It's been a strange confluence of stories recently: two Generals (so far) have had their marital affairs revealed... the attack in Benghazi being investigated... one of the women involved disappearing... It has all the makings of a Hollywood thriller. We may never know what is going on behind the scenes, but what's happening in plain view is pretty amazing.

Prior to the election, the Republicans were trying to create an aura of scandal around the attacks on the American Consulate at Benghazi in Libya. The accusations were all over the place, from "Obama did nothing for 7 hours", to "Obama lied to Americans about what happened", to "Obama is incompetent" (you can't be simulaneously a devious genius and incompetent). As a result, the Republican witch-hunter Daryll Issa decided to hold hearings on the attacks. Like the "Fast & Furious" scandal that they tried to create, it looks like there will be no "there" there.

General Patraeus was scheduled to testify at the hearings today. Last week, however, it came to be revealed that he had had an extra-marital affair with his biographer. As a result of that, he resigned. The right-wing noise machine was in a HUGE uproar that this was just a "convenient" method to keep him from testifying.

Except - it didn't. He will still testify today.

Like the Clinton investigation that began in Arkansas and ended up as a stain on a blue dress, this one is certainly taking some diversions from the initial intent. So far, President Obama is not being implicated. Instead, it will focus on Gen. Patraeus and what sort of classified material may have ended up in Paula Broadwell's hands. The author herself is a bit of an odd story - after disappearing, her driver's license was found in a DC park, generating speculation that she may have been "disappeared" because she "knew too much". That appears to not be the case, as she has been sequestering herself at her brother's DC home.

At the same time, it was revealed that another general - John Allen - had engaged in an "inappropriate" relationship. It raises the question of whether the top military brass is a type of "boys club" where this sort of thing is more common than realized. The real problem aside from the subjective moral position one might have is the very real national security risk involved. It was revealed that Paula Broadwell was given a security clearance and had classified material on her computer. Did she know the proper procedures for handling and protecting that information? There's also the risk of blackmail. Supposedly, there was no security risk this time, but there's always that potential.

But getting back to the right-wing outrage and demands for investigations... One of the most voceriferous critics of the president and loudest to demand an investigation was Senator John McCain (R-AZ). It was a bit odd, then, that he chose to miss a scheduled hearing, and instead staged a press conference complaining that there was little information available. When questioned about his choices, McCain got very angry:

Which really goes to show that these hacks would rather make hay with innuendo than make history with truth. The risqué stories about naughty Generals must really be irking them, as this sideshow is stealing the spotlight from the circus they are attempting to foist upon us.