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

[JIB]

Iggy,

This one is photoshopped. When I see people in a meeting like this with fists on chins or cupped around the mouth, I know nothing being said is taken seriously.

Is that ValJar in the videoconference screen sitting like a throned Queen?

[Ranger]

JIB,

If you look at the body language and the look on everyone at the table's face, you can see that this must have been just at the moment, or shortly after Barry told them all the strikes were off and he was going to ask congress for support. Rice looks like she is about to come across the table at him and scratch his eyes out. Kerry and Biden look like someone just kicked their puppy.

[Ranger]

Oh my:

Most in U.S. oppose Syria strike, Post-ABC poll finds

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2013/09/03/most-in-u-s-oppose-syria-strike-post-abc-poll-finds/?wpisrc=al_comboPN_p

Nearly six in 10 oppose missile strikes in light of the U.S. government’s determination that Syria used chemical weapons against its own people. Democrats and Republicans alike oppose strikes by double digit margins, and there is deep opposition among every political and demographic group in the survey. Political independents are among the most clearly opposed, with 66 percent saying they are against military action.

It looks like Obama has finally managed to unify the country around something.

[NK(tryin')]

Ranger@2:39-- I concur. The group can't believe what an idiot The One is, and Kerry/Biden are obviously angry. Holder is simultaneously pleased that Obummer is doing as he was told by Holder/ValJar, but he can't believe such an idiot is POTUS.

[Ignatz]

300 and some odd million people in this country and that Apple Dumpling Gang is the assembled crew sailing our ship of state.

I'd like a chimp with a dart and a phone book please.

[Jane-sun - the squaw]

Watching this hearing makes me realize how pathetically out of touch the ruling class is, and they need to go.

[GMax]

Jim Geraghty puts hammer to the nail:

As we await Congress’s decision on authorizing the use of U.S. military force in Syria, Democrats are suddenly realizing that their foreign-policy brain-trust completely misjudged the world.

Being nicer to countries like Russia will not make them nicer to you. The United Nations is not an effective tool for resolving crises. Some foreign leaders are beyond persuasion and diplomacy. There is no “international community” ready to work together to solve problems, and there probably never will be.

You can pin this on Hillary Clinton, John Kerry, Susan Rice, but most of all, the buck stops with the president. Those of us who scoffed a bit at a state senator ascending to the presidency within four years on a wave of media hype and adoration are not quite so shocked by this current mess. We never bought into this notion that getting greater cooperation from our allies, and less hostility from our enemies, was just a matter of giving this crew the wheel and letting them practice, as Hillary Clinton arrogantly declared it, “smart power.” (These people can’t even label a foreign-policy approach without reminding us of how highly they think of themselves.)

[Jeff Dobbs]

That is such an obvious photoshop.

Here, I managed to dig up the original....

[Captain Hate on an iPhone]

My girl Tammy Bruce has given two vibrators up for Blue Jasmine.

[Captain Hate on an iPhone]

Err she's rated it two vibrators up. Or maybe will give two of them up for Kate.

[Jeff Dobbs]

Oh crud, the image didn't post.

Here's the real, unphotoshopped, original image from the Situation Room

[(A) nuther Bub]

If Boehner and Canter signed on without getting anything in exchange (Benghazi docs, IRS docs, Holder removed) they are bigger fools that they look.

I have little doubt they are bigger fools even than they look, Jane, but what exchange could possibly be worth their collaboration in a fiasco as dangerous and ill-advised as Obama has proposed? Try telling a bereaved parent that your kid died to get Eric Holder removed.

[jimmyk]

two vibrators up

I hesitate to ask, but is that out of two or out of five? And is that better or worse than two... ah, never mind.

[matt]

that's bad, hit.....

[Jim Rhoads f/k/a vnjagvet]

J F@@@ing Kerry is making a good case for going to war against Assad, using many of the same points the Bush administration made leading up to Iraq.

Of course then he asks for "limited strikes" to "deter" Assad from using and "degrade" his ability to use chemical weapons.

The obvious disconnect thus far has not been explained.

[Old Lurker test]

How's your wife, Jim?

[JIB]

We're flying home tomorrow. Staying at the Airport in Zaventam tonight. Didn't want to take the chance with the traffic in the morning.

You do know that Brussels and Antwerp are the No. 1 and 2 most congested traffic cities in the world, don't you?

I call BS on the rankings since I have driven in NYC, DC, San Francisco and even Hong Kong, London and Paris. There is no way, from my experience that Brussels and Antwerp are even in the top 100,

[Jane-sun - the squaw]

New thread.

[Ranger]

There is no way, from my experience that Brussels and Antwerp are even in the top 100

My only experience in Belgium was going to Brussels and Waterloo. That was back in the day before the EU had come together, and Belgium was the only country in Europe where you didn't have to have a license to drive. If you could afford a car, you could drive it. My friend and I kept seeing all the signs that had 1+1=3. We concluded that they must be Belgian driving math, where one lane plus one lane equals space for three cars.

[Jane-sun - the squaw]

AB,

I'd exact the promise and then vote no. TM puts it in perspective in the new thread.

[Jim Rhoads f/k/a vnjagvet]

Thanks for asking, OL. My dear wife is much better than she was last week. I brought her home from the hospital Sunday night, to continue her IV antibiotic regimen at home. We received her meds and IV paraphernalia, and began home treatment yesterday after suitable training from the home nursing service, with your humble servant attending her every need. Ironically, she is a retired nurse who has seen me through my many maladies, so the tables are now turned. Lawyers leave something to be desired as nurses, but I am feeling my way along under her very capable supervision.

[GMax]

Lawyers leave something to be desired as nurses,

It cant be as bad as community organizers leaving something much to be desired as commander in chief!

[Old Lurker test]

Sounds good Jim. That was a close call.

[666_cathyf_says_typepad_sucks_333]

The worst thing is having the M key next to the delete key.

That!!!

[Jim Rhoads f/k/a vnjagvet]

It was indeed, OL. The cliche' that life is tenuous at best came to my mind more than once last week.

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