Northwest Indiana Discussion

Hillary Clinton’s favorability rating dropped significantly in a Quinnipiac University poll released Friday, as the months-long investigation into the terrorist attacks in Benghazi have begun to drag on the former secretary of State.

According to the survey, 52 percent said they have a favorable view of Clinton, against 40 unfavorable. That’s down from her all-time high of 61 percent favorable and 34 unfavorable in February of this year.

“The drop in favorability is substantial among men, Republicans and independent voters. One reason for her drop may be that 48 percent of voters blame her either a little or a lot for the death of the American ambassador in Benghazi.”

Hillary Clinton’s favorability has fallen to its lowest point since 2008, a new poll finds.

Fifty-eight percent of Americans view Clinton favorably, according to a Gallup poll released Monday. This is the lowest favorability rating she has received since assuming the position of Secretary of State during Obama’s first term.

Meanwhile, her unfavorable rating has ticked upwards, from 31 percent in April to 39 percent in June.

Clinton’s favorability ratings dropped most dramatically among Independents, with a 9 percentage point change from April to June: 63 percent favorability to 52 percent. Favorability has remained relatively stable among Democrats and Republicans.

“While Clinton has long been the most popular official, past or present, in the Obama administration, recent congressional testimony about the Benghazi controversy from so-called whistleblowers has called into question her leadership during her tenure at the State Department,” Gallup said.

A sex tape that Monica Lewinsky recorded for Bill Clinton at the height of their scandalous affair has leaked, during which the former White House intern is heard planning a secret sexual rendezvous with the president and declaring she is “too cute and adorable” to be ignored.

On the audio tape obtained by The National Enquirer, Lewinsky at one point tries to seduce the commander in chief: “I could take my clothes off and start… well… I know you wouldn’t enjoy that? I hope to see you later and I hope you will follow my script and do what I want.”

Lewinsky, who turned 40 last week, made the three-minute, 47 second recording in November 1997 and addressed it to “handsome.”

It was believed to have been destroyed years ago, but a copy was secretly made and has subsequently surfaced.

Lewinsky is the only voice heard.

On it, she tells the 42nd President: “Since I know you will be alone tomorrow evening, I have two proposals for you, neither of which is you not seeing me.”

Lewinsky then orders the leader of the free world to use his secretary, Betty Currie, as a go-between and plan the presidential schedule so they could covertly meet without a formal record of her visit.

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is on top of yet another poll today. But it’s not the result her team was hoping for.

In a new Rasmussen Reports poll, Clinton tops five others as the one candidate voters don’t want to win in 2016.

“Regardless of whom you would vote for, which candidate would you least like to see win the Democratic nomination in 2016? Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, Martin O’Malley, Andrew Cuomo, Antonio Villaraigosa or Cory Booker?” Rasmussen asked.

The results: Clinton 27 percent, Biden 24 percent. The rest were in the 15 percent to 17 percent, reported Rasmussen. Women are more enthusiastic supporters of Clinton than men are. Men are more likely to hope she doesn’t get the Democratic nomination.

The big question right now may be whether Hillary Clinton will run in 2016, but Bill Clinton says their daughter Chelsea would make a better president “over the long run.”

“The day after tomorrow, my wife because she’s had more experience. Over the long run, Chelsea, she knows more than we do about everything,” Clinton said Wednesday on CNN’s “Piers Morgan Live” when Morgan asked who of the two would make a better president.

Clinton said Chelsea knows more than the former president and his wife.

“And there was a time in her childhood when I thought maybe she thought she did when she didn’t, now it’s highly embarrassing because she in fact does. So, I feel like I’m going to school everyday when we have a conversation,” Clinton said.

Responsibility for the September 11 Benghazi assault and the deaths of four U.S. citizens — including Libyan ambassador Chris Stevens — lies personally at the feet of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, according to California Republican Rep. Darrell Issa.

“The investigation really is now not about what we know, but about how we can prevent abuse of security before the fact, how we respond during the fact, and how we hold people accountable after the fact for deliberate misinformation — if you want to be kind — [and] outright lies, if not,” said Issa, who serves as head of the Oversight and Government reform committee.

Clinton recklessly pursued an ill-advised policy of “normalization” meant to make the U.S. look like it was winning the war on terror, dividing the State and Defense Departments. The rift between the two weakened cooperation — the full weight of assets that the U.S. could have deployed to help the Americans stranded in the consulate were not dispatched, since the State department did not want to involve military forces for the sake of appearances, Issa said.

“We know from Hillary Clinton on down there was a policy of normalization to make it appear as though we had won the war on terror,” Issa said. “I was in Libya just the other day, and one thing that I came back with was a strong opinion that that ‘stand down’ had everything to do with the fight between Department of State headed Hillary Clinton and the Defense Department, and that ultimately, State was willing to put their assets in, and did not want any military assets in, because they did not want to escalate what ultimately should have been escalated to a real rescue mission.”

Issa harshly criticized Clinton’s role in the U.S. response to the attack and took a dim view of her congressional testimony.

“Secretary Clinton famously said, ‘What difference does it make?’ It makes a difference whether or not you were leading an organization that cared about the people beforehand, did everything it could during the attack, and whether you told the truth afterwards. [I]n this case, she fails all three tests.”

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was relentlessly heckled over the Benghazi terrorist attack as she tried to deliver a speech at a New York university on Wednesday night.

Clinton was speaking at the University of Buffalo as part of the university’s ‘Distinguished Speakers Series’ when a man in the crowd began screaming about the attack that left three people dead, including Libyan Ambassador Chris Stevens.

‘Benghazi, Benghazi – you let them die,’ the man screamed as Clinton continued to give her speech.

After about 40 seconds of yelling Clinton appeared to acknowledge the screaming man.

‘We have to be willing to come together as citizens to focus on the kind of future we want, which doesn’t include yelling. It includes sitting down and talking to one another,’ she said sternly.

The crowd then erupted with applause.

The heckler isn’t the only person who blames Clinton for the attack – the mother of one of the four Americans killed in the attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya told CNN’s Jake Tapper earlier this year that she also blames Clinton for her son’s death.

Hillary is a lock for 2016. Hillary is the most qualified person in the history of the planet to be president. Hillary is all that and a bag of chips. The problem? Can you name one – just one – of Hillary’s accomplishments?

If you can’t, you’re not alone; neither could Clinton White House Counsel Lanny Davis. Appearing on the Hugh Hewitt radio program, the long-time Clinton devotee was asked by the host to list Hillary’s accomplishments:

Hewitt: “Summarize for me what she accomplished as Secretary of State.”

Davis: “Well, the biggest thing of all is goodwill around the world, which is what secretaries of State do.”

Hewitt: “Like in Syria…”

Davis: “I don’t know what any secretary of State…”

Hewitt: “…and Egypt and Libya?”

Davis: “I don’t know, well, Libya and certainly the intervention in Libya and getting rid of Qaddafi, you would say that’s a pretty good achievement for the President. But these are presidential achievements with a partnership of the secretary of State.

What do secretaries of State do? For example, she was very instrumental in the details of the Iranian sanctions program, which has produced, apparently, some results. I’m very skeptical about this deal in Iran on the nuclear weaponry.”

And so it goes. What has Hillary Clinton accomplished? During her time as Secretary of State, or before? The next time someone tells you that Hillary is the most qualified person in the history of the universe to be President of the United States, ask them to give you a reason. Just one.

13 Benghazis That Occurred on Bush's Watch Without a Peep from Fox News

The Benghazi attacks (the consulate and the CIA compound) are absolutely not unprecedented even though they're being treated that way by Republicans who are deliberately ignoring anything that happened prior to Inauguration Day, January 20, 2009.

January 22, 2002. Calcutta, India. Gunmen associated with Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami attack the U.S. Consulate. Five people are killed.

June 14, 2002. Karachi, Pakistan. Suicide bomber connected with al Qaeda attacks the U.S. Consulate, killing 12 and injuring 51.

October 12, 2002. Denpasar, Indonesia. U.S. diplomatic offices bombed as part of a string of "Bali Bombings." No fatalities.

February 28, 2003. Islamabad, Pakistan. Several gunmen fire upon the U.S. Embassy. Two people are killed.

May 12, 2003. Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Armed al Qaeda terrorists storm the diplomatic compound, killing 36 people including nine Americans. The assailants committed suicide by detonating a truck bomb.

July 30, 2004. Tashkent, Uzbekistan. A suicide bomber from the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan attacks the U.S. Embassy, killing two people.

December 6, 2004. Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Al Qaeda terrorists storm the U.S. Consulate and occupy the perimeter wall. Nine people are killed.

March 2, 2006. Karachi, Pakistan again. Suicide bomber attacks the U.S. Consulate killing four people, including U.S. diplomat David Foy who was directly targeted by the attackers. (I wonder if Lindsey Graham or Fox News would even recognize the name "David Foy." This is the third Karachi terrorist attack in four years on what's considered American soil.)

September 12, 2006. Damascus, Syria. Four armed gunmen shouting "Allahu akbar" storm the U.S. Embassy using grenades, automatic weapons, a car bomb and a truck bomb. Four people are killed, 13 are wounded.

January 12, 2007. Athens, Greece. Members of a Greek terrorist group called the Revolutionary Struggle fire a rocket-propelled grenade at the U.S. Embassy. No fatalities.

March 18, 2008. Sana'a, Yemen. Members of the al-Qaeda-linked Islamic Jihad of Yemen fire a mortar at the U.S. Embassy. The shot misses the embassy, but hits nearby school killing two.

July 9, 2008. Istanbul, Turkey. Four armed terrorists attack the U.S. Consulate. Six people are killed.

September 17, 2008. Sana'a, Yemen. Terrorists dressed as military officials attack the U.S. Embassy with an arsenal of weapons including RPGs and detonate two car bombs. Sixteen people are killed, including an American student and her husband (they had been married for three weeks when the attack occurred). This is the second attack on this embassy in seven months.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bob-cesca ... 46847.html

Catherine Herridge of Fox News is all over new evidence that former CIA Deputy Director Mike Morrell was responsible for editing the Benghazi talking points, while attempting to blame the FBI.

As President Obama continues to cling to revisionist history about his administration’s PR campaign to downplay the “self-evident” terrorist attack (which the White House was notified of within hours), and to spin the organized raid on the diplomatic facility in Benghazi, Libya as a protest that took place due to a YouTube video, the testimony of the #2 diplomat in Libya at the time Gregory Hicks and surveillance camera footage fly in the face of such assertions.

Now it appears that the Obama administration is still trying to hold on to that false narrative, which was trotted out to mislead the American people ahead of a fairly closely contested election. The president had made a statement at the DNC convention that al Qaeda was “on the path to defeat.”

The president’s campaign would not have wanted clear evidence that an al Qaeda affiliate, Ansar al-Sharia, was involved in what appears to be a retaliatory strike for the U.S.’ killing of al Qaeda terrorist Abu Yahya al-Libi at a U.S. diplomatic facility under cover of regional protests.

The talking point about the non-existent protest was repeated not only at the state funeral for the Benghazi victims and to the families of the deceased, but was interwoven into the president’s recent interview with Fox News host Bill O’Reilly.

But the intelligence community surely was aware of al Qaeda threats to our diplomatic facilities before the heavily armed Benghazi raid. Ayman al Zawahiri, the head of al Qaeda, had called for strikes in the region days before the Benghazi raid; nonetheless, there was no increase in security within Libya during the anniversary of 9/11.

CIA security personnel and former Navy SEALs Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty were killed from mortar fire seven hours after the White House learned of the Benghazi raid. They had disavowed multiple stand down orders, and bravely fought to aid our diplomatic personnel when the chain-of-command had failed to do its duty.

As testimony from former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and then Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Martin Dempsey clearly demonstrate, no rescue operation for those under siege at Benghazi was even undertaken.

A recent Senate report concluded that the deaths of four servicemen at Benghazi were “preventable.” There had been multiple violent attacks in Libya prior to the raid on the Benghazi diplomatic facility, which was extricated by the CIA from the talking points, according to Herridge’s report.

It may very well be that the mindset was to not jeopardize the 2012 election for President Obama; and furthermore, the future election chances of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, an obvious 2016 hopeful. Morrell’s involvement in changing the talking points appears to be a golden thread.

The New York Times recently floated a duplicitous piece on Benghazi that was a whitewash of Hillary Clinton’s role in the security debacle. Far from answering the 3 am phone call, she failed to convene a Counter-terrorism Security Group that could have organized an In-extremis Force to come to the aid of American servicemen in harm’s way.

The liberal “paper of record” was recently blasted for its reportage that al Qaeda’s role in the Benghazi terrorist attack was unclear not only by conservative Republican Trey Gowdy, but moderate Republican Senator John McCain, and liberal Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein.

Before Mike Morrell left the CIA, he disclosed to the Wall Street Journal his interest in “advising future presidential campaigns.” Morrell then joined Beacon Global Strategies, a firm founded by Phillippe Reines, who has been described as Hillary Clinton’s “principal gatekeeper.” Morrell is currently a paid contributor for CBS News.

The Obama administration counts on a virtual monopoly of information to keep the truth from coming out; thus its open disdain for Fox News and talk radio. But unfortunately for those who mislead the American people, there are a diversity of sources trying to find out the truth.

Link courtesy of Artie