You may have a fresh start any moment you choose,
for this thing that we call 'failure' is not the falling down,
but the staying down.
Mary Pickford
The Syria Intervention Goes to Congress
I will say that Obama swerved me by suddenly announcing he would first seek Congressional approval. Why did he do so, after fighting going to Congress on Libya, drones, etc., and, until now, Syria? If Obama was still senator, he would be leading the charge to impeach President Obama over foreign policy. So was it a change of heart? Most of us libertarians won't look a gift horse in the mouth; for whatever reason he came to seek authority from Congress, we are happy that the one-time lecturer in Constitutional law is finally acknowledging the separation of powers. The retweeted image below was circulated before today's development.
I can only speculate on Obama's motives. I think it was forced by British PM Cameron's decision to put it before Parliament, losing (once again, Obama leads from behind.) It could be that Congressional leaders have privately reassured him that he has the votes; I don't think that's likely. Every poll I've seen shows Syrian intervention deeply unpopular, and that's before our principal ally Britain bowed out. Some 190 members of the House wrote to Obama demanding Congressional approval, a lot of them Dems. He may still win a number of these acting on mostly Constitutional grounds; you can expect a lot of 'win one for the Gipper' arm-twisting, noting a rejection would deeply embarrass Obama and set a bad tone for his remaining time in office. It's possible with neo-con support in both chambers that Obama could pull it out. Obama can probably get Senate approval; the real test is the House. Obama will lose most of the most "progressive" Dems; the Tea Party GOP will vote against. The rest of the GOP contingent has little to gain by approval, but the Tea Party contingent has lost votes on the Patriot Act and NSA. Still, they would share blame if things go wrong, and a vote for could be an issue in next year's primaries or mid-terms.
Personally, I think Obama may be looking for face-saving way out of the corner he's painted himself into. This way he can blame Congress for "losing Syria" while maintaining the moral upper ground against chemical weapons used against civilians.
I do want to draw attention to one pathetic argument he raised yesterday--effectively, Syria's use of chemical weapons is a slippery scope impacting our national security. No, other countries are accountable for their own actions, we are not the world's policeman, and in fact, we were aware of Saddam Hussein using chemical weapons against the Kurds and the Iranians during their more recent war without our intervention.
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| Via Twitter Ted Cruz (HT Justin Amash) |
Once again, Obama doesn't want to spend political capital to enact victimless crime reform on the federal level (e.g., drug prohibition), but Holder has decided not to challenge two states (Colorado and Washington) which recently legalized certain marijuana use. The problem, of course, is this is intrinsically unconstitutional--in the sense the Feds will prosecute similar violations in other states, a clear violation of equal protection. (Again, a disclaimer: I have never taken and do not intend to ever take recreational drugs, and I think people whom do so are abusing their freedom. I just think the costs of running an ineffective war on drugs are prohibitive and it's very bad public policy.) Cooke has written a good NRO piece reflecting a similar perspective.
You Know Walmart's Price-Slashing Dot?
Wait Until You See the Crony Capitalist Government Price-Fixing Mascot....
Political Cartoon
Just in the event a reader doesn't understand the context, Destiny Hope 'Miley' Cyrus, daughter of country singer/actor Billy Ray Cyrus (remember 'Achy, Breaky Heart'?) and one-time Disney television star, recently engaged in a sexually provocative performance at a recent awards show.
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| Courtesy of Michael Ramirez and Townhall |
I haven't done one of these in a while. A couple of newer clips from the Welcome Home blog...
Musical Interlude: Motown
Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell, "Your Precious Love"
