Enough

By Kat Alikhan

In an act of self-flagellation, my husband and I attended a town hall meeting last week featuring recently elected U.S. Representative Doug Collins. Collins (R-District 9) won the seat following the redistricting of the state after the 2010 U.S. Census. We were most likely the only Democrats in the audience of about 75 people. Collins’ anti-government fervor flowed freely, a testament to the fun of preaching to the choir when the only tune your flock knows is the one that—oh, joy!—sings your praises.

Collins launched immediately into the subject of the Benghazi attacks in Libya on September 11, 2012, describing the topic as the one he hears about most from his constituents. Deeply offended by then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s “What does it matter?” response to the U.S Senate Committee on Foreign Relations (taken out of context, of course), Collins recounted that he had just spoken to a group of high school students, telling them (his head slowly shaking in righteous indignation as he spoke, I imagine), “If they want you to grow up and be in the diplomatic corps, you must have the protection you need.” (Apparently Congressman Collins is not worried about protecting these same students in school, because the topic of the recently defeated gun background check legislation was never mentioned.) And if I am to believe that Benghazi is truly the most important topic of concern of his constituents, he’s not hearing from enough Democrats, or he is lying.

I know I risk implying that I don’t think the Benghazi attacks are important and worth the follow-up to determine exactly what happened and what needs to be done to prevent such attacks in the future. That would be untrue. I care very much that the consulate was inadequately protected and that lives that were lost. Another hearing of the Committee on Foreign Relations was held this week featuring testimony from several new witnesses that was supposed to “blow the lid off the case.” From what I observed of the hearings—though emotional and heartfelt testimony was provided—no substantially new information was offered.

So why was I so bothered by Congressman Collins’ outrage? Because he was clearly working us, generating a froth of anger at the Obama administration that, based on the quick and vocal responses from our fellow meeting attendees, already existed and required little stirring up. This is where, depending on one’s political proclivities, one might say “Both sides do it.” There is truth in that statement, but it is our job to discern the difference between a smokescreen and the occasion for legitimate outrage.

The GOP makes no secret of their hatred of Obama. They are using the Benghazi attacks and, according to them, the president’s lack of follow-up in providing protection of the embassy, to generate more hatred and distrust, perpetuating the notion that Obama deliberately covered up his administration’s handling of the Benghazi situation knowing that if the truth came out, it would cost him the election. Mike Huckabee is predicting that Benghazi will prove to be Obama’s Watergate, and that Obama will be impeached and forced to exit his second term before completing it.

There was a charming animated movie several years ago titled “Up.” It wasn’t about politics or government, but one of the characters—a dog—was constantly distracted by the antics of a squirrel that had nothing to do with the story and would appear out of no where, causing the dog to lose sight of what he’d been focusing on at that moment and to quickly turn his attention to the rodent. When I heard Congressman Collins obsessing over the subject of the Benghazi attacks at the town hall, or when I sneak a peak at Fox News (another act of self-flagellation) and find virtual nonstop coverage of Benghazi as if it is the most important and only issue we should be focusing on as a nation, there is just one word that comes to mind.

Squirrel.