Heads Didn't Roll

NewsBusters has the best headline for the State Department officials who, as it was reported, resigned after the terror attach in Benghazi - Heads Didn't Roll: State Department Officials Who 'Resigned' Over Benghazi Still Have Jobs, Per NY Post.

On December 18, in covering the aftermath of the official report on the terrorist raid on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya which killed four Americans, including U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens, the Associated Press reported in the first three paragraphs of its coverage that "Three State Department officials resigned under pressure," identifying those who had stepped down as "Eric Boswell, the assistant secretary of state for diplomatic security, Charlene Lamb, the deputy assistant secretary responsible for embassy security, and Raymond Maxwell, the deputy assistant secretary of state who oversees the Maghreb nations of Libya, Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco."

It wasn't until the fourth paragraph that readers who got that far -- clearly a tiny percentage compared to those who saw the headline ("State Department security chief, 2 deputies, resign after damning Benghazi attack report") or only heard headline-based reports on broadcast outlets -- learned that "Some of the three may have the option of being reassigned to other duties." In other words, they might not be losing their jobs or even receive cuts in pay. At the New York Post this morning, Josh Margolin is reporting that the three identified by the AP plus one other person aren't being meaningfully punished in any sense:

 

Benghazi penalties are bogus

The four officials supposedly out of jobs because of their blunders in the run-up to the deadly Benghazi terror attack remain on the State Department payroll — and will all be back to work soon, The Post has learned.

The highest-ranking official caught up in the scandal, Assistant Secretary of State Eric Boswell, has not “resigned” from government service, as officials said last week. He is just switching desks. And the other three are simply on administrative leave and are expected back.

The four were made out to be sacrificial lambs in the wake of a scathing report issued last week that found that the US compound in Benghazi, Libya, was left vulnerable to attack because of “grossly inadequate” security.

State Department leaders “didn’t come clean about Benghazi and now they’re not coming clean about these staff changes,” a source close to the situation told The Post, adding, the “public would be outraged over this.”

... In response to questions from The Post, the State Department would only reissue the carefully crafted statement put out last week.

At the New York Times, the Headline was even more deceptively definitive: "4 Are Out at State Dept. After Scathing Report on Benghazi Attack." But in their third paragraph, reporters Michael R. Gordon and Eric Schmitt contradicted themselves by telling readers that "The four officials, a State Department spokeswoman said, 'have been placed on administrative leave pending further action.'"  (continue reading at NewsBusters)

 

American Power Blog has this:  And the Biggest Lie of 2012 Is ... The Benghazi clusterf-k, highlighted by Aaron Klein:

JERUSALEM – Information surrounding the Sept. 11 attacks against the U.S. mission in Benghazi has been so distorted by the Obama administration and so misreported by the news media that the issue was selected as WND’s “Biggest Lie of the Year.”  [snip] 

‘Consulate’?  (continue reading)
 

The Lid says:

When is a resignation not a resignation?  Apparently when you are forced to resign from Obama's state department.   According to today's NY Post...the four sacrificial lambs, who were forced to quit because of their mistakes leading to the deaths at the US Mission in Benghazi are ALL keeping their jobs after a little hiatus.

Everybody is asking and Drudge has it as a headline:  Where's Hillary?  Daniel Halper at the Weekly Standard wrote a full article about the disappearance of Hillary, she has not been seen in public or heard from in her own voice for over  two weeks.

Others:

 

Obama Administration Plays Clintonian Word Games Over Whether Officials “Resigned” Over Benghazi

 

Comments

[Steve American Patriot]

I'm literally getting sick and tired of these anti everything people - who instead of having anything constructive or even intelligent for that matter to add to any conversation they disagree with everything else who wants to protect the rights given to us Americans by our founding fathers.And I'm sick of Obama, Bloomberg and everyone else who wants to take it away.
If Thomas Jefferson could only see America now he'd think that he was in some Communist country..

[LibertyAtStake]

"administrative leave" is bureau-weenie for "paid vacation." The usual reward for agreeing to get thrown under the bus to protect highers up.

[Always On Watch]

The administration of smoke and mirrors -- and bald-faced lies, too.

I'm sick of it, SICK OF IT!