memeorandum: The Benghazi Hearing Should Not Be, But Is, A Waste of Time (Erick Erickson/Erick on the Radio)

11:55 AM ET, October 23, 2015

Top Items:

Matthew Yglesias / Vox:

Conservative pundits were not impressed with the GOP's disastrous Benghazi hearing — Hillary Clinton is a top-tier politician who's been the subject of nearly constant national media scrutiny for more than 20 years. She also happens to have worked at the House Judiciary Committee during …

Discussion: Salon, ThinkProgress, The Week and Hullabaloo

Byron York / Washington Examiner:

Benghazi bust — Share Tweet Reddit Digg Mail Print SMS More — There's a reason Benghazi Committee chairman Rep. Trey Gowdy offered Hillary Clinton the chance to testify in a private, closed hearing. And there's a reason Clinton wanted to appear in an open setting, with the whole world watching.

Discussion: alicublog, New York Times, Talking Points Memo, Slantpoint, National Review, Daily Kos, The Gateway Pundit and ThinkProgress

Jennifer Bendery / The Huffington Post:

Trey Gowdy Says His 11-Hour Benghazi Hearing Didn't Reveal Anything New — Hillary Clinton had nothing better to do anyway.

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Talking Points Memo, Daily Kos, addictinginfo.org and Washington Post

Erick Erickson / Erick on the Radio:

The Benghazi Hearing Should Not Be, But Is, A Waste of Time — There are still, despite a media effort to deny it, a lot we do not know about Libya and Benghazi. Only now do we have Ambassador Stephens' emails. Only recently did we learn that Hillary Clinton was being privately advised …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, New York Post, Raw Story and PoliticusUSA

Sahil Kapur / Bloomberg Business:

The Conservative Reviews Are In: Benghazi Hearing a Bust — Some of Hillary Clinton's top critics say she won the day. — To hear Republicans tell it, a series of unfortunate events culminated in a rough day Thursday for the House Benghazi committee, leaving conservatives to wonder …

Discussion: Politico, Washington Monthly, USA Today, Los Angeles Times, Shakesville, Taylor Marsh, Daily Kos, Bloomberg View, NBC News, Poynter., Washington Post, ThinkProgress and CNN

Gabriel Debenedetti / Politico:

5 takeaways from Clinton's marathon Benghazi testimony — If getting yelled at for hours without losing your cool is a requirement for the presidency, Hillary Clinton checked the box on Thursday. Clinton studiously avoided another exasperated outburst like her 2013 comeback to Senate Republicans …

Discussion: Political Insider blog, Political Wire and Bloomberg Business

Annie Karni / Politico:

Clinton emerges stronger for next phase of campaign — After a difficult summer slog, Hillary Clinton appears to be back on top.The week began with Bernie Sanders, her chief Democratic rival, getting devastatingly lampooned by Larry David on "Saturday Night Live …

Caitlin MacNeal / Talking Points Memo:
Washington Examiner's Byron York Says Benghazi Hearing Was A ‘Bust’

Discussion: The Mahablog, Arkansas Blog, Arkansas Times, Newsweek and National Review

Catherine Thompson / Talking Points Memo:
GOPer Mocks ‘Clinton Doctrine,’ Accuses Her Of Hogging Limelight On Libya

Discussion: Mother Jones

Washington Post:
The GOP's unfortunate Benghazi hearing

Discussion: New York Times, The Slot, The Week and Fox News

Elizabeth Harrington / Washington Free Beacon:
Feds Have Spent More on Origami Condoms, Fat Lesbian Studies Than on Benghazi Committee

Discussion: Truth Revolt, Betsy's Page, The Last Tradition, Democratic Strategist and Washington Post

New York Times:
Benghazi Panel Engages Clinton in Tense Session

Discussion: CNN, Washington Post, addictinginfo.org, BuzzFeed, Daily Kos, Outside the Beltway, New York Times, Liberal Values, Talking Points Memo, Fox News, Hollywood Life, Althouse and The Mahablog

RealClearPolitics:
Rep. Jim Jordan vs. Hillary Clinton: Why Did You Tell Egyptians Benghazi Was a Terrorist Attack …

Discussion: BREITBART.COM, RedState, Independent Journal and The Gateway Pundit

Gail Collins / New York Times:
Hillary and Benghazi — When Americans are killed in a terror attack …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice

Chuck Ross / The Daily Caller:
Hillary Told Daughter Chelsea That Terrorists Were Behind Benghazi Attack The Night It Happened [VIDEO]

Discussion: The PJ Tatler, Talking Points Memo and Hit & Run

David A. Fahrenthold / Washington Post:
GOP lands no solid punches while sparring with Clinton over Benghazi

Discussion: Weekly Standard, Select Committee on Benghazi …, The Week, Benghazi Research Center, Mother Jones, whorunsGov, TalkLeft and Power Line

Jennifer Jacobs / Des Moines Register:

Iowa Poll: Carson surges to 9-point lead; Trump slides — Donald Trump is the biggest loser in the new Iowa Poll. — The pious Ben Carson has plowed past the braggadocious New York businessman to take the front-runner crown, unseating Trump as the most popular choice for president among …

Discussion: NBC News, Talking Points Memo, Hot Air, New York Times, LifeNews.com, Mediaite, The Week, Independent Journal and Daily Mail

John McCormick / Bloomberg Business:

Carson Surges Past Trump in Latest Bloomberg Politics/Des Moines Register Iowa Poll — Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson has moved into a dominant position in Iowa, surpassing former front-runner Donald Trump as evangelical Christians begin to coalesce around him in the state that will cast the first 2016 nomination ballots.

Discussion: RedState, Politico, Daily Kos, Business Insider, Scared Monkeys, Outside the Beltway, Balloon Juice and Bloomberg.com news

Bloomberg Business:

Jeb Bush Orders Across-the-Board Pay Cuts for Struggling Campaign — Bush's advisers, under pressure from their donors and from falling and stagnant poll numbers, came to the conclusion that a course correction was essential. — michaelcbender — MarkHalperin

Discussion: Politico and Washington Monthly

Politico:

Jeb Bush orders across-board pay cuts as campaign struggles — Jeb Bush on Friday ordered across-the-board pay cuts to his struggling presidential campaign and warned staff that job functions would change. — On a Friday conference call, top officials said resources would shift heavily to ballot access and voter contact.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo

Eliza Collins / Politico:
Megyn Kelly to Jeb Bush: Will you drop out?

Discussion: The Week

Gabriel Debenedetti / Politico:

Lincoln Chafee ends quixotic presidential bid — Democratic presidential candidate Lincoln Chafee, always a long shot, dropped out of the race for his party's nomination on Friday morning. "As you know I have been campaigning on a platform of Prosperity Through Peace," …

Discussion: Mother Jones, Power Line, Bloomberg Business, Bloomberg.com news, ABC News, Political Wire, Daily Kos and The Week

John Wagner / Washington Post:
Lincoln Chafee ends Democratic bid for president

Discussion: Front Page Magazine and American Spectator

Lincoln Chafee for President 2016:
CHAFEE WITHDRAWS FROM 2016 DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL RACE

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Slantpoint and Balloon Juice

CNN:
Lincoln Chafee drops out of Democratic primary race

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Hot Air and Towleroad

Alan Rappeport / New York Times:
Lincoln Chafee Plans Update to His Campaign

Discussion: WPRI-TV, OnPolitics, Fox News and The Week

Anna Palmer / Politico:

McConnell presses Paul to focus on Senate bid — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and his allies are quietly ratcheting up pressure on Rand Paul to pay more attention to his Senate reelection next year — and less to his flagging 2016 presidential candidacy. So far …

Discussion: Washington Post and Political Wire

Josh Lederman / Associated Press:
Obama vetoes $612 billion defense bill in rebuke to GOP

Discussion: Liberty Unyielding and Erick on the Radio

New York Times:

Conservative PACs Attack Republicans, and It Pays — WASHINGTON — The petitions that started surfacing online over a year ago were as incendiary as they were urgent, begging recipients to sign up to “Boot Boehner,” “Dump McConnell,” “Drop a Truth-Bomb on Kevin McCarthy” and “Fire Paul Ryan.”

Discussion: Jay Bookman

Lee Smith / Weekly Standard:

Obama Got Punked — It will be some time before it's clear whether the story of Ahmed Muhammad, aka “clock boy,” has a happy ending. After being arrested last month under suspicion of bringing a bomb disguised as a clock to his Texas high school, the 14-year-old won the world's sympathy …

Jake Sherman / Politico:

Ryan offers concession to House Freedom Caucus — Rep. Paul Ryan has agreed to delay a discussion about reforming the procedural motion used to remove a House speaker, a major concession to the House Freedom Caucus.The Wisconsin Republican, now the presumptive next speaker of the House …