Syria

In a bizarre writeup which alternates between harsh criticism and a pity party about President Barack Obama's "toughness" or lack thereof in the wake of the withdrawal of Larry Summers from consideration as the next head of the Federal Reserve, Politico's Jonathan Allen unleashed a ridiculous assertion about the history of the administration's Syrian adventure: "In another debate that never…

Bob Schieffer interviewed Senators Bob Corker (R-Tn.) and Carl Levin (D-Mich.) about recent goings-on in Syria on Sunday's Face the Nation. For some reason, only Levin was asked to grade the President on how he's handled this foreign policy matter (video follows with transcript and commentary):

The award for this week's best line concerning the American-Russian agreement regarding Syria goes to Washington Post columnist and former George W. Bush speechwriter Michael Gerson. Appearing on CBS's Face the Nation, Gerson marvelously observed, "Assad used chemical weapons and improved his job security."

This is just way too delicious! A petition has been created at the White House website to force President Obama to give the Nobel Peace Prize he was awarded in 2009 to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

CNN’s Candy Crowley did her best Hillary Clinton Sunday. During a State of the Union discussion about the American-Russian agreement concerning Syria, Crowley asked a skeptical Congressman Mike Rogers (R-Mich.), "Who cares" that "Russia got the diplomatic edge?" (video follows with transcript and commentary):

Syndicated columnist Pat Buchanan had a rather shocking observation about Russian President Vladimir Putin’s comments about American exceptionalism in his New York Times op-ed last week. Appearing on PBS’s McLaughlin Group Friday, Buchanan said, “He’s not only appealing to the people of the world. He’s appealing to that half of the United States to whom Barack Obama himself was appealing.”

The media are predictably giddy about an agreement being reached in Geneva between the United States and Russia concerning Syria. Former Clinton Defense Secretary William Cohen was not very optimistic Friday telling CNN’s Anderson Cooper that he felt it was “highly unlikely” Bashar al-Assad would dismantle his chemical weapons.

On Inside Washington Friday, PBS’s Mark Shields and NPR’s Nina Totenberg predictably echoed the Administration’s claims that its threats of force in Syria led Russian President Vladimir Putin to broker a chemical weapons deal. Fortunately for viewers, syndicated columnist Charles Krauthammer was present to scold his fellow panelists for “spinning from the White House” (video follows with…

Bill Maher came back from his summer vacation predictably attacking conservatives while defending Barack Obama. During his New Rules segment, the HBO Real Time host said with pictures of Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on screen, “Scientists must study the correlation between not having a chin and being an a—hole” (video follows with commentary):

In the era of "warmonger" Republicans in the White House, the Toronto International Film Festival would have been fertile ground for bold, outspoken "dissent" from actors against war in the Middle East. Now with Obama on the brink of missile attacks in Syria, you would expect the same agitation, but this time coupled with a dash of betrayal. Instead, the Hollywood Reporter found nothing there…

Americans unsure what to think about President Obama's plans for Syria should remember that all military action undertaken by Democrats for the last half-century has led to utter disaster. (With the possible exception of the Village People's "Y.M.C.A." video, which I say still holds up.) Democrats are gung-ho about deploying the U.S. military provided only that it will harm the national…

ABC on Friday morning again tried to prop up Barack Obama's handling of Syria, hyping "encouraging news" and "signs of hope." Reporter Martha Raddatz touted White House spin on Russia's involvement in plans to secure chemical weapons, asserting, "Secretary Kerry saying the dialogue thus far has been constructive. What a difference a few days and a threat of force makes." [See video below. MP3…

At the start of an interview with Senator Bob Corker on Thursday's MSNBC Daily Rundown, host Chuck Todd demanded the Tennessee Republican justify criticism of President Obama's poor handling of Syria: "You've been very tough on the President, you said he's a diminished figure on Capitol Hill. And you even questioned whether he knew how to speak as a commander-in-chief. Explain yourself on that…

Syndicated columnist Charles Krauthammer had some harsh words for Barack Obama Thursday as well as for Russian President Vladimir Putin’s op-ed in the New York Times. Appearing on Fox News’s Special Report, Krauthammer said, “These are the fruits of a completely incompetent, epically incompetent foreign policy diplomacy by Obama.”