Syria

On Monday's NBC Today, co-host Matt Lauer and chief White House correspondent Chuck Todd engaged in a strategy session over how President Obama could minimize any political damage from Congress voting down a strike on Syria. Lauer fretted: "Is there an escape hatch for the President? Is there a way for him to save face politically if this vote goes against him?" [Listen to the audio or watch…

When George W. Bush was president, Hollywood stars turned anti-war activists such as Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins were all over the airwaves touting peace. As America apparently heads to war with Syria under a liberal Commander-in-Chief, such folk are mysteriously silent.

No website outdoes the Politico when it comes to looking at the world through Beltway-stereotyping glasses. A post this morning on Republican congressmen and senators' views towards attacking Syria exemplifies that outlook. Apparently, in the fevered minds of Alex Isenstadt and James Hohmann, a GOP lawmaker learning about any idea to intervene militarily automatically salivates at the…

Poor Barack Obama can't catch a break. If the world would just stop and pay attention to him for a while, things would be so much better for and so much easier on Dear Leader. That's the takeaway from a pathetic piece ("President Obama’s toughest Syria hurdle: The calendar") by Reid Epstein at Politico. It's as if no other president has had to compete with Monday night football, primetime TV…

Friday in Russia, President Obama let slip that putting Congress on the hook, or in a political bind, was part of his calculus in asking for their approval for an attack on Syria, but twice on Sunday morning ABC’s George Stephanopoulos misquoted Obama’s admission. Obama maintained: “I did not put this before Congress, you know, just as a political ploy or as symbolism.” Yet on Sunday’s Good…

Polls show the American public overwhelmingly opposed to war in Syria. Despite this, CBS Face the Nation host Bob Schieffer on Sunday formally announced his support for the President's planned attack (video follows with transcript and commentary):

NBC chief White House correspondent Chuck Todd on Sunday said there are more Democrats coming to a "rational and principled" decision in opposing an attack on Syria compared to Republicans who in his view are just as likely to be basing their opinion strictly on politics. Such was said on NBC's Meet the Press (video follows with transcript and commentary):

Congressman Peter King (R-N.Y.) said on NBC’s Meet the Press Sunday, “I wish [President Obama] was more of a Commander-in-Chief than a community organizer.” This seemed to shock host David Gregory who shot back, “Why do you say that? I mean, that's like a campaign line. What does that mean?” (video follows with transcript and commentary):

On Friday, as seen in Google News search results showing posts and feeds at other web sites, a report at the New York Times by Peter Baker and Steven Lee Meyers had the following headline "Obama Fails in Bid for Wide Backing for Syria Attack." On Twitter, self-described "conservative academic" Will Antonin wondered (HT Twitchy), "How long until this NYT headline is changed?" The answer: Not…

It seems even Barack Obama doesn't want to be seen on MSNBC. The Washington Post reported moments ago that the President of the United States, ahead of his address to the nation about Syria Tuesday, will give interviews to the evening newscasts of ABC, CBS, CNN, FNC, NBC and PBS Monday.

The panic amongst Obama-loving media members over the possibility that Congress won’t support the President’s planned attack on Syria is becoming palpable. On PBS’s Inside Washington Friday, the Washington Post’s Colby King said, “A defeat of this magnitude would diminish his presidency” (video follows with transcript and commentary):

In Part 1 of this pair of posts on the press whitewash of President Barack Obama's "red line" on the use of chemical weapons in Syria, I looked at the Washington Post's Glenn Kessler, who excused President Barack Obama's contradictory "red line" remarks as "offhand" statements" which shouldn't count for much compared to official statements and press releases by diplomats and the White House. (…

As expected, the establishment press's excuse-makers have come out to defend the indefensible, claiming that President Barack Obama's Wednesday assertion in Stockholm that "I did not set a red line" with Syria and chemical weapons doesn't contradict his oft-quoted August 2012 "red line" statement. I didn't think that the Washington Post's Glenn Kessler to be among those trying to explain it…

Not everyone in Hollywood is afraid to speak out against the President's planned attack on Syria. On Saturday morning, Rapper Azealia Banks took to Twitter and unleashed a string of anti-war tweets including "If Obama invades Syria, America will never have another black president":