Benghazi, Shmenghazi …

I am not denigrating the loss of lives in the Sept. 11, 2012 attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya. I mourn the deaths of the four Americans who died in that terrible attack and firefight. But I’m beginning to wonder whether Republicans’ continuing keen interest in the aftermath of the attack isn’t politically motivated.

The Internal Revenue Service apology for pestering tea party activists in an election year is another matter. This one is troubling in the extreme.

http://thehill.com/video/house/299209-issa-irs-apology-for-tea-party-targeting-dishonest

U.S. House Government Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., said this morning that the IRS “mea culpa’s not an honest one.” Maybe so. Maybe not.

But the IRS has admitted that it dogged tea party activists for a year prior to the 2012 presidential election. Agents reportedly placed conservatives under closer scrutiny on tax matters, leading some to accuse the agency of political harassment.

What needs to be settled immediately is whether this was done under orders, or with the tacit approval of those in the White House.

I’ll be clear on this point: I am not a tea party supporter and I truly hope that the IRS acted on its own, that some rogues within the agency took matters into their own hands and that the White House is not involved in any way.

But this matter has to be cleared up quickly. If the IRS acted on its own, those individuals involved need to be identified, fired and prosecuted.

Some Republicans have compared the Benghazi kerfuffle to the Watergate scandal that took down an administration in 1974. The closer comparison might be the alleged IRS activity. I hope that it’s false, but the nation needs answers.