The rug beneath Obama's feet

"I am not going under the bus
because of Benghazi, Barack!"

When it comes to Machiavellian, political maneuvering, even the Chicago-trained Barack Obama and team are the rankest of amateurs compared to Bill and Hillary Clinton. Anyone who thinks for a fleeting second that Hillary Clinton is going to fall on her sword for Obama over the Benghazi attack is living in a choom-clouded lala land.

To recap: At Thursday evening's debate with Rep. Paul Ryan, Vice President Joe Biden said of the attack in Benghazi, Libya, that took the lives of four Americans, including our ambassador, on Sept. 11:

MS. RADDATZ: What were you first told about the attack? Why were people talking about protests? When people in the consulate first saw armed men attacking with guns, there were no protesters. Why did that go on for weeks?

VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: Because that's exactly what we were told —

MS. RADDATZ: By who?

VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: — by the intelligence community. The intelligence community told us that. As they learned more facts about exactly what happened, they changed their assessment. That's why there's also an investigation headed by Tom Pickering, a leading diplomat in the — from the Reagan years, who is doing an investigation as to whether or not there were any lapses, what the lapses were, so that they will never happen again. But —

MS. RADDATZ: And they wanted more security there.

VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: Well, we weren't told they wanted more security again. We did not know they wanted more security again. And by the way, at the time we were told exactly — we said exactly what the intelligence community told us that they knew. That was the assessment. And as the intelligence community changed their view, we made it clear they changed their view. That's why I said, we will get to the bottom of this.

This doesn't exactly throw Hillary under the bus, but it sure opens the door while the bus is moving. The State Department has a large intelligence bureau that focuses closely on security of US displomats, staff and properties overseas. So what Biden basically said was, "Hillary? She never told us nuthin'! If only she had!"

If President Obama is wondering why the grounds are shifting beneath his feet, he can first read the polls and then take a look at the rug he's standing on - because Hillary and husband Bill are starting to yank it out.

Furthermore:

The State Department has released a transcript of a briefing that two high-ranking department officials gave to a number of reporters via conference call on October 9 (Tuesday). I am not certain about this, but I believe the transcript was only made public today. You should read it in its entirety; it is the most detailed description I have seen of the events in Benghazi on September 11.

While this is by no means clear, it appears that the State Department may have released the transcript as part of the escalating conflict between Barack Obama and Joe Biden and the Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton. In their desperation to avoid responsibility for the Benghazi debacle, Obama and Biden have pointed fingers in two directions: at the intelligence community for reporting incorrectly that the incident was a protest over a YouTube video clip, and at the State Department for not providing adequate security for the Ambassador.

Prediction: If the White House doesn't relent (and I don't think it will), H. Clinton will appear before Rep. Darrell Issa's House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, officially at Committee request (or even subpoena) but unofficially by her own, back channel request. There, with the convenience of being under oath and thus having no choice, she will effectively go destructo on her putative boss, Barack Obama.

If her legacy-clearing testimony costs Obama the election, so be it. Hillary Clinton absolutely will not take the fall for Obama on this matter.