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OPINION

Stop Everything, and Get the Syrian Facts

The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Townhall.com.
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Regarding his recent address to the nation in which he discussed the current situation involving Syria, the president gave a speech that was pretty much expected.  In essence, Russian President Vladimir Putin had already “checked” Obama with a brilliant move.  Putin effectively beat Obama to the punch by carefully listening to the offhanded remarks of Secretary of State John Kerry — and then Putin took Kerry’s remarks at face value.  Kerry made these impromptu comments when he was asked by a reporter if there was anything that Syrian President al-Assad could do in order to stop a military strike, “Sure, he could turn over every single bit of his chemical weapons to the international community in the next week — turn it over, all of it without delay and allow the full and total accounting (of it), but he isn’t about to and it can’t be done.”  Kerry also went on to say that any U.S. military action against Syria would be “unbelievably small.”  Yet, in his speech, Obama flatly stated, “The United States military doesn’t do pinpricks.”  Needless to say, all of this idle chatter has certainly captured the world’s attention. 

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However, what was most interesting to me, since my friend Larry had already predicted Obama’s speech verbatim, was early on in the address when Obama said, “Our democracy is stronger when the president acts with the support of Congress.”  Amazingly, this statement was spoken by a man, who from the outset of his presidency, has continually tried — and has been successful — at circumventing the Constitutional process. 

Just consider that instead of utilizing various government officials with the approval of Congress, Obama has followed in the tradition of every president since FDR, and has chosen numerous “czars,” namely political appointments not confirmed by the Senate.  The presidential list of historical “czar appointments” is quite interesting.  Jimmy Carter had two “czars,” Lyndon Johnson had one, Dwight Eisenhower had zero, Ronald Reagan had one, George Bush had zero, and Bill Clinton appointed seven “czars.”  However, expanding upon FDR’s seventeen “czars,” both George W. Bush and Barack Obama took “czardom” to new heights with twenty-eight “czars” and thirty-three “czars,” respectively.  Over the last decade, perhaps the expansion of “czars” is due to George W. Bush and Barack Obama being advised — overtly — by many of the same people.  Thus, it would lead back to both the Bush and Obama administrations’ desire to be like an old Timex wristwatch, “It takes a licking and keeps on ticking.”  Indeed, from Iraq to Afghanistan and from Libya to Syria, it seems that the “think-tanks” of George W. Bush and Barack Obama could not get enough of war.

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Yet, the implementation of “czars” isn’t the only example of a tricky maneuver to be utilized by the Obama administration.  For instance, how can we ever forget the infamous words uttered by then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi as she spoke about Obamacare, “We have to pass the bill so that you can find out what’s in it.”  Undoubtedly, Pelosi’s notorious statement certainly symbolizes Obama’s total disdain for Congress.  Apparently, Obama believes that Congress is only there for show — and to give standing ovations at major presidential speeches. 

The history books are filled with presidential end runs, and most recently, Barack Obama has taken it to a whole new level.  Nevertheless, regarding the current Syrian situation, it’s quite ironic that it took a Russian president to do what a U.S. Congress should have demanded to be done beforehand. 

Specifically, stop everything and get the facts. 



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