Day: September 9, 2013

Syria Scares Me!

And not for the reasons we are debating…..I am scared because for the first time in 50 years I am on the same side of an argument as my conserv friends……it scares me because many liberals are also opposed to our intervention in Syria……even conservs are battling among themselves on the necessity of the force by the US……

When President Obama addresses the nation on Tuesday about Syria, he’ll no doubt be hoping to sway members of Congress, too. Just how tricky that will be is made clear by the Washington Post, which reports that opposition to any such military strike has managed the rare feat of uniting liberal Democrats and libertarian Republicans. The story focuses on Alan Grayson on the left and Ted Yoho on the right, both Florida representatives. “We’re gonna win,” says Grayson. “Pretty sure.” The Post‘s count suggests they’ve got a clear advantage. It has more than 100 members “solidly against” military action, and the same number leaning against. Another 185 are undecided. Those definitely in favor? Just 25, though that includes the top two leaders from each party (Boehner, Cantor, Pelosi, and Hoyer.) “This is a remarkable moment in American politics,” write David A. Fahrenthold and Paul Kane. “A demonstration that the power of parties may be ebbing after a period of strong partisan discipline.” Things are much closer in the Senate, and Harry Reid predicted today that he’ll get his 60 votes, reports Politico. Meanwhile, a memo from Cantor to GOP lawmakers says they should expect a vote “in the next two weeks.” That suggests to the Hill that House leaders are considering delaying the vote from next week to the one following.

In the olden days I was a long hippie radical and was put down constantly by “high and tight” conservs, the old hard hat conserv….but now things have changed….scary!

As the ongoing debate in Congress makes clear, the decision on whether to strike Syria isn’t the usual bipartisan one. Here are two voices on the right who come to very different conclusions:

  • Peggy Noonan, opposed: What’s the strategy again? “A small, limited strike will look merely symbolic, a face-saving measure,” she writes in the Wall Street Journal. “A strong, broad strike opens the possibility of civil war, and a victory for those as bad as or worse than Assad.” The world must send a message to Syria’s regime, but a military strike isn’t the answer. “Sometimes it shows strength to hold your fire.” Read her full column.
  • Bill Kristol, in favor: Republicans might be tempted to vote no to signal their lack of confidence in President Obama, but that would be a mistake, writes the editor of the Weekly Standard. They’d be weakening the country along with the president. “A party that for at least two generations has held high the banner of American leadership and strength should not cast a vote that obviously risks a damaging erosion of this country’s stature and credibility abroad,” he writes. “For reasons both fastidiously statesmanlike and crassly political, Yes is the right vote.” Read his full column.

I agree with Peggy Noonan!  I have NEVER agreed with her on anything!  We may be one the same page but for different reasons…..but still…..I Agree With Noonan!

I keep waiting for me to wake up from this nightmare so I can run outside to see if Hell is truly frozen.

Am I dreaming?

Where Do They Stand?

Weekend is over time to return to the drama that is Obama…..

The hearings of a couple of days ago show the split personality of the upcoming vote on an action on Syria……..there are many reasons why there is so much confusion…..

Newser) – Congress is decidedly skittish about the prospect of military action against Syria—sources tell Politico’s Playbook that if the vote were held today, it would fail—and the reason why has a lot to do with the thought of potentially bolstering men like Abdul Samad Issa, aka “The Uncle.” Issa leads a small faction of about 300 rebels, and while it’s not al-Qaeda-affiliated, it’s uncomfortably ruthless—one former aide gave the New York Times a video of the group executing seven naked and beaten Syrian soldiers, who had been accused of raping civilians. The Uncle has promised his men “the extermination” of the entire Alawite sect Bashar al-Assad belongs to.

  • The would-be non-war is also unpopular. “The word from members is that no one back home supports intervention. Calls and letters are opposed in overwhelming numbers,” one source tells Playbook.
  • On the other hand, there’s the horror of Syria’s chemical attack. A new study indicates that the rockets used in the alleged Damascus strike carried up to 50 times more nerve gas than previously estimated, the Times reports. That indicates that the material must have come from a large gas stockpile.
  • Syria’s neighbors fear something even worse: that Assad could revive the country’s bioweapons program. The US believes Syria mothballed the program in the 1980s, but it likely possesses everything it needs to make a weapon, including deadly bacteria and viruses, the Washington Post reports.
  • There are also political considerations. Republicans aren’t eager to back President Obama on anything, which means that Nancy Pelosi may be more key to passing the bill than anyone, the Times argues. But even she might not be able to rally support from anti-war Democrats.
  • Robert Gates yesterday broke his silence on Syria to throw his weight behind his old boss, with a statement “strongly” urging Congress to approve intervention.
  • Obama, meanwhile, plans to “explain our current thinking” to allies at today’s G-20 Summit in Russia, Politico reports. Administration officials say he’s considering an Oval Office address toward the same end. But House members tell Playbook that so far that thinking, as communicated in private briefings, has been “surprisingly unconvincing.”

As WaPo illustrates in the great infographic below, lawmakers appear to be tentatively dividing into four camps over military action in Syria.

Each dot represents a lawmaker who has indicated how he or she might vote, and the sentiment of the quote is mapped across the four categories.

Now we wait for the drama to play out and then we will have the vote that we all have been waiting on…..but what will be the verdict?  Thoughts?