(via iOTW) Himes and Blumenthal held a Townhall meeting today at the Darien, Connecticut  Library to discuss with their constituents whether going to Syria is in  Connecticut citizens’ best interest or not.

The room was packed but there was no real discussion that led Blumenthal or  Himes to see things differently, it was more Kabuki theater, with neither ceding  an inch of their steadfast hawkish beliefs. Blumenthal and Himes then informed  the citizenry that the support and opposition for the war was a mixed bag of  opinion, creating the illusion that their opinions are not out of lockstep with  the voters. (more…)

Here’s the White House S.P.I.N….. 

WASHINGTON DC – Secretary of State John Kerry told a closed meeting of House lawmakers that the Russian government is only seeking to help Syria because they believe the U.S. is serious about taking military action, according to multiple sources present.
The comment, which came in a classified briefing of the full House on Monday, mirrors public comments by other Obama administration officials: the threat of a military attack is working to bring the Russians to the negotiating table.
After enduring days of brutal skepticism from lawmakers of both parties, Kerry and other administration officials wasted no time in attempting to link Russia’s proposal to the pressure coming from the White House. Democratic lawmakers agreed.
“This suggestion today by [the Russians] about bring the chemical weapons Assad has under control, I think it’s a direct result of the president saying he’s ready to do whatever is necessary to back up what he’s already said,” Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) said. (link)

The folks who write Saturday Night Live scripts could not have put a finer point on the political hilarity of Monday Sept. 9th any better than what bore out in real life.
First you have Secretary of State, John Kerry, speaking in London ( <- luckily) early in the day, answering a question, and say mockingly: “if Assad gave up his chemical weapons then we would not strike Syria“.

“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 do it and it can’t be done.”

This gaffe was jumped on by the Ruskies who said “OK, we’ll take the WMD, Syria will not be able to use it” therefore problem solved.
What happens next is the stuff of SNL legend (watch video)

(more…)

Obama used to say jobs were the first thing he thought about after waking up,  and the last thing he thought about before tucking in.
If he’s truly worried about jobs, he has a funny way of showing it.

“SWATTING” – Swatting is the tricking of any emergency service (via such as a 9-1-1 dispatcher) into dispatching an emergency response based on the false report of an on-going critical incident.  (link)

LAKE MARY, Fla – Lake Mary Police are now questioning the validity of several  statements Shellie Zimmerman made when she told 911 dispatchers her estranged  husband, George Zimmerman, threatened her and her father at gunpoint Monday  afternoon.
“We did not find a gun, did not locate a weapon,” said Zach Hudson, public  information officer with the Lake Mary Police Department.  “Nobody ever saw  a gun. A gun is not part of this story.” (more…)

George Zimmerman attorney and new CNN contributor Mark O’Mara joined Anderson Cooper Monday night to react to Zimmerman getting into an altercation with his estranged wife and her father. Shellie Zimmerman called the police, saying her husband threatened them with a gun, but she ultimately did not file charges. O’Mara admitted there’s been some tension given Zimmerman’s divorce, telling Cooper they’re still “suffering” from being in the media spotlight. (more…)

All day long the pundits and talking heads on all the major networks have been talking about this unprecedented media push by President Obama. Almost all of them proclaiming amazement about President Obama talking to “Six” count them, S.I.X, TV broadcasters.
Well, it’s not quite what the White House would have you believe…..

I think the media got out foxed by the White House — each gets 7 minutes? That is really nuts. You can’t get information about an important issue like war in 7 minutes. If the President gives a long answer to the first question, you are cooked…time is up!
What the media should have done is asked to have the time combined – 42 minutes – and then pick out of a hat who did the interview from this group of 6 and let ALL NETWORKS use the interview like a pool interview. (Via Gretawire)

“He’s continually threatening all of us with his firearm … Keeps saying ‘step closer and he’s going to shoot us’ …”

UPDATE: Filtering through all the media reports this is what appears. George and Shellie were both living at a rental home owned by her parents. They are in the process of getting divorced, and subsequently are moving out of that residence. According to Mark O’Mara’s brief statement to media, Shellie Zimmerman was supposed to pick up her stuff last Saturday and George today. Shellie showed up unexpectedly. George was not alone. Another woman, and a friend, was with George. (more…)

This is how CNN *reports* The Zimmerman Incident:

Remember as you evaluate: (more…)

UPDATE(s) – As predicted earlier today: Harry Reid has cancelled Senate vote authorizing President Obama to take military action.   AND President Obama backs off Red Line and says he’s open to “diplomatic tack”.
The reasons WHY are evidenced as they were previously outlined below:

After 10 straight days of pressure from President Obama’s team, the request for congressional authorization is failing miserably.    All intellectually honest DC operatives, pundits et al, are all in agreement any vote in House of Representatives would fail horridly, and passage in the Senate is doubtful at best.
President Obama will not allow a vote call upon either chamber that he knows would fail.  [Unless, of course, the vote failure was to his benefit – that’s not the case on this Syrian authorization].  Harry Reid will not call a vote in the Senate which would embarrass or humiliate President Obama.
That said, now the issue becomes how to get President Obama out from his self inflicted plunge under his own bus.   This phrase, which will eventually come from the mouth of Obama, is what all political efforts are working toward:

“I was never for militarily attacking Syria, I always wanted a peaceful solution”.

Obama needs to position himself as being reluctantly dragged toward conflict now.  He needs to make the case that *HE* did not want to attack Syria, the global demands of humanity were forcing him to threaten Assad.
President Obama needs a soft landing to save face – to find a soft landing you need to receive a ‘soft message’ from your adversary.   Russia knows this.
Russia and Syria know there is no popular support for Obama.  Russia knows from decades of experience inside the U.S. exactly what the internal public opinion does to any administration;  and most importantly Russia knows what is described above as to what POTUS protectors are doing to safety net President Obama.   Hence….   (more…)