Last Call For Meanwhile In Benghazi...

The only even remotely legitimate complaint Republicans had about BENGHAZI!!!11!!one! was put to rest today when the White House announced that the suspect behind the embassy attack was captured over the weekend and will face criminal charges in US federal court.

U.S. forces working with the FBI captured a key suspect in the deadly 2012 attack on the American diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, U.S. officials said Tuesday. 

Libyan militia leader Ahmed abu Khattalah was captured over the weekend, officials said. It is the first arrest and detention by the United States in connection with the Benghazi attack. 

Abu Khattalah will be brought to the United States to face charges "in the coming days," said Edward Price, a spokesman for the National Security Council. 

Abu Khattalah, who faces three federal criminal charges, will be tried in U.S. courts, said Attorney General Eric Holder.

Imagine that.  We didn't have to invade Libya or effect regime change or bomb the bejeezus out of anyone to get the guy, we nailed him with special forces and the FBI.  Detective work and human intelligence.  You know, actual police work.  Conservatives of course are absolutely horrified.

Speaking on Fox News’ Outnumbered just moments after news broke that the United States had captured Ahmed Abu Khattala, Kennedy mused, “you have a former Secretary of State who is in the middle of a high profile book tour, I think this is convenient for her to shift the talking points to some of the things she has been discussing.”

The sentiment — that Obama timed Khattala’s capture for political benefit — was quickly echoed by other conservatives. Rory Cooper, an aide to House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, tweeted, “While it’s great to see they caught the Benghazi suspect, it’s important to remember, he wasn’t really hiding."

How far Kennedy has fallen since her days with Kurt Loder at MTV News, on and Eric, shut it, you got fired.  But seriously, we captured the guy to help Hillary in 2016?  Conducting military operations to help your party's political prospects is something a Republican would do, sure.  Pretty sure President Obama wanted to get the bad guy.  Like he did with Bin Laden.  You know, after Bush failed to do so for seven years.

And speaking of Republicans who have no idea how the universe actually works, Huckleberry Graham walked right into the jet intake again today.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) raised questions about how the administration plans to deal with Khatallah, arguing he should be held as a prisoner of war in the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, rather than brought into the federal criminal justice system. 

“He should be going to Gitmo and be held as an enemy combatant,” Graham said. “And it would be the biggest mistake for the ages to read this guy his Miranda rights.” 

Graham said he’s concerned Khatallah is being held on a ship, but said that “at the end of the day, I’m glad we captured somebody.” 

“I hope that person can provide us good intelligence,” he said. “We should have some quality time with this guy — weeks and months. Don’t torture him, but have some quality time with him.”

Yeah, let's just illegally detain him without due process for the rest of his natural life.  That's a great idea, which is why Barack Obama is president and Lindsey Graham is a meatball with legs.

They're just mad that Obama beat them again, like they've been for the last six years.

Closer To The Edge Of Crazy

If there's one thing everyone in pundit land can agree on, it's that Eric Cantor's primary loss has pushed the party even further to the right, to the point where GOP members of congress are now openly predicting impeachment articles would pass the House.

Rep. Lou Barletta (R-PA) said Monday he thinks impeachment of President Barack Obama “probably could” pass in the House of Representatives.

“He’s just absolutely ignoring the Constitution, and ignoring the laws, and ignoring the checks and balances,” Barletta said during an appearance on a local radio show, audio of which was first posted by BuzzFeed. “The problem is, you know, what do you do for those that say impeach him for breaking the laws or bypassing the laws. Could that pass in the House? It probably, it probably could.”

Barletta also mentioned the defeat of House Majority Leader Eric Cantor to a little known tea party candidate David Brat, calling the upset a “big message” that people in Washington “better pay attention to.”

Although the Republican congressman said impeachment could pass among fellow lawmakers, he was unsure if the public would be in favor of it.

Last year, a similar declaration about impeachment was made by Rep. Blake Farenthold (R-TX), who told constituents in his district "you could probably get the votes in the House of Representatives to do it."

You'd better believe that the GOP will soon put this theory to the test, more than likely next year after midterm elections.

Note than Barletta can't name any specific impeachable offenses, but nobody's really got time for that, do they?  The only question is how quickly after the dust settles on the 2014 midterms that this happens, and how quickly the country turns on the GOP as a result.

GOP Sets A Pollution Trap

House Republicans are looking to kill President Obama's EPA regulations on power plant emissions by banning any money to be used to enforce them in the next interior bill.

Senior House Republicans are considering using a must-pass government funding bill to block President Barack Obama's new rule to limit greenhouse gas pollution from coal-fired power plants.

Rep. Mike Simpson (R-ID), who chairs the Appropriations subcommittee on energy and water, told Bloomberg News the funding ban "will be" in the interior panel's government funding legislation. 

He isn't the only influential Republican who's interested in inserting a provision in appropriations legislation to prohibit implementation of the regulation unveiled this month by the Environmental Protection Agency. 

Rep. Ken Calvert (R-CA), who chairs the subcommittee on interior-environment, said Republicans will "take a serious look at" barring funds for the EPA rule, according to Bloomberg. He said the inclusion of such a provision wouldn't surprise him because "[t]here's great interest from a lot of members." 

Congress has three and a half months before funding expires. Republicans could theoretically shift strategy and remove the provision before final passage on the House floor. Or they could pass it and spark a battle with Senate Democrats and the White House with the prospect of another government shutdown looming when the fiscal year ends on Sept. 30.

In other words, the GOP is about to try to start another government shutdown fight that may shut down the federal government just weeks before midterm elections.  Let me know how that works out for you, guys.

By all means, put another shutdown fight in the news five weeks before midterms.  Please.  Then watch what happens.

StupidiNews!

• The aircraft carrier George H.W. Bush has entered the Persian Gulf, anchoring President Obama's possible responses to ISIS violence in Iraq.
• Alabama's Court of Criminal Appeals has unanimously struck down the state's law criminalizing consensual gay sex, long overdue in the wake of a 2003 Supreme Court ruling.
• The US pulled off a late goal by John Brooks to secure a 2-1 win over nemesis Ghana in FIFA World Cup action from Brazil, a win the US had to have for any hope of advancement.
• The death Monday of baseball Hall of Fame player Tony Gwynn from mouth cancer has prompted calls for the sport to ban chewing tobacco's use.
• The 6th Circuit Court of Appeals has thrown out a lower court ruling that found a blogger liable for libel against a former Cincinnati Bengals cheerleader.