By Ben Barrack
In Andrew McCarthy’s latest piece over at Pajamas Media – Clinton’s Republican Guard – the focus is on how the Republican establishment apparatus has been utilized to assist Hillary Clinton on many fronts. One of those fronts is the Accountability Review Board’s (ARB) protection of Hillary over Benghazi.
Another is how the likes of Senator John McCain, Speaker John Boehner, Senator Marco Rubio and a myriad of other Republicans came to Hillary’s aid during the Huma Abedin controversy. For Republicans to ignore the screaming alarm bells in this case is befuddling only if one doesn’t understand that Hillary has some very powerful allies within the Republican establishment that have been around for quite a while, to include during both Bush administrations.
A closer look at Senator Marco Rubio’s bizarre behavior over the last year might help to illustrate that (keep reading).
McCarthy explains that one of the reasons the ARB report on Benghazi isn’t so successfully thrashed as the cover-up project it is, is because of the perception that the two names at the top of it – Mullen and Pickering – are beacons of bi-partisan objectivity.
There’s another angle to the Republican establishment’s willingness to assist Hillary – the blatantly obvious red flags raised by the familial relationships of her then Deputy Chief of Staff, Huma Abedin. When put into the larger context of interference being run for Hillary by the Republican establishment, it’s easier to see that when McCain, Boehner, Rubio, et. al. refused to probe more deeply into Abedin’s Muslim Brotherhood ties. It wasn’t about naivete or even an unwillingness to deny a harrowing reality; it’s far more likely about protecting Hillary.
The coziness that exists between the Bushes and the Clintons goes way back. George H.W. and Bill knew each other fairly well during Bubba’s days as Governor of Arkansas and the elder Bush’s time as CIA Director; they were always disturbingly chummy during George W.’s administration too.
As McCarthy points out, Pickering was an H.W. Bush guy and Mullen was a W. guy. Let’s face it; the George W. administration avoided going after the Clintons on several occasions (Oklahoma City, Able Danger, Peter Paul controversy, etc.).
It’s one of the downsides to four years of Bush, followed by eight years of Clinton, followed by eight years of Bush, followed by four more years of Hillary as Secretary of State (24 years total). That undoubtedly breeds political incestuousness.
It’s a powerful monster that may have influenced a young U.S. Senator from Florida.
Consider Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL), a guy who defied the odds because the Tea Party would not be denied. With the gift of political oratory, Rubio’s stock skyrocketed while he was a member of the Florida State legislature; he became speaker of the State House as Governor Jeb was leaving office in January of 2007.
In May of 2010, Jeb endorsed Rubio for Senator. Those kinds of things do NOT come without political indebtedness. Rubio would owe Jeb in much the same way that Sarah Palin owed John McCain an endorsement over the more Tea Party friendly / conservative J.D. Hayworth in 2010. Without McCain picking Palin as his running mate in 2008, she would still be a relatively unknown and owed him her support, even if it ran counter to conservative principles.
If, as McCarthy points out, the Republican establishment that set down roots during the Clinton / Bush years, is in place to protect both, why wouldn’t Jeb demand that Rubio fall in line? If Jeb did, evidence suggests Rubio did.
Of all the Republican voices who defended Hillary in the wake of the revelations about Abedin, Rubio’s was indeed the most curious. How could this Tea Party guy not stand with Bachmann, Gohmert, et. al.?
Consider the 2012 Republican primaries. Newt Gingrich – the non-establishment choice – had all the momentum coming out of South Carolina and going into Florida. Romney was able to reverse that momentum, in large part because of Rubio, the conservative Tea Party darling. Rubio didn’t endorse Romney at that point; that would have been too curious. However, he did chastise Gingrich more than once, which largely had much of the same effect.
Then, later that year, when some extremely disturbing facts began to come out about Hillary’s Deputy Chief of Staff – facts that Newt Gingrich showed interest in, by the way – Rubio was one of the Republicans who defended Huma, came to her defense and, by extension, Hillary’s:
“I am not a signatory to that letter. I didn’t even know the letter had gone out, to be honest with you, and I don’t share the feelings that are in that letter.
Again, it’s more likely not as much about naivete as it is about protecting Hillary, which leads to Rubio’s incredibly lame performance during his five minute long opportunity to hold Hillary’s feet to the fire over Benghazi this past January:
Another extremely curious move by Rubio has been on immigration and his alliance with the sordid ‘gang of 8’ that includes Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Bob Menendez (D-NJ), and Hillary Clinton defender John McCain (R-AZ). Again, why would a supposed Tea Party conservative sign up for one of the most anti-Tea Party movements – Amnesty?
Have you seen Jeb Bush’s position on immigration?
Do you think Rubio knows that photo-ops like these are forever?
