Limited Support For Syrian Adventure

The needle hasn't moved and won't be moving soon.

Comments

[narciso]

Politico's all concerned about it, as William Teach points out, Of course the point we were fighting Ikwan in Iraq, rather then aiding them, escapes them.

[GMax]

That piece in Politico is hoot. No American Presidents were persuasive so that explains why the lightbringer is going to lay a big fat egg tomorrow. hahahahaha Must have been Double Douche ghost writing that one...

[narciso]

In the intangibles department, Bashir doesn't looks scary, more like an absent minded eye doctor, who misplaced your prescription,

[GMax]

OT How about them Cowboys. A defensive unit that forces six turnovers? I think that is what they got all season last year...

[Jane]

I'm am so glad Obama's snobby, nasty treatment of congress is coming home to roost.

[centralcal]

Hillary is going to speak about Syria today from the White House. [eyeroll]

Also, re-posting this for you sports fans from the Sunday dead thread:

Have you all seen this Guinness commercial? I won't spoil the ending, if you haven't seen it. Very cool.

[pagar-----]

I can not understand why any American would support attacking Syria.

[rse]

OT-is it on our collective radar screens that there are net neutrality oral arguments today?

http://truthonthemarket.com/2013/09/09/a-guide-to-todays-net-neutrality-oral-arguments/

Overreach under every statute and regulation in effect.

[rse]

Has anyone posted this Kurtz' piece?

http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/357887/public-opinion-and-syria-strike-stanley-kurtz

That Syria is making it harder to confront Iran where it will really matter.

The idea that a twit like power so cavalierly throws out American forces to do as she wills. Talk about shoes she would never walk in.

[GMax]

What genius thought it would be a good idea to send Susan Rice over to Capital Hill on the eve of the Benghazi attack, to lobby for another ill thought out incursion? Are they that clueless about how little credibility this woman has with Congress?

Someone has thrown a shoe and needs to limp back to the barn, the thoroughbred is not running top speed...

[Captain Hate on an iPhone]

Norman Podhoretz suggests in the WSJ that this feckless display of incompetence by the JEF is just part and parcel of his efforts to weaken (fundamentally transform) the country's status in the world. Why else would he so blithely go off to play golf after a job well done?

Any sign of an opposition party to push back against this?

[rich@gmu]

CH-

that is what I'm thinking as well at least in part. don't think the administration has thought much of the down side though.

[centralcal]

GMax, isn't Rice mainly meeting with the CBC? Need I say more?

[Captain Hate on an iPhone]

rich, it's certainly the easiest explanation. I wish I was able to link it because he says that Ear Leader is willing to sacrifice his reputation to get it done to be a great citizen of the world. And he'll do his usual blame others knowing full well he can count on convicted liars like Slick to shill for him to try and placate people with which this won't sit well.

[Threadkiller]

This is the flexibility Barry promised Putin, CH.

We will drop our drawers...

[Captain Hate on an iPhone]

From a WSJ online comment: No blood for ego

[hit and run]

TM, you really should try and hold the camera steady.

[Marlene]

CH,the opposition party was enjoying a family style Italian dinner with Biden last night.

[Marko]

What if we sent Syria to its room for the day?

"U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said the United States is considering only an “unbelievably, small, limited” strike on Syria as punishment for allegedly using chemical weapons and he insisted military action will not end that country’s civil war."

[Captain Hate on an iPhone]

Troo dat, Marlene; plus the king of fat RINO's was destroying the buffet in Jerry Jones's loge as Priebus was scarfing up the scraps.

[narciso]

Norm is a wiseman, why did it not ruboff on Pod fils,

[DebinNC]

That Kerry quote is disgraceful.

[NK(tryin')]

The words 'That' and 'quote' were unnecessary for your comment.

[NK(tryin')]

BTW-- the pattern is too obvious now-- Obummer pushes S Rice and Hillary in front of the cameras when he suffers a FP debacle. Obama the misogynist, Obummer the loser.

[Captain Hate on an iPhone]

narc, I wish all JPod did was write movie reviews for the Weekly Standard.

[Account Deleted]

The WaPo whip count shows seven more "Nos" this morning, moving the House to 230 against. The President is going to lose this vote of confidence very badly and it's going to be the progressive fascist wing which locks him in the corn crib.

Having supported President Dim Bulb in the conclusion of the dismal failure of the Clinton/Obama Arab Spring farce, GOP leadership is now completely free to slap him silly on the debt issue while waiting for the grand opening of The Education of Julia.

[Clarice]

The Rice move is symptomatic. I think it refutes Norman's assertion. Obama really is that dumb.

[narciso]

Well floor wax, desert topping, the goal and the result don't have to be the same,

[Captain Hate on an iPhone]

I think the Rice move is a strategic mistake also, Clarice, but it still further marginalizes the reputation of the country. I think the democrat party needs to take a hard look at the downside of supporting him after this grossly unpopular fantasy.

[Ranger]

Bad news for Barry on the poll front as well. His approval seems to be stabilized in the lower 40s range, but the disapprove is jumping significantly:

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/other/president_obama_job_approval-1044.html

His numbers in Ras have collapsed in the last couple of days, going from just about equal, to -9. And we still haven't gotten to the end of this entire fiasco.

[fdcol63]

I'm beginning to think that the country's only salvation is an Olympus Has Fallen scenario where the Speaker of the House becomes top dog.

Granted, he's not the perfect choice, but it's the better alternative considering the rest of the possible successors.

[pagar-----]

"moving the House to 230 against."

IMO, a much more effective message would be 430 House members against an attack on Syria that cannot be justified under any criteria,

[Ignatz]

--the United States is considering only an “unbelievably, small, limited” strike on Syria-

So on planet Barry "unbelievably small" is "muscular enough"?

No wonder Moochelle is always so truculent.

[GMax]

I think the real count is about 300 against and maybe more. Lots of folks on the sidelines cuz they dont want to be targets of a phone bombing campaign from the WH.

[glasater]

That Guiness commercial is so sweet, C-cal.

[Account Deleted]

Pagar,

I doubt there will be a vote. Putin is tossing Emperor Buck Nekkid a fig leaf, which will be enough for BOzo. BOzo will then prance around declaring it all went according to plan while Assad gets back to butchering Cannibals.

[Account Deleted]

Pagar,

I doubt there will be a vote. Putin is tossing Emperor Buck Nekkid a fig leaf, which will be enough for BOzo. BOzo will then prance around declaring it all went according to plan while Assad gets back to butchering Cannibals.

[NK(tryin')]

RCP 43% approval? I always believed that if the bottom fell out, Obummer's baseline approval was 41-42% based on 90% AA approval no matter what (Rick B thought it was lower, somewhere in the mid 30s.) Can Obummer go lower? I'm beginning to think he can when AAs start voting 'present' rather tha 'approve' and 20 somethings are hit with ObummerCare this winter.

[DrJ]

Wretchard has an interesting posting about a vessel Russia is sending to Syria. He speculates that it will be used to remove chemical warfare agents from Syria. Once done -- bingo! Problem solved.

Well, sorta.

[NK(tryin')]

RickB@11:09-- I think you're right, if there were a House vote it would probably be 80ish yes, 200ish NO, 150ish 'present.' NOT GOOD for the lightbringer.

[Extraneus]

What could he possibly say in 6 interviews tonight and a prime time speech tommorrow? Other than pompous blather, I mean.

[MaryD]

Just called Kelly Ayotte's office. After stating my case for a No vote, told them that I did not vote for her and contribute to her campaign so she could be New Hampshire's Susan Collins.

[NK(tryin')]

Russia grabs Syria's Chem/Nerve stockpiles?... HMM... Vlad also believes a crisis should never go to waste.

PS: so Assad and the Egyptian Military are now slaughtering Jihadis. Whhat's next Iraq requesting Soviet,.... ehr... Russian military assistance to combat Jihadis fleeing to Iraq?

[Jane]

Go Mary!

[daddy]

Good Morning.

This is interesting. Our local and only newspaper, the Anchorage Daily News, (a McClatchy paper) has an unexpected letter from the editor: Patrick Dougherty: Real names make for better debate:

Online, anonymous posts too often devolve into tedious and repetitious name-calling. I have occasionally described our comments as a public exercise of primal scream therapy.

He says that they are changing their policy and that from now on no one will be able to publish any comments in future unless they create a Facebook account and publish under their real names.

Well that will not effect me because I have been locked out of commenting for a year now due to their mandate that I have some Disqus account, but the pushback from the 195 commenters to his proposed change looks to me to be about 100% opposed to his new policy. Many are angry they have to publish their names which in such a small community will likely leave them easily identified in real life to their neighbors or political opponents, and many are angry that they have to open up a Facebook account since they don't like the idea of Facebook.

Anyhow, my guess is that this will severely reduce the amount of commenters and thus reduce the influence of the ADN as a political rag in the state. To me that is a good thing.

Is this happening to any of your local McClatchy rags?

[Porchlight]

Busy week/weekend and haven't been able to catch up. I did hear Gingrich on Laura Ingraham's show this morning making a lot of sense. His new Crossfire program premiers tonight, I think at 6:30 EST on CNN. His debate partner is Stephanie Cutter (ha).

I think it is a promising format for him, and one with obvious past success to build on. As most her have remarked at some point, Newt is great at the back and forth and can make substantive points quickly and clearly. He has said that they will not be yelling over each other as on other shows. If it works as hoped and takes off, this is IMO possibly the best political contribution he can make at this time.

[Ranger]

Putin's timing is superb in this. Barry is about to go out and tell the American people why we have to bomb Syria, and Putin just pulled the rug out from under him. It totally disrupts Obama's timetable. If Obama goes ahead with his 'we must bomb' speech, he looks like a warmonger avoiding a peaceful solution. If Obama backs down now, he looks like a bystander while Putin solves the problem. Bet Barry didn't see that coming.

[No Blood For O]

From Twitchy/Twitter...

http://twitchy.com/2013/09/09/nobloodforo-the-new-anti-war-movement-gets-a-hashtag/

[fdcol63]

Putin is demonstrating just how flexible Putin is, and forcing Obama to be flexible to Putin's own flexibility. LOL

[NK(tryin')]

RickB et al-- Certainly I didn't foresee this problem for US Federal debt, but here it is, another fuse lit for the Blue Model Debt bomb exploding, it 's happening. No wonder BenB is heading back to Princeton-- Go Tigers! http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-09-08/russia-to-brazil-intervention-adds-to-u-s-debt-woes-amid-losses.html

[GMax]

Meanwhile in other cheery news, the early voting total in El Paso County are heavily laced with Republican voters according to C W Cooke this AM. I bet there is a fair amount of Remorse at the house of Speaker Morse at the current moment. One more soldier sacrificed for an Obama jihad.

[Ranger]

Here is the story:

Give up weapons, Russia urges Syria

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-24022866

Russia has asked Syria to put its chemical weapons stockpile under "international control" in a bid to avoid US military strikes, and then have them destroyed.

That should induce another round of policy paralysis in the White House.

[Ignatz]

--He says that they are changing their policy and that from now on no one will be able to publish any comments in future unless they create a Facebook account and publish under their real names.--

Umm, perhaps someone should tell this genius you can create a FB account with any name you choose.

[NK(tryin')]

Ranger-- Putin is laughing his ass off-- he's completely bitch slappin' Obummer and John (Unbelieveably small bombs!) Kerry, and he still has time to host G-20 and steal a Moscow mayoral election.

[James D.]

I was just snarking the other day about the bad dog/rolled-up newspaper analogy, but per MarkO at 10:09, Kerry actually came out and said it.

Unbelievable.

[Danube of Thought]

Link to CH's Podhoretz column.

[Extraneus]

Russia has asked Syria to put its chemical weapons stockpile under "international control" in a bid to avoid US military strikes, and then have them destroyed.

If that works out, Obama can say: "Standing alone in the face of opposition from all sides, I and I alone ratcheted up the pressure on Assad, and look what happened. He's giving up his WMDs. Now that's leadership, bitches. Forget the vote, Congress. Game over."

Where's DublinDave?

[jimmyk]

Barry is about to go out and tell the American people why we have to bomb Syria, and Putin just pulled the rug out from under him.

I think Rick is right that Barry may try to use this to save face: Claim that his sabre-rattling forced the other side to "blink," pat himself on the back for avoiding military confrontation, declare victory, and go back to the golf course.

[Danube of Thought]

This is just great. Somebody got ahold of Bobby Kennedy Jr.'s secret diary, in which many are derided.

Tidbit:

The Revs. Jackson and Sharpton “give me the creeps,” Kennedy writes in a July 5 entry.

“Al Sharpton has done more damage to the black cause than [segregationist Alabama Gov.] George Wallace. He has suffocated the decent black leaders in New York,” he says. “His transparent venal blackmail and extortion schemes taint all black leadership.”

Rev. Al Sharpton gave Robert F. Kennedy Jr. “the creeps,” he wrote in his diary.

He goes on to call Sharpton a “buffoon” who has never escaped the “stench” of his advocacy for Tawana Brawley, the black Dutchess County teen who fabricated a story about six white men raping her in 1987.

[Account Deleted]

The Lackwitz Sisters will, without question, buy BOzo as Clausewitz/SunTzu.

That said, Clarice is correct, he's dumb as a mud fence and the ME is going to treat President Weak Horse with the contempt which he continues to earn with every breath.

[Ranger]

The problem for Barry is that he has expressly said this is not about disarming Assad, it's about punishing him. That is what makes this a perfect move for Putin. Barry has talked himself into a corner where only bombing can achieve his stated goal to punish.

[NK(tryin')]

Putin is pushing the right buttons, he gets what he wants from Syria, with NO RISK, because Obummer bails and takes the facesaving. BTW-- Obummer will do ANOTHER 180, and say his "Red Line" did the trick. The face saving stops Obummer's approval dropping further because of Syria... will jobs and ObummerCare pump it higher? Hah!

JFKJr's Diary call Sharpton Buffoon and a bad actor? takes one to know one.

[pagar-----]

"Russia has asked Syria to put its chemical weapons stockpile under "international control" in a bid to avoid US military strikes, and then have them destroyed."

Are we to believe the rebels have none?

[Danube of Thought]

The Onion: Majority of Americans Approve of Sending Congress to Syria.

[NK(tryin')]

Ranger-- very true, but Obummer will take the facesaving, and 42% of voters will approve of his next 180.

[Ranger]

I have no doubt that Obama will try to grasp the face saving way out, but I suspect that real damage has been done. This may very well be Obama's Katrina, in that it does lasting damage that he can never repair.

[Ranger]

The sick feeling in the pit of the stomach of every lefty who voted for Obama as the "peace candidate" isn't going to just dissipate overnight. And we should take every opportunity to shove it back in their face.

[NK(tryin')]

Katrina -- or more precisely, the Dem/Media lies about Katrina and the gas price increase-- cost Bush several approval points he never got back, and later the immigration bill cost him several points of conservative support he never got back. But Bush's underlying problem was the Iraq Insurgency- that was the corrosive drain on his approval, for many reasons. For Obummer, I believe Syria will be like Katrina, cost him some permanent LiV support, but Obummer's corrosive problems are jobs the debt and ObummerCare.

[Ranger]

NK, agreed that Katrina was largely a contrivance of the media to create a label of incompetence for GWB. But once that label was successfully manufactured, events in Iraq were viewed through a different prism.

Obama is managing to accomplish the same thing here, despite the media's best efforts to protect him. If the ObamaCare roll out is just half as bad as some of us here think, that new prism of incompetence will be devastating to ObamaCo.

[Danube of Thought]

I respectfully disagree. If, in fact, Syria purports to turn over all its CW to Russia (who can ever verify?), Obama will be insufferable. He will claim that he, and he alone, brought about this enormous triumph. And the Dems who are now criticizing his warmongering will be quick to grovel and apologize for not seeing his brilliance.

[matt]

Obama will be going from one crisis to another, it seems, with Obamacare lurking. It's a shame he's taking the rest of us with him.

Two days to the anniversary of Benghazi and Susan Rice and Hillary are making the case for Obama's new set of lies.

[Captain Hate on an iPhone]

Bush did a lot of things on his own to erode support from his base: huge Medicare expansion, dabbling with immigration amnesty, lack of commitment to reforming social security Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac, Harriett Miers. It's not a short list of unforced errors.

[Clarice]

http://pjmedia.com/barryrubin/2013/09/09/obama-administration-the-new-seven-pillars-of-wisdom-on-the-middle-east-part-one/

An excellent article by Barry Rubin

[Extraneus]

You know that we have reached total corruption as a country when this doesn't raise eyebrows.

IBD: IRS Gave Black Nonprofits Preferential Treatment

It's not clear if the White House helped organize the unusual event, but two key Cabinet members — Attorney General Eric Holder and IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman — both spoke at length to the black church leaders.

Joining them was senior IRS official Peter Lorenzetti, who runs the agency's tax-exempt organizations division. He gave a technical briefing in which he advised against endorsing from the pulpit any candidates by name or distributing voter cheat sheets.

Then Lorenzetti hastened to add: "It is important to note, however, that an organization exempt under 501(c)3 — in this case the church or a religious organization — can conduct educational election activities," including holding political debates or even inviting candidates to speak to congregants.

Get-out-the-vote activities also are allowed, including driving church members to polls and knocking on doors to register people to vote.

"There are so many things that you can do and you should do," stressed Black Caucus member Rep. G.K. Butterfield, D-N.C. For example, he instructed pastors, "You are permitted to endorse a candidate in your individual capacity as a citizen. You can appear on a (TV or radio) program away from the church and be presented as the pastor. You can do that."

He told ministers not to worry that IRS agents "with binoculars" are spying on their churches from across the street. "The IRS does not have the authority to tell a church how it conducts its affairs," said Butterfield.

In an MSNBC interview prior to the briefing, Cleaver, D-Mo., explained: "We want to let (the pastors) know that there is a theological responsibility to participate in the political process. We're going to encourage them to encourage their people" to get out the vote.

[NK(tryin')]

CaptH-- Miers and amnesty were definite unforced errors with the Base-- but the others?-- did MediCare hurt Bush support amongst conservatives? dubious, and as Bush' s 6 year administration of Part D brought in more subscrbers at lower cost than projected, Part D was a great policy success, that's why ObummerCare guts it; Bush pushed Soc sec and fannie reform hard in 2005-- but Dem/Media tag team demagoguery/filibuster won out both times. I guess the base was unhappy that Bush failed, but he definitely was committed to those.

[centralcal]

Well, Marlene, per your early morning comment, it now looks like the Republicans who didn't make it to Biden's Italian dinner last night, are meeting with B.O. this afternoon in the White House Situation Room.

[Porchlight]

He told ministers not to worry that IRS agents "with binoculars" are spying on their churches from across the street."The IRS does not have the authority to tell a church how it conducts its affairs," said Butterfield.

Sure it does - it can tell the church that the church must provide birth control to its employees via its health insurance plan. Binoculars are totes cool if Obamacare is involved.

[jimmyk]

"the Republicans who didn't make it to Biden's Italian dinner last night, are meeting with B.O. this afternoon in the White House Situation Room."

It wouldn't surprise me if there's a protocol that if the Prezzy wants to meet with you, you do it, listen politely, stifle laughter and eye rolls, and then get in with your day.

[Captain Hate on an iPhone]

I can't link things but there's a Washington Examiner article from April 24 that talks about what a financial disaster Medicare part D was.

[Marko]

I love to say, "I told you so," as much or more than the next guy, but on this I insist. Days ago I predicted not one shot fired and that there would be a negotiated outcome, AFTER Obama got the vote to launch missiles.

This maneuver will now be call giving someone a Kerry.

[Marko]

*called*

[centralcal]

I sure hope so, jimmyk.

[matt]

as they were doing their best to intimidate pastors and churches who didn't align themselves politically with Obama.

More selective justice.

[Clarice]

Game, set match;http://www.breitbart.com/system/wire/DA8MU3382

wretchar gets the prize for being the first to spot this chess move by Putin.

[NK(tryin')]

PartD-- here's an AEI seminar seminar in 2008 about PartD implementation in 2006-2007, where AEI went on record as saying pre-adoption criticisms of Part D did not play out as they feared because of smatrt implementation and good consumer practices by seniors: http://www.aei.org/events/2008/10/14/implications-of-medicare-part-d-event/

[Marko]

Whatever happens, Obama will call it extraordinary and claim credit.

[NK(tryin')]

... and 42% of voters will buy it, yes.

[Danube of Thought]

AFTER Obama got the vote to launch missiles.

You think he'll get the vote?

[NK(tryin')]

I doubt there will be any vote even in the Senate... Reid doesn't want to push a vote on Dem 2014 election senators, and Reid hates Paul so much he doesn't want to give him a filibuster platform. IMO --no votes take place, just follow the Putin facesaving--- meanwhile the KSA, Israelis and Mullahs watch and learn.

[Ranger]

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem on Monday welcomed Moscow’s proposal to submit Syria’s chemical weapons stockpiles to international control, Reuters reported.

I wonder if Barry will still give his speech tomorrow night?

And, of course, what happens when the actually implementation of the deal gets FUBARed?

[Marko]

He thinks he will get the vote. And, with the idea that no action will be necessary, he might get it.

Or, not.

Hey. I picked the Giants.

[NK(tryin')]

Implementation of the deal? you jest of course.... Implemntation = whatever Putin deems appropriate.

[GMax]

Hey. I picked the Giants.

Sorry about that.

[GMax]

Implementation of the deal?

I wonder if Mohammed El Baradei has some extra time on his hands. He too has a Nobel Peace Prize for doing almost nothing, let along anything that had any impact on world peace...

[bgates]

We want to let (the pastors) know that there is a theological responsibility to participate in the political process

Take that sentence, post it on DU or Kos, attribute it to Sarah Palin, and I honestly believe assassination attempts would follow.

[James D.]

As a die-hard Giants fan, I'm not even that upset - my expectations both for last night and for the season as a whole are very low.

I will never understand how a guy who thrives on consistency and discipline like Tom Coughlin can send out a team that unprepared to play as they were last night, though. It really was appalling.

And I didn't notice Chris Christie yukking it up with Jerry Jones last night. What a jackass. As though I needed another reason to dislike him...

[Danube on iPad]

Now Cameron is calling tthe Putin proposal a "distraction."

(Wouldn't it be grand to see Putin get the Nobel Peace Prize?)

[2JIB4]

DoT,

Well, he did get the Olympics or Sochi unlike our bumbling charlatan.

[Danube on iPad]

Coughlin always looks like he has just caught a whiff of a very foul odor.

[2JIB4]

....for Sochi.....