Susan Rice Withdraws

Susan Rice, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, appeared to be Obama's choice to replace Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State, at least for a while.

Obama and his hacks did all they could to paint John McCain and other senators as racist and sexist for opposing her potential nomination.

Obama made a fool of himself when he played the tough guy at his news conference, coming to the aid of the helpless Susan Rice.

This performance didn't convince McCain and company to back down. They were right to stand strong and demand accountability from Rice for her role in the Benghazi cover-up.

So, Susan Rice, the woman Obama wanted, is withdrawing herself from consideration to replace Hillary.

In the Washington Post, Rice writes:

On Thursday I asked that President Obama no longer consider me for the job of secretary of state. I made this decision because it is the right step for this country I love. I have never shied away from a fight for a cause I believe in. But, as it became clear that my potential nomination would spark an enduring partisan battle, I concluded that it would be wrong to allow this debate to continue distracting from urgent national priorities — creating jobs, growing our economy, addressing our deficit, reforming our immigration system and protecting our national security.

These are the issues that deserve our focus, not a controversy about me. On Sept. 16, when Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was unavailable after a grueling week, the White House asked me to appear on five Sunday talk shows to discuss a range of foreign policy issues: the protests against our diplomatic facilities around the world; the attack in Benghazi, Libya; and Iran’s nuclear program.

When discussing Benghazi, I relied on fully cleared, unclassified points provided by the intelligence community, which encapsulated their best current assessment. These unclassified points were consistent with the classified assessments I received as a senior policymaker. It would have been irresponsible for me to substitute any personal judgment for our government’s and wrong to reveal classified material. I made clear in each interview that the information I was providing was preliminary and that ongoing investigations would give us definitive answers. I have tremendous appreciation for our intelligence professionals, who work hard to provide their best assessments based on the information available. Long experience shows that our first accounts of terrorist attacks and other tragedies often evolve over time. The intelligence community did its job in good faith. And so did I.

I have never sought in any way, shape or form to mislead the American people. To do so would run counter to my character and my life of public service. But in recent weeks, new lines of attack have been raised to malign my character and my career. Even before I was nominated for any new position, a steady drip of manufactured charges painted a wholly false picture of me. This has interfered increasingly with my work on behalf of the United States at the United Nations and with America’s agenda.

I grew up in Washington, D.C., and I’ve seen plenty of battles over politics and policy. But a national security appointment, much less a potential one, should never be turned into a political football. There are far bigger issues at stake. So I concluded this distraction has to stop.

Translation: Obama, Hillary Clinton, and others in the administration want the Benghazi scandal to go away. Having Rice under oath during confirmation hearings would be a disaster for Obama and Hillary.

Rice's withdrawal should not put the matter to rest.

It would be a disgrace to allow all the unanswered questions about the Benghazi terrorist attack to remain unanswered. Four Americans were killed. We deserve the truth.
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READ: "Families want to know what happened in Benghazi"