Top story: Conservatives are shouting “Benghazi!” the way Steve Martin once did “Oklahoma!” and they’re making about as much sense.
- The big news of the day: Scrubbed and washed talking points that prove — something, something, something — conspiracy! (ABC News)
- Of course, there’s an update to the story that kind of undercuts the WAR ENDS IN EUROPE play it’s getting on the right. (Think Progress)
- In case you want to see how the talking points evolved, line by line, The Atlantic Wire, is there for you. (The Atlantic Wire)
- If you read one article on the Benghazi Truthers today, read the always must-read Elspeth Reeve in The Atlantic Wire. The crux is that even the Truthers can’t agree on what Benghazi is about. (The Atlantic Wire)
- Mother Jones’ Kevin Drum has an excellent summation/timeline about what you can rightly criticize the State Department and White House — and why that still does not justify Republicans’ “Watergate!” reaction. (Mother Jones)
- Real Clear Politics’s Sean Trende has a very sober, more conservative, analysis tweeted in 5 parts. All of it is worth reading, but here’s the gist: “This just strikes me as a single that [Republicans] are trying to insist is a home run, hurting their credibility in the process.” (Part 1), (Part 2), (Part 3), (Part 4), (Part 5), (Part 6)
- Interestingly, a new “insider” account from a Mitt Romney adviser claims Romney’s exceptionally poor response to the attacks left him, “naked, embarrassed and disarmed.” (Swampland)
- The RNC has released the 2012 Benghazi web ad they originally meant to air during the campaign. This has all the feel of the Yankees selling half-off tickets on Groupon as attendance drops: trying to get at least a little play for something no one wanted to buy in the first place. (The Note)
- The outcome of Wednesday’s Benghazi hearing? Republicans want Hillary Clinton to testify again. (The Hill)
- In fact, Karl Rove’s Super PAC has released a Benghazi-themed anti-Hillary Clinton ad, featuring Wednesday’s testimony — just in case you didn’t know what the conservative griping was really about. (The Huffington Post)
- The anti-Hillarying has definitely begun. (Politico)
- And, of course, there’s talk of impeachment from the usual quarters. (Talking Points Memo)