VIDEO: McCain: Obama Benghazi handling a cover-up or incompetence (CBS Face the Nation)

>>Well, yeah. He should’ve brought it up in the debates.<<

Not sure what you mean.

Libya and Benghazi was the VERY FIRST question Bob Schieffer brought up in the debates.

Both.

Vallerie Jarrett is wearing the Strap-on Of The United States.

It's about all he's really qualified for...

Really?

What did he say?

Sorry Wallace....Forget YOU CNN,NBC,ABC,CBS,MSNBC,N.Y.SLIMES,L.A.SLIMES..JUST GET THE FECK OUTTA THE WAY
WE ARE THE NEW NEWS MEDIA..GET USED TO IT !
Word of Mouth Media

To John McCain’s credit, he has been the only Repub bringing any attention to this tragedy and the stumbling and bumbling aftermath. And, he has been going on about it for a good week or so, realizing that if he doesn’t do it, then nobody will.
Where in hell are the rest of Congress on this??? It’s shamefull.

BKMRK

Yes indeed-no guts McCain.

mega bump to that!

I wouldnt count on it,

I think you're right. They'll use every delay tactic known to man, finally refusing to answer questions and may even invoke exec. priv., claiming national security and top secret concerns.
The more they've talked the bigger their hole has grown. So they'll simply stop talking. Anyone who does will be toasted alive.

To Bob Schieffer's credit, he actually followed up and allowed McCain to elaborate on this.

You're right.

Here's my transcript of the Schieffer-McCain interview:

Bob Schieffer: Mitt Romney has won the endorsement of the Des Moines Register in the battleground state of Iowa. This has not gone to a Republican presidential candidate since Richard Nixon. Wo, to get some reaction to that Our go-to guy in Arizona for news, weather and sports, John McCain. How's the weather out there, Senator, and good morning to you.
Senator McCain: It's very nice and balmy... I think the storm may not reach Arizona. But, obviously the disruption of the airlines... of the whole nation, obviously, and our prayers and thoughts are with those who lie in the path of the storm, and we'll keep praying.
Bob Schieffer: All right. I want to ask you about that endorsement by the Des Moines Register. I mean, sometimes endorsements matter, sometimes they don't. What about this?
Senator McCain: I think in a close race the Register is very well regarded, and of course it's almost a man-bites-dog story because the register has not endorsed a Republican since... I guess Calvin Coolidge, I don't know... but... so I think that aspect of it makes it a big story, and of course it's bound to help a little bit, at least in a very close race, and we view Iowa as almost a toss-up.
Bob Schieffer: Actually not since Richard Nixon, he was the last Republican.
Senator McCain: OK. OK. (smiles, chuckles)
Bob Schieffer: Let me ask you this, Senator.
In the last days of this race, if this storm turns out to be what they're telling us it's gonna be, who gets hurt the most by it?
Senator McCain: I'm not sure that it gets hurt, but I think that the President of the United States is the Commander in Chief, the American people look to him, and I'm sure he will conduct himself and play his leadership role in a fine fashion.
So I would imagine it might help him a little bit, but I'm not sure that it'll affect votes of people who have been exposed to this very long campaign. For the first time foreign policy is now part of this ah... discussion that we're having. I've been traveling all over... this tragedy turned into a debacle, and massive cover up, or massive incompetence in Libya, is having an effect on the voters because of their view of the Commander in Chief. And it is still... it is now the worst cover up or incompetence that I have ever observed in my life.
Bob Schieffer: Let me get back to that just.. .in a second... Let me ask you just... what you said there. Are you saying that the President... should he come off the campaign trail now and devote himself to directing storm relief efforts, and that sort of thing?
Senator McCain: Oh I'm sure he will, I'm sure... at least... you know, for a period of time. I'm sure that the President will. We all remember New Orleans.
pause
Bob Schieffer: Ah... what about what you just said... about Libya. Are you saying now... that this was a deliberate cover up coming out of Libya... that in fact that this was not what the administration said it was, that something else entirely... and that... I guess if it was a cover-up are you saying that they did it for political reasons?
Senator McCain: I don't know if it's either cover-up or gross... the worse kind of incompetence which doesn't allow... it doesn't qualify the President as Commander in Chief. You got the build-up to it, we knew of two attacks on our consulate, the British Ambassador was... an assassination attempt. Repeated warnings, repeated warnings... The last message our... the Lebanon ambassador sent to us, concerns about security in Benghazi... he had even voiced them to me, when I was in Tripoli. Nothing was done. I may not expect the President to know about movement of a few people back and forth, but he certainly should have known about the deteriorating situation, and nothing was done. On the "day of," obviously, there was no military either capability or orders to intervene in a seven hour fight, and probably the worst of all of this of course is the gross, gross, outrageous statements that he made and his... I was on your program when Susan Rice came on, and I was slack-jawed when she went through that routine of the... that this was a spontaneous demonstration, triggered by a video. We now know there was no demonstration. There was no mob. So how could intelligence community ever reach a conclusion that there was a spontaneous demonstration, when there wasn't.
You know, this administration is very good at... ah... touting, and giving all the details like, when they got bin Laden. But now, we know that there were tapes, recordings, inside the consulate, during this fight, and they've gotten, they came and the FBI finally got in, and they took those, and now they're classified as quote "Top Secret." Why would they be top secret? So the President went on various shows - despite what he says he said in the Rose Garden, about terrorist acts - he went on several programs, including The View, including Letterman, including before the UN, where he continued to refer... be days later, many days later... to this, as a "spontaneous demonstration because of a hateful video." We know that is patently false. What did the President know, when did he know it, and what did he do about it.
Bob Schieffer: Now...
Senator McCain: Go ahead...
Bob Schieffer: Well, I was just going to say, you have now called for de-classifying the drone pictures, apparently there were drone pictures. Why... have you seen those pictures, Senator?
Senator McCain: No, I have not. But what I do know is that those in the surveillance records from inside, and from around the consulate will show that there was no demonstration.
The Turkish Ambassador left his... the consulate, and said good-bye to Chris Stevens at 8:30 at night. It was no demonstration. So for literally days and days, they told the American people something that had no basis in fact whatsoever. And that is the President of the United States. And so... also, by the way, he said that he immediately ordered action to be taken... well, no action was taken over seven hours... now we find out the Secretary of Defense decided not to take any action... ahh, this... you know, somebody the other day said to me "this is as bad as Watergate," ...nobody died in Watergate. But this is either a massive cover-up, or incompetence that is not acceptable service to the American people.
Bob Schieffer: What... do you think Mitt Romney needs to do, if he called you and said "what do I need to do now, John, to close this," what would you tell him?
Senator McCain: I'd say keep doing what he's doing. I think that national security, as I said, foreign policy has now entered into this discussion. I think he has got some momentum... it isn't over till it's over as Yogi used to say, but I think that... again, project the image of leadership, a capability to be Commander in Chief. And, by the way, this whole debacle in Libya has exposed the failures of the Obama foreign policy, whether it be in Iraq, where al-Qaeda is now on the up-swing, there's al-Qaeda training camps in Iraq, there's Iranian planes flying weapons to Bashar Assad over Iraq, Syria... thirty-four thousand people now killed and we are... it's now spilling over into Lebanon and Turkey, etc. All we do is say to the people in Afghanistan that we're leaving, and we're seeing this terrible killing of Americans by Afghan soldiers
Bob Schieffer: OK...
Senator McCain: On and on. This is a foreign policy failure, and the American people may take that into consideration...
Bob Schieffer: All right...
... a week from Tuesday.
Bob Schieffer: All right Senator, thank you for being with us, I have to move on...

It's very interesting how much time Mr. Schieffer let the Senator have to speak his mind. It's also interesting how Schieffer started out the discussion with the relatively low-key banter about the weather, and the storm approaching the East coast. It's like he helped "frame" the much more serious discussion to come.

Schieffer was careful - with his tone and emphasis - to maintain his "journalistic detachment" when talking about the Libya disaster. But he let Mr. McCain talk, didn't interrupt him or filibuster him, didn't throw White House talking points in his face.

That seems to me to represent a shift in emphasis. Apparently, Bob Schieffer may have had enough, and may be off the Obama parade float. Once off, you're off... he knows that surely.

Note also how forceful McCain was, in his low-key way. He described the recent events in Libya as "the worst cover-up or incompetence I have ever observed in my life."

On two occasions, he described the situation as demonstrating Obama's unfitness for the job of Commander in Chief, although he didn't use those precise words, and his way of expressing himself seemed to be intentionally inartful. It was impossible to get it down in the transcript, but if you listen to the interview you'll see what I mean. He didn't make a clear, precise, unmistakable statement to that effect. In the first instance, he said "It doesn't qualify the President as Commander in Chief." This is kind of an interesting way of putting it. What he meant to say was "It demonstrates that the President is not qualified to act as Commander in Chief."

If you listen to the audio, it sounds like Senator McCain starts out to pronounce such a clear denunciation, but then he draws back. He ends up saying basically the same thing, but in a slightly more veiled manner.

The second time occurs when Mr. McCain says ...this is either a massive cover-up, or incompetence that is not acceptable service to the American people. Again, he seems to draw back just a little as he's saying these words. It's as if he's either (a) extremely reluctant to speak in such a way, or (b) he literally can't believe he's being forced to say such things.

I also liked the way he accused the President of lying, on multiple occasions, and of sending his underlings out to spread a lie. This was on the subject of the official story line in the hours, days and weeks after 9-11-12, during which the White House kept up this story that the attack was the result of a protest over a video.

All in all, a good interview and a good video. Could represent a crack in the facade.