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Looking at the world through Benghazi-colored glasses

No matter the story, the right has a way of trying to connect that story to Benghazi conspiracy theories.
A vehicle and surrounding buildings smoldering after they were set on fire inside the US mission compound in Benghazi, September 11, 2012.
A vehicle and surrounding buildings smoldering after they were set on fire inside the US mission compound in Benghazi, September 11, 2012.
By Steve Benen
Last week, just hours after the initial terrorist violence in Paris, Rush Limbaugh told his audience that the Obama administration's response to Benghazi may have contributed to the killings. "These actions have consequences, ladies and gentlemen," he said last week.
 
Then, earlier this week, we were treated to a related gem.

If failed Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney decides to run again, he needs to focus more on issues like the administration's response to the Benghazi attack, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R) said Thursday. "He's going to have to convince them that he's going to run a different kind of campaign this time," Giuliani said on "Fox and Friends." The former mayor said Romney needs to show that "he's not going to back away from topics like Benghazi."

As I recall, the failed presidential candidate tried to make the American deaths in Benghazi a campaign issue in 2012, and his efforts really didn't go well.
 
But that's not even the most absurd attempt to squeeze Benghazi connections into unrelated stories. This is:

Fox News revived the baseless conspiracy theory that the nearly three-year old federal investigation into former CIA director David Petraeus is an attempt by the Obama administration to silence Petraeus on the 2012 Benghazi attacks. The New York Times reported on January 9 that the FBI and Justice Department prosecutors recommended federal charges against former CIA director David H. Petraeus for providing "classified information to a lover while he was director of the C.I.A." Petraeus subsequently resigned as director of the CIA after his affair was made public. But on the January 12 edition of Fox News' Special Report, chief intelligence correspondent Catherine Herridge lent credibility to GOP concerns that the federal investigation into David Petraeus is an attempt by the Obama administration to silence Petraeus' testimony on the 2012 Benghazi, Libya terrorist attacks.

Fox's Steve Doocy added yesterday, "You know, I've talked to some people down in Washington who know about this story. They feel that it's all about keeping him quiet. Because after Benghazi he said, 'Look, it was based on the video." Then everybody goes, 'C'mon, we know it's not about that.' He was about to tell the true story and then he gets a call, 'Hey we know about your girlfriend.' It's to keep him quiet."
 
Is anyone going to suggest this kind of thinking is healthy?