Clinton Criticizes Obama’s Foreign Policy
Great nations need organizing principles, and ‘Don’t do stupid stuff’ is not an organizing principle.
— Hillary Clinton, in an interview with The Atlantic, said President Obama’s lack of assistance to Syrian rebels led to the rise of ISIS in Iraq. She also criticized the slammed Obama’s foreign-policy doctrine which he recently coined as, “Don’t do stupid shit.”
I Really Want to Buy Into This Slate Pitch, But …
I’m not sure I can swallow the assertion that Barack Obama is the shrewdest political tactician since LBJ, but David Corn does make a compelling case, and I really do want to believe that all this time Obama knew exactly what he was doing on Syria, Putin and the debt showdown.
I suppose he’s just being Lincoln-esque. Again …
Do you buy the pitch?
Sullivan: Enough with the Eye-Rolling Already!
I’m tired of the eye-rolling and the easy nit-picking of the president’s leadership on this over the last few weeks. The truth is: his threat of war galvanized the world and America, raised the profile of the issue of chemical weapons more powerfully than ever before, ensured that this atrocity would not be easily ignored and fostered a diplomatic initiative to resolve the issue without use of arms.
— Andrew Sullivan, writing on his Dish blog.
Over His Diplomacy
Last night as President Obama explained his Syria stance,
Most of America watched “So You Think You Can Dance.”
We’ve all grown so weary of
His position(s) on Syria,
That he might as well be the president of France.
If Obama Loses Syria Vote, So What?
Presidents suffer defeats all the time. Obama lost on cap-and-trade. He’s lost on plenty of judicial and executive branch nominations. He couldn’t get agreement for a grand bargain. He lost on gun control. What’s more, Republicans have been opposing him on virtually everything from the day he took office. In what concrete way would a defeat on Syria change this dynamic in even the slightest way?
— Kevin Drum, writing in Mother Jones.
If Obama Loses Syria Vote, There Goes His Credibility
It is to President Obama’s great discredit that he has staked this credibility on a vote whose outcome he failed to game out in advance. But if he loses that vote, the national interest as well as his political interests will take a tangible hit: for the next three years, American foreign policy will be in the hands of a president whose promises will ring consistently hollow, and whose ability to make good on his strategic commitments will be very much in doubt.
— Ross Douthat, writing in the New York Times.
Poll: Only One-Third of Americans Support Syria Strikes
33%
Of those polled in a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News survey said Congress should approve President Obama’s request to attack Syria, while less than a quarter thinks military action is in the national interest.
Tiny Minority in Congress Supports Syria Strikes
22
Number of senators and House members — 22 of each — who are willing to say they will support the use of force in response to the reported use of chemical weapons by the Syrian regime a USA Today survey finds. Of the 533 lawmakers far more overall — 19 senators and 130 House members — say they will oppose a resolution that would authorize military strikes.
Poetic Justice
From Trump’s “stolen election” lies, we can’t get no relief,
He carps on about stolen votes, but he never names the thief.
Somebody needs to tell this guy
Americans aren’t buying his lies,
And that he’s turned us into the United States of Disbelief.
