Exclusive: Rumsfeld Part II - on Watergate, Benghazi, and November's Election

by AWR Hawkins 

Continuing where yesterday's post left off, former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld spoke to Breitbart News about the differences between Watergate and Benghazi-gate, as well as the what he sees as a key difference between President Obama and Gov. Romney. 

 

Breitbart News: Yesterday, as we spoke of the President's inaction regarding Benghazi and the cover-up that followed -- the cover-up that continues -- the conversation naturally lent itself to Watergate comparisons. So let me ask, is it fair to say that Benghazi makes Watergate look like child's play, or is that going too far?
Rumsfeld: When I think about Watergate and contrast it with Benghazi, what immediately comes to mind is that people were killed in Benghazi. And it appears they were killed because of acts on the part of a government that failed to fulfill the responsibility of providing adequate security in the first instance. And also of not responding to security requests when they were made.
In Watergate, there was a break-in in a hotel in Washington and nobody was killed. The problem with Watergate was the cover-up. But there is certainly a cover-up going on at the present time; I don't know how anyone could describe it differently. You have people going out for days and days after the attacks, and they repeat this line about this video causing it. The President goes to the United Nations and Mrs. Clinton talks about this "hateful video," and it seems to me it's of a kind.
In the end, of course, the big difference is the loss of life in the Benghazi situation.
One other difference between the two was the way the press carried the Watergate story like no story had been carried before, and there were hearings in Congress, and it was pounded day after day after day. And with Benghazi, largely speaking, the mainstream media is ignoring it.
Breitbart News: With these things taken into account -- the loss of the life, the ongoing cover-up, the security denials, and more -- is there any way for President Obama to get past this? Is Benghazi so bad as to be inescapable for a politician in the President's position?
Rumsfeld: I can't speak to what the President may or may not survive politically. But I can say there is an election coming up in less than a week, and you have to ask yourself, "What would an undecided voter be thinking about?" Wouldn't an undecided voter be looking for a clear line of demarcation between President Obama and Gov. Romney?
For me that demarcation is honesty.
As I listened to the debates, and thought about Gov. Romney and his demeanor, and listened to him making his case, his honesty stood out. And one has to say that the lack of that same honesty by the current administration is something that should be telling for the undecided voter.