What we know about Benghazi is that it will never go away. Because it can’t, unless Hillary Clinton decides not to run for president. It’s the scandal — at least in Republican eyes — that takes on both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. So, of course it won’t go away, as Alex Seitz-Wald writes in the National Journal. But it doesn’t end there. Vox makes the case that many Republicans — including those in power – truly believe that Benghazi is a scandal. And in the conspiracy-theory theory of politics, powerful people are often conspiring to manipulate events. Of course, that is sometimes true. And if you’re among those denying that it happened, who’s to know whether you’re not in on it yourself? In other words, see you at the next hearing.
Who are the Ukrainian rebels — Ukranians, Russians, both, some of each? The New York Times tries to figure it out.
Oil-and-gas spills and drilling sludge is carted off to landfills and spread around fields. To paraphrase the Denver Post: Oil-and-gas spills in Colorado hit a 10-year peak last year at 578, contaminating 173,400 tons of topsoil and 45 percent of the spilled material stays in the soil. Roughyl 12.3 percent of the past 1,000 spills contaminated groundwater before cleanup started. Well drilling each year brings up 652,500 of toxic “sludgelike drill cuttings.”
Rand Paul and Rupert Murdoch spend the day together at the Kentucky Derby. Can any good come of that? Via the New York Times.
If you missed the hilarious video of Julia Louis-Dreyfus with Joe Biden — Veep on Veep — from the White House Correspondents Dinner, here’s another chance. Via YouTube.
GOP establishment is striking back at the Tea Party. Who’s going to win? Via the Atlantic.
Rich liberals, meanwhile, are targeting the states, trying to get the base out to vote. It’s a tough haul and a mixed message: They’re spending big money in politics to lessen the influence of big money in politics. Via the Washington Post.
