NP - Obama's Smart Move

[Ian Livingston]

Yes, I think it was very smart of him to obey the law in this case. Maybe
it can be  step toward getting the executive branch back into trim.


On Sun, Sep 1, 2013 at 5:45 AM, David Morris <fqmorris at gmail.com> wrote:

> Juan Cole:
>
> So by Friday, Obama had painted himself into a box with repeated
> statements that he had to attack Syria because of the gas attack. But as he
> looked behind him, the troops he was leading had thinned out faster than
> Custer’s at the Little Bighorn.
>
> With regard to domestic politics, Obama would be pilloried on Capitol Hill
> if he backed down as his international support (and elements of his case)
> collapsed. If he went forward with a unilateral strike, he would be alone
> and exposed, and risk extreme reputational damage if the operation went
> bad. (What if a cruise missile went astray and hit a village, killing women
> and children? What if the missile strikes riled up radical Shiites in Iraq
> and US facilities in that country were attacked).
>
> Obama made a clever political calculation. The Tea Party and the GOP in
> general had been demanding that he submit the Syria file to them. So he
> obliged them. If they say ‘no,’ as the British parliament did, then Obama
> is off the hook. If they say ‘yes,’ then they are full partners in any
> failures that result. Either way, the issue is taken off the agenda of the
> 2016 election and Democrats are held harmless.
>
> http://www.juancole.com/2013/09/congress-international-collapses.html
>
> On Sunday, September 1, 2013, David Morris wrote:
>
>> Remember the 60-year history of the post-WW II imperial presidency, in
>> which all wars are police actions and can be initiated by presidential fiat?
>>
>> That horse left the barn long ago...
>>
>> On Saturday, August 31, 2013, Rich Clavey wrote:
>>
>>> Yeah but he still sez he has the right to do it on his own.
>>>
>>
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