Jonathan Bernstein is correct that the difficulty Congress is having authorizing force against Syria is a sign of the strength of the two parties rather than a sign of their weaknesses. Specifically, it’s a sign that lawmakers on the Democratic side are afraid of crossing the antiwar sentiments of their party faithful and that, on the Republican side, lawmakers are afraid of crossing the anti-Obama sentiments of their party faithful. Alexander Burns and John Harris are looking at the party leaders and noticing that they aren’t being obeyed. Obama, Reid, and Pelosi, and Boehner and Cantor are trying to lead but many are not following. This is a sign that the parties are so rigidly aligned that they have difficulty moving away from their orthodoxies. That there are not more cross-over votes is an indication of the power of the parties’ branding and not a sign that parties no longer have control.
Some of this depends on how you define a political party. If you define them by their leadership then they might look weak. But if you define them by the influence of their members on their leadership, the parties have never looked stronger.
I also think that the case for using force against Syria has not been convincing both because the evidence of Syrian culpability hasn’t been 100% compelling and because the plan of attack leaves many people scratching their heads. So, one reason the vote is facing problems is simply that there are many grounds for opposing the use of force regardless of where you are on the ideological spectrum.
With the Russians stepping in yesterday, the deck has been reshuffled, and it will take a couple of days for Washington to shake off the old debate and begin to engage the new reality.
Alexander Burns and John Harris are looking at the party leaders and noticing that they aren’t being obeyed. Obama, Reid, and Pelosi, and Boehner and Cantor are trying to lead but many are not following.
Maybe it’s because both parties are not whipping the count. Sure, Pelosi is sending weak-tea letters to House Democrats but, according to news reports, she’s not pushing too hard. The same goes for Orange Julius.
Yes, this is what they call a “conscience” vote, although conscience will have little to do with the results. I’m pretty sure Obama is willing to lose.
Don’t see what the point of this kind of strength is–it doesn’t enable them to implement anything.
The learning strength is coming in the form of new alliances as well; the Joe Manchion Heidi Heidkamp diligence in trying to secure the CW is almost like the good old days where there was success in common ground.
Part of the new reality IMHO is that Russia is going to attempt to drag its feet on UN action until the US Congress votes.
I thought all the thinking people were all pretty much agreed there’s only one party, that of bankers and plutocrats and oil companies…
Not a dime’s worth of difference. LOL.
The Bush year’s proved that’s untrue, but the Obama years have shown that it’s like $5 difference.
If Bush was still president we’d probably be fighting WW 3 by now. That’s well worth my $5.00.
I see such a mix of influence right now. I am going to simplify my answer without nuance to be brief.
The far left and far right have been influenced by Libertarians to believe government can’t be trusted. The right by Fox News, GOP and Koch influence. The left by Glenn Greenwald, Assange.
One thing I have noticed during this presidency is that media in other countries seems to have a clearer idea of the President than ours does.
We had good reason not to trust Bush on Iraq but my view is that other countries see that POTUS does what he says he will do. Putin is a tyrant and is not telling Syria to back down out of the goodness of his heart.
I think Putin sees President Obama as someone who takes military action decisively. In 2008 he said that he would go in another country to get Bin Laden which he did. He said he would have a responsible withdrawal from Iraq and no permanent military bases which he did. There were pirates taken out. Libya – goal stated and completed. POTUS sent warships off the coast of Syria and stated that he had the right to use force without approval of Congress, but that he would consult congress. I certainly believe that President Obama has been engaging Putin in discussing solutions for Syria for some time.
I think the case for using force in Syria hasn’t been convincing for many reasons and one is that the media coverage is contaminated with deliberate misinformation or sloppy journalism. Iraq and Bush loom so heavily it’s impossible to sort out Syria clearly. And confounded with that is a pervasive vocal loss of trust in the government by the right and left. This is what I see makes it more difficult to see the facts and make decisions.
I’m too disgusted with the political parties to even want to comment.
The far left and far right have been influenced by Libertarians to believe government can’t be trusted. The right by Fox News, GOP and Koch influence. The left by Glenn Greenwald, Assange.
So an older man who loses his house because the government is in bed with the banksters is a far-leftist? Is this guy:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/investigative/2013/09/08/left-with-nothing/
a far-leftist?
Calvin, you and I are not even on the same page at all. There is no way you can pull out one example and tell me “government” is the problem. We are the government.
Who benefits if we don’t believe in government: the banksters, the CEO’s, the 400 richest people in the world. Libertarians have backed the Tea Party, the GOP, bought newspapers, have their own TV channel. I can’t even imagine the influence all that money has buying and selling companies and pushing for what they want in ways we can’t even see.
In spite of it all, the “Black Bush” as some on the left call Obama has made impressive progressive gains for the people. I am 65 and on a walker because I fell 15 years ago, no insurance, no money to take care of it and just toughed it out so that it healed. If POTUS did nothing else, ObamaCare is a singular achievement for the people of this country. And he has done much, much more than that.
It’s not government. It’s individuals in the government. If the people in this country didn’t vote in the asshats who made legislation for the rich we would. not. have. this. problem. We just wouldn’t.
Do you want corporations to rule the world? Each state to be a fiefdom? I cannot imagine what kind of nightmare we would end up with if our government is weakened even more to the advantage of the rich. i want to see a robust, healthy active government working for the people. I LOVED the first two years of Obama’s term before the Tea Party was elected. And he’s done a great deal since then, but nothing like he could have.
The hard work is educating people and engaging them in the political process. Organizing the vote at all levels. The difficult work for each person is to believe in themselves and their own strength. Being cynical, depressed and feeling betrayed are easy. It takes a lot of guts to care and keep on working to make things better instead of working to tear down.
I am not pushing back on your beliefs at all. I don’t have any investment in what you believe. I don’t need anyone’s approval and my strength is not limited by anyone else and I see that same freedom for you. I am only replying because you answered my comment.
I wish you well.
I think other countries have gotten the message quite clearly that while Obama isn’t going to be one to let’s say start a war with Iraq he won’t hesitate to use force if he feels he has no other choice and on top of that the use of that force will generally be quite effective. Putin may not like Obama but given he sure seems to respect that Obama isn’t messing around.
I agree and I think there is a personal element too. Putin comes across to me as intelligent and perceptive in a scary kind of way. I’ve also seen pictures of him shirtless riding horseback and he looks like he expresses power physically.
President Obama is very confident and comfortable with his power. I’ve seen pictures of the two of them together where Putin looks at the ground or looks away and looks uncomfortable.
President Obama has made many difficult decisions when there was a lot of resistance but he did what he felt was right. I think that kind of strength comes across from what he does, but also who he is in person and Putin is aware of that.