Black Sabbath Concert Review

From the band's performance Tuesday night at the Los Angeles Sports Arena, from Randall Roberts, at LAT, "Review: Black Sabbath visit hell at a sweaty L.A. Sports Arena":

If you listened very closely on Tuesday night during Black Sabbath's return to the city, you could hear the Big Bang of heavy metal echoing through the sweat-drenched Los Angeles Sports Arena.

It was buried in the slow, menacing guitar lines of guitarist Tony Iommi, and propelled by Geezer Butler's cavernous bass lines. And it was in the unholy yowl of Ozzy Osbourne, 64, shuffling along the stage like a retired vampire in search of a blood nurse, who long ago moved beyond a parody of himself to become a virtual trademark in black.

Performing songs from the band's first decade (before Osbourne was booted from the group for drug-fueled debauchery, replaced by Ronnie James Dio), Sabbath offered distorted rock music as simple yet as inarguably useful as your basic table or chair. That they all wore black is understood.

More at that top link.

The band played the MGM Grand last Sunday. I tweeted from the hotel:

Black Sabbath playing @MGMGrand tonight. Punk rockers must love Ozzy. They're swarming the place. #Vegas pic.twitter.com/pdGr7VknGi
— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) September 2, 2013

When we were checking out on Monday we saw a couple of tween girls with Black Sabbath t-shirts in the elevator on the way down. Turns out the parents let the girls attend on their own. I saw them and said, "So, how was it"? The kids just smiled and Dad said he'd given his tickets to them. Pretty cool.

My wife and I had two tickets on offer from MGM, by the way, but chose instead to be comped four nights at the hotel. Maybe another time, if Ozzy's still rocking, that is.

Oh, that video at top's from Birmingham, England, 2012, at the Black Sabbath YouTube page. High quality. They're really tuned in.

14 Principled Anti-War Celebrities We Fear May Have Been Kidnapped

From John Ekdahl, hilariously, at BuzzFeed.

Sheryl Crow tops the list:

LAST KNOWN PRE-2009 COMMUNICATION:
“I think war is based in greed and there are huge karmic retributions that will follow. I think war is never the answer to solving any problems. The best way to solve problems is to not have enemies.”
— Sheryl Crow

Sabine

She's lovely.



Via Twitter.

Public Support for War in Syria Lower Than for Any Other Conflict in Last 20 Years

Well, the public's ball-busting President Blurred Lines.

At Gallup, "U.S. Support for Action in Syria Is Low vs. Past Conflicts":

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Americans' support for the United States' taking military action against the Syrian government for its suspected use of chemical weapons is on track to be among the lowest for any intervention Gallup has asked about in the last 20 years. Thirty-six percent of Americans favor the U.S. taking military action in order to reduce Syria's ability to use chemical weapons. The majority -- 51% -- oppose such action, while 13% are unsure.

Continue reading.

Public support is up from May, in light of allegations of WMD use by Syria's Assad. But clearly, Americans are burned out on international conflict.

Yeah, and that no doubt explains why Barack "Blurred Lines" Hussein is on the verge of abandoning his Syria strike plans altogether.

How embarrassing. And I mean for Americans to have this idiot in the Oval Office.

Neocon Elizabeth O'Bagy's Controversial Op-Ed at the Wall Street Journal

Here's the lady's commentary, which was out last weekend at WSJ, "On the Front Lines of Syria's Civil War."

Folks should read that first, before diving into the controversy, which has unusually steep policy implications.

While Ms. O'Bagy is identified at the op-ed as "a senior analyst at the Institute for the Study of War," it turns out she's also affiliated with the Syrian Emergency Task Force (SETF), an anti-Assad political action committee with a pending application for 501(c)(3) non-profit status at the IRS. Foreign Policy cited the lady's credentials in June as the "political director at SETF." And here's the group's press release, "SETF Welcomes Dr. Elizabeth O'Bagy to DC Staff."

Recall that the Institute for the Study of War is Kimberly Kagan's neoconservative foreign policy think tank. It's pretty interesting that O'Bagy's piece was cited by Secretary of State John Kerry and Senator John McCain during hearings this week. But the pushback was enough for the Institute to publish an addendum to Ms. O'Bagy's biography at the website:

Press Advisory- September 6, 2013:

The Institute for the Study of War employs Elizabeth O’Bagy as a senior analyst on its Syria portfolio.  She also has a role in the Syria Emergency Task Force that she wishes to clarify.  She states:

“The Syrian Emergency Task Force has filed with the IRS to register as a 501 (c) 3, and has been an important subcontractor for the United States and British governments in providing aid and assistance to the Syrian people. I work with the Syrian Emergency Task Force in an advisory capacity on a number of humanitarian aid and governance building contracts. I am hired on a contractual basis in my role as the Political Director and Humanitarian Aid Coordinator, but do not receive a salary from the organization. In this role with the Task Force, I have worked on a number of contracts with the United States Department of State to provide an evaluation of the current aid and assistance programs inside Syria and provide guidance on how to better implement these programs.

“The Syrian Emergency Task Force does have a registered 501 (c) 4 and does engage in political advocacy. However I do not work with this office and I do not lobby on their behalf. My role within the organization has been limited to humanitarian efforts funded through the United States Department of State and the British Foreign Office.”

Kimberly Kagan, President of the Institute for the Study of War, writes, “I have great confidence in Elizabeth O’Bagy and her work.  She has written numerous, fully documented reports on the Syrian opposition.  Her nuanced arguments, the evidence on which she bases them, and the citations of her sources are available for all to examine.”

As far as I can tell, Ms. O'Bagy's a Ph.D. candidate at Georgetown University. She's young, 26 years-old. All this seems to bother Jerome Corsi, who writes at WND, "Obama relying on student's spin on Syria?"

Corsi's a spinmeister himself, so take that FWIW. He does link to an interesting Reuters piece out Thursday, "Kerry portrait of Syria rebels at odds with intelligence reports."And see the commentary at Wintery Knight, "Intelligence reports show Islamic extremists dominate Syrian opposition."

There's also a Memeorandum thread with the salacious headline, "Wall Street Journal Op-Ed Draws Scrutiny Over Writer's Ties to Syrian Rebel Advocacy Group."

So who's right?

Ms. O'Bagy's traveled frequently to Syria, as recently as one month ago. The territorial division of control among rebel groups she describes sounds both logical and realistic. But the appearance of outside militants aligned with al Qaeda wasn't a factor over a year ago, when the administration would've had less worry over arming terrorists. At this point it's hard to believe that "moderates" still dominate the opposition. Indeed, recall what Edward Luttwak wrote a couple of weeks ago:

The war is now being waged by petty warlords and dangerous extremists of every sort: Taliban-style Salafist fanatics who beat and kill even devout Sunnis because they fail to ape their alien ways; Sunni extremists who have been murdering innocent Alawites and Christians merely because of their religion; and jihadis from Iraq and all over the world who have advertised their intention to turn Syria into a base for global jihad aimed at Europe and the United States.

That sounds more like it, although perhaps more "on-the-ground" research reports will clear things up. But that's not my problem. It's Obama's and his bomb-happy allies in the Senate. And so far I don't think they're making the sale.

ADDED: Here's Daniel Greenfield's report that indicates that the Free Syrian Army forces under General Idris is riddled with Islamists, "The Wall Street Journal’s Misleading Report on the 'Moderate' Syrian Opposition."

And don't miss Rusty Shackleford, "Study: Red Unicorn, Rainbow Brigades Dominate Syrian Opposition."

Dr. Benjamin Hafensteiner!

This is great.

At the Daily Star, "WATCH: Man pretending to be university professor gets caught in the act."



HAT TIP: Pepper_10 on Twitter.

Huge Constituent Backlash at John McCain Town Hall

Well, I guess Syria's not at the top of the list for Arizona voters.

At the Blaze, "VOTERS EXPLODE ON JOHN MCCAIN AT PHOENIX TOWN HALL: ‘WE DIDN’T SEND YOU TO MAKE WAR FOR US’."



More video at Time, "Syrian Woman Confronts John McCain at Town Hall."

Victor Davis Hanson Brings Down the Hammer on America's Juvenile and Narcissistic So-Called Commander-in-Chief

Wow!

Here's an explosive follow up to my previous entry, from Victor Davis Hanson, at National Review, "If It Wasn't Syria, It Would Have Been Something Else":

How did Obama get himself into this mess? It was bound to happen, given his past habits. All we are seeing now is the melodramatic fulfillment of vero possumus, lowering the rising seas, faux Corinthian columns, hope and change, the bows, the Cairo speech, and the audacity of hope. Hubris does earn Nemesis.

1) His inclination is to damn straw men, blame others for his self-inflicted errors, and spike the ball when he should keep quiet and become modest (cf. the bin Laden raid). So in Syria we heard the same old, same old: A host of bad guys, here and abroad, wants to do nothing. Obama alone has the vision and moral compass to restore global and U.S. credibility through his eloquence; but the world disappointed him and is now at fault for establishing red lines that it won’t enforce: He came into the world to save the world, but the world rejected him.

After five years of this, the world caught on, and sees juvenile and narcissistic petulance in lieu of statesmanship—and unfortunately a sinister Putin takes great delight in reminding 7 billion people of this fact almost daily. In terms of geostrategic clout, Obama has nullified the power of his eleven aircraft-carrier battle groups, Putin through his shrewd insight and ruthless calculation of human nature, has added five where they didn’t exist.

2)  Obama thinks in an untrained manner and for all the talk of erudition and education seems bored and distracted—and it shows up in the most critical moments. Had he wished to stop authoritarians, prevent bloodshed and near genocide, and foster true reform in the Middle East, there were plenty of prior, but now blown occasions: a) the “good” war in Afghanistan could have earned his full attention; b) the “bad” Iraq War was won and needed only a residual force to monitor the Maliki government and protect Iraq airspace and ensure quiet; c) the green revolution in Iran was in need of moral support; d) Qaddafi could have been continually pressured for further reform rather than bombed into oblivion; e) postwar Libya needed U.S. leadership to ensure that “lead from behind” did not lead to the present version of Somalia and the disaster in Benghazi; e) long ago, the president could have either kept quiet about Syria or acted on his threats when Assad was tottering and the resistance was less Islamist; f) he could have warned the one vote/one time Muslim Brotherhood early on not to do what everyone in the world knew it would surely do; g) he need not have issued tough serial deadlines to Iran that we have not really enforced and probably have no intention of enforcing.

Instead, Obama relied on his rhetoric and talked loosely, sloppily and inconsistently from crisis to crisis, the only common denominator being that he always took the path of least resistance and thus did nothing concretely to match his cadences. Usually to the degree he made a decision, he made things worse with empty, first-person bombast.

3) Obama cannot attract top talent. Those from prior administrations who are gifted and worked for him or who were promoted by him—Robert Gates, David Petraeus, Paul Volcker, Richard Holbrooke, James Mattis, Stanley McChrystal—either were treated badly, not fully utilized, or ended up regretting their experience. Instead a host of mediocrities are recruited on the basis of either their partisanship, loyalty or demonstrated past lightness—an Eric Holder, Joe Biden, Susan Rice, Timothy Geithner, Chuck Hagel, etc.

Nowhere than in the present crisis is this unfortunate trend more telling: Pro-war John Kerry has opportunistic anti-war baggage, pontificates rather than persuades, and freelances into serial embarrassments; Martin Dempsey, to his credit, cannot square the circle of being an honest man assigned to say things he knows simply cannot be true, and so pleads the military’s version of the Fifth; Chuck Hagel has not recovered from the confirmation hearings, and just wishes Syria would go away; anything that a surprisingly quiet Joe Biden says on the crisis will probably be incoherent and incendiary, and surely contradictory of some past statement; Susan Rice astutely outsourced this crisis; Hillary Clinton whose “what difference does it make?” fingerprints are all over the Syrian and Libyan fiascos wisely got out of town ahead of the posse.

What is now the least bad choice between terrible and even more terrible alternatives? If the congressional vote is yes, the choice is cynically wasting a few American lives for a possible point, or killing lots more people for a more possible point. Not good choices.

Merciless. But so true.

America's in a bad spot right now. The Worst. President. Ever.

Russian Power Bolstered by Obama Foreign Policy Weakness

From J. Michael Waller, at IBD, "Obama's Weakness Provokes an Aggressive Russia, Say Analysts":

While President Obama is conferring with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the G-20 economic summit in St. Petersburg, Russia, current and retired senior American intelligence officials fear he is blind to a growing threat from a resurgent Russia.

These officials say that Moscow continues to probe America's skies and seas with bombers and submarines, both to assert itself and to see just how far Russia can push Obama. In June 2012, Russian strategic nuclear bombers broke protocol and conducted maneuvers in the Arctic without alerting the U.S.

A month later a Russian Tu-95 Bear-H strategic bomber, capable of carrying nuclear-armed cruise missiles, entered American airspace off Alaska and California. Then in August, a stealthy Russian Akula-class attack submarine, designed to hunt and sink American subs, patrolled for weeks off Texas, Louisiana and Florida.

Intelligence officials have raised a litany of concerns about Russian behavior that, when taken together, form what they see as an alarming pattern:

Aggressive spying on the U.S. and allied governments at Cold War levels;

Systematic espionage, including ultrasophisticated cybercampaigns, against private businesses to steal their proprietary information;

Accelerated strategic weapons modernization to enhance the ability to blackmail the U.S. and its allies with thermonuclear destruction.

Despite its own sagging economy and massive U.S. defense cuts, Russia is upgrading its Soviet-era weapons and building new systems superior to America's. At the sprawling Sevmash shipyards in the Arctic port of Severodvinsk, Russian workers are busy building the world's most advanced nuclear missile-firing, Borei-class submarines. To the south, at the Votkinsk Machine Building Plant in Russia's Udmurt Republic, technicians assemble Bulava ballistic missiles to be launched from those subs. Their purpose: to deliver high-tech thermonuclear warheads to incinerate American cities.

The Borei-class submarines will be armed with between 16 and 20 of the latest Bulava missiles, each capable of carrying between six and 10 nuclear warheads.

"The one thing that keeps Russians in the big boys' club is their strategic nuclear force," former CIA director Michael Hayden told American Media Institute. "It's not at all surprising that's something that continues to receive investment."

"The president has to communicate to the Russians that he's tougher than he appears to be in public," argues Robert W. Stephan, a former 20-year CIA veteran.

Instead, the Russians see a pattern of weakness under Obama, analysts say.

There's more at the link, but it's hardly necessary to keep reading. Barack Hussein has degraded American standing, capability, and credibility across the international system.

For more on that see strategic analyst John Arquilla, at Foreign Policy, "Mitt Romney Was Right."

Blurred Red Lines

At the Wall Street Journal, "Harry Truman, please call Obama":

President Obama isn't easy to follow up San Juan Hill, or for that matter even Capitol Hill. Rather than walk point on national security, he prefers to blend in with the enlisted men and women. Consider his astonishing statement on Wednesday at a press conference in Stockholm about his comments last year drawing a "red line" on the use of chemical weapons by Bashar Assad in Syria.

"First of all, I didn't set a red line," the President said. "The world set a red line. The world set a red line when governments representing 98% of the world's population said the use of chemical weapons are abhorrent and passed a treaty forbidding their use even when countries are engaged in war.

"Congress set a red line when it ratified that treaty. Congress set a red line when it indicated that—in a piece of legislation titled the Syria Accountability Act—that some of the horrendous things that are happening on the ground there need to be answered for."

Then the President further blurred his own red lines by explaining whose credibility is at risk in the Syria vote in Congress: "Point number two, my credibility is not on the line. The international community's credibility is on the line. And America and Congress's credibility is on the line because we give lip service to the notion that these international norms are important"....

Mr. Obama still hasn't figured out after five years in office that America is the only enforcer of world order, and thus that there is no substitute for the President of the United States. Mr. Obama can't default to "the international community," whatever that is, much less to Congress. He has to lead. If he loses on Syria, it will be because he hasn't.

PREVIOUSLY: "Rush Limbaugh Slams Barack Hussein's 'Psychopathic' Blame-Shifting on Syria 'Red Lines'," and "'My Credibility is Not On the Line...'"

Rush Limbaugh Slams Barack Hussein's 'Psychopathic' Blame-Shifting on Syria 'Red Lines'

No doubt truly deranged.

As I said earlier, the president's out of his depth. Seriously. The dude's losing it.

At the Daily Rushbo, "RUSH: Obama Walking Back From ‘Red Line’ Comments May Be ‘Psychopathic’."

'I'd like to know what rock the staff at the NYTimes has been hiding under for the last two years. It's a happy place. I'm guessing there are ponies and rainbows there too...'

That's Rusty Shackleford, at Jawa Report, mocking the nation's newspaper of record on its big "scoop" today on the "smuggled" al Qaeda snuff video.

See, "NYT on Syrian Rebels: What an incredible smell you've discovered!"

Here's the report at the Times, "Brutality of Syrian Rebels Posing Dilemma in West."

And here's the thing: We're to the point where mainstream media outlets are now providing cover for Barack Hussein's disastrous foreign policy by denying massive al Qaeda infiltration among Syria's rebel forces.

Look at the headline at the CNN, clip, for example, "Does execution video prove Syrian rebels to be extremists?"

It's almost embarrassing. The Times' video has blackened out images of the actual executions by gunfire, as if this is something that's unprecedented. But as Rusty notes at My Pet Jawa:

For literally dozens of similar videos of rebels murdering people in Syria, just scroll through our Syria archives. Unfortunately there are so many of these same type of snuff videos coming out of Syria that our archives can't store them all, only the ones from the past 6 months or so.

Here's one right here:



In any case, check Robert Spencer (an expert whether these folks are actually "extremists"), "Brutality of Syrian jihadists shows futility of U.S. intervention." (Via Memeorandum.)

Who's Neville Chamberlain?

I was talking about the levels-of-analysis problem in international relations yesterday, in my World Politics course. I mentioned that at the level of the individual decision-maker, political leaders are often influenced by historical analogies. And then I gave the example of policymakers often basing foreign policy decisions on the "need to avoid another Munich." I then asked my students if they were familiar with the Munich Crisis and British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain. I've got 45 students in the class and not one raised their hand. It's not unusual, that kind of historical illiteracy. I understand it and I take it in stride (students are in college to learn).

Still, I reflected on this. It was weird. Seems to me that understanding the significance of Munich, and its consequence in turning the term "appeasement" into a harsh opprobrium, is something students should know before the go to college. Or, more broadly, "Munich" is just one more essential lattice step in the complex construction of cultural literacy.



Years ago, just starting out at college, I read parts of Telford Taylor's, "Munich: The Price of Peace." I checked it out at the Orange Coast College library, although I wish I had my own copy. What a classic.

In any case, here's an article on the appeasement analogy, from Fredrik Logevall and Kenneth Osgood, at World Affairs, "The Ghost of Munich: America's Appeasement Complex":

Although the United States was not party to the 1938 agreement, Americans have nonetheless fixated on it for seven decades. “Munich” and “appeasement” have been among the dirtiest words in American politics, synonymous with naïveté and weakness, and signifying a craven willingness to barter away the nation’s vital interests for empty promises. American presidents from Harry Truman on have feared the dreaded “Munich analogy”—and projected an air of uncompromising toughness lest they be branded as appeasers by their political opponents...

Emily Gets Her Gun

It's out.

Emily Miller's new book has been published, Emily Gets Her Gun: ...But Obama Wants to Take Yours.

I've posted numerous video clips of this lady. She's very smart and quick on her feet. And she's well armed, of course. And that makes her a powerful (and self-empowered) patriot of the first rank.

Look! I just found my book at Barnes & Noble in NYC! Tweet me a photo from your local store. #EmilysGun pic.twitter.com/6u57bPOzgv
— Emily Miller (@EmilyMiller) September 3, 2013

And from yesterday on Fox News, "Emily Gets Her Gun' - Emily Miller on Fox and Friends - Gretchen Carlson - Fox News - 9-4-13," and "Emily Gets Her Gun - Emily Miller on Lou Dobbs - Fox Business - 9-4-13."

Al-Qaeda Terrorists Behead 24 Bus Passengers in Syrian 'Rebel' Massacre

And the U.S. is backing these people?

Bare Naked Islam, "SYRIA: Obama-armed and funded al-Qaeda linked rebels force 24 civilian passengers off bus and behead all of them, including a mother and baby."

And Blazing Cat Fur has video, "Video Content Warning: Obama's Rebel Allies, Moderate Friends Of McCain, Chant Allahu Akbar Decapitate 2 Captives." (And yeah, definitely a content warning. Seems like the jihadis used to complete the beheadings faster in the old days. These monsters take breaks between slashes to whoop and holler. Ghastly terror.)

Also at Jihad Watch, "We're going to war for al-Qaeda: Senate panel approves resolution giving Obama authority to use military force in Syria."

Hothead Anthony Weiner's Meltdown at Brooklyn Bakery

One of these days Anthony Weiner will be long forgotten, but for the moment he keeps laying down the drama.

Video is here, "Anthony Weiner, NYC Mayor Candidate FIGHT, Jewish Heckler, calls him " JackASS " - FULL/ transcript." Also, "Anthony Weiner Discusses His Confrontation With Voter."

And at the New York Times, "Weiner vs. Heckler in a Brooklyn Bakery":

Just when Anthony D. Weiner seemed to be fading from public view — his poll numbers sagging, his entourage of supporters dwindling — he walked into a bakery in Brooklyn.

Mr. Weiner, a Democratic candidate for mayor, was nibbling on a cheese danish during a campaign stop on Wednesday when a man began hurling insults in his direction. The man said Mr. Weiner was a “scumbag” and went after Mr. Weiner’s wife, Huma Abedin, saying Mr. Weiner was “married to an Arab.” Several times, he called Mr. Weiner “disgusting” for sending lewd pictures to women online.

Mr. Weiner, still chewing, turned irate.

“You’re a perfect person?” he said, pointing his finger in the man’s face. “What rabbi taught you that you’re my judge?”

The man interjected. “You’re a bad example for the people,” he said. “Your behavior’s deviant.”

He advised Mr. Weiner to “stay out of the public, go home and get a job.”

Mr. Weiner, however, would not let up...

And so it goes...

More at the Other McCain, "Your Behavior Is Deviant,’ Jewish Voter Tells Disgraced Anthony Weiner."

'My Credibility is Not On the Line...'

What to say here, really?

The mind yet boggles once more over the unrivaled ineptitude of our so-called Commander-in-Chief.

Yesterday Barack Hussein O-Bomba denied he announced a "red line" on Syrian WMD.

RealClearPolitics has the video, "President Obama: 'My Credibility Is Not On The Line'."

And here's the clip, from August 21, 2012, showing Obama's "red line" press conference, at the totally obscure Telegraph UK.

I don't usually feel sorry for him, but the world's just too complex a place for this president. He's seriously losing it.

Yay, Obama Has Finally Demobilized the U.S. Antiwar Movement!

We're all neocon Bush-Hitler war-for-oil imperialists now.

At Twitchy, "Out: Anti-war; In: War is ‘cool’: Ace of Spades, one photo destroy anti-war Left hypocrisy."



And at Business Insider, "In One Chart, Here's Why The Anti-War Movement Collapsed."

Freedom to Blog Update: September 4, 2013

No big long preamble needed.

Robert Stacy McCain has been sued by the Speedway Bomber Brett Kimberlin.

BRETT KIMBERLIN’S PLAN TO AVOID UNWANTED INTERNET ATTENTION doesn’t seem very well thought-out. http://t.co/UYvJUHzr9e - via @instapundit
— Robert Stacy McCain (@rsmccain) September 5, 2013

Click through for updates at the post.

And at Zilla of the Resistance, "Perpetually #ButtHurt Free Speech Hating #ConvictedTerrorist #SpeedwayBomber #BrettKimberlin Sues Bloggers – AGAIN."

Senator John McCain: Obama Should Have Acted Without Congressional Vote

Here's one time in recent years where I'm fully behind McCain ... or, well, I'm behind him on this idea of the president's disastrous deferral to the Congress. If you bluster about red lines and military consequences, you don't go hide behind the skirt of separation of power. Obama had all the authority to strike over the weekend, under the War Powers Act. These delays are making the United States look weak.

Here's a lengthy interview from today's CBS News This Morning:



And see Fox News, "McCain opposes Syria strike resolution." (Via Memeorandum.)

The Democrats' 'Smart Power' Lies in Ruins

A long, devastating indictment of the amateur years of Obama-Democrat foreign policy, from Jim Geraghty, at National Review.



PHOTO CREDIT: White House Flickr.

Code Pink Protests Senate Hearing on Syria

At the Other McCain, "DIE, HIPPIES! Instead of Bombing Syria, Why Don’t We Bomb Code Pink Instead?"

Cleveland Kidnapper Ariel Castro Commits Suicide

My wife called him a coward. Last night we saw the news and she said, "He took the easy way out."

At the Los Angeles Times, "Ariel Castro, captor of Cleveland women, found hanged in prison."

And at the Cleveland Plain Dealer, "Ariel Castro hangs himself, defense attorney says prison denied request for suicide evaluation," and "After Ariel Castro death, attorney said survivors will not make statement."

Recognizing the Wrong People — Implications for U.S. Intervention in Syria

An essay on Diana West's book, American Betrayal, from Clare M. Lopez, which was apparently yanked from the Gatestone Institute's homepage after first being published.

At Diana's blog, "Clare Lopez: Recognizing the Wrong People."

It's not clear what happened, but I like how Ms. Lopez extrapolates from FDR's recognition of the murderous Soviet regime in 1993 to the foreign policy fiascos of the current, Muslim-infiltrated Barack Hussein administration:

As the world confronts the next horror of innocent Syrian men, women, and little children, hundreds of them apparently, killed in late August 2013 by a rocket barrage of the deadly chemical weapon, sarin, the U.S. and the world once again have the opportunity to react rationally, soberly, and with core U.S. national security interests uppermost in consideration. It seems most likely that the Iranian-and-Hizballah-backed regime of Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad is responsible for this latest war crime, and the outcry to empower his al-Qa'eda- and Muslim Brotherhood-dominated rebel opposition has become overwhelming. U.S. naval forces are positioned near Syria in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, pending a White House decision on U.S. action. Yet, even as one side of this intra-Islamic sectarian civil war is getting the worst of it, with more than 100,000 casualties racked up so far, and no end in sight, with chemical weapons against civilians introduced into the conflict, there has never been a more critical need for rational, sober-minded thinking about where U.S. interests and responsibility lie. While a 2012 Presidential Intelligence Finding for Syria authorized the extensive clandestine CIA, financial, and Special Forces training support that has been channeled to Syrian rebels (jihadis and non-jihadis alike), in the months since then, any decision to expand that support, now that chemical weapons have been used against civilians in a large-scale attack, demands a significantly better informed assessment of the probable beneficiaries of such assistance than has been the case to date.

Any decision to deploy U.S. military force beyond a punishing strike against the specific Syrian base and military unit that carried out this chemical weapons atrocity must take into consideration the consequences of an al-Qa'eda and Muslim Brotherhood victory in the Syrian civil war. It is hard to see how enabling the replacement of Iranian proxies and Shi'ite jihadis in Syria with Sunni jihadis aligned with al-Qa'eda and the Muslim Brotherhood will advance either U.S. national security interests in the region or those of our closest allies, Israel and Jordan. Providing generous humanitarian assistance to civilian victims is urgent and right; but, before America recognizes any more totalitarian-minded enemies of genuine liberal democracy, it would do well to enlist common sense, good judgment, and a judicious measure of national self-interest. It is high time we stopped empowering those who wish us ill.

Previously on Diana West here.

'Model of the Year' Kate Upton on 'VANITY FAIR' 100th Anniversary Cover

Via Kate Upton and Vanity Fair on Twitter.

And here's the background on Ms. Upton as "Model of the Year."

Plus, an encore from Randy's Roundtable featuring lots of bodacious photos of the young lady.

Smokin! Kelly Brook in New 'Juliet' Video from Lawson

Ravishing.

At Digital Spy, "Lawson, Kelly Brook star in new single 'Juliet' music video - watch."



And at London's Daily Mail, "Now that's a teaser! Lawson do their best to resist the charms of Kelly Brook in a preview from the video for new single Juliet."

Lawson's Wikipedia entry is here.

Senate Panel Expected to Vote on Syria

At LAT, "Draft Senate Syria resolution would limit use of force and time frame":

WASHINGTON – The Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday will consider a newly drafted resolution to authorize military force against the Syrian government that specifically rules out any commitment of ground forces and would narrow the time frame for action to no more than 90 days.

The panel’s top Democrat, Chairman Robert Menendez (N.J.), and top Republican, Sen. Bob Corker (Tenn.), reached an agreement on revisions to a resolution, which was sent to Congress by the White House on Saturday and was swiftly criticized by lawmakers in both parties as too broad.

The new language calls for the use of force “in a limited and tailored manner” against military targets in Syria for the purpose of responding to the Syrian government’s use of “weapons of mass destruction,” to deter the future use of such weapons and to degrade the nation’s capacity to use them in the future.

Congress’ authorization for the use of force would expire 60 days after it was approved, but the resolution would allow the president to extend the authorization by 30 days if he notified Congress that it was necessary and if Congress does not vote to forbid an extension.

The resolution also calls for the administration to provide within 30 days to key committees an “integrated” strategy toward achieving a settlement to Syria’s civil war.

“With this agreement, we are one step closer to granting the president the authority to act in our national security interest,” Menendez said in a statement.

Corker told CNN on Tuesday that the committee may vote on the revised proposal Wednesday.

And at the Hill, "Kerry seeks to convince reluctant lawmakers to back Syrian action."

And at BuzzFeed, "John Kerry Won’t Rule Out Ground Troops In Syria." (Via Memeoranum.)

Obama's Inept Foreign Policy

Here's this from Glenn Reynolds, at USA Today, "The president's Syria coalition (France) is dwarfed by the international coalition involved in the Iraq War."

But I think "inept" should read "clusterf-k." Must be a typo or something.

.341 BAC

Now this is something else, "When you read this girl's arrest story, you won't believe she's still alive." Via Instapundit.

I was joking around this weekend about having a "Jim Beam" hangover.

Okay, I'm back. Jim Beam messed up my Twitter time. #Vegas
— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) September 1, 2013

That was some end-of-summer partying, although not being arrested like the young lady I have no clue what my BAC would have been. I'm at the hotel with my wife, with no plans to get behind the wheel of a car. So, let it rip!

Well, maybe not. I don't know what got into this lady to drink what was essentially 8 shots of vodka in about 15 minutes, and she weighs just 100 pounds. That's a recipe for death. She didn't see it that way, it turns out. Something of a college binge-drinking badge of honor. As the piece indicates:

Point three four one. That was the blood-alcohol content of a woman named Samantha Lynne Goudie, 22, who tried to jump onto the field during a Northern Illinois–Iowa game and got arrested for public intoxication. Once her mom bailed her out of jail, she tweeted from the Twitter handle @Vodka_samm (yes, really):

Just went to jail #yolo
— Samantha (@Vodka_samm) August 31, 2013

Blew a .341 in jail
— Samantha (@Vodka_samm) August 31, 2013

My mom had to get me out of jail and had to take a breathalizer #lmao
— Samantha (@Vodka_samm) August 31, 2013

My mom hates me too
— Samantha (@Vodka_samm) August 31, 2013

I'm going to get .341 tattooed on me because its so epic
— Samantha (@Vodka_samm) August 31, 2013

Well, Ima disagree with how "epic" this is --- she could have gotten herself killed.

Here's this from the University of Oklahoma Police Department, "PPROXIMATE BLOOD ALCOHOL PERCENTAGE":

0.20 BAC: Feeling dazed/confused or otherwise disoriented. May need help to stand/walk. If you injure yourself you may not feel the pain. Some people have nausea and vomiting at this level. The gag reflex is impaired and you can choke if you do vomit. Blackouts are likely at this level so you may not remember what has happened.

0.25 BAC: All mental, physical and sensory functions are severely impaired. Increased risk of asphyxiation from choking on vomit and of seriously injuring yourself by falls or other accidents.

0.30 BAC: STUPOR. You have little comprehension of where you are. You may pass out suddenly and be difficult to awaken.

0.35 BAC: Coma is possible. This is the level of surgical anesthesia.

0.40 BAC and up: Onset of coma, and possible death due to respiratory arrest.

More at Bro Bible, "Girl Blows .341 After Trying to Jump on the Field During Iowa Game, Tweets #YOLO About It."

YOLO = YOU ONLY LIVE ONCE.

But you might want to live a little longer, sweetie.

Still More: At Iowa's Little Village, "AMID A DISAPPOINTING LOSS AT KINNICK STADIUM YESTERDAY, A VODKA-SOAKED STAR IS BORN."

Boxer Tommy Morrison Dead: WBO Heavyweight Champ Also Played Tommy Gunn in 'Rocky V.'

He was so young.

At the Los Angeles Times, "Tommy Morrison dies at 44; former heavyweight boxing champion."

Former heavyweight boxing champion Tommy Morrison, who starred in the 1990 movie "Rocky V" and later saw his fighting career shortened by a positive HIV test, has died. He was 44.

Morrison died Sunday night at a Nebraska hospital, his former manager, Tony Holden, told the Associated Press. The fighter's family did not disclose the cause.

In 1993, Morrison beat George Foreman for the World Boxing Organization heavyweight belt but soon lost it and a looming $7.5 -million payday to unheralded challenger Michael Bentt. Morrison later lost to another former distinguished heavyweight champion, Lennox Lewis.

"Tommy had a good left hook and quite a bit of ring savvy, and if his opponent was having a little bit of an off night, he'd win," said Bruce Trampler, the matchmaker for the boxing company Top Rank that promoted 27 of Morrison's 52 fights.

However, Morrison "was in obvious decline the last few years," Trampler said.

Nicknamed "The Duke," Morrison was born in 1969 in Gravette, Ark., and grew up in Oklahoma. He enjoyed a strong amateur career that was stopped short of a U.S. Olympic bid in a 1988 loss to Ray Mercer.

The 6-foot-2 boxer won his first 28 professional fights, including a victory over former champion Pinklon Thomas, and played Tommy Gunn opposite Sylvester Stallone in "Rocky V."

Illegal Marijuana Growers May Have Sparked Yosemite's Rim Fire

I've been meaning to post on this, for example, from the Los Angeles Times, "Yosemite fire grows to 348 square miles, 4th-largest in state history."

But see iOWNTHEWORLD, "Massive Yosemite blaze may have been sparked by illegal marijuana growers":

The massive forest fire that has scorched 348 square miles in and around Yosemite National Park may have been sparked by illegal marijuana growers, according to one fire official in Tuolumne County.

The San Jose Mercury News reports that Todd McNeal, chief of the Twain Harte Fire Department, told a community meeting that it was “highly suspect that there might have been some sort of illicit grove, a marijuana-grow-type thing.”

McNeal, who has 23 years of experience with Forest Service, the National Park Service and other agencies, said at the Aug. 23 meeting that investigators know the fire is human caused since there was no lightening in the area.

Well, that's really "lighting one up."

Obama Recklessly Gambles with American Credibility

He's reckless alright. And cowardly

From the editors at the Wall Street Journal, "Leading From Behind Congress":

President Obama's Syrian melodrama went from bad to worse on Saturday with his surprise decision to seek Congressional approval for what he promises will be merely a limited cruise-missile bombing. Mr. Obama will now have someone else to blame if Congress blocks his mission, but in the bargain he has put at risk his credibility and America's standing in the world with more than 40 months left in office.

This will go down as one of the stranger gambles, if not abdications, in Commander in Chief history. For days his aides had been saying the President has the Constitutional power to act alone in response to Syria's use of chemical weapons, and that he planned to do so. On Friday, he rolled out Secretary of State John Kerry to issue a moral and strategic call to arms and declare that a response was urgent.

But on Friday night, according to leaks from this leakiest of Administrations, the President changed his mind. A military strike was not so urgent that it couldn't wait for Congress to finish its August recess and vote the week of its return on September 9. If the point of the bombing is primarily to "send a message," as the President says, well, then, apparently Congress must co-sign the letter and send it via snail mail.

It's hard not to see this as primarily a bid for political cover, a view reinforced when the President's political consigliere David Axelrod taunted on Twitter that "Congress is now the dog that caught the car." Mr. Obama can read the polls, which show that most of the public opposes intervention in Syria. Around the world he has so far mobilized mainly a coalition of the unwilling, with even the British Parliament refusing to follow his lead. By comparison, George W. Bush on Iraq looks like Metternich.

But what does anyone expect given Mr. Obama's foreign-policy leadership? Since he began running for President, Mr. Obama has told Americans that he wants to retreat from the Middle East, that the U.S. has little strategic interest there, that any differences with our enemies can be settled with his personal diplomacy, that our priority must be "nation-building at home," and that "the tide of war is receding." For two-and-a-half years, he has also said the U.S. has no stake in Syria.

A great piece that should be on everyone's reading list.

Read it all at the link.

'The aim of the kafkatrap is to produce a kind of free-floating guilt in the subject, a conviction of sinfulness that can be manipulated by the operator to make the subject say and do things that are convenient to the operator's personal, political, or religious goals...'

Be sure to read this post from William Jacobson, "Kafkatrapping."

And here's a confession: I've never read Franz Kafka.

But follow that llink. You'll immediately understand "Kafkatrapping" in all of its regressive glory.

Kate Moss for Versace

Here's the huge billboard outside the Versace store at the Forum Shops at Caesar's Palace, seen last night when I had to run over to the Apple store to pick a new charger for my son's laptop.

And see London's Daily Mail from June, "Maybe blondes DON'T have more fun? Kate Moss turns brunette as she poses in sexy skintight latex for new Versace campaign."

Patriots Release Tim Tebow

I first saw the news on Twitter.

But here's WaPo, "A door closes: Tebow cut by Patriots but remains in ‘relentless pursuit’ of his NFL dream":

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — A Heisman Trophy, a riveting playoff game, an international following.

Tim Tebow won all that in his football career.

On Saturday, he lost his third NFL job in 18 months. It might be hard to find another.

The quarterback with two big problems — throwing the ball and reading defenses — was cut by the New England Patriots less than 12 weeks after they signed him and just five days before the season.

But, as Tebow sees it, this long journey is not over.

“I will remain in relentless pursuit of continuing my lifelong dream of being an NFL quarterback,” he tweeted.

Coach Bill Belichick gave the player whose profile was higher than his production what may have been his last chance when he signed him June 11, the day the Patriots’ three-day minicamp began. And Tebow is grateful.

He thanked Belichick, offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels and owner Robert Kraft, who said last Tuesday he was “rooting” for Tebow but would let Belichick make the decision.

In his tweet, Tebow thanked the “entire Patriots organization for giving me the opportunity to be a part of such a classy organization.”

The Patriots cut 12 other players and put safety Adrian Wilson on injured reserve. That left them with 51 players, two below the regular-season limit they had to reach by 6 p.m. EDT.

Belichick didn’t comment on Tebow’s release.

But NFL.com analyst and former NFL executive Gil Brandt wasn’t surprised.

“He has had a great career and I think it’s probably time for him to admit that he just wasn’t right up to NFL standards,” Brandt said. “I’m sure that whatever he does in life he’ll be a huge success.

No word there on whether being an outspoken evangelical hurt his chances.

But RTWT.

The Origins of 'London Calling'

At the Wall Street Journal, "The Sound of Going to Pieces."

Mick Jones: The initial inspiration for the song "London Calling" wasn't British politics. It was our fear of drowning. In 1979 we saw a headline on the front of the London Evening Standard warning that the North Sea might rise and push up the Thames, flooding the city. We flipped. To us, the headline was just another example of how everything was coming undone.

A fabulous interview.

More at the link.

Riot Grrrl Back From the Brink

At the New York Times, "Kathleen Hanna Returns With the Julie Ruin":

Donating her file cabinet, full of old journals, letters and zines to New York University’s Fales Library archive was a bittersweet move for Kathleen Hanna. A singer and founder of the riot grrrl band Bikini Kill and the feminist electro-pop act Le Tigre, Ms. Hanna had been a den mother to contemporary-girl culture for a generation, but she was still only a midcareer artist, too young to grapple with archiving her work. The donation helped legitimize the riot grrrl movement.

But Ms. Hanna, 44, had more personal reasons for securing her legacy: She wasn’t sure how much longer she’d be around.

Timing has played a big part in Ms. Hanna’s creative life since she emerged from the DIY scene in Olympia, Wash., in the early 1990s. The brief but influential riot grrrl movement seemed to arrive at just the right moment, during debates about workplace harassment and young women’s sexuality, fresh issues that still resonate today. But over the last few years, even with a ‘90s revival in full swing and her view in high demand, Ms. Hanna had all but disappeared from public life.

The reason for her absence, as she is just beginning to reveal, was illness, depression and artistic flux. “I’m still not sure, day to day, if I’m going to wake up and be really sick,” she said.

Late in 2010, after six years of a mysterious and debilitating illness that often left her too weak to move or speak, she was finally diagnosed with late-stage Lyme disease. She underwent two years of intensive therapy. Now on the mend, Ms. Hanna is returning in a big way.

She resurrected a 1997 solo project, Julie Ruin, as a band, the Julie Ruin; its debut album, “Run Fast,” is to be released Tuesday on TJR Records, a label formed by Ms. Hanna and her band mates. For the first time, the group is touring nationally, beginning with a sold-out show at the Bowery Ballroom on Tuesday. And a documentary about her, “The Punk Singer,” which has been making the festival rounds since it had its premiere to warm reviews at South by Southwest this spring, is due to be in theaters in November.

Seeing these projects come to fruition at once is stressful but empowering, Ms. Hanna said. “I am like somebody who maxed out their credit cards because they thought they were going to die,” she said, “and I lived.”

Walking through Chelsea recently, she could fret fretted about a girly bit of overshare. Whether some overwrought teenage poetry was on view, in her bubble-letter handwriting, at the Fales’s Riot Girl Collection, where Ms. Hanna donated her work in 2010. That material and others were anthologized in “The Riot Grrrl Collection,” an anthology published this summer. Ms. Hanna further tells her story — including sexual abuse and naming Nirvana’s hit “Smells Like Teen Spirit” — in the documentary, directed by Sini Anderson. Footage of her bopping onstage in her trademark high ponytail masked her illness; she announced a retirement of sorts from Le Tigre in 2005.

The Julie Ruin was reborn during her illness, as a way for Ms. Hanna to connect to her artistic identity. “I was like: ‘Is this who I am now, this sick person? This isn’t me,’ “ she said in an interview in a cafe not far from her Flatiron apartment, one of two homes she shares with her husband Adam Horovitz, a k a Ad-Rock of the Beastie Boys. He encouraged her to sing as much as she could. “When I would practice and I would feel O.K., I saw me again,” she said.

She conceived the group as what she called her “dream band,” with players from different walks of her life: on bass, her Bikini Kill band mate Kathi Wilcox; on guitar, Sara Landeau, an instructor at the Willie Mae Rock Camp for Girls, where Ms. Hanna occasionally teaches; on drums, her friend Carmine Covelli; and Kenny Mellman, Herb of the cabaret act Kiki & Herb, as a keyboardist and songwriter. They rehearsed casually around town and at Ms. Hanna’s New Jersey home — “I can’t call it jamming, because I hate that; I don’t jam,” she said — without considering where it would lead.

According to Ms. Wilcox, “When she approached me to join the band, she was sort of like, ‘We may never tour, we may never make a record, but we’re just doing this now for fun, because I need to.’ “

More at that top link.

David Frost Has Died

For a minute I was thinking, "And what am I supposed to remember about him?"

And then it came to me, the Frost/Nixon interview.

See the New York Times, "David Frost, Known for Nixon Interview, Dies at 74."

And at the Los Angeles Times, "David Frost: A self-producing, self-perpetuating brand of his own."

Tonya Harris, 34, Placed on Administrative Leave After Having Sex With 17-Year-Old 'Boy'

Hmm.

I guess this one's close to the line of impropriety (or propriety). I mean, really, the "boy" was 17. Maybe if they'd taken it to the bedroom it wouldn't have been as big a deal.

At London's Daily Mail, "Lunch lady, 34, 'had sex with 17-year-old school boy as others watched at alcohol-fueled house party'."



She was the "lunch lady" too. I'm sure folks can come up with a couple of good one-liners for that.

But see R.S. McCain for the other side of this issue, "Washington Post Publishes Jailbait Apologist (Ain’t I Done Told You So?)."

And seriously, this is so wrong even Scott Lameiux agrees, at Lawyers, Gays and Mofos, "#WaPoPitch: G. Todd Baugh Was Right!"

(And speaking of mofos, I been trolling Lameiux like a bat outta hell, the freakin' butt-pain regressive.)

Added: More from the Colorado Springs Gazette, "Affidavit: D-49 food service worker hosted alcohol-fueled parties for students."

'Severe Internet Addiction'

Well, speaking of addictions, I've gotta throw Mandy Nagy some linkage, at Legal Insurrection, "Severe Internet Addiction” – Is there any other type?"

RTWT.

Ima embed this video, with Mandy's comments:

If this video below is indicative of anything you’ve ever experienced (I know I’ve been there), maybe forcing ourselves to think about how much time we spend with the internet and our gadgets really isn’t such a bad idea.

FBI Ramps Up Surveillance of Syrians Inside U.S.

Well, you'd think we'd be having protests against the administration's "racial profiling" all over the country. Or, well, wrong administration. My bad.

At NYT, "F.B.I. Sharpens Scrutiny of Syrians in U.S.":

The F.B.I. has increased its surveillance of Syrians inside the United States in response to concerns that a military strike against the government of President Bashar al-Assad could lead to terrorist attacks here or against American allies and interests abroad, according to current and former senior United States officials.

The government has also taken the unusual step of warning federal agencies and private companies that American military action in Syria could spur cyberattacks, the officials said. There were no such alerts before previous military operations, like the one against Libya in 2011.

The authorities are particularly concerned because Iran — one of Mr. Assad’s closest allies — has said there will be reprisals against Israel if the United States attacks Syria. The Iranians have also shown a willingness to sponsor terrorist attacks on American targets, according to the officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss a continuing operation.

“They’re not starting from scratch — the field offices know what they have in terms of sources and investigations, but this is a directive for them to redouble their efforts and check their traps,” one senior American official said.

Senior national security officials at F.B.I. headquarters in Washington have told the bureau’s field offices in recent days to follow up with sources who have ties to Syrians in an attempt to find talk or evidence of a retaliatory strike, the officials said. And Syrians implicated in continuing investigations will be put under even closer scrutiny, the officials said.

The Department of Homeland Security and the F.B.I. have also sent out a classified bulletin alerting federal, state and local law enforcement officials of potential threats created by the Syria conflict, the officials said. A senior F.B.I. official declined to comment.

More at that top link.

Charles Krauthammer: Obama Made U.S. Look Like it 'Chickened Out' of Military Strike on Syria

There's no other conclusion.

As I noted earlier today, there's no coherent reason why Obama needs to go to Congress for legislative authorization. The president could act under his powers as Commander-in-Chief, give notice to Congress under the War Powers Act, and that would have been it. Should the mission require a long-term presence, he then could have gone before the nation to make the case, and then have asked for a congressional resolution.

But listen to Krauthammer, who pulls no punches in slamming Obama for further weakening America in the eyes of the world.

At Scared Monkeys, "Charles Krauthammer Slams Obama … “It’s Amateur Hour” … “Obama Boxed Himself into a Corner …" (via Memeorandum).

#Vegas Beggar Dude Needs a Beer

My kinda panhandler, on the bridge between the MGM Grand and New York New York hotels, Las Vegas, Nevada.



I'm in Vegas for the holiday weekend with my wife and youngest boy. I've been posting photos and commentary to Twitter.

Overdue Rule 5

I should soon get back to posting my big Rule 5 roundups, but today I wanted to mostly throw some linkage to Dana Pico, who has been very generous in linking American Power.

So here we go, over at First Street Journal, "From Around the Blogroll."

Also, "With liberals, the first casualty is always the truth."

And see, "Rule 5 Blogging: From Portugal."

*************

Now, for some limited Rule 5 linkage:

See Subject to Change, "Rule 5 in the Kitchen."

And at Pirate's Cove, "If All You See……is an evil plastic bottle that’s evil not because they make a mess of the environment, but because of CO2, you might just be a Warmist."

And at Randy's Roundtable, "Thursday Nite Tart (on Wednesday) - In my opinion the hottest model on the planet bar none..."

And from Proof Positive, "Friday Night Babe: Doutzen Kroes!"

Also at Drunken Stepfather, "STEPLINKS OF THE DAY."

And ICYMI, at the Other McCain, "Bitches Be Cray-Cray: A Heteropatriarchal Theory of Non-Transformative Justice."

PHOTO: Sabine Jemeljanova.

NOTICE: Ima try posting Rule 5 roundups more frequently, so if you're looking from some linkage drop your babes at the comments. Or send them to me by email. (This invitation does not apply to depraved troll rights harassers, who will be reported to the proper authorities for criminal stalking and intimidation.)

President Barack O-Bomba Goes to War

President O-Bomba: The biggest left-wing antiwar hypocrite, now the Commander-in-Chief who's war policy is completely incoherent.

At least this gives the ANSWER Stalinists a fresh issue for their never-ending campaign against racist American imperial aggression.

See, "Hands Off Syria - Take action against U.S. intervention!"

.@ExposeLiberals President Barack O-Bomba goes to war. #Democrat #Hypocrites #Syria @Instapundit @RSMcCain pic.twitter.com/ByKt7GzXwf
— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) August 31, 2013

And more on antiwar public opinion at Guardian UK, "President Obama should listen to US and UK public: don't strike Syria."

Obama Wants Congressional Approval for Syria Strike

At the Hill, "Obama to seek congressional approval for Syrian military strike" (via Memeorandum).

And at the Wall Street Journal, "Obama Seeks Congressional Backing for Syria Strike":

WASHINGTON—President Barack Obama said Saturday he is prepared to take military action if necessary against Syria for the alleged use of chemical weapons against its own people, but said he will seek authorization from Congress before moving forward.

"This menace must be confronted," Mr. Obama vowed in an address from the White House Rose Garden, arguing for using force to punish the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Not acting, he said, "risks making a mockery of the global prohibition on the use of chemical weapons."

"I'm ready to act in the face of this outrage. Today I am asking Congress to send a message to the world that we are ready to move forward together as one nation," Mr. Obama said.

The president has faced criticism on the political left and right, with some lawmakers arguing against a military response and others demanding more information about any U.S. mission in advance of a presidential order. House Speaker John Boehner (R., Ohio), in particular, had pushed Mr. Obama to consult with Congress about his plans for military action.

Mr. Obama said he's talked with leaders in Congress and they've agreed to schedule a debate on using force as soon as they return from their August recess on Sept. 9, though lawmakers could be called back earlier.

The president said the effectiveness of any U.S. military strike, which he vowed would be limited, is "not time sensitive."

"It could be effective tomorrow, or next week or one month from now," Mr. Obama said. He said he is aware that the United Nations and some countries may not agree with his decision. He said he's prepared to go forward without their approval.

Not acting, he said, could lead to an escalation of chemical-weapons use and embolden countries that are seeking to build nuclear weapons.

Mr. Obama's comments follow a week of high tensions about whether the U.S. would strike Syria. And it comes after the administration made a public argument for a forceful American response and took the unusual step of making public evidence from the intelligence community that it had "high confidence" the Assad regime deployed chemical weapons against civilians on Aug. 21.

I don't know. The congressional politics of this won't be conducive to quick military action nor to our military objectives. But hey, there's little popular support, so O-Bomba has no choice.

More at the Los Angles Times, "Getting Congress to OK military action in Syria could be tough."

Mia Farrow Slams 'British Bystanders'

She's a humanitarian interventionist.

At Twitchy, "Mia Farrow slams ‘British bystanders’ over Parliament’s Syria vote."

She got some pushback. Looks like she deleted the tweet.

Nancy Pelosi Opposed Persian Gulf War, Iraq War, the Surge — Yet She's Now Shamelessly Beating the Drums for War in Syria

Years ago I came to the belated realization that Democrats are traitors to America on the question of national security (and on other questions as well, no doubt).

President Obama, of course, throughout his entire career, has possessed not one ounce of credibility on matters of war and peace. Recall that as a candidate for president in 2007 he was farther to the left and more antiwar than any other Democrat seeking the party's nomination. His hypocrisy on America's national security interests is a total abomination and the supreme miracle feat of political posturing and opportunism. Disgusting.

Secretary of State John Kerry this week denounced Syria's alleged use of chemical weapons as a "moral atrocity" of world historical proportions, and has implored the international community to stand up to Syria's assault on "civilization." But in 2004, as Democrat Party standard-bearer for the office of the presidency, running against vigorous war leader President George W. Bush, he denounced the war in Iraq after having voted in 2002 to authorize the deployment as member of the U.S. Senate: "I don't believe the president took us to war as he should have."

And now we have the words of that arch antiwar Democrat Nancy Pelosi, the current House Minority Leader in Congress, and total hypocrite on anything dealing with the nation's security.

At WaPo, "Pelosi urges military response to Syria."

And at Politico, "Nancy Pelosi the hawk tells President Obama to act on Syria" (via Memeorandum):

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi pressed top administration officials Thursday night to take military action to punish Syrian President Bashar Assad in response to reports that he used chemical weapons in his nation’s ongoing civil war.

“It is clear that the American people are weary of war. However, Assad gassing his own people is an issue of our national security, regional stability and global security,” Pelosi said in a statement after the 90-minute conference call with members of the National Security Council and 26 high-ranking lawmakers.

Rank hypocrisy.

Pelosi boasts perhaps the most consistent antiwar war record of any current member of Congress (see Wikipedia). In 1991 she opposed the U.S. move to eject Saddam Hussein from Kuwait, a war that would ultimately be approved by an overwhelming margin in the Congress, and would win Security Council backing at the United Nations (heralding a "new world order" in the emerging post-Cold War international system). Pelosi also voted against the 2002 Iraq war authorization, and in 2007 she opposed the Bush administration's new counterinsurgency program in Iraq --- "the surge" --- that within a year had stemmed the tide of terrorist violence and allowed the United States to wind down the war.

But in 2013 Pelosi is all gung-ho, arguing that Assad's alleged use of chemical weapons is so egregious that even a "war weary" nation should fall in line behind the administration's headlong rush to conflict.

Sorry, but this is extreme partisanship and political posturing of the worst kind. It's no wonder that support for Congress and this president is at historic lows. This shameless Democrat Party warmongering marks a new milestone in wag the dog political expediency.

See more on this from Daniel Greenfield at FrontPage, "Liberal Hypocrisy in Iraq and Syria":

Democrats vociferously opposed any plan to stop the flow of terrorists from Syria into Iraq. Now they are about to fight Assad anyway in support of their own twisted Muslim Brotherhood version of regime change.

The anti-war party has become the war party and in a supreme irony, its cause for a new war is the familiar one of stopping a Baath Party regime from using weapons of mass destruction against civilians.

Everything old is new again and every hypocrisy rises again to become policy. In New Hampshire, Howard Dean is reportedly sniffing around his presidential prospects and in Washington [Nancy Pelosi], John Kerry, Chuck Hagel and Barack Obama will begin a war that they were against… before they were for it.

More at Memorandum.

Images From Syria Chemical Weapons Attacks

One of the key videos that has convinced the U.S. that military action is required, at Foreign Policy, "U.S. Spies, Experts: Chemical Weapons Likely in Syria Attack":



And see this update, "The Witnesses":

The local activists who filmed these videos, then, have accomplished what years of hectoring from the official Syrian opposition have been unable to do -- bring the world to the brink of military intervention against Bashar al-Assad's regime. The conflict's steadily mounting death toll -- now at over 100,000, and climbing rapidly -- failed to spur international action; the images of dead children lined up in neat rows following the attack, however, appeared to have served as a gut punch to the world's conscience. And the sense of outrage may be so great that it will propel the United States into war.

The amateur Syrian videographers' accomplishment, however, came at a high cost.

Activist Razan Zaitouneh, who runs the Violations Documentation Center in Syria, tells FP that her team sped to the Damascus suburb of Zamalka immediately after a chemical weapons attack was reported there on Aug. 21. The media staff of Zamalka's local coordination committee, which is responsible for filming videos in the area and uploading them to the world, also sped to the scene. According to Zaitouneh, all but one of them paid with their lives.

"The chemical attacks, on the first day of the massacre, claimed the lives of many media activists in Zamalka coordination because they inhaled the chemical toxic gases," Murad Abu Bilal, the sole survivor, told Zaitouneh in an interview uploaded to -- what else -- YouTube. "[T]hey went out to shoot and collect information about the chemical attack, but none of them came back."

A high cost indeed.

But continue reading.

Lisa Daftari on Strategic Implications of U.S. Strike on Syria

A great discussion.

I'm increasingly impressed with Ms. Daftari's analysis.

Presidential Authority for Decision on Use of Force

I don't pay much attention to all the attacks, from both right and left, on the administration's push to war, and especially the so-called requirement that the president act only with the approval of Congress. Frankly, the executive can authorize military action without legislative approval, especially airstrikes. A longer deployment does require congressional action, but at this point the focus should be on the evidence for the administration's case for the attack on Syria. What hard intelligence provides the smoking gun of Assad's use of chemical weapons? The burden should be particular heavy for the left, people who are reflexively antiwar when a Republican is in office. While some on the left are rightly critical of the push to war, there's no shortage of depraved partisan hacks bootlicking the Democrat White House, pathetically giving the disgusting Obama-Dem hypocrites a pass.

In any case, the Wall Street Journal nails it here, "Congress Finds It Tough to Block Military Action in Syria: Historically, the President Has Exercised Wide Latitude Over Military Actions":

WASHINGTON—Lawmakers of both parties have been voicing reservations over using force in Syria, but if President Barack Obama directs the U.S. military to punish Bashar al-Assad's regime for its alleged use of chemical weapons, Congress has little chance of stopping him.

The Constitution assigns most of the nation's war powers to Congress, including authority to "raise and support armies," "maintain a navy," punish "offenses against the law of nations" and "declare war" itself.

In contrast, the president's sole military function is that of "commander in chief" of the armed forces.

But historically, the president has exercised wide latitude over military actions, often with minimal involvement from Congress. A 2011 Congressional Research Service report lists hundreds of overseas deployments since 1798, only 11 of which were wars declared by Congress. Other instances were authorized by congressional statutes or resolutions, sometimes retroactively, or never approved by Congress at all.

Over the years, "Congress has not insisted on its meaningful involvement in many uses of force," and therefore has ceded some of its power, said Mary Dudziak, director of the Project on War and Security in Law, Culture and Society at Emory Law School in Atlanta.

The Obama administration presented its case for possible military action against Syria to congressional leaders in a 90-minute, unclassified briefing in a conference call Thursday evening.

Congress last asserted its independent war powers in the early 1970s, when bipartisan majorities moved decisively to end the Vietnam War and, they hoped, prevent future presidents from unilaterally committing the U.S. to conflicts that would be difficult to end. In 1973, Congress ended funding for the war in Indochina and, over President Richard Nixon's veto, passed the War Powers Resolution.

The resolution requires the president to notify lawmakers within 48 hours of sending armed forces into "hostilities" and to "terminate" such operations within a maximum of 90 days unless Congress specifically authorizes the deployment. The executive branch has disputed whether Congress can impose such limits on the president, but as a practical matter the measure hasn't prevented a host of military operations over the past 40 years.

The waters are muddied further by international law. In the case of Syria, legal experts have raised serious doubts over whether foreign intervention, even to protect civilians, is consistent with international law absent authorization from the United Nations Security Council.

But the U.S., which invaded Iraq in 2003 without Security Council backing or a claim that it was responding to an immediate threat of attack, has refused to let the international community determine how it asserts its national interests.

In 1983, President Ronald Reagan sent U.S. forces to capture the Caribbean island nation of Grenada, where American medical students were considered in jeopardy, without authorization from Congress, much less the U.N. In 1999, President Bill Clinton ordered an air campaign to protect civilians in Kosovo from Yugoslav attacks, likewise acting solely on his own authority.

Past practice, along with the Constitution's own vague definitions of war powers, essentially gives the president a free hand to act as he sees fit, at least initially, said William H. Taft IV, who served as deputy secretary of defense in the Reagan administration and as the State Department's chief lawyer under President George W. Bush.

But if Mr. Obama wants operations against the Syrian regime "to go on for a long time, he'd better get support and he'd better explain what he thinks we're doing," Mr. Taft said.

The Obama administration takes a similar view.

In justifying the 2011 air operations in Libya, the Justice Department argued that Congress itself had "implicitly recognized" a long tradition of executive primacy in military operations, at least for deployments of short duration.

More at that top link.

PREVIOUSLY: "Secretary of State John Kerry Statement on Syria."

Secretary of State John Kerry Statement on Syria

At the Los Angeles, "John Kerry says Syria chemical attack killed at least 1,429 people":

WASHINGTON -- Unveiling a U.S. intelligence report on Syria’s use of chemical weapons, Secretary of State John F. Kerry said Friday the evidence shows President Bashar Assad’s government killed at least 1,429 of its own citizens in a “crime against humanity” that demands an international response.

Kerry, trying to overcome doubts about the Obama's administration’s anticipated military strike on Syria, said the intelligence community has documented with “high confidence,” from “thousands of sources,” that Syrian forces prepared for days to attack entrenched rebel forces and then, on Aug. 21, fired gas-filled shells that killed at least 426 children, as well as adults.

“This is evidence,” Kerry said in an appearance at the State Department. “These are facts. The primary question is what are we ... going to do about it?”
Kerry’s statement came at a time when the British government has pulled back its earlier support for any U.S.-led retaliatory strike, and some other governments and U.S. lawmakers are demanding more time to consider whether the evidence justifies an attack on Assad. But while some American and foreign officials have concluded that the evidence is not airtight, Kerry insisted that it is.

He said the intelligence community has evidence of the Syrian army’s careful preparations for the attack, including the way it ordered soldiers to put on gas masks.

Evidence also shows that the rockets were fired only from government-controlled areas, and only struck rebel-held zones, Kerry said. Also discovered was a record of a senior Syrian official confirming that the government used chemical weapons, he said.

Kerry added that the Obama administration has other evidence it can’t reveal to the public or lawmakers because it would put at risk intelligence “sources and methods.”

U.S. officials have signaled that a retaliatory cruise-missile attack on Syria could begin as early as Saturday night.

Also, at the Washington Post, "FULL TRANSCRIPT: Secretary of State John Kerry's remarks on Syria on Aug. 30." (Via Memeorandum.)