I had hoped to do a post yesterday, but knew I couldn’t bring my usual snark-riddled voice to my blog when we had a horrific storm roaring up the east coast.
This morning, news coverage confirms Sandy impacts many through direct storm hits, raging fires, and blizzard conditions. My thoughts and prayers ping out to blog buddies in the U.S. and Canada impacted by this monster storm.
After five days of following myself around, I discovered I had been using my most productive writing time (early, early morning) be-bopping the net, reading and commenting on blogs.
I do intend to post most of the findings and attempts at behavior changes later this week.
Sneak Preview: One of those changes was to establish discipline for Social Media — I do not permit myself access to the internet until I’ve completed two hours of focused writing — from 5 a.m. to 7 a.m.
YEP! I’m a morning girl.
Yesterday, after those two hours of writing, I gleefully bopped to email to discover what was happening in my world.
AND, THE IMPERFECT STORM COLLIDED
One of the blogs in my inbox was a new post on Piper Bayard’s site titled Intelligence Perspective on Benghazi.
For those of you not familiar with Piper, posts on her blog range from KA-SNORTs waiting-to-happen to informative. fact-based posts on world events.
Piper Bayard and Social Media guru, Kristen Lamb, staged a campaign for President in 2012. I was honored to host one of their campaign stops. They put a humor spin on political issues, missteps, and ridiculous legislation.
A non-partisan spin.
The same non-partisan approach holds true for, ‘Jay Holmes’, the author of the post on Benghazi, and someone I trust to know, understand and report the facts.
Why?
Quoting directly from their blog:
Jay Holmes’, is an intelligence veteran of the Cold War and remains an anonymous member of the intelligence community. His writing partner, Piper Bayard, is the public face of their partnership.
I was too emotionally engaged/enraged yesterday to find a “just the facts, Ma’am” approach for this ping-back post. Thankfully, I forced myself to sleep on it so I could cite pertinent details from ‘Jay Holmes’ and redirect to the original post for additional details.
Just the Facts, Ma’am
Nearly seven weeks ago, on September 11th, 2012, an attack was made against the American Embassy in Benghazi. Four Americans lost their lives in this attack.
My heart aches for the friends and families of Ambassador Christopher Stephens, for Sean Smith, a Foreign Services information officer, and Tyrone S. Woods and Glen A. Dougherty, two former Navy SEALs working as security personnel at the consulate.
My adrenaline pumps each time I read or hear emerging facts that embassy personnel were denied additional security prior to the attack, and support forces during the attack.
My frustration increases each time a non-answer is issued by a member of our intelligence community or representatives of the Executive Branch when questioned about this tragedy.
American voters are about to vote on who will serve as Commander in Chief during the next four years. My intent with this post is not to influence the votes of fellow Americans.
Again, Holmes says it better than I can in the closing paragraph in Intelligence Perspective on Benghazi:
What happened in Benghazi matters. It matters to the families; it matters to our Americans abroad; it matters to our enemies; it matters to the public, and it matters to our political future as a nation. How much it matters to the election, however, will depend on the reaction of those Americans who will vote independently this November.
We Have a Right and Obligation to Understand What Happened
At the end of Intelligence Perspective on Benghazi, there was a copyright warning.
Okay. So. I’m dealing with a member of the intelligence community and his public voice, Piper Bayard, a self-described “Reformed Attorney.”
I wanted to ping out the facts presented by ‘Holmes’, and I chose to play by the rules.
[Hey! I had visions of Holmes somehow redirecting drones to drop Piper’s lawsuit in my lap. It’s wonky in my imaginary world.]
When asked, Piper and ‘Holmes’ graciously agreed to let me include quotes.
In the comments section, you’ll see a specific request from Holmes that I emphasize that this is not a partisan issue.
What we are not being told is not a Republican or Democratic issue. It is an American issue. Following are portions of the comments between the three of us.
FROM PIPER BAYARD
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Hi Gloria. Holmes and I always ask ourselves the question, “In the unlikely event that this should go viral, can we live with it?” We always reach a “yes” before I hit “publish.” Based on that, I would say quote and ping-back to your heart’s content, and thank you for your support. I’ll still be sure to forward him your email, though. He enjoys contact with our readers.
FROM HOLMES:
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Hi Gloria. Feel free to pass it on if you think it would be useful to do so. To avoid accidental partisanship please also send next weeks article concerning the Bush administration’s handling of the Battle(s) of Fallujah. The government and our press also handled that one poorly.
I would hate to accidentally encourage the idea that distrusting one political party should equate to devout faith in some other political party. Faith in political parties is a hazard to democracy. It lowers our nation’s political standards.. FROM GLORIA RICHARD
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Noted, Holmes. With your permission, I want to include this response in my post — to provide concrete evidence that neither your position nor mine is partisan in nature.
Like you, I’m not attempting to influence the vote. Each American has the right to vote with his/her conscience based on the facts.
My position is that American voters have the right to know the facts before they vote on their next Commander in Chief. Stall tactics until after November 6th? Say it isn’t so!
This post is proving more difficult to craft than I anticipated. “Just the facts, Ma’am” when I’m emotionally engaged/enraged.
Perhaps it will be best if I pluck salient details from your post to encourage a ping over to this site.
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Those are the key segments in our comments.
I encourage you to exercise your right to vote. I encourage you to gather as much data as you can to make an informed choice. I encourage you to access one of the links to read the Intel ‘Holmes’ shares in his Intelligence Perspective on Benghazi.
Whether you agree or disagree, comments are welcome and encouraged. It’s one of the blessings we have when we live in a truly open and democratic society.
Gloria Richard 
Thank you, Gloria. We appreciate your devotion to respect, and we appreciate your support. I hope everyone will hear about what happened in Benghazi. Even more, I hope everyone will care. All the best to you.
Piper/Holmes, there aren’t words to tell you how much I appreciate a source I can trust for Intel* unfiltered by personal agendas — other than communicating the facts and what is best for America. I will do a follow-up ping-back next week, as requested.
Holmes’ previous series – the historical-to-present-day series on Iran – gave me both the history I missed while daydreaming in history class, and an unfiltered view of our role on the world stage.
*[I communicate with another member of the intelligence community and once joked my use of Intel instead of “info” is comparable to Maxwell Smart and his shoe phone. I like the word. And, added, “Shoot me.” Then, I remembered he packs heat. ERK!]
I greatly appreciate having the facts presented in a non-partisan way by both you and the Bayard/Holmes team. That’s how it should always be in my opinion – a presentation of facts so that all of us – together – can move forward and make the world a better place. I just filled in my ballot and will drop it off tomorrow. The little thrill I get doing that never seems to fade. 🙂
I hear you on the thrill of voting, Tami.
I haven’t yet washed the jacket I wore when I cast my vote last week, because it has an I VOTED sticker on it. A RED and BLUE sticker. I don’t share my voting decisions with anyone but close family.
Color me RED, WHITE, and BLUE for America.
Faith in political parties is a hazard to democracy. It lowers our nation’s political standards. – Holmes
It’s my new favorite quote, Gloria. I wish we as Americans would require the facts from our government and not get lost in political rhetoric. How much more advanced a society would we be?
Amen, Megan, to requiring the facts. With six days to the election, it’s frustrating to realize we may not know the truth about many things until after votes are cast.
Again, it’s every American’s right to vote with his or her conscience. The considerations behind the Benghazi decisions should have been apolitical and defensible. Were they? I don’t know. Let us know the rationale. We can handle the truth. More importantly, we deserve to know the truth.
Do I want to see more American lives put in harm’s way? Hell, no. I have a grandson considering the Marine Corps as a prequel to a career in law enforcement. On the flip-side of concern for him, is the knowledge that every one of our deployed forces have family at home. I’d like to think we’d put everything we had behind rescuing him should he find himself in a Benghazi situation one day.
I’d take it a step beyond that and demand news channels report the news without bias. Flip from channel-to-channel and you’ll no doubt note the amount of spin the news puts on political events.
Some don’t even cover news that points a questioning finger at their selective political leaning. They (IMHO) need a lesson in the definitions of “news” versus “opinion” and “editorials.”
I agree with Megan. Holmes nailed it on the head with the powerful and accurate statement – “Faith in political parties is a hazard to democracy. It lowers our nation’s political standards.”
What happened in Benghazi is unconscioinable. There are many words and terms thrown out there like “best information” and “fog of war”, but they are soft words meant to mask and hide uglier terms such failure and negligent incompetence.
Lives were lost because of a failure to be vigilant, to act, and to protect. It is an insult to those lost lives to shrug our collective shoulders and say “whoops, we didn’t know, but we did all we could with what we knew.”
Thanks for weighing in with your valued opinion, Zack.
I can’t get the images of those Americans stranded, with help readily available. Help that was, reportedly, denied. And, we’re listening to point-the-finger games when asked direct questions. Unconscionable. If there is a justifiable reason behind our failure to act, tell us.
Since I’m already out on a limb…
I found it irritating that our current Commander in Chief chose to use the Marine mantra of “no one left behind” in his rhetoric yesterday about Federal aid to the victims of Sandy. I’m pleased the victims of Sandy are receiving prompt help.
Admittedly, there was “no one left behind” in Benghazi. Sadly, it was after that mission turned from Rescue to Recovery.
Gloria, I salute you for your post about this tragic event in Benghazi. What breaks my heart is not only that these events continue world-wide to destroy lives, but that too many of us have become numb in the face of random violence. We have become a nation of sound bites and two minute news stories and the sad outcome is that thoughtful and intelligent reporting and recounting is glossed over with car ads and toothpaste commercials.
Thanks for more than 140 characters, for expanding the sound bite and most of all thanks for taking the time to care 🙂
You’re welcome, Florence. And, thank you for your comment. I agree. Too much of our news comes in orchestrated sound bites.
We really have ‘Holmes’ to thank for what I feel is the least biased and most comprehensive information I’ve read to date on Benghazi.
Do I have an issue with how it was handled? You bet I do.
Do I think everyone should make their choice at the voting booth based on how that situation was handled? Nope.
It’s not up to me. It’s up to each individual voter.
I voted based on my belief in who would best service US – United States citizens – both on critical U.S. issues within our borders and in our role on the World stage.
One resounding issue is trust in the information we receive. We know four Americans died that day. No one has yet come forward to say “I take responsibility, here are the decisions made, here is what we knew and when we knew it, and here is why we chose to take that route.” Is it because those decisions were made with a political agenda and, therefore, indefensible? Without proof to the contrary…
Again, both parties have dirty hands when it comes to political spin. It’s a non-partisan cloak. This one happened on the run-up to a presidential election. Which, IMO, is why the stonewalling this time is so fierce and, therefor, frustrating.
At first, Gloria, I wasn’t sure I should comment. I feared a comment might appear as a ‘Why don’t you do things like we do, because our way is the only way’ comment.
Every democratic country, including mine, suffers from the competition political campaigns have become: a sporting event that takes place in an arena.
I don’t live in the U.S. but courtesy of satellite television, have been bombarded by countless campaign commercials for the state directly across the border and yet, I’ve yet to grasp what a single state candidate stands for.
What is their brand?
When people visit my website, when I hand them my business card, when they see the cover of my book, they should have an immediate sense of the type of stories I tell.
Looking at campaign ads, I have no clear idea of what a candidate stands for, no clue what the candidate truly represents, no sense of what’s printed on their pages.
Could be comedy, could be horror. There may be a journey, casting country as hero, with a graceful 4-year arc with a satisfactory end.
Or it could be a pointless, plotless mess that leaves voters disappointed and scratching their heads, wondering, of all the books on the shelf, why did I pick that one?
‘Pick me, I will clean up Washington!’ says one candidate. But what does that mean? And how will he do it? If I wrote such generalized crap, a critique partner would be all over my manuscript, insisting I add specificity.
Campaigns seems to be more about diversion, the focus placed not on why this candidate is a good choice, but why the other candidate is a bad choice. Each is eager to tell me the other candidate doesn’t like old people and doesn’t care about our children, but they don’t show me why that is true, or show why they are different.
No matter the country, a political race should not be won by the one who avoids the most scandals, but by the one with the best experience, knowledge and common sense, who has the nation’s best interest at heart. I know this sounds basic, lame, perhaps a little unrealistic, but I believe parties should provide balance and equality, not opposition.
Seems the message I hear from each candidate in every political contest is the same:
‘Send me to the political playground. I don’t have a sandcastle of my own to build, and I guarantee to stop anyone else from building one.’
You have every right to voice your opinion, Sherry. On the world stage, Canadians have been staunch allies of ours.
Were I getting my news solely from satellite television broadcasts of political ads, I’d feel the same way you do. Crumb! For local campaigns, I live here and still feel the same skepticism about “say” versus “do.”
There are times I dig deeper for facts and platforms and positions and still suffer lack of solid, actionable information.
In my imaginary world, where everything is fair and just, political parties would provide balance and equality. You and I don’t disagree on that, my friend. How do we get there? By voicing our opinions and exercising our right to vote.
I’m not sure we disagree on anything. I am not a fan of political mud-slinging as a campaign tactic.
Nor, am I a fan of misinformation or stonewalling on the run up to what may be one of the most important presidential elections in…
I’d say my lifetime, but that’s a bit overly dramatic.
Your points are well made. Before I cast my vote, I evaluate the numbers, the situation, the history of each candidate and — in this case — action taken (or not taken).
Gloria,
I am a trifle ashamed to say that I do not involve myself in much politics, but only a trifle. I am aware of the Benghazi disaster, however. More than leaving me dismayed and angry, it makes me sad, strips the hope right out of me. While I will never give up believing that we could be the nation we were created to be, it will take true leadership, humility, and the courage for two opposing views to see further than the end of their own sententious noses.
I thank you for presenting this issue in a thoughtful and careful manner. So much of what has already been said I found valid and true. I’ll only commend you for handling yourself with gracious dignity. So much of what I see blogged only seeks to rankle and prod.
Love to you,
~ Cara
Hi Gloria,
No snark here today. And between Sandy and Benghazi, I respectfully see why. I’ve been absent working, but I see you have been working on writing, AND have maintained a web presence. Kudos to you.
Every year I find myself voting for the least offensive candidate. This year it has been a tough decision. The smear campaigns only make me think badly of the people who pay for them, and being in a swing state has made me vow to answer the next phone call, (I should have kept a tally of them) with the answer that I’m voting for Satan. Or, I’m voting for whomever is NOT behind this phone call. Am I cynical. Yes. Last election I dropped my party and am now unaffiliated. That may say it all. Thanks for pointing out Holmes and Piper’s post. A lot to digest.
Good for you for keeping up with your writing and all the political happenings in the world.
Hello Gloria. Thanks for covering Benghazi.
So you are a 5 AM type author. That reminds me of a certain lawyer I know. I’m glad that you are back in high gear.
Some of our folks on our NE coast still need help. Thanks for bringing up the Canadians impacted by the storm. I’m embarrassed to tell you that I had not previously realized that the storm had also hurt the Canadian coast.