The curious decision of Obama’s to engage in a sudden flurry of foreign adventurism has not been entirely lost in the Beltway, with at least one Congressman suggesting that the interest in the internal problems of Syria may be a strategy of distraction. Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC) noted the use of chemical weapons several months ago and asked about the response, “Was it delayed to divert attention today from the Benghazi, IRS and NSA scandals, the failure of Obamacare enforcement, the tragedy of the White House drafted sequestration or the upcoming debt-limit vote? Again, why was there no call for military response four months ago when the President’s red line was crossed?”
In addition, Congressman Jeff Duncan (R-SC) noted, “The administration has a serious credibility issue with the American people” and went on to list similarly the scandals of Benghazi, widespread IRS snooping, Fast and Furious gun running and the NSA spying programs. He also asked Secretary of State Kerry whether the Benghazi attack was connected with arms being sent to Syria. Inquiring minds still want to know.
This fall’s Congress was shaping up to be a messy one, headed up by the debt-limit confrontation, but Obama’s Syrian monkey wrench helps to kick the can down the road, or as Reuters headlined: Syria vote complicates U.S. fiscal debate; stop-gap more likely.
Plus, the effort of Republicans to defund Obamacare has been gaining steam, with Rush Limbaugh listeners crashing the dontfundit.com website last Wednesday after a radio appearance by Senator Ted Cruz. (We wouldn’t expect R-leaders like Boehner or Cantor to be doing anything as useful.)
Below, Syrian “rebels” are the good guys — or so we are told. (Will they be future refugees?)
Obama portrays himself as being shocked at the chemical weapons attack, calling it “an assault on human dignity.” But his messing up the fall legislative calendar is too convenient for the White House to be ignored.
The Syria commotion may have the benefit for America of pushing immigration amnesty off the schedule, which wouldn’t be a bad thing for Obama either because he could blame the Republicans for not squeezing it in somehow some way. Keeping amnesty as a carrot-on-a-stick issue for hispanics is almost as desirable as 40+ million future Democrats in the hopper.
