Posted on 08/31/2013 12:26:48 PM PDT by nathanbedford
We have just witnessed one of the most stunning and humiliating climb downs of any president in the history of the United States. Obama's humiliation is entirely of his own making.
He unilaterally threatened to wage war, however limited he said it would be, for no clear purpose, with no clear strategy and with no clear outcome. He did so thoughtlessly by proclaiming a "red line" and thus backing himself through inadvertence and, more important, his country into an untenable position. He pushed the country out onto a limb only to find he was alone, without allies, without Congress, even without his own party. He bumbled and dithered away is friends and allies and in the process squandered the prestige of the United States of America.
His humiliation is not, alas, his alone but it is the mile marker for a journey of fecklessness and incoherence in American foreign policy which has resulted in an Islamicist threat running from China to the North African shores. He has made our country look weak in Iraq, in Afghanistan, in Libya, and in Egypt. Most important, he has made us look impotent with respect to Iran and it is Iran, not Egypt, which is the fulcrum of the Middle East. Who can now believe that the United States under President Barack Obama will actually "do what it takes" to stop Iran getting the bomb? No conservative has believed that for years but now the nations of the Middle East which line the Persian Gulf and the Arab Peninsula must be afraid, very afraid. Iran will, of course, be emboldened. The Russians and the Chinese are smirking. Our allies in Europe are beginning to wonder if they should cut their own deals with the threat of Islam because they cannot rely on the United States.
So before we conservatives rejoice over the personal humiliation of Barack Obama, let us consider as patriots the harm to our country. The irony is that no one will now hear us say, "we told you so;" it is human nature not to want to hear that kind of truth. We conservatives are always being shot as messengers.
Short-term it is obvious that the entire campaign to sting Syria for the use of weapons of mass destruction will now be allowed to simply wither away. By the time Congress returns many new headlines will have diverted the attention of the nation. The Congress will not sustain a strike. Obama will somehow change the subject.
Our leaders in the House and the Senate are paid not to let Obama off his own petard.
The question for conservatives is how to use this situation for domestic political advantage. We have an objective to prevent any kind of immigration bill being passed by the House and sent to conference committee where conservatives will be sabotaged and outvoted by Rinos and Democrats when the bill is returned. The result will be amnesty and it is therefore vital that no bill at all be passed by the House. This is Boehner's chance to wiggle out of his dilemma and use the breathtaking mismanagement of the president to consume Congress and prevent the house from taking up immigration. That, of course, assumes that Boehner is smart enough to take that way out instead of rupturing the party by passing amnesty, as seems to be his plan.
Boehner has also got to handle both the campaign to defund Obamacare and the overall extension of the debt. Boehner should recognize that the president has been weakened as well as humiliated, but one would have to recklessly rely on hope rather than experience in nurturing that kind of optimism.
If we had decent Republican leaders in the House or the Senate, we could see this as a real turning point. I am not holding my breath.
Would you regard Isaiah 3:1-4 as fulfilled prophecy at this point?
I don’t care if we’re humiliated at this point ,, any action would have meant $8-10 gas and that would mean my family would have been crushed.
Bammy should have started a case against Assad in the The International Court of Justice or in a NYC Federal Court.
Wow. That was a chilling read. Frightening days ahead.
Look up!
DU disagrees with you..LOL
“The President’s speech just now was a brilliant political move. He not only advanced his agenda to attack the Assad regime, he also gave himself an out, should he choose to use it, by including the Congress in his decision to strike. If the Republican House votes not to approve an attack, our President can then, should he choose to do so, cancel his decision and announce he is bowing to the will of the people as represented by their elected representatives. He has given himself an exit from the corner he painted himself into.
I do not agree with the President’s decision to attack Syria, and I do not know how the House and Senate will vote, but I can only admire the deft manner in which he handled one of his most important speeches. That is the man I voted for. He was brilliant today.
I have emailed both of my Senators and my Congressman to vote NO. US intervention in Syria is unjustified and fraught with untold danger to Israel and the entire Middle East, not to mention the world economy. Just say no.
“I don’t care if we’re humiliated at this point ,, any action would have meant $8-10 gas and that would mean my family would have been crushed.”
More importantly than your personal circumstances, we don’t pi$$ away more of our borrowed money, and put our military personnel in needless jeopardy!
Actually, while no one would wish harm to you and your family, you are essentially making the same case that the GOP tries, saying that near-term personal survival trumps doing what’s right for our country. In this instance, both you and your country win, but it isn’t always that easy.
Well. Lets don’t put ALL the blame on Obama.
Bonehead and McConnell could have had a joint press congress to demand a vote. They didn’t. They could have asked for a slow down.
They didn’t. The could have demanded more intel be released to the
public. They didn’t.
Only now do these gutless non leaders come out and say a vote in necessary. Most of us here know why. They were behind this strike
without having to share responsibility. That is not leadership.
I bet they are now crying knowing they are going to have to put their
vote on record. Let’s see how the RINO’s end up voting for this nonsense.
As was predicted, the African communist piece of sh** again voted “present” and kicked the decision over to congress.
“The uh, buck stops... over there.”
LOL...
It’s amazing how they twist him backing down into a brilliant political move..
It is the Democrats who will have some trouble with their votes.
Can you imagine if someone like Newt Gingrich were in power again in the house? He would drive this, he would wedge Democrats away from Obama, he would make it legitimate for both Republicans and Democrats to deify Obama. He would change the entire debate and change the course of history. If you don't like Gingrich as an example, how about Cruz, Lee or Paul?
Instead we have Boehner and McConnell and we don't know if we trust them less than we trust Obama. What a squandering of opportunity! What a hell of a mess.
Well written, but the above misses the mark for some, at least I don't rejoice in humiliation of 0bama, but in avoidance of lives being lost for now.
In reality, this is anything but a complete loss for 0bama, for he has not only taken his scandals off the front page, he has indeed inflicted additional "harm to our country" as you state.
Seems to be his primary goal since entering office, IMO.
Impossible to discern if this is pathetic bumbling or calculated Machiavellia. In any case loss of US credibility helps those who wish to do us harm. It fuels such division here and with our allies.
A good article Nathan, but I disagree with you on this point:
“So before we conservatives rejoice over the personal humiliation of Barack Obama, let us consider as patriots the harm to our country. “
What harm? I say we count our blessings as the psychopaths weren’t able to start WWIII today. They’ll try again, of course. And soon. But frankly, having my family burnt to a cinder or having other American families burnt to a cinder or blown up or poisoned or irradiated ad nauseum is a high price to pay so dear leader can look butch.
“Only now do these gutless non leaders come out and say a vote in necessary. Most of us here know why. They were behind this strike without having to share responsibility. That is not leadership.”
Tell it FRiend, they’ve been AWOL so they could avoid being “for the war before they were against it.”
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