What To Do (or Not) About Syria

The Syria situation is a mess, there is no doubt.  I am certainly glad I am not President Obama at this time since it is kind of a Kobayashi Maru or "no win" scenario - except this time he cannot change the rules in order to win.

Shields and Brooks discussed the situation quite intelligently (before Obama announced today that he would seek Congressional input).




The problems I see here are kind of an amalgam of both of their arguments, (and I have the added knowledge that Obama has decided to consult Congress).

I think in the general, we-feel-good-about-ourselves democratic sense it makes sense for Obama to refer to Congress, since I don't think this is in any way a matter of national security in the sense of an  immediate life or death, danger to the Republic, barbarians at the gate type of thing. 

However, given the miserable and embarrassing record of this Congress at deciding anything, even of a trivial nature may mean that in fact we will by default do nothing for the worst atrocity against civilians by a government in recent history. 

David is right - presidents have pretty much been ignoring the Constitution as far as the power to wage war (which supposedly rests with Congress) for all of my adult life.  And come to think of it...all of those incidents have also resulted in rather nasty losses in "wars" that were never officially declared according to our Constitution).  Congress sort of "officially" absconded its duties with the 70's era War Powers Act...which I am somewhat surprised somehow passed court muster.

I also find this incident instructive in how much the paranoid, lies-based "foreign policy" of the Bush II administration has damaged credibility not only with foreign countries, but with the American people.  The fear of "another Iraq or Afghanistan" is palpable.  I have always thought that the Bush II Empire would go down as one of the most damaging periods in our history that it would take decades to recover from.

So, on the one hand, we have the outrage and indignation over the government of Syria using chemical weapons on its own people (which I do not think is in any serious doubt).

On the other hand, we have a valid question "why is this our (US) business?".

On the other hand, wait...wait...wasn't it Tevye who finally said "....there is no other hand!!!".  I think this is where President Obama (and now Congress if they can pull themselves together enough to actually accomplish something)  finds himself/themselves today.

Update 9/1/2013:

I see the predictable fault lines defining the positions on this issue really haven't moved (with the highly entertaining exception that the "blow everyone up", "American might makes right", "we have nukes and you don't" neocons are having convulsions trying to figure out how to support Obama without appearing to ... well ... support Obama.

Secretary of State Kerry also said today that the US had definite scientific evidence of Sarin gas usage in the suburbs of Damascus.  Given the additional evidence already known, such as intercepted emails from Syrian government officials basically admitting that gas was used, and there is no longer any doubt that the act was committed by the Syrian government forces.

Still, this really is a tough situation, and passing the buck to a Congress that is made up of people who have not only declared themselves brain-dead, but have spent the last several years proving they cannot and will not get anything done that does not enhance their reelection coffers may not be the smartest move the President ever made.  It also delays any impact of retaliation, and gives the Syrian government all kinds of time to attempt to cover up evidence and/or use their remaining stockpiles on their citizens.  Remember there is at least one separate incident apparently using a different agent that remains unresolved (and surprisingly out of the public eye).

So, it looks like someone has to do something or this will go on possibly endlessly.  Once again it is looking like the US has to be that 'someone' -- I just hope this time we have the fortitude to  actually realize the limitations of military action and the continuing need for diplomacy to have a role.

North Korean "Justice"

I was waiting until a reputable news organization came out with this story until I posted about it.

But really?????

Our system in the US is far from perfect but it really makes you wonder about some of the whacko leaders in the world that we have to deal with.  Some reports indicated that the families of those executed were brought to the site and had to watch.

(I assume North Korea has nothing like a Chamber of Commerce or a Visitors Bureau?)

Just When You Thought Syria Couldn't Get Any Worse

This happens....it will be interesting to see if the US press can rouse itself from its endless, inane nattering about the decision process (if that is not too kind a term) in Washington DC about responding to chemical weapons to even notice this.

Useless Words

Reading and watching the coverage of the latest Syrian chemical weapons attacks against their citizens reminds me of how many completely useless words and phrases there are in official "government speak".  The reality is not pretty...and pretty damning (videos courtesy of Reuters):



Watch for these phrases in the next video and this article.

• "call for"   (putting our two cents in even though it won't matter)
• "Demand" (send us more guns)
• "as is our right" (we are the chosen people and therefore always right)
• "seek clarity" (we are an impotent organization with no power and have no idea what we can do (UN))

Don't you just want to have a 'truth dome' that descends over the world sometimes???

Sometimes There is no Comment Possible

Some events just speak for themselves, and make you wonder why the US thinks it is the top of the heap -- and why easy access to guns is such a good thing....

Military Aid Spending

As sort of a follow up to the prior post, here is an interesting chart to play around with.  You can sort the columns by clicking at the top of each one.

While the total spending involved on military aid is far less than one percent of federal spending as noted in the sidebar, one can wonder at some anomalies since we seem to be bent on financing the maximum number of arms and bombs on both sides of any conflict that comes along.

Some observations:

• We are pouring money into Israel, that immoral "bad boy" of the Middle East.  They lead the pack for military aid in almost every category no matter how you sort it.  Sorting by 2010 numbers puts our "very good buddy" Afghanistan on top as would be expected, but Israel is head and shoulders above everyone else.
• And, of course Egypt is in second place behind Israel.  We have had a rather bizarre implied deal with Egypt for the last several decades "you don't attack Israel (which we are arming against you) and we will send you arms to attack Israel (only don't tell us you are using them for that)".
• In fact, if you look at the top ten or eleven countries (depending on how you sort them) I would have to say that absolutely none of them are "friends" or reliable allies (including Israel), yet we continue to send them guns, bombs, and warplanes?
• Oddity - why did we ever send aid to North Korea?
• Question - Why are Fiji, Singapore, Bahamas, Jamaica, Finland, Micronesia, China(?) all military aid recipients?
• Why, looking at all the aid from 1946-2010 is Vietnam #2, Egypt #3, South Korea #4, Afghanistan #8 and Iraq #10?  Loser's remorse?    

Egyptian Aid

Understandably there has been a lot of talk, particularly among the less-intelligent Washington residents like the ever-sound-bite worthy but always wrong Senator Rand Paul to cut off all aid to Egypt in reaction to the violence this week.

This unfortunately is another sterling example of reality being a lot messier than the sound-bite worthy position.  For one thing, US  aid to Egypt (and many, many other countries) is military in nature.  It is also financed on credit "known as cash flow financing" in the ethereal unreality of DC and Wall Street.

What this means is several billions of dollars might be immediately lost by the US military-industrial complex (horrors) or the US might have to find more deserts to stockpile all the unneeded military gear until a real, rollicking, plenty of money to spend, all-out war erupts somewhere that we can finance.

Vacation Time

I am leaving on a week's vacation tomorrow so won't be posting for awhile.  It is the annual week where I joyously 'unplug' for the most part from the wired world and just enjoy the sun, a particular lake, my family, and a stack of good books.  (Yes, Goodreads you may be getting some reviews from me in a couple of weeks!). 

Once I come back, one of my fall projects is going to be combing through the posts on this blog (which have added up) and deleting some of them.  I want to keep the blog somewhat fresh and lively, and those posts that are tied to a particular place and time whose relevance has passed will probably go.

The Best They Could Do?

So...Congress has all this work in front of them that they have been ignoring the last 5 years, and they have been studiously ignoring important issues to grab sound bites and score points with their non-thinking constituencies. 

And the most important thing they could think of to do is make another meaningless useless vote against the Health Care Act? 

Listen to a couple of people who are definitely smarter than anyone in DC and who understand what is really at stake here:

Watch Brooks, Marcus on Congressional Questions as Break Starts on PBS. See more from PBS NewsHour.

Absolutely Perfect

Sometimes other people say things so well...I just need to stand back in awe:

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Indecision Political Humor,The Daily Show on Facebook

I understand this is the middle of a longer segment available elsewhere...but this is the best part.

Nonsense Abounds

I think the Health Care Reform Act (the brain-dead media/Twitter crowd persists in calling it Obamacare) has easily generated the highest bullshit quotient since George invaded Iraq - somewhere in the 80% range.  (I sincerely doubt the Iraq BS ratio of nearly 100% will ever be surpassed).

Sarah Palin's "death panels" are alive and well, although as with everything else that comes out of her mouth she got it wrong -- they are really the health insurance companies who quite literally decide who gets to  live or die (and in the case of about 50% of the American population) who even gets to play in the lottery they run.  Buy them enough yachts and vacation homes...and they might just let you live. Refuse to play...and you are on your own, depending on "charity care" from medical providers which drives up costs for the insured, etc., etc.

Now our state has published rates for companies that will initially appear on its state-run insurance exchange.   Surprise, surprise...rates are at least marginally lower than before, many more people are covered, and the coverage is of a much higher and more consistent quality and breadth than before. 

Keep in mind one thing the media seems to have trouble understanding -- these insurance exchanges are not required of everybody -- if you have employer-sponsored coverage you will probably still do better there.  These exchanges  are for the majority of the population who does not have employer-sponsored coverage or that has no coverage at all.

How can making things better, more healthy for people be a bad thing?  How can remembering our dedication to "Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness" be a bad thing?  How can pulling the US out of the second-world mire it is in for health care up to the rest of the first-world countries be bad?