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Sen. Rand Paul continued with his charges from earlier this week that former Sec. of State Hillary Clinton had "her fingerprints all over these talking points" on the Benghazi attack and claims that she never "really accepted culpability" because she failed to resign shortly after the tragedy. When CNN's Candy Crowley asked Paul if he was worried about appearing to politicize the controversy by making his remarks in Iowa and other presidential battleground states, Paul dismissed the notion that his remarks were based on politics.

It's laughable that anyone expects us to believe that Republicans care one iota about this trumped up Benghazi story for any other reason than to muddy up Hillary Clinton, because they all assume she's going to be the front-runner for the next presidential election.

And I'd say it's safe to assume Rand Paul is going to take up his father's mantle and make a career out of perpetually running for president as a fundraising scheme. It worked out pretty well for his dad and the press is already propping him up because of it -- with this being the latest example -- so why not?

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I was really hoping we'd heard the last of the Republicans and their fake Benghazi outrage once the last presidential election was over, only to watch in horror as they continued with the madness for months on end. On this Sunday's Meet the Press, Sen. Lindsey Graham just confirmed what most of us assumed already when they kept up with the attacks even after the election, and that is it's never going to end as long as Hillary Clinton is considered a presidential contender. Oh joy.

GREGORY: We're going to talk after this break about presidential politics, waiting for Hillary Clinton. If she's the nominee can Republicans beat her?

GRAHAM: I think after eight years of Barack Obama if things don't change, the next Democrat running for president will be in trouble. She will be a formidable candidate. I think her time as Secretary of State is mixed. Benghazi is yet to be told completely. But anybody that underestimates her on the Republican said would do so at their peril. But yes, she can be beatan. Anybody can be beaten in this country.

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On the ten year anniversary of the invasion of Iraq, there has been an awful lot of naval gazing by our media, sadly with most of it being revisionist history on what happened during the run up to that invasion and occupation, with a lot of glossing over just how complicit the media was in helping the neocons beat the war drums. And as Jeremy Scahill noted during this interview on Martin Bashir's show, there's still a lot to answer for by our politicians on both sides of the aisles -- but in particular, the neocons and Bush administration.

It's too bad there wasn't any accountability for his fellow guest on the program, Michael O'Hanlon, who supported the invasion and who was as guilty as the rest of them with enabling the neocons. Scahill sadly didn't go after O'Hanlon, but I appreciate what he was given a chance to say during the segment.

SCAHILL: People like Donald Rumsfeld and Paul Wolfowitz and Douglas Feith should not be able to show their faces in public in this country without being confronted with what they did to Iraq. I mean, the reality is... having spent time in Iraq throughout the '90's... many of the Iraqis I knew are dead. Many of the Iraqis that survived the war are displaced and with the millions of others that have been displaced.

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Ed Schultz took a whack at chickenhawk Dick Cheney for having the nerve to be out there whining about President Obama's national security cabinet nominations over the weekend: Dick Cheney Criticizes Obama National Security Appointees In Speech :

CHEYENNE, Wyo. -- Former Vice President Dick Cheney said Saturday night that President Barack Obama has jeopardized U.S. national security by nominating substandard candidates for key cabinet posts and by degrading the U.S. military.

"The performance now of Barack Obama as he staffs up the national security team for the second term is dismal," Cheney said in comments to about 300 members of the Wyoming Republican Party.

Cheney, a Wyoming native, said it was vital to the nation's national security that "good folks" hold the positions of secretary of state, CIA director and secretary of defense.

"Frankly, what he has appointed are second-rate people," he said.

John Kerry, the 2004 Democratic presidential nominee, has been confirmed as secretary of state. CIA designate John Brennan and defense secretary nominee Chuck Hagel are still awaiting U.S. Senate confirmation.

As Schultz noted, coming from the man who got five draft deferments, and that worked in an administration that lied us into invading Iraq and hired the likes of Condi Rice and Don Rumsfeld, that's pretty rich. And as Ed reminded us, it's just in time for the seventh anniversary of Cheney shooting his friend, Harry Whittington in the face, which is as Ed noted, probably as close to combat as Cheney will ever come.

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Former Vice President Dick Cheney is a fan of Barack Obama's decision to use drones for the targeted killing of American citizens, but says that the president "wants" to do "serious, serious damage to our military" by nominating former Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-NE) to be secretary of defense.

"I think it’s a good program and I don’t disagree with the basic policy that the Obama administration is pursuing now in those regards," he told CBS host Charlie Rose in an interview that aired on Tuesday.

But Rose wondered if there should be some "checks and balances" by another branch of government on the president's ability to "take out" American citizens overseas.

"When we hire the president of the United States he gets to live in a big house, makes all that money, he’s getting paid to make difficult, difficult decisions," the former vice president explained.

The CBS host also asked Cheney to defend his accusation that Obama was appointing a "second-rate people" like Hagel and Secretary of State John Kerry to his cabinet.

"I’m very, very concerned, Charlie, about what I see happening in the national security arena, I think the administration’s policies are very flawed," Cheney declared. "I think the president’s performance by my standards in the international arena, in the middle East and so forth is worse than many of my friends and colleagues deem his domestic policies.”

"If you look at what the president's motives are for picking Chuck Hagel, I think he wants a Republican to go be the foil, if you will, for what he wants to do to the Defense Department, which is I think to do serious, serious damage to our military capabilities."

(h/t: The Hill)

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As Dave already noted, Sen. Lindsey Graham was back on the air this Sunday, still flogging their latest Benghazi "scandal" that somehow President Obama was disengaged during the embassy attacks on the anniversary of 9/11. I'm not sure just how much more hateful and nasty this man can manage to be before he starts getting called out for his behavior by members of the media, but Face the Nation's Bob Schieffer seemed pretty shocked and exhausted by the time Graham finished his rant here.

Sadly, however, he did not ask Graham what the hell was wrong with him or why the public should care about this drummed up non-scandal that he refuses to let die.

Lindsey Graham To Place Hold On National Security Nominees Over Benghazi Attacks:

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) is threatening to place a hold on key administration national security nominations unless President Obama explains how the White House reacted to the Benghazi attacks and who “changed” the talking points used by U.N. ambassador Susan Rice during back-to-back appearances on the Sunday political talk shows in September. Appearing on CBS’ Face the Nation, Graham insisted that Republicans shouldn’t “allow Brennan to go forward for the CIA directorship, Hagel to be confirmed to Secretary of Defense, until the White House gives us an accounting.” “Did the president ever pick up the pohne and call anyone in the Libyan government to help these folks,” Graham asked. “What did the president do?”

Since Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and General Martin Dempsey testified before Congress last week, conservatives have seized on a portion of the testimony to argue that President Obama went “AWOL” the night of the Benghazi attack.

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Looks like Grandpa McCranky-Pants McCain is still irritated over the exchange between Hillary Clinton and Sen. Rob Johnson at her hearing this Wednesday. And as we've come to expect, the man's hypocrisy meter is completely broken: The pot accuses the kettle of having an 'adoring media':

At yesterday's Senate hearing on September's Benghazi attack, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) asked Secretary of State Hillary Clinton a series of questions, all of which seemed rather familiar. Indeed, the odd thing about McCain's inquiries is that he would already know the answers to all of his questions if he'd familiarized himself with the publicly available information, including the findings (pdf) of the independent investigation.

And while I was willing to let that go, McCain's appearance on Fox News this morning was even more difficult to endure. [...]

Clinton never said it "didn't matter" how the four Americans were killed. She said the opposite.

As was obvious to anyone paying attention, Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) was preoccupied with preliminary intelligence reports about a possible protest in Benghazi and Clinton said that was irrelevant as compared to the death of four Americans -- and she was correct.

If McCain found this too confusing to understand, perhaps the Senate Foreign Relations Committee isn't the best place for him to serve.

What's more, Clinton has "an adoring media"? This from a man who spends so much time on the Sunday shows that he has his mail forwarded to green rooms? This from a senator who's so adored by the D.C. political establishment that he's considered reporters his base?

Yep. Heaven forbid McCain ever turns down a chance to get his mug in front of the camera, just like his BFF Lindsey Graham. If there's ever a day where I don't have to see either of them on the television again, it can't come soon enough.

Transcript below the fold.

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A woman who said she was a former member of the foreign service called C-SPAN on Wednesday to blast Sens. John McCain (R-AZ) and Rand Paul (R-KY) for being "asses" who deserved to be moved to the Senate Agriculture Committee where they could "dish dirt" after they grilled Secretary of State Hillary Clinton over the 2012 attacks in Benghazi.

At the Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing, McCain told Clinton that there were warnings before the attack, but "with all these warnings, we didn't have a single Defense Department" force to protect Americans at the consulate.

"I categorically reject your answers," McCain said. "The American people deserve answers and they certainly don't deserve false answers."

Paul went even further, saying he would have fired Clinton for her "culpability for the worst tragedy since 9/11."

"Had I been president at the time, and I found that you did not read the cables from Benghazi, you did not read the cables from Ambassador Stevens, I would have relieved you of your post," the Kentucky Republican ranted. “I think it’s inexcusable.

Following the Senate hearing, C-SPAN took a call from women named Sarah from Sterling, Virginia on the Democrats line.

"As a former member of the foreign service, I thought that Sen. Rand Paul and Sen. John McCain made complete asses of themselves, if I can use that word," Sarah volunteered. "They have no idea with regard to the status of forces agreement and to what the role of the U.S. Marine Corps is in embassies."

Sarah went on to explain that she had been stationed in a Middle East country where American staff had only been provided one security guard by the host country.

"The State Department has no control over that unless there is a status of forces agreement that allows Marine security guards to step out of their comfort zone," she continued.

"And Rand Paul has no idea, has no clue of what happens at an American embassy. I suggest that he change committees and go over to the Agriculture Committee, that's where you can dish dirt. And that's exactly what he did. He was a disgrace and he should not be on that committee."

But it wasn't only Democrats who were ripping into McCain and Paul. Sarah's call was followed by a call from Natasha in Lansing, Michigan on the Republican line.

"As a Republican, I am thoroughly embarrassed by the way they acted," Natasha said. "And I guess it would be very appropriate to say, there's no fool like an old fool, unless he happens to be a young fool. This woman who has worked so hard for our country and has donated, well, practically her health had -- they had no business in talking that way to her."

"For them to get up and grandstand, no wonder our Republican Party is going down the tubes when we have two people that act as foolish and ignorantly as these two did," she added.

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Fox News host Greta Van Susteren on Sunday offered a defense of conservatives on her network who suggested that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton could have been faking a concussion in order to delay testimony on attacks in Benghazi, saying that the conspiracy theories were put forth "before she was hospitalized" with a blood clot.

In December, Republicans like former Florida Rep. Allen West and former United States Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton — and numerous other Fox News personalities — had repeatedly mocked Clinton by suggesting that her illness was a manufactured “diplomatic illness” or “Benghazi allergy” to avoid testifying before lawmakers.

After the Daily Beast published an article which incorrectly said that Van Susteren was also peddling conspiracy theories about Clinton, the Fox News host took to her blog to demand that the website "CORRECT THIS PRONTO — and do so in a BIG WAY."

"Of course I will accept an apology but I’m more interested in the TRUTH getting out and that I did not make this crack about the Secretary of State," she wrote, stopping short of also calling on conservatives to apologize to Clinton.

On Sunday, ABC News host George Stephanopolous offered Van Susteren another chance to appeal for a retraction from West, Bolton, Laura Ingraham and others.

"I'm responsible for what I say, number one," Van Susteren explained. "Those were all very dated, before she was hospitalized. And there was not much information coming out of the State Department and very early on with those quotes."

"Look, not for one second did I doubt it," she added. "Once these people heard that she was seriously ill, that all changed. The secretary of state will have to -- should answer questions about Benghazi. There's a lot of mystery... I have nothing beyond to say to that."

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Republicans have been having a hissy fit over the potential nomination of Ambassador Susan Rice for Secretary of State, and I agree with Rachel Maddow, Karoli and others' assessment that the likely reason we're seeing the "three amigos" and company on television screaming about her being unqualified, is they want Sen. John Kerry nominated instead so Scott Brown can potentially make his way back into the Senate.

What has been ignored by all of them and by the better part, but not all of our corporate media, is a real reason to have issues with her nomination, and that's her conflict of interest over the Keystone XL pipeline.

From Democracy Now's headlines this Thursday: Report: Susan Rice Holds Stock in Keystone XL Oil Firm:

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice is receiving criticism of a different kind after it was revealed she holds up to $600,000 worth of stock in the firm behind the controversial Keystone XL oil pipeline. TransCanada is seeking federal permission to transport Canadian tar sands oil to the U.S. Gulf Coast. If confirmed as secretary of state, Rice could play a key role in determining the fate of the pipeline.

I think if Ambassador Rice would like the job as Secretary of State, she needs to be divesting herself of those stocks, and if she doesn't and is nominated, she may find herself having problems with more Senators than just McCain, Graham and Ayotte, who look like they've all lost their freaking minds over this Benghazi nonsense.