Submitted by: Doris Parker
The Ben Rhodes Story: How A Hack Writer Crafted the Benghazi Talking Points of a Lifetime
Republican South Carolina Rep. Trey Gowdy, chairman of the Benghazi Select Committee, said this week that no witnesses are off limits in his committee’s investigation into the Benghazi cover-up. So who will he subpoena? Here’s a suggestion: How about Ben Rhodes.Ben Rhodes, the 37-year old little brother of CBS News president David Rhodes, is a national security adviser to President Obama. He also happens to be an Upper East Side literary type who took a Master’s in Fiction from NYU. Real serious artist. Rhodes was the one who edited the White House’s Benghazi talking points to focus the blame on spontaneous reaction to a YouTube video, rather than an al-Qaeda attack.
Ben even published a short story in the spring 2002 edition of Beloit Fiction Journal called “The Goldfish Smiles, You Smile Back,” about an extremely good note-taker who edits talking points. “Goldfish” appears to be Rhodes’ only credit.
So what went wrong, Ben? No takers on that screenplay you had rattling around in the glove compartment? Seed money running out and still couldn’t pop a weekend piece in Reader’s Digest? Find yourself on Gower Avenue staring in your empty coffee cup, listening to the air conditioner hum? Had to take a little day job in politics to tide you over? No shame in that.
One minute you’re sipping kambucha with your peer-workshop buddies, the next you’re in a suit working on “The YouTube Video Project.” Happens to the best of us. So tell us the story, Ben. Tell us of the YouTube video talking points. Spin us this tale of power, romance, and intrigue. This is your Washington thriller. Finally. Make it count.
Viral Crucifix By Ben Rhodes (Chapter 1: “Download of Death”)
<img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-4273763" alt="Bm5TKp7CEAAX1em (1)" src="http://cdn01.dailycaller.“Out of coffee and cigs,” Barack sighed, running a weary hand across his scalp. I could sense the momentum in the room shifting. We’d been up for hours, with still no workable premise and our deadline approaching. He stood and headed for the door, mumbling about picking up a bagel and a cup of black coffee. Youthful. Youthful. How do I do youthful? My specialty in grad school had been austerity. Density. I was out of my element. Then, suddenly, like the final orgasmic thrust of an unfaithful lover in a Paris motel, it came to me. “Wait. I’VE GOT IT.” Barack turned. “Mr. President, it was a YouTube video! It was a YouTube video!”
<img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-4273766" alt="macguffin" src="http://cdn01.dailycaller.“A YouTube video. Such a brilliant MacGuffin. This is worthy of Fitzgerald, Ben. This is one they’ll remember us for.”
Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2014/
Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2014/
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