Afraid To Lead - The Man Who Would Be President Present

I am hoping this Politico story is wrong on the thought process behind Obama's decision to seek Congressional authorization, but it seems as if we have a President who really wants to be back in the Senate. All this Executive authority and "buck stops here" nonsense is apparently too much for him:

The Washington blame game is already in full swing, with fingers pointing from both ends of Pennsylvania Ave. Shortly after Obama announced his decision on Saturday, senior administration officials insisted going to Congress for a vote was the president’s brainchild. Leaders on the Hill had asked Obama to consult with Congress, but not a single one had suggested that the president ask for a formal authorization, they said.

But by Sunday, with many Democrats questioning the wisdom of his move, a source familiar with the thinking in the White House framed Obama’s decision as accommodating House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio).

Blame Boehner? I guess blaming Bush was too implausible.

While Boehner had pushed Obama to consult with Congress and to answer a series of questions about his plans for engagement in Syria, he had stopped short of joining the nearly 200 Republican and Democratic House members who signed a pair of letters urging Obama to seek authorization before taking action.

Some of Boehner’s colleagues in both parties read his moves as an indication that he would not stand in the president’s way in launching strikes. But Obama had grown frustrated with both international and domestic leaders who gave him tacit approval but declined to jump to his aid. He was taking all the risk and responsibility for a Syria strike, and he didn’t like it. Members of Congress were playing political games by asking him to consult with them but not taking on the accountability of voting with him or against him.

That sort of thing happens when we have one President and 535 Congressman and Senators. LeBron has to hit his own free throws, Phil has to sink his own putts... life must seem so unfair sometimes. But Obama had a plan!

On Friday night, Obama announced to his staff that he was going to shine a spotlight on them. Rather than calling out orders for a strike, he called for a vote. Some of his allies patted him on the back for what they described as a bold stroke of political brilliance. Republicans said the president was being nakedly political.

“There is no doubt the White House is making political calculations about all of this. If they didn’t think they needed the cover, there’s no way in hell they would be coming to us,” said one senior GOP aide. “Obama can’t stand Congress, and no president thinks there is an actual restraint on their ability to wage war.”

Confusing our allies (and enemies) and tarnishing the international stature of the US is one thing, but providing political cover for Obama is a priority. Yike.

Lest you wonder, Bush did not put the 2007 surge in Iraq to a vote. However, the new Democratic Congress got involved anyway:

On February 16, 2007, the House of Representatives passed a nonbinding resolution opposing the troop "surge" in Iraq by a vote of 246-182. On February 17, 2007, a similar resolution in the Senate failed to obtain the 60 (filibuster-proof) votes necessary to bring the resolution to debate and vote, with 33 Republican Senators and 1 Independent blocking the resolution.

The Decider versus The Present.

Comments

[narciso el taino]

This piece suggests it's not going well;

http://www.rightwingnews.com/barack-obama/president-peace-prizes-syrian-strike-resolution-already-not-going-so-well/

[2Jack is Back4 (On the Thalys, Again)]

I am not a betting man but if I had to wager on this I would say a no vote by Congress will not depress or aggravate a lot of voters. I just don't see a no vote being a decider in 2014 but a nonsensical bombing campaign and limited engagement ala Libya without regime change, chemical weapon destruction or neutralization of Assad certainly will play a role.

Vote No and get re-elected
!

[rse]

When your goal is fundamental transformation of a superpower from the ground up as quickly as possible, realities like foreign policy dilemmas are such an intrusion.

So they get disregarded until the tsunami approaches. Instead of going for high ground, a certain mindset will simply look for someone to blame for the tsunami. I guess assuming the secret service will still manage to whisk him away in time.

He doesn't want to lead. He just wants the glory and the toys of office.

[hit and run]

My new Half-Assed Assad theory: Obama was hell-bent on bombing Assad. Until.........

He found out that previous ass-kissing of Assad by Hillary and others gave Assad some goods that would be to Obama's advantage to procure.

He's now stalling any military action until he gets his hands on it, and Congress seemed a good place to start.

[narciso el taino]

Kerry, Pelosi, Hagel, they were all Assad's courtiers, and quite recently as well.

[Gmax]

Yes indeed they were. Unfortunately for the chinless one, he is finding out that the quisling party is indeed perfidious. Think about that. Being more perfidious than an arab regime. The mind reels.

[Gmax]

And in other news showing the Indians leaving the reservation, 40,000 Longshoremen, long of the AFL CIO have announced their departure. The reason for their angst? To hear them tell it, its Obamacare. Imagine that.

[Account Deleted]

As I said on a previous thread, there is no urgency in taking up this AUMF. Hutu and Tutsi are not being slaughtered while President Clinton diddles interns. The President should be given an opportunity to explain how Syria will succeed where the disastrous consequences of the Clinton/Obama Arab Spring fiasco in Libya and Egypt might lead the sentient to feel Syria is just the end of President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton's failure cascade in Araby.

Surely Congress has time to examine the outcome of the President's excellent adventures to date prior to voting him permission to play with another another grenade.

After all, it will be months before the failure cascade of Obamacare is truly manifest.

[narciso el taino]

I though they were just trying to make trouble for Haley, which a judge seems to have forestalled.

[matt]

One action which I am quite surprised that has not been discussed is an indictment of Assad at the ICC.

ICC has had a pretty good record of imprisoning war criminals. Serbs, Sierra Leonians, Liberians.

It would surely restrict Assad's and his General's movement, but could also be used as a chip in negotiation. Even more so, the sheer noise of it would raise the pressure internationally for boycott, no fly zones, etc.

[Barry Dauphin]

I guess blaming Bush was too implausible.

Robert Gibbs wasn't listening to you. He wanted to re-litigate Iraq on MTP like it's 2008.

[Bruce Hayden]

I don't see a No vote hurting the Republicans in the next election. They could just point out that they wanted a better plan, something more than bombing something just to bomb something, But not bombing anything of strategic value, because that might escalate things. And then maybe throw in Sarah Palin's critique from a couple of days ago.

[Gmax]

Hearing all these Democrats bleat in true anguish that the Administration proposal is "too broad" and "open ended" is delightful. Delicious.

[Gmax]

Any journalist yet bothered to reach out to Mother Sheehan for the fierce moral authority position involved here?

[*Bill in AZ*]

NSA picked up theWon's war council meeting:

theWon: C'mon Reggie, don't be a hog, pass the bong around one more time, we gotta get this meeting going, I need answers on Syria. I remember from history back in my crackhou... errr... Columbia days that evil capitalist pigs always get out of recessions by starting wars somewhere... so... c'mon Reggie, the bong

theWon: ValJar, the upside of bombing Syria?

ValJar: c'mon, Reggie! Well, Syria and Iran promise to bomb Israel if we attack, and Russia and China will support them.

theWon: Any downside?

ValJar: no (c'mon, Reggie)

theWon: Magic?

Magic: This is good choom, man!

theWon: Reggie?

Reggie: When's this meeting over, man? I want to go play err... spades. Got any cheeto's around here?

[Strawman Cometh]

Good thing you have Phil putting. If you had used Tiger in the same paragraph with LeBron and Obama you'd be a racist and Typhus would be under pressure to shut this down.

[Bob]

Republicans in the House should let the President's own party which controls the Senate go first. With so many of them up for re-election with major problems at home, let them deliberate and cover his rear end FIRST. The Senate bills itself as the greatest deliberative body in the world, so they should deliberate for the voters back home. If Bam wants to blame Boehner, he should blame Olde Harry first. The house will have to appropriate the funds for Obama's little war after the Senate full of Democrats approves it and might decide not to do so.

[Jeff Dobbs]

matt:
One action which I am quite surprised that has not been discussed is an indictment of Assad at the ICC.

Yeah, whatever happened to the left's desire to "make love litigation, not war"?

Heck, you'd think President Peace Prize would be all over this. The US didn't sign the Rome Statute creating the ICC - this could be a chance for Obama to cede more US sovereignty to the UN (of course, he would want no such thing as long as it is he who occupies the throne).

[narciso el taino]

Meanwhile the new constitutional convention in Egypt recommends unfriending the Brotherhood,
as a general principle.

[daddy]

JiB,

When you and Frederick get home, give me a call if Jazz and Bandit need some help from Fry and Scout.

Florida officials trying to eradicate the Giant African Land Snail, one of the world's most destructive invasive species, plan to deploy a new weapon in the battle - Labrador retrievers.

[Ranger]

I think this pretty much sums it up:

A vote of no confidence is in order

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/wp/2013/09/01/a-vote-of-no-confidence-is-in-order/

Congress should help by voting to cut our losses; it should resist opening the door to the uncertain consequences of a military campaign conducted, without conviction or clear purpose, by this commander in chief. If Republicans can limit the president’s authority to wander and blunder on the world stage, there is a moral obligation to do so.

Hard to argue with that logic.

[narciso el taino]

I know it's a cheap shot, but he more then deserves it;

[Gmax]

this just in, Gallup has released their new poll and Zero is down to 43% approval. Seems the voters are not so enthralled with this excellent adventure...

[daddy]

I guess blaming Bush was too implausible.

Perhaps he could blame it on his High School Basketball coach:

Obama attributed his lack of playing time to not “play[ing] like white boys do,” ... because his style was more playground-oriented, that he played “black” and the coach coached “white”...

[Gmax]

My spider senses tell me that very same attitude against "acting white" prevailed in his school work as well. One of the obvious manifestations is his totally bolixation of history whenever he is put on the spot.

[Marlene]

Just caught up,lost a comment. I vote no! I also would like to wish Frederick,Frau and Mrs.TK a belated Happy Birthday! Where did the summer go?!

[pinkman]

How could a No vote hurt republicans? Most Americans oppose the action.

[Ignatz]

--How could a No vote hurt republicans? --

I'm confident they'd find a way to shoot themselves in the foot.

[Ignatz]

Crud

[narciso el taino]

I recall from Steyn he was against the Iraq war, but seems to be for this one.

http://hotair.com/headlines/archives/2013/09/02/the-delayed-attack-on-syria-is-good-for-britain-and-the-pm/

Yes, Tpaw, Rove, and Bremer won't steer us wrong,
'what is Japanese for facepalm

[DrJ]

Off.

[Jane-sun - the squaw]

A "no" vote will result on the republicans being responsible for all the dead children.

I'd risk it.

[Ranger]

--How could a No vote hurt republicans? --

I think the Dems think they can then throw up anything bad that happens in Syria after this as the fault of Republicans. That requires two things that I don't see happening. First, pretty much every Dem would have to vote for bombing. Second, it would require that people would buy the argument that after this, anything and everything bad that happens in Syria is because of Republican "obstruction."

Personally, I don't see even a majority of Dems voting for this. Given how congressional districts are drawn, most Dems come from very deep blue districts, and a "vote for war" might be just enough to convince a hard core lefty to run against them in a primary. The politically safe vote for a Dem on this is NO.

Also, I don't recall Dems getting much blame among the public over the fall of Vietnam or the Killing Fields of Cambodia. The civil war in Syria has been going on for two years and has already killed over 100K. I don't see the public "holding Republicans responsible" for what happens after this either way.

[Danube on iPad]

I can't imagine how a No vote would hurt the GOP when Obama has clearly stated that he doesn't need congressional approval in any event. Regardless of how the vote goes, the decision to strike or not strike is entirely his.

[(A) nuther Bub]

I recall from Steyn he was against the Iraq war, but seems to be for this one.

The "he" in narciso's sentence refers to Boris Johnson, not Steyn, in case anyone else gets as alarmed as I did when I thought I was reading Steyn's views.

[Ranger]

BTW, I think we should start to help the "Peace" movement write some new songs...

My first offering is:

All we are saying
Is blow some stuff* up

*May be replaced with other words that start with S.

Repeat incessantly just in case someone misses the point.

[Clarice]

I keep thinking we need some wag to produce a video of Obama on the Road to Damascus.

[(A) nuther Bub]

Apologies in advance if someone has already linked to Michael Yon's "Outrage is not a Strategy." (LUN) A worthwhile read, particularly as a reminder about the magnitude of incorrect information all of us receive at a time of war, including the decision makers.

[2Jack is Back4 (On the Thalys, Again)]

Just like Nuclear Energy, there are no votes lost due to this subject. Where is the great American outcry for bombs, bullets and sacrifice? Even the MSM cannot create the hysteria of conflict if the public has no idea why we need to do this.

This is a red herring with no substance at all.

Now if I was Boehner and McConnell I would say, "Mr. President, we have more important issues to Americans than this wild goose chase. We need to find out why you and your regime targeted patriotic, law abiding Americans by the IRS, tapped their communications by the NSA and tried to stifle their enjoyment of a free press with the actions against James Rosen and the AP.

And While your at it, you can tell us where you were on 9/11 of last year when our outpost in Benghazi became a bloodbath of 4 brave Americans. Oh, and by the way, the parents of Brian Terry are still waiting for your explanation. Other than that, have a nice day (but keep your f**king feet off our furniture)."

[Danube on iPad]

What is required in order for the ICC to file charges? I wouldn't think the US has to do anything at all.

[Ranger]

What is required in order for the ICC to file charges? I wouldn't think the US has to do anything at all.

Well, someone does need to refer the case to them and argue they have jurisdiction because the government in power has refused to prosecute, or even investigate. I would imagine the rebels could do that. My understanding is there is no requirement for the people requesting review be representatives of a state actor.

[narciso el taino]

Well the Un high commissioner's rep, De Ponte was the one that turned up indications that the rebels were using said weapons, so that was inconvenient back then;

[narciso el taino]

Apparently one fifth of our flagged CIA applicants already have ties to Hamss or Hezbollah, so there goes our info,

[Jeff Dobbs]

Ever since centralcal first linked that pic of Obama with his foot on the Resolute Desk the other night, I have found myself rather distressed. I had to edit it to make it less offensive...

...to the left.

Ok. I feel better now.

[James D.]

I'd like to see someone explain to Obama, and Kerry, that, contrary to what they apparently believe, Bashar Assad is not a misbehaving puppy, and the United States military is not a rolled-up newspaper.

[(A) nuther Bub]

Other than that, have a nice day (but keep your f**king feet off our furniture)."

I can't get that photograph out of my mind. It infuriated me as much as the passage of Obamacare, the pictorial evidence that we're governed by a careless, snotty, disrespectful high school kid. That picture turned my dislike of the man into hatred.

[pagar-----]

Charlie Martin has a post up at PJ with a subject I could never support:

http://pjmedia.com/tatler/2013/09/01/thoughts-on-watching-john-kerry-on-fox-news-sunday/

[Jane-sun - the squaw]

From my distinguished junior senator.

Note the word "appear".

"The use of chemical weapons is a heinous and despicable act that appears to be the work of a brutal dictator who has quashed dissent and killed innocent men, women and children. We must be mindful, however, of the complexities of the situation in Syria. The aftermath of a U.S. strike on targets in Syria is difficult to predict, with negative consequences that may be beyond our capability to control. That's why I am looking forward to a thorough, detailed debate that hears all sides.'' Sen. Edward J. Markey, D-Mass

Everyone if them is hedging.

[rse]

If someone is interested in when everything in ed shifted, it was 1962. http://www.invisibleserfscollar.com/manipulating-the-inner-psychological-aspects-of-what-makes-each-student-tick-are-key/

Never thought I would come to see those missiles in Cuba as a good thing but something evil was brewing. And it's back now in earnest.

Which is why it is so annoying to bo when the world's tyrants view him as weak and act up. It might get in the way of his transformative plans for us.

[Ranger]

Note the word "appear".

And that is the opening to use Benghazi as the foundation of the trust issue. It is not the "ghost of Iraq" from 10 years ago, where bad intel affected policy, like the Dems want to pretend. This is about the fact that last year, ObamaCo lied about a terrorist attack for political reasons. The bar is set very high here because Obama and his political appointees have already lied to Congress and the American people on questions of national security.

[2Jack is Back4 (On the Thalys, Again)]

test. Can't post links.

[(A) nuther Bub]

Good statement at PJ, Charlie Martin. Some of your readers could benefit by a booster of a bolus or two to aid their sense of irony, though. Is it injectable?

[2Jack is Back4 (On the Thalys, Again)]

New posts at Journey's of Fredrick on wordpress. Typhus will not allow a link.

[Cecil Turner]

I don't see a No vote hurting the Republicans in the next election.

Ya think? It seems the latest on the prog propaganda front is to claim all GOPers are hypocrites (i.e., ya'all are warmongers, and this is a war, so the only reason you could dislike it is . . . RAAACISM!). Or something like that.

It seems to me the counter-case (Dems against war until their man is in the WH) is a lot easier to make. But the Times won't be running that one.

[narciso el taino]

Yes, the progs are going to lie, like fish are going to swim, tigers are going to hunt prey,

[Danube of Thought]

February 2009:

[Jane-sun - the squaw]

McCain and Grahamesty giving post Obama press conference.

It ain't pretty

[Old Lurker test]

1962, very interesting rse.

That year, or 1963, was when a group of 15 or so of us at a large public school were told that while we had been kept together as an "accelerated group" since middle school, it had been determined that the other classes would benefit if each of us were spread around the rest of the school. So in 11th grade I found myself back again with the same teachers doing the same materials.

It was difficult enough for me to transition from a huge public school in WV to a real college out of state, and I always though that move had had some impact.

Or maybe it was transitioning from 3.2% Rolling Rock to full strength beer in Pennsylvania. Never was sure which.

[2Jack is Back4 (On the Thalys, Again)]

Cecil,

From my time in DC back in the day, these type of passing the buck votes get no traction with voters, especially war votes. He is harmed here and McCain and Graham cannot help him. This is no way to run a country or even a regime.

That said, how can he buy back those votes for Hillary? Increase the minimum wage, set a new Monday holiday in honor of Saul Alinsky or give up golf until Assad stops using chemical weapons?

[Danube on iPad]

I guess you have to click to see the whole thing. It's Kerry, Assad and their wives at a restaurant in Damascus.

[Jane-sun - the squaw]

McCain predicts "catastrophic" consequences of a no vote - for this and future presidents.

[Old Lurker test]

I care about as much what McCain and Graham think as I do Obama. Sad to say.

[narciso el taino]

Yes, it's McGramnesty being themselves, yawn,

Drudge has the full picture, of 'My Dinner with Bashir'

[Ranger]

McCain predicts "catastrophic" consequences of a no vote - for this and future presidents.

Nah, I think just for this one. McRino is fool. Obama beat him about the head and shoulders over voting for a "stupid war" in Iraq, and now he is willing to give cover to Obama over a truly stupid war in Syria. How he can do that without demanding a full, up front apology or admission from Obama that he now agrees with GWB's assessment that the threat of WMDs falling into bad actors hands is a national security threat is beyond me.

[Jane-sun - the squaw]

Actually it sounded like McCain et al beat Obama about the head.

They must be racists.

I think they saw themselves as gaining leverage "for the good of the country".

Their threats pissed me off.

[narciso el taino]

You know she doesn't seem terribly worried, even if this was before the threat

[Marlene]

rse,my school teacher sister-in-law stayed at the cabin with us last night. She has two days of in-service before classes start Thursday.Her school district has new Apple computers,tablets and projection screens. The kids will have Mac Airbooks. She said,we've got to learn to use this stuff before we can teach the kids. She is a good teacher,but is burnt out (25 years). Teachers like my s-i-l are caught in the middle of the transformation that you've documented.

[Marlene]

*MacBook Air*

[Ignatz]

-- It infuriated me as much as the passage of Obamacare, the pictorial evidence that we're governed by a careless, snotty, disrespectful high school kid.--

I'm a couple inches taller than Barry and I just tried that same pose on my own desk and it's neither comfortable nor natural.
He had to go out of his way to strike that pose; either because he thinks it makes him look resolute or because he's just giving us all the finger again, only this time with his foot.

[narciso el taino]

An interesting speculation, Ledeen puts forth, Clarice, but it ignores the main problem;

http://pjmedia.com/michaelledeen/2013/09/02/somethings-missing-here/

[matt]

Interesting book review in the weekend WSJ again. Seems that good ole Paul Ehrlich of "GLOBAL DISASTER COLLAPSE of CIVILIZATION OVERPOPULATION STARVATION!" fame and economist Julian Simon made a bet. Each was to buy $1000 of certain key commodities and after 10 years the winner would be the one with the cost with the greatest difference from the original $,1000 up or down. Ehrlich had the up and Simon had the down. Ehrlich had to write a check to Simon for approximately $507.

But Ehrlich was so zealous that even when proven wrong time and again he still wouldn't STFU.

He derided Borglum and the Green Revolution and wanted to force people to stop having children because of the overpopulation bomb. It goes on and on. He was a fascist, in other words.

Sound like any other drummed up crises we are aware of? Bueller??? Bueller???

And then in the same section George Johnson lists his favorite books,among which is Solzhenitsyn's Cancer Ward....which I must now re-read.

The cover article, though, is patently absurd. Titled "Hardwired to Give" it tries to use purely scientific means to quantify and understand why humans are generous. From the author's perspective there is no place whatsoever for the soul. It is amazingly narow minded and I think really gets to the heart of today's idiocracy.

They are so dogmatic and so ideologically blinded they cannot see the forest for the trees. They do not understand philosophy except as a Gramscian, Derridan, soulless machine. The chronological arrogance is astounding.

Yesterday we attended Mass at an African American Catholic church. It had been founded well before segregation had ended and had the first desegregated school in the state.

The priest, an old American Irish guy preached a very moving sermon and started with the example of the book "Zealot". I disliked the condemnation of the book for its form.

What was worth challenging, however, was his premise; of a political/revolutionary Jesus. So the priest started with this as an example of the misunderstanding of the message and worked around to the call to holiness and to service and to never giving up on someone no matter how bad a sinner is or a problem is. He recalled Jesus' constant searching out for the weakest and most needful of His guidance and compassion.

It was a hell of a sermon delivered almost completely extemporaneously. He must have been a Jesuit.

There is a tear in the logic web today. it is purposeful. It means to deprive us of our liberty and of rational thought. It means to drive from false crisis to false crisis and herd us into slots like cattle or sheep.

Never give up, though. That is a very powerful message.

That bastard stood in front of a bunch of his wealthy, jaded leftist oligarchs and tlod them about those unilluminated peons bitterly clinging to their guns and religion, but yet what I see is a people joyous in their faith and incredibly generous to those less blessed. It is a Orwellian or Leninist misrepresentation by Obama.

Never give up. We have to reverse his evil.

[narciso el taino]

Well yes, Matt, but the whole Aslan package is deliberate, misidentifying Jesus with the Sicari, that is the Liberation Theology
heresy, that Popes from John Paul to Francis have had confronted.

[rich@gmu]

narciso-

maybe he can fire up the Ouija board again. unsatisfied that he had some secret conversation to talk him out of something he had talked himself into. the whole thing is odd-like a set up for something.

[narciso el taino]

Well it's a throry, no stranger then anything else.

[Clarice]

On Beacon Hill, anti war protestors surround Kerry's home and shout and stamp..HEH

[Clarice]

Best article I've seen on Syria:http://www.michaelyon-online.com/syria-outrage-is-not-a-strategy.htm

[Gmax]

Would you not pay the price of admission for the confrontation between Lurch and Tereeeeza? You had to be the Secretary of State? And why are these people on MY property?

[Account Deleted]

Rich,

Over 100,000 Syrians have died during the Clinton/Obama Arab Spring. I'd really like to know why the (claimed) death of 1,500 more triggered the hair on fire grenade juggling act of the past 13 days. A UN representative laid the responsibility for use of Sarin at the feet of the Cannibals regarding an incident in the first week of May. Why didn't the President at least make a few smouldering hair comments at the time?

Then we can proceed to questioning the President's decision to punt on first down.

[Extraneus]

I think the debate in Congress is going to be great. The cameras will be rolling. All eyes will be focused. Lib pundits will be poised to pounce with outrage at any disrespect shown to their hero.

Just think what some of us here would say if given the chance to join that debate.

It's gonna be great.

[narciso el taino]

popcorn with the grey poupon;

http://twitchy.com/2013/09/01/protesters-show-up-at-john-kerrys-house-pics/

[Janet]

Since he still has them, ol' Kerry can stand at the window & throw his medals at the protesters!

[Extraneus]

Jengis Kerry at narciso's link:

Never forget.

[narciso el taino]

no not in our name, is the phrase;

http://babalublog.com/2011/04/05/john-kerry-is-a-man-i-do-not-not-respect-felix-rodriguez-to-john-kerry-1987/

[rse]

OL-the concept is called distributed intelligence. What you know and your advanced vocab and greater life experiences and trains of though should be accessible to others via dialogue.

That is a cool story. I really do just follow the clues of known facts. Ultimately it was the WH interest in the League of Innovative Schools and what those docs said that started me down the road to Maslow and Rogers. As far as I have been able to locate no one has written about the 62 or 86 books before. I never took psych as it does not interest me so I learned all this from scratch only because it became pertinent. Like the M theory.

Marlene-thanks for sharing that. It's a tool. And ed to use a tool is vocational and even less useful or unique than a saw. Plus there is an iron rule of psych that the visual trumps that is to crowd out the mental apart from intuition, impulse, or feelings.

Given everything going on in the world now and the c'est la vie approach of the cic, let's all remember the families with loved ones in harms way. They deserve better leadership.

[Jim Rhoads f/k/a vnjagvet]

I never have and I never will, ext. Kerry is lower than whale sh$$ on the bottom of the ocean as far as I am concerned. I would not follow him across the street.

ACTIVIST AND FORMER VIET NAM VET JOHN KERRY (LEFT) should read, "Leftist Activist and etc., etc. John Kerry". One of my dearest memories is having participated in the September 11, 2004 "Kerry Lied Good Men Died" rally on the mall in DC.

That is in spite of the fact that on the following Monday, I had a "sudden cardiac death" episode while working out at my fitness club. Fortunately I survived because the lady working out beside me was a cardiac nurse who kept my heart beating until a defibrillator could be deployed. I now sport my very own internal defibrillator, which has kept me going ever since.

[MarkO]

Thinking about other great moments in Presidential reflection, it occurred to me that Obama's companion on his walk in the WH grounds had to have been Amy Carter.

[matt]

Jim;

As I used to say to my father after he got his implanted, "Can I come over with the garage door opener?"

[pagar-----]

Think Jim Rhoads has John Kerry figured out.
I believe it is an insult to every person who has ever defended this country to have John Kerry drawing a US government paycheck.

Amazing story of your cardiac death episode, Jim. Glad you're still here.

[rich@gmu]

Rick-

exactly. 100K killed to date and the administration loudly proclaimed he would bomb something "just muscular enough not to be mocked" to maybe the administration can blame congress (enter McCain stage left).

[Jane-sun - the squaw]

I'm not sure it's a plus or a minus but I sure as hell would not have offered to help the president get out of this mess ala McCain and Graham. He has been such an asshole to every person on the planet who doesn't kiss his ass, that I don't think I can forgive him - even for "the good of the country" which really makes me a bad person.

[narciso el taino]

They've so jumped the ghost shark, it's not funny,

[Ignatz]

Kerry has demonstrated very clearly how to become a traitor and a kept man but, how exactly does one become a "former" Viet Nam Vet?

[Extraneus]

Wow, Jim. Thankfully you had that lady to help you!

It's probably forlorn, but I'm hoping that Kerry is treated as he deserves to be during the Syria debate. It's a golden opportunity.

"...In our opinion, and from our experience, there is nothing in South Vietnam Syria, nothing which could happen that realistically threatens the United States of America. And to attempt to justify the loss of one American life in Vietnam, Cambodia, or Laos Syria by linking such loss to the preservation of freedom, which those misfits supposedly abuse, is to us the height of criminal hypocrisy, and it is that kind of hypocrisy which we feel has torn this country apart...."

---John Kerry

[Ignatz]

What is the source for the 100,000 killed claim and do we have any confidence it's accurate within a factor of ten?

[rich@gmu]

and the fix is in on this too-just like Obamacare, the reelection, and all the scandals that have been covered up.

wouldn't be surprised if he starts bombing tomorrow.

[rich@gmu]

the un is providing the number...lun

[rich@gmu]

wow Jim, glad you are still kicking around.

[Extraneus]

There hasn't been one autopsy done that shows someone in Syria having been killed by sarin or any other chemical weapon, Ig. How is it possible that not one body has been smuggled out of the country to prove this?

Btw, I'm not dubious. After all of their caterwauling about fake intelligence over the past decade, I can hardly imagine the libs going all out over this without conclusive evidence. They must have it.

So let's see it, and not tweets. Real evidence.

(I'm still a no, regardless.)

[Jane-sun - the squaw]

I don't think Kerry will ever get what he deserves based on his long tenure in the boys club senate. But Obama might,

[dublindave]

"I had to edit it to make it less offensive to the left"

Just like a black President to stroke his 18" penis in the oval office while conducting Foreign policy over the phone.

On a slightly different (but not that different)note,I have a feeling that this whole 'seeking Congressional approval' malarkey will go down in history as one of the most savvy political moves taken by a President in a tight spot. I'm waiting for the TIME article/cover that reads "How Congressional Republicans got rolled.... again!!!!"