Last updated on February 8th, 2013 at 02:03 pm
There are different ways to define intelligence, but it can be said to include having the ability for abstract thought, understanding, reasoning, learning, planning, and problem solving. Americans hope their representatives in government have a measure of intelligence that gives them insight into the workings of government, and one expects that those serving in the House of Representatives would have better than average cognitive abilities, but unfortunately, Michele Bachmann dispels the myth that intelligence is a pre-requisite to serve on the Intelligence Committee. After former CIA head David Petraeus testified about the events surrounding the Benghazi terror attack that claimed the lives of four Americans, Bachmann was still making demands and accusations that belie the fact the woman has a shred of intelligence or the ability to use simple logic.
On Friday after Petraeus answered questions and gave his account of the events leading up to, and after, the Benghazi attack, Bachmann demanded more answers from President Obama, and accused him of adopting a “false narrative.” It is no secret Bachmann has a problem with the President, but as usual, her remarks and demands reveal that her problem is vindictiveness and lack of intelligence. In a statement issued by her office after Petraeus’s testimony, Bachmann insisted on “further investigation” and demanded more information on the President’s knowledge of the attack comparing the Benghazi incident to the killing of Osama bin Laden. Now, Bachmann is not the brightest mind in the House, but in comparing the Benghazi incident with bin Laden’s death, she exposed herself as not only stupid, but vindictive and obsessive in seeking a scandal.
Bachmann said, “it is incomprehensible that we have yet to hear what the President knew, when he knew it, and the specific orders he gave his team,” and it sounded curiously like the questions failed presidential candidate Willard Romney demanded of the President during and after the Benghazi attack. One of the questions Bachmann demanded answers to was why there was a “lack of security at the Benghazi mission prior to the September 11 attack,” and it is the one question Bachmann should know better than anyone because it was House Republicans who failed to adequately fund increased security for diplomatic missions. However, Bachmann’s memory failure aside, it is the comparison between the Benghazi incident and bin Laden’s killing that exposes her ignorance.
She claimed in her statement that, “Almost immediately after Osama bin Laden was killed the Obama administration starting releasing specific details… By contrast, two months after the terrorist attacks in Benghazi… we have little knowledge of what the President knew.” There are several problems with Bachmann’s line of reasoning, but national security matters aside, comparing a terrorist attack with a covert military mission is mind-boggling.
The mission to find and kill Osama bin Laden was a very carefully planned operation the President had intimate knowledge of and monitored, with his security team, every step of the way. The President was the final authority in giving the go-ahead for the mission as well as the planning and rehearsal by the Seal Team that carried out the operation. Conversely, the group that attacked the Benghazi diplomats did not consult with, inform, or request clearance from the President before proceeding, so for Bachmann to demand what the President knew leading up to, during, and immediately after the attack borders on rank stupidity, if not childish naiveté. Bachmann’s demand to know what the President knew is similar to Willard Romney demanding to know what information was discussed in high-level talks with then-Russian President Medvedev and it demonstrates that Romney, like Bachmann, have little comprehension about secret negotiation processes or high-level security briefings between the President and his security team. It is also dangerous, and even Speaker of the House John Boehner admitted Bachmann was pretty dangerous.
In July when Bachmann was impugning the character of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s deputy chief of staff, Huma Abedin, and accusing her of infiltrating the U.S. government on behalf of radical Islamists in the Muslim Brotherhood, Boehner said her comments were “pretty dangerous” but he refused to consider removing her from the House Intelligence Committee. At the time, Bachmann and four Republicans sent a letter to inspectors general in the State, Homeland Security, Defense, and Justice Departments calling for an investigation into “potential Muslim Brotherhood infiltration” of the Obama administration by Abedin. Bachmann had nothing to insinuate that the Muslim Brotherhood had infiltrated the Obama Administration, but her position on the Intelligence Committee gave the appearance she had information to suggest an investigation was warranted. The truth is that Bachmann, like most Republicans, are frantic to find anything remotely resembling a scandal to pin on the President that could initiate impeachment proceedings. However, the real issue is why Boehner allows a “pretty dangerous” and not too bright person of Bachmann’s stature to stay on the House Intelligence Committee?
This nation cannot afford to have a person with Bachmann’s low intelligence and vindictive nature sitting on the Intelligence Committee, and Boehner must remove her and assign her a different post where she cannot jeopardize the nation’s security. The last thing America needs is a tea party sycophant being briefed on high-level intelligence matters who lacks the brainpower or restraint to process high level information and maintain their silence. Michele Bachmann has distinguished herself as a low-information, low intelligence American not worthy of sitting in the House of Representatives, much less serving on the Intelligence Committee and regardless what Boehner thinks of President Obama, he owes it to the American people, and national security, to remove Bachmann from her post before her vindictive nature leads her to divulge secrets that could jeopardize the security of Americans at home and abroad because as Boehner admitted, she can be pretty dangerous.
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Born in the South, raised in the Mid-West and California for a well-rounded view of America; it doesn't look good.
Former minister, lifelong musician, Mahayana Zen-Buddhist.
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