Mercy! Mercy! That Dang Nabed PERCY!

The Levers that didn't get Pulled

Last night I saw the Fox News Special, Behind the Smokescreen Surrounding Benghazi. On the one hand I have to give the FOX network credit for keeping the story alive. On the other there was little more than a whisper of where the President was when all this was going on. The entire program dealt with the false scent leading away from where the President was that night between about 5 O’clock when he got a “Heads Up” from the SECDEF and 4 O’clock the next morning when we see him on the phone with the Secretary of State.

Anybody who wants to know the character of our Chief Executive can read the book, “The Amateur.” Even his most ardent past supporters see a serious liability. However, of all the shortcomings, no ill-conceived action of this current Administration can top being “Disengaged” that fateful night. It will go down in history as the biggest betrayal of public trust in the history of the Republic.

Assume a best-case scenario. After hearing an update at 5 O’clock, from the SECDEF, he went back to the White House, had dinner, went to sleep and didn’t wake up until the next morning. Assume that before he departed he made it clear that American forcers were not to be deployed into Libya without his express approval. Since the facts are being withheld for political reasons, the American People are justified in making these generous assumptions.

The whisper of truth in last Nights Special came in the following words.

“There were a number of power levers, at the president's disposal, that never got pulled.”

Obviously, the reason they never got pulled was because he wasn't around to pull them. The President was “Disengaged.” So while the events played, out everybody stood around doing nothing, paralyzed and unable to take action. As least two centers of the National Command Authority filled with high paid talent, stood motionless waiting for someone to order them into action. That someone never materialized. The President had a date with destiny and never showed up.

Most everything that has happened since that night is tied to our Chief Executive, being asleep at the switch. Never mind the Ambassador and three Americans who were killed. Instead, visualize a missing Chief Executive, with all the options in his pocked, unavailable to execute the duties of his office.

If this wasn’t bad enough it is possible that concurrently, matters spun up out of control as the National Command Authority struggled desperately to find the missing President and protocols were set in motion that elevated the Nation’s alert posture. This is probably the, HUGE DARK SECRET. For the President it is a political embarrassment but for National Security it's a whole lot more. How else is it explained why the full powers of government have circled the wagons to conceal what happened during those missing hours?

This brings us back to the secrecy issue. A case can certainly be made for concealing programs designed to keep Americans safe. However, when the custodians of these programs are threatened and they make an unwarranted use of the Classification System, something is wrong. We saw in the FOX Special a pathetic performance by the SECDEF, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, and the SOCOM Commander trying to hide what happened. To the nation’s detriment they have done a pretty good job with the Command side of the equation letting the press run with the State Department Component. FOX news is barking up the wrong tree.

This whole cover-up squanders the trust equity that government has with the American people. Our leaders, military and civilian, are complicit in hiding the truth from those they are sworn to serve.