Another Investigation of Tragic Loss, or Partisan Wretchedness?

I can’t say how moved I am that the Republicans in Congress have once again gotten around to investigating tragic events that occurred on the shores of the Mediterranean, tragic events that caused American heroes to lose their lives while pursuing peace and justice for the people of the area.

You think I’m writing about Libya. I’m not. I’m writing about Beirut, Lebanon in 1983, when a truck bomb was exploded against the Marine barracks there, killing 241 American peacekeepers, some Lebanese civilians, and 58 French paratroopers. That was when Ronald Reagan was President, and his Administration utterly failed to discover who was responsible for the attack, and as a result the United States took no effective action in response to the murder of 241 amazing Marines. It was a tragedy of unimaginable scale, and in the end Americans were left with nothing but a profound understanding of the costs of peacekeeping in the Middle East.

So, yes, I am moved that the Republicans are beginning yet another investigation of the events that occurred in Libya (this is the 8th, I believe,).  I am moved to wonder how a group of legislators in Congress, who could not manage to address any of the major problems that challenge our country, could nonetheless find the time to turn a tragedy in Libya into a rotten partisan attack on the President. That sure did not happen when Reagan held office, even though the questions of responsibility for the Beirut attack were more urgent and troubling in 1983. Why is it happening now? 

You know why. It’s because the Republicans can get away with it, and they think it will fire up their base for the November elections. What it should do is fire up the voters who are sick and tired of politicians that do nothing, nothing about global warming, nothing about immigration reform, and nothing about all the other issues that our people want solved.