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‘Umm. Ooops.’: The Top 5 Answers to Hillary Clinton’s Benghazi Question of ‘What Difference…Does It Make?’

Jan. 23, 2013 3:52pm Mytheos Holt

When Secretary of State Hillary Clinton faced down Sen. Ron Johnson and asked exasperatedly, “What difference at this point does it make” why the attacks in Benghazi happened, she must have known it would spur controversy.

Even if she didn’t, it has. Specifically, a whole host of right-leaning commentators have leaped at the chance to answer Clinton’s entirely rhetorical question. Below are the 5 best responses from those commentators.

#5. Redstate blogger Moe Lane

Top 5 Answers to Hillary Clintons Benghazi Question

Sean Hackbarth (left) and Moe Lane (right) (Photo Credit: The Other McCain)

“It matters because – contra Hillary Clinton’s tacit attitude, and frankly, contra Barack Obama’s tacit attitude, too – the US government exists for the benefit of its citizens, and it is responsive to the desires and opinions of its citizens. Not the other way around. When one of our people gets killed, the government has no right to hide the reason, despite how personally or professionally embarrassing that the reason might be. And it is especially important that American voters be told what is actually happening, because – and this will be a shock to the Democratic party, I’m sure – American foreign policy is ultimately supposed to be reflective of the will of the American electorate.”

#4. Columnist Debra J. Saunders

Photo Credit: AP

“There’s a big difference between a 9/11 attack that stems from a protest, some guys out for a walk, and a concerted terrorist attack on an American mission. If it was just a protest or guys out for a walk, the U.S. response and efforts to prevent a repeat must be very different than the reaction to a planned, armed attack to kill an American ambassador and staff. If it’s a protest or a rogue attack, routine security changes must occur. If it was a planned terrorist attack — and I think we know it was — Washington has to re-think its assumptions.”

#3. Washington Post columnist Jennifer Rubin

] (Photo Credit: Commentary Magazine)

“It doesn’t matter if the administration lied? Umm. Ooops. That will make the anti-Hillary ads if she runs in 2016. The New Media and conservative Republicans pounced. But more important has been Clinton’s acknowledgement as to how dangerous and widespread al-Qaeda is in Northern Africa. This is directly contrary to the Obama-Hagel meme that we have decimated al-Qaeda and really don’t need that big military any more. Clinton in essence just told the president his idea that we have ‘peace in our time’ is crazy talk. Perhaps Clinton should be brought in as a witness in the Chuck Hagel secretary of defense hearings. By the Republicans.”

#2. National Review’s Eliana Johnson

”Clinton’s dismissal of the impetus behind the attack also stands in stark contrast to nearly everything senior officials of the Obama administration said publicly about it in the days that followed, including both the president and Clinton herself — that is, when the administration was blaming the attack on a YouTube video. In opening remarks for a strategic dialogue with Morocco — video below — which occurred four days after the Benghazi attack, Clinton said, ‘There is no justification, none at all, for responding to this video with violence. We condemn the violence that has resulted in the strongest terms.’ The idea that the cause of the attack should now take a backseat to other concerns seems all too convenient. “

#1. Hot Air’s Ed Morrissey

Ed Morrissey (Photo Credit: Daily Caller)

“Well, gosh, I can think of a few reasons why it matters. First, it mattered enough for the Obama administration to send Susan Rice to five different Sunday talk shows to insist that the sacking was a spontaneous demonstration of anger over a months-old YouTube video, while saying that there was ‘no evidence’ that it was a terrorist attack.[...] It also matters because Barack Obama at the time had been bragging about crippling al-Qaeda while on the campaign trail.[...] There’s also the matter of Barack Obama’s intervention in Libya and his undeclared war against Moammar Qaddafi.”

–

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Comments (98)

LukeAppling
Posted on January 24, 2013 at 11:25am
Hillary, like Obama, believe they can do or say anything to get themselves off the hook of Benghazi and the media will cover it up as they have done for Obama his entire life. Think Larry Sinclair….

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team1blazer
Posted on January 24, 2013 at 11:21am
Madam Secretary, IT MATTERS because YOU were derilict in YOUR DUTY as Secretary of State to provide security for American citizens whom YOU placed in harms way. IT MATTERS because YOU are guilty of GROSS NEGLIGANCE in the performance of YOUR JOB. IT MATTERS because four Americans are DEAD because of YOUR INACTION. IT MATTERS because YOU LIED to the American People.

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B-Neil
Posted on January 24, 2013 at 10:44am
Why prosicute individuals who’s crime was commited over six monthes ago? Lets just go forward and find corrections so that kind of crime does’nt occure again. I’m propagating this from Hillery’s outburst. If that little question she was asked resulted in a temper tantrun what is she going to be like if elected President. She does’nt need a once a month excuse. Then we have to remember those who belive there above the law. Last: Congressional & Senate hearings are a waist of Tax Dollars. They do show us the idiots and weak minded individuals we put in office.

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perry1980
Posted on January 24, 2013 at 10:13am
I guess it does not matter who flew the planes into the towers or how they managed to get control over those planes right?

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YtownSports
Posted on January 24, 2013 at 9:43am
This from a high-ranking representative of “the party of the people,” the party that cares. They care until something gets them in trouble. Then it’s time to circle their wagons in arrogance and look down their noses at the rest of us.
The GOP did a horrible job of holding her feet to the fire. That’s why the administration thinks it can get away with so much of what it does. The GOP is a toothless lion.

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BookMDanno
Posted on January 24, 2013 at 9:33am
Clinton’s testimony only pointed out more issues; did you catch that she basically went against typical liberal philosophy by saying we DO need to lead overseas (and apparently NOT from behind)…?….need a strong presence?…to avoid power vacuums…?…in hot spots…?…putting our citizens in harms way to do so…? Good Gosh, this sounds like an imperialist, expansionist, expensive, interventionist policy that these ******** rail against during Republican administrations! Why is the lame-stream media not grilling Obama who once characterized us as arrogant for this attitude ?

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RightThinking1
Posted on January 24, 2013 at 9:32am
“What difference does it make?”
Charles Krauthammer stated it succinctly: “It is the difference between truth and falsehood.”

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CASDEE10
Posted on January 24, 2013 at 9:29am
It’s in her DNA to lie, cheat and steal.

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ANoNameMess
Posted on January 24, 2013 at 9:28am
The difference it *should* make is whether or not we impeach the lying, worthless Commander in Chief current in office. The cover-up was a political move so he could be re-elected (thus the real motive behind the question: “What does it matter now that Obama is back in power?”) We’ve seen what little regard he holds for his amassadors. What’s to stop the slimeball from driving the rest of the contry under a bus just to further his political agenda?

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justwow
Posted on January 24, 2013 at 9:21am
The Senator’s question demanded an honest answer, which ol’ Hill wouldn’t and/or couldn’t give. The only strategy left was to attack the question. Sometimes the only defense is a good offense. It worked. She didn’t give away anything that could be used against the administration. She’s got everybody unfocused and burning up their energy on side issues. With the total lack of journalism in this country to ask hard questions and focus the spotlight on the real issues, these folks will continue to do whatever the h*ll they want to, and we the sheeple will continue to baaaaa all the way to slaughter. The impotent Republicans continue to let out little whimpers now and again, just to put on a show that they are trying to change things but in the end, they are knocked down like sandcastles by the first wave of resistance they meet.

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oldincarolina
Posted on January 24, 2013 at 9:06am
If she was under oath , and lied , even once , what will be done about it ? I know the answer , but I’m just asking .

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pohknee
Posted on January 24, 2013 at 8:39am
Unfortunately, the only person out of place in this administration is one who tells the truth. I am sure that four dead americans “don’t make a difference” in her mind. The way Odumbo and his crew look at things, lying or hiding is the normal mode of operation. The “difference” is that they were caught in their lies. Make no mistake, Hillary was given a pass and the tough questions were not even asked. Just makes ya wonder.

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alrunner58
Posted on January 24, 2013 at 8:36am
It makes all the difference in the world that four Americans died, you cold hearted b!tch. I’m waiting to hear from the family’s. How dare her. The American people’s govt, lively hood, morals, ethic and much more are going to hell in a hand basket. The few informed voters need to step up and get rid of these immoral lying politicians and the low life’s that take hand outs that DON’T deserve them. I’m sick of it.

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RebelsYell
Posted on January 24, 2013 at 8:30am
It doesn’t matter if the administration lied(lies)……again…and again..and again, and Again and AGain and AGAin and AGAIn and AGAIN AND AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Anna Fallaxis
Posted on January 24, 2013 at 7:22am
When she uttered those despicable words “What difference does it make?”, all I could think of was how horrifying those words were to the families of the dead. She spit in their faces. We all watched this farce take place from the transparent lies about the (totally fake) video, the implication that there was nobody home at the Situation Room while the live feed of the 7 hour attack took place, (remember the PR photo of them as Bin Laden was taken?). She immediately disappeared to South America for some fake trip. She was AWOL for weeks. Then came the fake sympathy with caskets, the belly ache that caused her to faint. This progressed to being a concussion which bought another 2 weeks when it was necessary to elevate her imaginary condition to a blood clot. It was even mentioned that a possible result of this condition would be memory loss. All this BS bought her months of rehearsal/coaching time for yesterday’s farce. In other words, Hillary gets to escape this damning incident of treason with her usual dismissal of “Can’t We Just Move On?”. In the words of the great John Derbyshire, “We are Doomed”. The name of Clinton has become synonymous with Impunity, to our national shame. This was a cover-up of whatever nefarious dealings our ambassador was involved with and making up a fake story to shield POTUS during an election. Romney was a tragic wimp. Republicans had the softest target ever and totally dropped the ball, delivering us into a bleak future of

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- Totally Domestic
  Posted on January 24, 2013 at 1:13pm
  Agreed!
  
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krod2516
Posted on January 24, 2013 at 12:36am
I think the end of the congressional meeting was stunning when she said she had better things to do on a Sunday than speak to the American people regarding the Benghazi attack. Didn’t she say she had a stomach virus? What an Arrogant woman.

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fbanta
Posted on January 23, 2013 at 11:55pm
Secretary of State Clinton: it makes a difference because American lives were wasted that could have been saved had the US government exercised due diligence to protect lives put in harm’s way by their service to America.
There can be no doubt that American lives were lost because of government incompetence and criminal neglect.
The unanswered question is “what was the Ambassador doing in Benghazi that demands the US government lie to the American people in order to create diversion from answering that question?”
There is no rational reason that such a fallacious excuse would be conjured-up to explain the events in Benghazi if the US government wasn’t trying to hide activities more grievous than the murder of an American Ambassador.
The perfidy of this administration in this matter is intolerable. That’s what difference it makes!

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Totally Domestic
Posted on January 23, 2013 at 10:54pm
It matters because her &BO’s actions or non actions were TREASON!!!!!
That’s why. They know that it was am impeachable offence.

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grickm
Posted on January 23, 2013 at 10:18pm
The “difference” is accountability, competence, integrity, and truthfulness, all of which are seriously lacking throughout this administration.

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ILUVPORK
Posted on January 23, 2013 at 9:24pm
You are all missing the point.The folks in the embassy attack were sacrificed to the radical attackers so they would feel that yes, we can win against the U.S. and nothing will be done. Thus, could be that political donations were made by these attackers so the administration would feel they had to return a favor to appease the attackers.I thought the embassador was sacrificed because he had a male partner thus the religious attackers would be appeased and feel as if they got revenge upon the liberal “sinners” . it’s all about making the enemy feel like they are powerful, then stepping down from retaliating ,it does wonders for the attackers ego.the real question is why is there an embassy in such an unstable part of the world?Egypt and the tanks and planes we are sending ? Maybe they are considered junk now and are so high maintinance and riddled with spy ware who would want them other than a 3 rd world …….Just wondering

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skunkbear
Posted on January 23, 2013 at 9:05pm
The question is not what happened to the four amerikans; the question is why is amerika involved in the overthrow of other countries? Empire has its cost. The Benghazi Four knew the game they were playing. They volunteered to the gamble and lost. That the chess masters tried to cover up the loss of the pawns should be no surprise. There is a reason why the word/concept of pawn exists.

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The Big Mick
Posted on January 23, 2013 at 8:59pm
Top 10 Things Hilly has said “what difference, at this point, does it make” About (submissions welcome)
#6 Travelgate
#5 Who hired Craig Livingson
#4 Rose Law Firm Billing Records
#3. Vince Foster’s Death
#2. 4 Dead Americans
And the NUMBER ONE Thing Hilly has said: “what difference, at this point, does it make” about……
“BIMBO ERUPTIONS!”

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Mustangrider
Posted on January 23, 2013 at 8:26pm
The real issue is that this lie was told to the American people to hide something. It matters Mrs. Clinton because we want to know what is being hidden by this lie.

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media-bias-steals-elections
Posted on January 23, 2013 at 8:25pm
America is on a full speed, no detour “journey” to energy independence, there is no better time than the present than to tell all our buddies at the State Department, nice job, how about from here forward, we start telling ourselves, if we arm an Islamic state we are supporting Islam?

How many Americans think the UN is either a joke or a threat to their local political power, and or that we don’t want to support a religion with public tax dollars, which is what actions like keeping embassies open accomplishes, we do not want to compete with every business in the world, it makes economic sense to cherry pick?

We’ve got Israel to watch after, if we were playing our diplomatic cards right, that responsibility would vanish because of the “peaceful” promotion of the political aspirations of Islamic states in the region? So why do “peaceful” Islamic nations needs weapons that only have one purpose, attack other foreign nation states? Requests for those weapons (planes, tanks) indicate things are going the opposite direction you want them to?

On the road to energy independence, the debate about Libya and its leadership is not a factor, the debate is whether members of the US Congress are going to represent the interests of their people better than they have in the past, and if that means closing an embassy, or telling a billion dollar company like Google not to cry over spilled milk, then that is what we should do?

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leary1
Posted on January 23, 2013 at 7:41pm
hillary is a PERFECT SPECIMEN OF THE REGIME THAT IS TAKING OVER AMERICA. To think there are so many people that trust and believe in her , is scary!! Lives don`t matter to this collection of radicals, they want to subdue or destroy to accomplish their radical utopia. The means of that achievement DON`T MATTER ,lie,blackmail,silence,control nothing is off the table. Of course this is only my opinion, I could be completely wrong and misguided. It just looks awfully suspicious that we can`t get the truth about bengazi, fast and furious,green energy investments,public union power, what countries are friends or foes, which leader is good or not so, and WHO THE HELL IS RUNNING THIS COUNTRY…..REALLY??????

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