Top Links: Benghazi … heard of it?

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Top Links: Benghazi … heard of it?

Top story: Conservatives are shouting “Benghazi!” the way Steve Martin once did “Oklahoma!” and they’re making about as much sense.

The Benghazification of Hillary Clinton has begun.AP

May. 10, 2013, 12:47 PM EDT

By John Flowers

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)

John Flowers