Benghazi, Lebanon, and the GOP Convention

In 1983, a truck bomb, created by a group calling themselves the “Islamic Jihad”, was exploded outside the U.S. Marine barracks in Lebanon. 240 Marines were killed. Many others were wounded and some of those later died. This was “the deadliest single-day death toll for the United States Marine Corps since World War II's Battle of Iwo Jima, the deadliest single-day death toll for the United States Armed Forces since the first day of the Vietnam War's Tet Offensive, the deadliest single terrorist attack on American citizens in general prior to the September 11 attacks, and the deadliest single terrorist attack on American citizens overseas.”

Contrast that with Benghazi which featured prominently at the GOP convention, recently ended. Four Americans died. A tragedy, but nowhere near the carnage that happened in Lebanon. Yet Reagan continues to be celebrated by the GOP while screaming for Clinton, who was not even president at the time, to be incarcerated and pilloried.

Now, I have a lot of disagreement on issues like health care, foreign policy, etc. with Hillary Clinton, but for the GOP to focus on an event like Benghazi to the exclusion of other much more important issues seems foolish and short-sighted if not just mean.

Another disconnect was Trump’s speech which harkened back to those of Nixon and Pat Buchanan in its focus on “law and order” and the problems with education. Those issues are constitutionally left to the states, of which a majority are controlled by the GOP. Not to mention the U.S. House and Senate have been controlled by the GOP. On the one hand many in the GOP proclaim the value of states rights, yet refuse to take responsibility for the issues they insist are in horrible shape but for which they are constitutionally responsible.

The whole plagiarism issue was kind of silly. If they wanted to celebrate the words of Michelle Obama, and worthy thoughts they are, indeed, they probably should have attributed them, which would have been a nice gesture that takes nothing away from the value of the words. On the other hand, both women no doubt had speech-writers and the Trump speech-writers should have known better.