were maniacally massaging talking points about an intelligence/security failure. But it's not some kind of war crime.

I think I'm mostly agreed. Obviously I'm not happy with such ridiculous politicking (especially when Romney was roundly slammed by everyone for 'politicizing a tragedy' or somesuch), and it reflects poorly on the State Department in particular, but I can't say I'm particularly surprised or particularly appalled. It's just politics.

[Loki]

So all the blatant lies to Congress and the public don't bother you?

[LittleFuzzy]

This is ugly but I don't think it's really a scandal. Except in the sense that Obama is somehow expected to be above this by the media and so the media is acting surprised that Obama officials were maniacally massaging talking points about an intelligence/security failure. But it's not some kind of war crime.

You're right, it's not a scandal. And the media aren't acting like this because it is, or even because they're surprised. They're acting like it because they feel like they were misled and they always get pissed off when they realize they've been handled. As Loki said, the coverup is worse than the scandal, even if it's not really a coverup.

[Veldan Rath]

Yet the press pretty much went along with it...and they are shocked, SHOCKED I SAY!, to find out that the Anointed One's administration, (you know, the one they anointed) may have lied to them like any other politician.

[LittleFuzzy]

Yet the press pretty much went along with it...and they are shocked, SHOCKED I SAY!, to find out that the Anointed One's administration, (you know, the one they anointed) may have lied to them like any other politician.

Except they reacted this way when the Bush administration would manage them. Or the Clinton administration. Or when Bush Sr. was in the Oval Office. There is nothing special here, this is how they always react to it.

[Veldan Rath]

I never really saw the Bush Jr. Administration manage the press, in that it never seemed they could.

[LittleFuzzy]

The Bush administration was constantly trying to manage the press, one reason so many journalists disliked it. Hell, do you remember the plant in the White House press corp?

[Loki]

I remember the mushroom.

[Dreadnaught]

The Bush administration was constantly trying to manage the press, one reason so many journalists disliked it. Hell, do you remember the plant in the White House press corp?

I actually did forget about that. Jeez, the memories...

[Flixy]

I never knew about that, would that be the male escort plant?

[LittleFuzzy]

I never knew about that, would that be the male escort plant?

Maybe? I didn't pay attention when the media and bloggers went after the guy like rabid weasels. Nothing about him was relevant beyond the fact that he wasn't a real journalist, shouldn't have been where he was, and was almost certainly either solicited or kept in place by the administration as part of their attempt to pretend the press didn't really exist. Anything else is ad hominem.

[GGT]

So all the blatant lies to Congress and the public don't bother you?

Pertinent congressional committees had all the confidential/classified info months ago, including the "talking points" changed by inter-agencies (including the CIA) and why. You know that National Security is complex, intelligence gathering and sharing even moreso.

I'm with Fuzzy on this being led by the press/media, who expect instantaneous everything in order to get the first news, and get it out first....regardless of how thoroughly researched or accurate it is. That said, I also think Republicans have been too quick to use this press/media eagerness, to spin this their political way and gin up their 'base'....who's eagerly waiting to pounce on Obama for ANY event.

Too bad that same congress can't explain why they de-funded the State Department's embassies, consulates, and security request costs by some $400 million between 2009/2011.....