Plan B Forum

During a campaign stop at a coffee shop in Minnesota on Tuesday, Hillary Clinton told a young black woman to “go run for something” if she wouldn’t support the former secretary of State’s bid for the White House.

According to The Hill, the woman was confronting Clinton about the remarks she has made in the past, including comments she made about “super-predators” in 1996. Some people have taken those comments as digs at black men.

Clinton made reference to meeting a Somali-American city council member, presumably Abdi Warsame of the Minneapolis City Council, yet the woman persisted in arguing with Clinton.

“You know what, dear, you have a different opinion,” Clinton said. “He is a Somali-American elected to the city council. I’m really proud of that.”

After the woman disagreed with her again, Clinton fired back: “Why don’t you go run for something then?”

“I’m working for a Somali-American,” the woman said.

“Well, good!” Clinton exclaimed. “Good luck to you!”

The Atlantic


Congress Holds 22 Hearings on the 9/11 Attacks, and 21 on Benghazi

James Fallows
5:09 PM / October 13, 2015
Congress Holds 22 Hearings on the 9/11 Attacks, and 21 on Benghazi

In our Atlantic.com Politics channel, I have a long piece about the Benghazi Committee, and the way its emerging nature as a partisan oppo-research organization has played into a structural weakness in today’s press. You can get all the details here.

In response I got a note from a long time veteran of and scholar about Congressional operations. He adds this point about the proportionality of the Benghazi investigations:

One additional fact demonstrates the skewed priorities of the Republican-controlled Congress.

In 2001-2 Congress created a Joint Inquiry by the House and Senate intelligence committees that held 22 hearings [9 public and 13 closed] into the 9/11 attacks. [See H Rpt 107-792, p. 2]

So far, various panels have held 20 hearings on Benghazi, with the 21st to come on Oct. 22 when Hillary Clinton testifies.

22 to 21 suggests equal significance, doesn't it?

So after an attack in which 3,000 people are killed, followed by wars in which many times more die, the Congress holds a total of 22 hearings. This isn’t what I’ve been calling false equivalence, but it might qualify.

And after an episode in which four Americans are killed, but which there is apparent partisan advantage, it holds 21.

The next time you hear a cable pundit saying that the real problem in current politics comes from “extremists on both sides,” and you’ll probably hear that the next time you turn on the TV, I hope you’ll consider those 22/21 numbers, and others in this latest post.