Eye Recommend --- House GOP Isn't Investigating a Scandal; It's Causing One

HOUSE GOP ISN'T INVESTIGATING A SCANDAL; IT'S CAUSING ONE, by Steve Benen -- 
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/house-gop-isnt-investigating-scandal

This is an excellent analysis of why the Republican Party is creating yet another committee--albeit this one is to be designated as "select"--to investigate Benghazi.  

House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) announced the creation of the new committee and then went on a rant about the lack of results, (well, actually, there were results, just not the ones the GOP wanted), of previous investigations including the I.R.S. and Fast and Furious.

(Any underlines are mine.) 

"His voice rising in anger and his face darkening to red, he went through the list of investigations that conservatives have pursued to frustratingly inconclusive ends over the last several years.

'When is the administration going to tell the American people the truth?  They've not told the truth about Benghazi, they've not told the truth about the I.R.S., they've not told the truth about Fast and Furious.'...

...Boehner probably got a little carried away...but the Speaker's tirade inadvertently gave away the game:  Republicans are just throwing garbage against the wall--any garbage they can come up with--in the hopes that something, anything, sticks...

...Boehner, with a rising voice and a red face, believes the White House has deceived the public about Benghazi.  Does the Speaker have any proof to bolster the condemnation?  No, but he has a new committee committed to finding something his party wants to hear.

Boener believes the White House has deceived the public about the IRS.  Does the Speaker have any proof to bolster this?  No, but he seems to think repeating bogus arguments makes them true."

Which has been the basic Republican modus operandi since January, 2009.

"But for Boehner to add Fast & Furious to the mix, a controversy that wrapped up in 2011, speaks to genuine desperation...

...There's no pretense ot legitimacy to any of this.  The Speaker put on a show...about stories that ran their course quite a while ago.  There have been no new revelations that fundamentally change our understanding about any of the allegations or justify Boehner getting hysterical.

So why has the political conversation turned to old, discredited 'controversies'? ...The combination of great 'Obamacare' news, dropping unemployment, and GOP frustration over the lack of legitimate White House scandals have created a toxic cocktail.

But what should arguably matter most to the public, is the fact that House Republicans have decided witch hunts and scandal mongering based on nothing is preferable to governing.  In American's name and on American's dime, GOP lawmakers have decided they won't pass immigration reform, won't come up with a health care plan, won't consider a credible jobs bill, won't raise the minimum wage, won't consider background checks, won't touch pay equity, won't vote on ENDA, won't create infrastructure jobs, and won't extend unemployment benefits.

They will, however, invest an enormous amount of time, energy, and resources into pursuing 'scandals' they know to be imaginary...

...We're left with little more than a do-nothing Congress wasting its time and ours, chasing a mirage.

Those looking for a political scandal are probably looking at the wrong end of Pennsylvania Avenue.

Basically, the GOP wants to find dirt--major, dark, toxic, crisis creating dirt--they can throw at the President.  And since none was found in previous investigations, instead of conceding that such dirt doesn't exist, they intend to investigate over and over and over until they find a way to align the facts to their satisfaction.

The whole Republican focus on Benghazi reminds me of this famous quote from Albert Einstein:  "Insanity--doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."