When thinking about what to write in 700 words or less, my head almost exploded. No, really.

Last week we had the Benghazi inquest; three women held captive for 10 years are set free; Jodi Arias was found guilty (will she see death? Stay tuned); and Dr. Gosnell’s trial abruptly ends when the defense rests without calling one witness.

Two new independent reports show gun violence is actually way down over the last 10 years. And in Chicago, the city’s most powerful alderman introduced an ordinance at a recent City Council meeting that would allow Chicago museums to display unloaded firearms for historical purposes. Under current law, they can’t display functional firearms in public, even in a museum, regardless of the fact that they have a historical value.

And the icing on the cake: In California, a bill passes the state Assembly permitting co-ed bathroom privileges. Assembly Bill 1266 passed on a party-line vote. The bill requires all California schools to allow students to participate in sex-segregated school programs, activities and facilities consistent with his or her gender identity.

According to Karen England, executive director of Capitol Resource Institute, “This bill allows children of any gender to participate on any sports team, and enter into locker rooms, showers and bathrooms of their choice based on that student’s private sense of their own gender regardless of their biological gender at birth.” Talk about totally confusing Title 9 rules.

Of all the new stories this week, in my opinion, the most important was the Benghazi hearings. Unfortunately, it was repeatedly buried because of the many “Breaking News” stories. But I want to pull you back. This story is not a conspiracy story but real truth about our current government not wanting us to know it screwed up. God forbid we should be allowed to think they are not gods but are, in fact, human.

Apparently, the zombie-like media felt they had to hide the Obama-Clinton cover-ups like some moms cover their kids’ shortcomings.

The contrast between Fox News and MSNBC’s coverage of the recent congressional hearings on the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in Benghazi is stark. Over a span of five hours of testimony, MSNBC did not air any live coverage of the hearing. Interestingly, they chose only to air “snippets” of testimony. I’m not sure how they decided which bits to air.

Fox News aired 108 minutes of the live hearing without added commentary. CNN came in second, airing only 17 minutes of live footage. Why would that be?

Only two explanations I can think of:  1) They saw no real value in covering this story; or 2) they want to make sure “their” team is protected.

The mainstream media would have us believe Fox News is out of touch with most Americans and that CNN, MSNBC and other news outlets are really in touch with the American populace. Which begs the question: Should we or shouldn’t we trust Fox News?

Recent polls show a large number of Americans feel the president and his staff have really dropped the ball on Benghazi, and many believe the administration knowingly misled them concerning the attack. Of course, that’s according to Fox News, right? Wrong. According to that right-wing conservative blog known as the Huffington Post. Oh, wait – HuffPo isn’t conservative, is it?

The Huffington Post poll reported that 42 percent of Americans disapprove of the way President Obama has handled the aftermath of the attacks. Only 27 percent said they approve.

Here is another shocker (not really): The polls were mostly split down party lines with 78 percent of Republicans disapproving and 56 percent of Democrats approving the president’s handling of Benghazi. Boy, America, are we ever in trouble.

Other interesting numbers reported were that 42 percent said the Obama administration “deliberately misled” the public on the issue, while 33 percent said the administration “shared facts as they became available.” Twenty-five percent said they weren’t sure.

The poll clearly showed the public lacks confidence in President Obama to prevent similar attacks in the future. Only 40 percent reported being anywhere near “confident” that our government is doing what’s needed to prevent similar attacks in the future. Forty-six percent were at some level of “no confidence.”

The poll also showed that the Amercian people are aware of, or interested in, the Benghazi incident. Fifty percent indicate they’ve “heard a lot about it,” 33 percent have “heard a little,” and 12 percent have “heard nothing at all.” On a side note – do these 12 percent actually vote?

Former President Richard Nixon resigned after lying about his involvement and cover-up of the Watergate scandal. No lives were lost. The only things stolen were Democratic political strategies.

If the hearings find President Obama and Secretary Clinton were involved with lying, cover-ups and threatening active federal employees with their jobs, are you willing to call for their resignations, as well? I hope so.

Joe Messina is host of The Real Side (TheRealSide.com), a nationally syndicated talk show that runs on AM-1220 KHTS radio and SCVTV [here]. He is also an elected member of the Hart School Board. His commentary normally publishes Mondays.