By Thomas Gallatin

There are many reasons why Joe is looking to recreate the Obama-era White House.

Clearly, Joe Biden (and his handlers) aim to effectively recreate another Barack Obama presidency, as many of his picks for White House posts are Obama-era retreads. One of the most glaring examples is his choice of Susan Rice to head his White House Domestic Policy Council. No, this is not some sick joke; it’s the next chess move. Rice is best remembered for seeding and promoting the infamous Benghazi lie. She falsely and repeatedly blamed the coordinated attack on the U.S. embassy in Benghazi, Libya — carried out by jihadi terrorists who murdered Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans — on a “spontaneous protest” dubiously triggered by some obscure YouTube video.

Rice, who at the time was Obama’s ambassador to the United Nations, appeared on five Sunday morning news programs to utter a carefully crafted talking point: “What happened this week in Benghazi was a result, a direct result, of a heinous and offensive video that was widely disseminated.”

In pushing the Benghazi lie, Rice was doing the bidding of both Obama and his then-secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, in an effort to cover up Obama’s dismal Middle East foreign policy in an election year. In doing so, Rice exposed herself as little other than a political hack, willing to utter blatant lies in a concerted effort to deceive the American public so as to help Obama’s reelection bid. Unfortunately, it worked.

It’s telling that Biden chose Rice for his White House Domestic Policy Council, because it’s a position that does not require Senate confirmation. Obviously, Biden’s team wants Rice in the White House without having to navigate a Senate confirmation process that would not only drudge up her role in the Benghazi scandal but would likely result in Republicans voting against confirmation, preventing her from taking a post. In other words, Biden is effectively avoiding a showdown with Senate Republicans on a lightning rod of a pick — a showdown he could lose depending on the outcome of the Georgia runoff.