Well played by the wily Kenyan Mooslim socialist usurper. He dumped the whole Syria mess smack dab into the lap of Congress. If the situation weren’t so serious, I’d be laughing my ass off.
But asking Congress for permission to do something stupid is like shooting puppies at the pound — to wit, not exactly sporting. A guy can hardly miss. It’s harder to squeeze shit out of a colostomy bag.
This is going to be a living lesson in civics, a real physical (and mental) exam for the American body politic. The early smart money seems to think that the prez eventually gets the green light for this dumb idea, but I’m not so sure. The Rethugs hate his ass so much that they might just deny themselves the pleasure of sending a few other folks’ kids to the boneyard this time around. But hey, I’ve been wrong before.
Late updates
• Steve Benen at The Maddow Blog says Congress is like a dog that chases and catches a car, then has no idea what to do with it, calling Obama’s move “one of those terrific examples of good politics and good policy.”
• John Nichols at The Nation says: “This is as the founders intended when they wrote a Constitution that gives the power to declare war not to an all-powerful commander-in-chief but to an unwieldy Congress.”
• Kevin Drum at Mother Jones says: “Not only is this the right thing to do, but it also forces Congress to exercise its constitutional responsibilities, something they should spend more time doing and less time constantly squawking about.”
Mad Blog Media 
The only thing he missed was “inviting” our respected lawmakers to come back to DeeCee early to cast their votes – if doing something right away is so important. As I wrote before, if the occupant of the White House was one Willard “Mitt” Romney it’s hard for me to believe the Repuglicans, led by John “Get off my lawn!” McCain wouldn’t be chomping at the bit to bomb the s__t out of Syria and take on the mess in Egypt at the same time. I would tell my representatives in Congress (as if they cared) to authorize military strikes ONLY if a large coalition of the rest of the world goes along with it. There’s no argument about the horror of gassing your own citizens, but the USA acting alone has pretty much zero credibility when it comes to morality after the Bush adventures in Iraq and Afghanistan. If we fail to get the rest of the civilized world to at least give us a round of “go get ’em tiger” endorsements, it’s on them, not us.
Got to admit I didn’t see that big red EXIT sign the British Parliament hung out there. The prez sure did. Looks like he’s right in line with the War Powers Act, since there isn’t an imminent threat to the nation (and his attack plan apparently is not time-sensitive).
Bonus: He gives McSame, Huckleberry and the rest of the vermin infesting the national roach motel the opportunity to see where their alligator mouths are dragging their hummingbird asses.
Well played indeed.
That is some funny stuff! Hummingbird asses, ha! Thanks!
I agree with every word Larry. Spot on in my book
Be interesting to see what our “Fantasy President” McLame has to say about this. I sent e mail to McLame, Flake, and appropriate name for him, and Barber saying no action without unanimous approval of UN security council. No replies yet except the automated thanks for contacting me bullshit.
All this after Kerry had everyone ready for shock and awe again.
Patrick, when you mention “unanimous approval of UN security council” I suppose you are aware that China and Russia are permanent members of this council and that they have been staunch supporters of Assad through this entire mess. Therefore “unanimous approval” is an automatic non-starter to anyone that thinks “something must be done” (i.e. Senator McLame and a decent chunk of the Republican Congressional contingent). You might as well demand McLame to sponsor and get passed an assault weapons ban, immigration reform (oh wait….), and replace Obamacare with single-payer health care reform; oh, and a pony for everyone.
Good day weaksides! When Russia told Assad to let the UN inspectors in the attack area to complete their work, I became optimistic. So much for that. After reading Putin’s latest comments, I assume he hates Obama as much as McLame does.
All of this war talk is boring. Time to play a little poker on my smart fun. It’s all just play money anyway.
And among our chums in Bibleburg, here is one that’s ready for congress.
http://olympictalk.nbcsports.com/2013/08/31/80-year-old-weightlifter-steroids-usada-doping-banned/related/
Whew. Wards off a sure attempt at an impeachment vote in the House of Buggers, I mean Representatives.
Don’t mess with “O”.
On a completely different subject, our resident scribe is quoted in a Bike Friday advertisement on pg. 88 of the October issue of Buycycling (although the mag doesn’t put page numbers on some of its pages). Back to the subject matter, Ross Douthat in the NY Times posted a good one.
People are sick of perpetual war. My nieces have known nothing else. Barack & advisers are right on.
After listening to the news today, including interviews with British, French, and American politicians, it appears they are going to go ahead with some sort of military strike anyway. They simply don’t care what their constituents think. They are in no hurry to do their basic work, but them sumbitches will drop everything to hurry back and vote to bomb someone. I guess they think we are so stupid that this crap will distract us from their dismal performance over the last 15 years. I have zero confidence in our congress or president at this point in time.