The confict in the middle east is both more and less complicated than you think . . .

Check this out. Bashar Assad's grandfather has some insights into the conflict between his Alewite culture, and the Arab Muslim objectives in the region. And he said some nice things about the Palestinian Jews. France was in charge at the time, and he was looking for French protection from the Muslims.

How about just assigning fifty push-ups and a penalty patrol . . .

I'm still thinking about this Syrian adventure before us. Well,it wouldn't be an issue except President Obama kinda made it an issue some time ago when he blustered that if poison gas was used, that behavior would cross a red line requiring the U.S. to toss some bombs. So now his story is that he kinda sorta didn't say what it sounded like he was saying. Then he said he didn't need any stinking congressional permission to send "his" military into action, and now he wants congressional approval.

I don't think there's any good guys in the Syrian conflict. That isn't to say that Assad deserves to die. He does. But I don't trust our current political masters to get the job done in a clean, uncomplicated fashion. There is just way too much crocodile tears being conspicuously shed by professional moralizers.

Oh, he gases his own peepul! He must be shown how unacceptably uncivilized that is. He must be punished. Such evil cannot be permitted by us to persist in the world.

Oh, yeah? If we are now in the business of punishing evil heads of state for abuse of their citizens. . . When do we start bombing North Korea?

A different kind of reluctant warrior . . . .

Our president sent our Secretary of State to make the case for punishing somebody in Syria, explosively. A bunch of federal employees were told to stay close to the office over the holiday weekend, because maybe stuff was going to happen where they would be needed. And then, and then . . . Nothing.

President Obama has asked Congress to decide whether or not to act in Syria, despite the fact that he has basically already declared war on Syria. At least that's what the Syrians think. No doubt President Obama is snickering to himself over the clever way he stuck the turd in somebody else's pocket, so when things get bad he'll have somebody else (besides Bush) to take the blame.

So now it is up to Congress to make an executive decision. (And yes, I see what I just did, there.). Two things: Kerry is probably steamed pretty good, after having been a self-righteous, smug dove since 'Nam. And I sure would like to see a landslide Congressional vote of "present."

Who thinks Syria needs to be bombed a little?

I saw people holding up signs opposing our attacking Syria, today.  Not many, maybe four or five standing on a pedestrian overpass.  Betcha this is the beginning of something that's gonna get real interesting, given our Secretary of State's long history of peace demonstration and his current statements calling for military action in Syria.

We must bomb Syria because Syrians are killing one another in unpleasant ways . . .

President Obama is having a tough time getting anybody to support his plan to punish Bashar Assad for using poison gas. He said a year ago that the use of chemical warfare in Syria would cross a red line requiring a military response on his part. Now that poison gas has been used, Obama will look like a roaring doofus if he doesn't at least fire some bombs off at Assad.

The absence of support by anybody, except maybe the Fwench, is mainly because people can't see how attacking Syrians advances or supports any national interests. There are no important objectives, people say, to be gained from an attack on Syria.

But they're wrong. There is an objective.

The objective is for Obama to feel good about himself.

It's just bidness. . . .

You maybe knew that Al Gore had a television network. Maybe you knew that his network didn't attract many viewers, so he wanted to get out from under it. Glenn Beck, an "arch-conservative," was interested in buying the network, but Al Gore refused to sell to him. Beck had wrong political ideals and Gore didn't want to have the subsequent promotion of those ideals on his conscience.

So Al Gore sold his network to Al Jazeera, America.

You can't make this stuff up.

Bengahzi, latest news . . .

Okay, so the State Department has investigated itself and found it was okay on the Benhgahzi matter. And the four State Department minions who were disciplined for their role in the Bengahzi matter have now been reinstated. I guess that means that Mrs. Clinton, the head of the State Department at the time, is cleared to run for President, now.

Oh, look. There is a new puppy at the White House.

How to be happier . . .

Some studies have shown that older people tend to be happier than younger people, and researchers seem to be puzzled by the phenomenon.

It's not so difficult to understand.

I'm 71, so I think I can be counted as among the older. I'm pretty happy. Every day I look and don't see my name in the obituary reports, it makes me happy. Woohoo! Way to go!

The Solheim Cup . . .

I watched bits of the Solheim Cup this weekend. That's where the best of the LPGA play against the best female golfers from Europe. Of course, there's top competitors on the LPGA tour from Asia, but they get left out. It's team Europe against team America. Team America lost. But their outfits were hotter, so they had that going for them. If only their putters had been hotter.

A little hint to the academic left . . .

Just as a symbol is not the same thing as the thing symbolized, socialism is not the same thing as society, and society is not the same thing as the state. Try to catch up.

I am Spartacus . . .

Sarah Hoyt so writes, "I am Spartacus," and maybe we should all be prepared to declare ourselves Spartacus, as well, and soon. Check it.

The special language of the celebrity life-style . . .

All of a sudden, I noticed. Whenever some minor celebrity permits herself to be photographed without clothing or appearance of shame, the accompanying text invariably describes her as "confident."

I guess they have to feel confident, because otherwise they would merely be bare-assed naked, and anybody can do that. In fact, most of us spend considerable effort to avoid being caught bare-assed naked.

Next up. A female celebrity bursting out with a loud, swampy fart of extended duration will be described as "charitable."

Al Qaida is on the run, we were told . . .

Let's see, now. We've shut down a bunch of embassies and consulates, so any Americans in the area who need our government's help will find the doors locked. We've evacuated embassy staff from Lahore.

Who is on the run, exactly?

What's going down here?

I remember as a little kid when out of the country there'd be beggers. My Dad explained that begging was what they had to do to eat, and they'd be happy to get the dime I had to give. But the deal was, you wouldn't see beggers in the States. At least not in the fifties and sixties. Not that there weren't poor people in the U.S.

That's why President Lyndon Johnson declared a "war" on poverty in the middle of the Vietnam war. He said we could afford both "guns and butter."

Now, there's beggers at all major intersections and at interstate rest stops. Without passing judgement on those with their cardboard signs, I mean, WTF?

It's been about fifty years and billions of dollars on government aid of various kinds and evidently we are losing the war on poverty. What's the chances that government "help" is a big part of the problem?

Recent Obamacare detours . . .

Remember when Pelosi said they'd have to pass Obamacare to find out what was in the bill?

Well they passed it, and then they read it.  Now, Congress and its staffers want no part of it, despite a statement in the law that says they have to participate in the plan.

Obama has now exempted Congress from paying for their own medical coverage under Obamacare, so they're cool, now.

Of course, you know who will pay for their share of the insurance, don't you.

What I want to know, is where do us aroused villagers get pitchforks and torches, like we see in the movies.  Or tar and feathers for that matter.  Amazon? 

I think Obamacare is a bad idea, but many don't.  Nevertheless, even if you think Obamacare is great, can you think of anything that would say Congressmen and their staff should be given a pass?

The self appointed cool kids are all way above this sort of patriotic hickery. . .

Many of us remember the iconic photos around 9/11, and one in particular with firefighters in the rubble with a flag.  Well, it was almost not included in the 9/11 Exhibit because the unqualified dimwits in charge thought it to be too over the top patriotic and American.  They thought we should tone down the patriotism thing a little bit, so as to, well, I don't know what.  Misha's reaction is what we call a righteous rant.  Take a look, but put your coffee down first.

The empire strikes out . . .

Ilya Somin has a box score of the government's losing attempts to stifle rights.

In Horne v. Department of Agriculture, a decision issued in June, the justices unanimously rejected the Obama administration's argument that raisin farmers did not have the right to go to court to contest the seizure of hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of raisins. The Fifth Amendment states that the government must pay "just compensation" whenever the government takes private property for "public use." But the administration claimed that farmers could not even raise the takings issue in court without first enduring lengthy delays and paying a $483,000 fine.

Horne was the administration's third unanimous defeat in a property rights case in 18 months. In Sackett v. Environmental Protection Agency, it claimed that a couple had no right to go to court to seek compensation after the EPA blocked construction of their "dream house."

In Arkansas Game & Fish Commission v. United States, it unsuccessfully argued that the Fifth Amendment doesn't require compensation when the federal government repeatedly and deliberately floods property owners' land. Even liberal justices normally skeptical of property rights claims, including one of President Obama's appointees, found these arguments too much to swallow.

The Obama administration has also suffered unanimous defeats in several other important cases.

Last year, the justices rejected the administration's position that the religious freedom guaranteed by the First Amendment does not apply to churches' decisons to hire and fire employees with religious duties, such as teaching theology. Obama appointee Justice Elena Kagan called the administration's position "amazing."

In United States v. Jones, another 2012 case, the justices unanimously rejected the administration's claim that the Fourth Amendment does not restrict the government's authority to attach a GPS tracking device to a car

Degradable bumper stickers . . .

In the last three weeks, as I've rambled through Ohio, West Virginia, Virginia, and North Carolina, I've seen no more than a couple dozen Obama stickers.  They've even been vanishing here in Portland.

I'm sure it must be a matter of  sticker material that degrades, as one can still find a Kerry or Gore sticker 'round here, and true Portland progressives would surely not be scraping their bumpers clean.

Right?

Golf vacation . . .

Golf vacation is over.   Four days in North Carolina - nothing but golf, and food, and smoking and drinking, and calling one another names where parental legitimacy was involved or where the named was favorably compared to an organ of elimination . . . and there were no women present but for the ladies serving coffee at the breakfast buffet.

It was great!

I am now back in the world of women.

Inexplicable increase in I.Q. detected . . .

In the last presidential election, it's been reported, about 55% of women voted for Obama. Now, a recent poll shows less than half of all women approve of Obama.