Motley Moose – Archive

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  Make sure you let your peeps

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Ordinarily, my advice for progressives is to not react to every outrageous thing that Republicans say because, really, there is too much of it and we Democrats have better things to do (eg, laser-like focus on 2014). You may have also noticed that right-wing pundits are increasingly writing for each other (sentient human beings having pretty much tuned them out) so there is both little new and little of value.

But every once in a while, I read something that is so flabbergastingly outré that it rises above “someone is wrong on the Internet” to “what the HECK is wrong with that person???”.

From the White House – President Obama’s Decision on Syria

Transcript:

Statement by the President on Syria

Rose Garden

1:52 P.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT:  Good afternoon, everybody.  Ten days ago, the world watched in horror as men, women and children were massacred in Syria in the worst chemical weapons attack of the 21st century.  Yesterday the United States presented a powerful case that the Syrian government was responsible for this attack on its own people.

Our intelligence shows the Assad regime and its forces preparing to use chemical weapons, launching rockets in the highly populated suburbs of Damascus, and acknowledging that a chemical weapons attack took place.  And all of this corroborates what the world can plainly see — hospitals overflowing with victims; terrible images of the dead.  All told, well over 1,000 people were murdered.  Several hundred of them were children — young girls and boys gassed to death by their own government.

This attack is an assault on human dignity.  It also presents a serious danger to our national security.  It risks making a mockery of the global prohibition on the use of chemical weapons.  It endangers our friends and our partners along Syria’s borders, including Israel, Jordan, Turkey, Lebanon and Iraq.  It could lead to escalating use of chemical weapons, or their proliferation to terrorist groups who would do our people harm.

In a world with many dangers, this menace must be confronted.

Now, after careful deliberation, I have decided that the United States should take military action against Syrian regime targets.  This would not be an open-ended intervention.  We would not put boots on the ground.  Instead, our action would be designed to be limited in duration and scope.  But I’m confident we can hold the Assad regime accountable for their use of chemical weapons, deter this kind of behavior, and degrade their capacity to carry it out.

Our military has positioned assets in the region.  The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs has informed me that we are prepared to strike whenever we choose.  Moreover, the Chairman has indicated to me that our capacity to execute this mission is not time-sensitive; it will be effective tomorrow, or next week, or one month from now.  And I’m prepared to give that order.

But having made my decision as Commander-in-Chief based on what I am convinced is our national security interests, I’m also mindful that I’m the President of the world’s oldest constitutional democracy.  I’ve long believed that our power is rooted not just in our military might, but in our example as a government of the people, by the people, and for the people.  And that’s why I’ve made a second decision:  I will seek authorization for the use of force from the American people’s representatives in Congress.

Over the last several days, we’ve heard from members of Congress who want their voices to be heard.  I absolutely agree. So this morning, I spoke with all four congressional leaders, and they’ve agreed to schedule a debate and then a vote as soon as Congress comes back into session.

In the coming days, my administration stands ready to provide every member with the information they need to understand what happened in Syria and why it has such profound implications for America’s national security.  And all of us should be accountable as we move forward, and that can only be accomplished with a vote.

I’m confident in the case our government has made without waiting for U.N. inspectors.  I’m comfortable going forward without the approval of a United Nations Security Council that, so far, has been completely paralyzed and unwilling to hold Assad accountable.  As a consequence, many people have advised against taking this decision to Congress, and undoubtedly, they were impacted by what we saw happen in the United Kingdom this week when the Parliament of our closest ally failed to pass a resolution with a similar goal, even as the Prime Minister supported taking action.

Yet, while I believe I have the authority to carry out this military action without specific congressional authorization, I know that the country will be stronger if we take this course, and our actions will be even more effective.  We should have this debate, because the issues are too big for business as usual.  And this morning, John Boehner, Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi and Mitch McConnell agreed that this is the right thing to do for our democracy.

A country faces few decisions as grave as using military force, even when that force is limited.  I respect the views of those who call for caution, particularly as our country emerges from a time of war that I was elected in part to end.  But if we really do want to turn away from taking appropriate action in the face of such an unspeakable outrage, then we must acknowledge the costs of doing nothing.

Here’s my question for every member of Congress and every member of the global community:  What message will we send if a dictator can gas hundreds of children to death in plain sight and pay no price?  What’s the purpose of the international system that we’ve built if a prohibition on the use of chemical weapons that has been agreed to by the governments of 98 percent of the world’s people and approved overwhelmingly by the Congress of the United States is not enforced?

Make no mistake — this has implications beyond chemical warfare.  If we won’t enforce accountability in the face of this heinous act, what does it say about our resolve to stand up to others who flout fundamental international rules?  To governments who would choose to build nuclear arms?  To terrorist who would spread biological weapons?  To armies who carry out genocide?

We cannot raise our children in a world where we will not follow through on the things we say, the accords we sign, the values that define us.

So just as I will take this case to Congress, I will also deliver this message to the world.  While the U.N. investigation has some time to report on its findings, we will insist that an atrocity committed with chemical weapons is not simply investigated, it must be confronted.

I don’t expect every nation to agree with the decision we have made.  Privately we’ve heard many expressions of support from our friends.  But I will ask those who care about the writ of the international community to stand publicly behind our action.

And finally, let me say this to the American people:  I know well that we are weary of war.  We’ve ended one war in Iraq.  We’re ending another in Afghanistan.  And the American people have the good sense to know we cannot resolve the underlying conflict in Syria with our military.  In that part of the world, there are ancient sectarian differences, and the hopes of the Arab Spring have unleashed forces of change that are going to take many years to resolve.  And that’s why we’re not contemplating putting our troops in the middle of someone else’s war.

Instead, we’ll continue to support the Syrian people through our pressure on the Assad regime, our commitment to the opposition, our care for the displaced, and our pursuit of a political resolution that achieves a government that respects the dignity of its people.

But we are the United States of America, and we cannot and must not turn a blind eye to what happened in Damascus.  Out of the ashes of world war, we built an international order and enforced the rules that gave it meaning.  And we did so because we believe that the rights of individuals to live in peace and dignity depends on the responsibilities of nations.  We aren’t perfect, but this nation more than any other has been willing to meet those responsibilities.

So to all members of Congress of both parties, I ask you to take this vote for our national security.  I am looking forward to the debate.  And in doing so, I ask you, members of Congress, to consider that some things are more important than partisan differences or the politics of the moment.

Ultimately, this is not about who occupies this office at any given time; it’s about who we are as a country.  I believe that the people’s representatives must be invested in what America does abroad, and now is the time to show the world that America keeps our commitments.  We do what we say.  And we lead with the belief that right makes might — not the other way around.

We all know there are no easy options.  But I wasn’t elected to avoid hard decisions.  And neither were the members of the House and the Senate.  I’ve told you what I believe, that our security and our values demand that we cannot turn away from the massacre of countless civilians with chemical weapons.  And our democracy is stronger when the President and the people’s representatives stand together.

I’m ready to act in the face of this outrage.  Today I’m asking Congress to send a message to the world that we are ready to move forward together as one nation.

Thanks very much.

                       END                2:02 P.M. EDT

(Bolding added)

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From the White House – Weekly Address

President Obama discusses Labor Day and reflects on the contributions of the working men and women in our country.

  Make sure you let your peeps

  know where to find you!  

How We Got Here: A Timeline Of The Syria Chemical Weapons Saga

While the White House insists in public that no decisions have yet been made, it seems increasingly likely that the U.S. will join in with several of its allies in launching limited punitive strikes against Syria for the use of chemical weapons against civilians. While the wisdom of setting so clear a trigger for action has been questioned since Obama first set chemical weapons use as a so-called “red-line,” the international norm against their use has been growing since the horrors of mustard gas were first observed in World War I.

Read More: From NPR: Striking Syria Still Seems A Question Of When, Not Whether

Read More: British Parliament Closes Door On Syria Intervention

Read More: White House Briefs Congressional Leaders On Syria

Read More: Wesley Clark: Syria vs. Kosovo

Merrill Lynch Set To Pay Largest Racial Discrimination Settlement Ever

Eight years after a group of black financial advisers filed a lawsuit alleging their bosses systematically steered the most profitable business to white employees, Merrill Lynch is preparing to pay the largest racial discrimination settlement ever. […]

Merrill’s specific history aside, the financial world as a whole is an inhospitable place for women and minorities. Both groups remain hugely underrepresented in management positions within the industry, with minorities holding just one in ten management positions. The 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform law included new requirements for both racial and gender diversity at private financial firms and government regulatory offices.

President To Issue New Executive Orders On Guns

The White House says President Obama will issue two new executive orders on guns – one to curb the import of military surplus weapons and another that closes a loophole allowing some felons to get around background checks.[…]

According to the statement, “felons, domestic abusers, and others prohibited from having guns” can skirt background checks by registering the weapon as a trust or corporation.

“The proposed rule requires individuals associated with trusts or corporations that acquire these types of weapons to undergo background checks, just as these individuals would if the weapons were registered to them individually,” the statement says.

Read More: Biden Hints At 2014 Push To Elect Gun Control Advocates To Congress

Read More: Why It’s Easier To Buy An Assault Weapon Than To Vote, In One Graphic

Republicans in the news …

Maine Town Official Visited By Secret Service For Racially Charged Obama Post

David Marsters, a retired Massachusetts police officer and a candidate for selectman in Sabattus, Maine, posted a photo of Obama along with a link to a story about a Republican push to impeach the president at 8:17 p.m. Friday, writing “Shoot the N***er” above it, according to the newspaper.

He said he told the Secret Service agents who questioned him that he didn’t intend to threaten the president.

Marsters told the Press Herald in a telephone interview that his post was taken out of context.

How The Uber-Conservative John Cornyn Ticked Off The Tea Party

On paper, the Republican minority whip is an unusual target for Tea Party guns. Cornyn has been one of the most conservative members of the Senate since he was first elected to the chamber in 2002. National Journal ranks Cornyn the second most conservative member of the Senate. He has an “A” rating from the National Rifle Association, has won multiple awards from the anti-tax group Americans for Tax Reform, has a 0 percent rating from the pro-choice NARAL and a 100 percent rating from the National Right To Life Committee.

That’s not good enough for some Tea Partiers now.

Tea Party groups’ ire centers on Cornyn’s decision in late July to remove his signature from a letter by Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) expressing strong support to defund Obamacare in any debt limit or government funding bill. Cornyn was one of a number of senators who had originally signed the letter a few days before he changed his mind and removed his signature.

Heritage’s Fun With ‘Defund Obamacare’ Polling Numbers

The Heritage Foundation, the conservative think tank that has been a leader in the Defund Obamacare movement, appeared to go through a small crisis in the last 24 hours over just what percentage of Americans support their cause.

Wednesday morning, Heritage debuted a poster asking if “you” were a part of the 57 percent of Americans who support defunding Obamacare. That same morning, the Kaiser Family Foundation, one of the most respected health policy think tanks, released a monthly tracking poll that found the exact opposite: 57 percent of Americans opposed defunding the health care reform law.

Facts, Schmacts! We don’t need no stinkin’ facts!!!

More Lousy Poll Numbers For Pennsylvania Gov. Corbett

Only 20 percent said Corbett deserves re-election, down from 25 percent in the May poll. The latest poll showed 69 percent of Pennsylvania voters believe it’s time for a change.

In fact, Corbett is struggling to win support from his own party, with only 38 percent of Pennsylvania Republicans saying he deserves a second term. Only 30 percent of in-state Republicans rate his performance as “excellent” or “good.”

Quick Takes …

OOPS: Senator Who Advocates Arming Teachers Accidentally Shoots Teacher With Rubber Bullet

The experience gave [Arkansas Sen. Jeremy] Hutchinson “some pause” but failed to shake his confidence in the plan.

NFL, Retirees Reach $765M Settlement On Concussions Suits

The NFL and more than 4,500 retired players have reached an agreement calling for the league to contribute $765 million to a fund that will pay “medical and other benefits, as well as compensation” to those who suffered concussions and related injuries during their careers.

Justice Department Won’t Challenge State Marijuana Laws, Major Shift In Law Enforcement Policy

U.S. Government Will Recognize Same-Sex Couples For Tax Purposes

Judge Apologizes For Saying 14-Year-Old Rape Victim Was Just As In Control As Rapist Teacher

Study Finds Obamacare Won’t Hike Workers’ Premiums: ‘The Rate-Shock Concerns Were Overblown’

Poll: McAuliffe Leads Unpopular Cuccinelli By 7

  Make sure you let your peeps

  know where to find you!