What You Missed Today 8.31.13

The pursuit of Constitutionally grounded governance, freedom and individual liberty

"There is but one straight course, and that is to seek truth and pursue it steadily." --George Washington

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A SYRIAS MISTAKE: 25 QUOTES About The Coming War with Syria Every American Should See

In the coming war with Syria that every American should see…

1. Barack Obama, during an interview with Charlie Savage on December 20, 2007: “The President does not have power under the Constitution to unilaterally authorize a military attack in a situation that does not involve stopping an actual or imminent threat to the nation.”

2. Joe Biden, during a television interview in 2007: “The president has no constitutional authority … to take this nation to war … unless we’re attacked or unless there is proof we are about to be attacked. And if he does, if he does, I would move to impeach him.”

3. U.S. Representative Ted Poe: “Mr. President, you must call Congress back from recess immediately to take a vote on a military strike on Syria. Assad may have crossed a red line but that does not give you the authority to redline the Constitution.”

4. U.S. Representative Kurt Schrader: “I see no convincing evidence that this is an imminent threat to the United States of America.”

5. U.S. Representative Barbara Lee: “While we understand that as commander-in-chief you have a constitutional obligation to protect our national interests from direct attack, Congress has the constitutional obligation and power to approve military force, even if the United States or its direct interests (such as its embassies) have not been attacked or threatened with an attack.”

6. The New York Times: “American officials said Wednesday there was no ‘smoking gun’ that directly links President Bashar al-Assad to the attack, and they tried to lower expectations about the public intelligence presentation.”

7. U.S. Senator Rand Paul: “The war in Syria has no clear national security connection to the United States and victory by either side will not necessarily bring in to power people friendly to the United States.”

8. U.S. Senator Tim Kaine: “I definitely believe there needs to be a vote.”

9. Donald Rumsfeld: “There really hasn’t been any indication from the administration as to what our national interest is with respect to this particular situation.”

10. Robert Fisk: “If Barack Obama decides to attack the Syrian regime, he has ensured – for the very first time in history – that the United States will be on the same side as al-Qa’ida.”

11. Former congressman Dennis Kucinich: “So what, we’re about to become al-Qaeda’s air force now?”

12. Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem: “We have two options: either to surrender, or to defend ourselves with the means at our disposal. The second choice is the best: we will defend ourselves.”

13. A Syrian Army officer: “We have more than 8,000 suicide martyrs within the Syrian army, ready to carry out martyrdom operations at any moment to stop the Americans and the British. I myself am ready to blow myself up against US aircraft carriers to stop them attacking Syria and its people.”

14. Khalaf Muftah, a senior Ba’ath Party official: “We have strategic weapons and we’re capable of responding.”

15. An anonymous senior Hezbollah source: “A large-scale Western strike on Syria will plunge Lebanon virtually and immediately into the inferno of a war with Israel.”

16. Ali Larjiani, the speaker of the Iranian parliament: “…the country which has been destroyed by the terrorists during the past two years will not sustain so much damage as the warmongers will receive in this war.”

17. Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei: “Starting this fire will be like a spark in a large store of gunpowder, with unclear and unspecified outcomes and consequences”

18. General Mohammad Ali Jafari, chief of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards: (an attack on Syria) “means the immediate destruction of Israel.”

19. Israeli President Shimon Peres: “Israel is not and has not been involved in the civil war in Syria, but if they try to hurt us, we will respond with full force.”

20. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: “We are not part of the civil war in Syria, but if we identify any attempt whatsoever to harm us, we will respond and we will respond in strength.”

21. The Jerusalem Post: “The lines between Hezbollah and the Syrian regime are so blurred that Israel will hold Damascus responsible if Hezbollah bombards Israel in the coming days, Israeli officials indicated on Wednesday.”

22. Ron Paul: “The danger of escalation with Russia is very high”

23. Pat Buchanan: “The sole beneficiary of this apparent use of poison gas against civilians in rebel-held territory appears to be the rebels, who have long sought to have us come in and fight their war.”

24. Retired U.S. General James Mattis: “We have no moral obligation to do the impossible and harm our children’s future because we think we just have to do something.”

25. Syrian refugee Um Ahmad: “Isn’t it enough, all the violence and fighting that we already have in the country, now America wants to bomb us, too?” Read more officialteapartyusa.com

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Black Conservatism: Face of Courage in Our Day by Brittany Pounders

Standing up for what you believe in is easy when everyone in your circle of friends stands and agrees with you. Standing up for what you believe in when it’s not only unpopular in your circle of friends and family, but completely vilified by all of your peers? Well, that takes courage…an inordinate amount of courage. The black community has been a dependable and faithful voting block for the Democrat party for years because Democrats have shrouded control under the guise of charity. Instead of preaching empowerment- they preach entitlement. Creating a class of people dependent on government support assures Democrats of votes at each go around. Why? Because nobody ever votes themselves out of entitlements. Not all of them though. In fact, I have a handful of good, strong friends that I have worked closely within the GOP that have never allowed their skin color to dictate their votes. They broke away from their community and in many cases, their families, in the last two elections and did something courageous. They didn’t vote for Obama– declaring publicly that content of character was far more important than the color of his skin. The hateful vitriol that black conservatives have to deal with from those within the left wing party leaves me shocked and sickened and anyone who actually cares to watch can see what happens to people within the black community who break away from the Democratic party. For example: When the Borellis, who are employees of the conservative group FreedomWorks, attempted to pay for booth space at this year’s 104th National NAACP conference in Florida, they were told there was no room for them despite plenty of exhibit space remaining open. The NAACP website states that the mission of the organization is to, “ensure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights of all persons and to eliminate race-based discrimination.” The objectives of the NAACP include ensuring “the political, educational, social, and economic equality of all citizens,” and removing “all barriers of racial discrimination through democratic processes.” Stacy Dash, for example, proved that the Democrat party is the party of “choice” only as long as you make their choice. Tolerance is a one way street with the liberal left. When you make a decision, by tweeting your support for a Republican candidate, you better take cover because it sets off a firestorm of hate in epic proportions. Dash was called “an indoor slave “(quite possibly the nicest insult I read on her), had threats on her life, and was accused of voting for a “white devil.” …

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Obama Refused To Send Gas Masks To Syria

So much for Obama the humanitarian. The Obama administration has refused to send gas masks and other chemical-weapons protection gear to Syrian opposition groups, despite numerous requests dating back more than a year and until the reported chemical-weapons attack that struck the Damascus suburbs August 21. injured in East Ghouta and other Damascus suburbs, the Obama administration is contemplating a strike on the regime of Bashar al-Assad. But Syrian civilians are still trying to cope with the tragedy and treat the wounded, who include scores of children caught sleeping when the gas was dispersed. The attack zone has a fatal shortage of gas masks, chemical-weapons protection gear, and the nerve agent antidote atropine; civilians and activists have been forced to resort to crafting makeshift masks out of everyday household items. More chemical-weapons attacks could come, and there is now an urgent demand in rebel-held areas for gas masks and other gear. But there is also anger and frustration among opposition leaders that despite more than a year of requests to the U.S. government, the Obama administration.

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Rand Paul: If Boehner Passes Amnesty, Will Be ‘Final Thing He Does as Speaker’

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) said on Laura Ingraham’s radio program that House Speaker John Boehner’s speakership is in jeopardy if any form of amnesty, such as the Senate’s immigration reform bill, becomes law. “I’m worried about conference,” Paul said Friday, according to Roll Call. “The only way to avoid a problem with conference is for the speaker of the House to say we are not going to conference, and we will not allow a vote on anything coming out of conference that resembles the Senate bill, and if there were a much more limited bill that emphasizes border security first, that we would do that.” “Conference” refers to a legislative process wherein after the House passes its own immigration bill, it will enter negotiations with Senate leaders and even the White House to reconcile the differences between the two chambers’ bills. Conservative lawmakers fear that in conference, Boehner would allow Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to include a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants in the final law submitted to President Barack Obama.

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A Syrias Mistake That every American Should Read

A SYRIAS MISTAKE: 25 QUOTES About The Coming War with Syria Every American Should See

In the coming war with Syria that every American should see…

1. Barack Obama, during an interview with Charlie Savage on December 20, 2007: “The President does not have power under the Constitution to unilaterally authorize a military attack in a situation that does not involve stopping an actual or imminent threat to the nation.”

2. Joe Biden, during a television interview in 2007: “The president has no constitutional authority … to take this nation to war … unless we’re attacked or unless there is proof we are about to be attacked. And if he does, if he does, I would move to impeach him.”

3. U.S. Representative Ted Poe: “Mr. President, you must call Congress back from recess immediately to take a vote on a military strike on Syria. Assad may have crossed a red line but that does not give you the authority to redline the Constitution.”

4. U.S. Representative Kurt Schrader: “I see no convincing evidence that this is an imminent threat to the United States of America.”

5. U.S. Representative Barbara Lee: “While we understand that as commander-in-chief you have a constitutional obligation to protect our national interests from direct attack, Congress has the constitutional obligation and power to approve military force, even if the United States or its direct interests (such as its embassies) have not been attacked or threatened with an attack.”

6. The New York Times: “American officials said Wednesday there was no ‘smoking gun’ that directly links President Bashar al-Assad to the attack, and they tried to lower expectations about the public intelligence presentation.”

7. U.S. Senator Rand Paul: “The war in Syria has no clear national security connection to the United States and victory by either side will not necessarily bring in to power people friendly to the United States.”

8. U.S. Senator Tim Kaine: “I definitely believe there needs to be a vote.”

9. Donald Rumsfeld: “There really hasn’t been any indication from the administration as to what our national interest is with respect to this particular situation.”

10. Robert Fisk: “If Barack Obama decides to attack the Syrian regime, he has ensured – for the very first time in history – that the United States will be on the same side as al-Qa’ida.”

11. Former congressman Dennis Kucinich: “So what, we’re about to become al-Qaeda’s air force now?”

12. Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem: “We have two options: either to surrender, or to defend ourselves with the means at our disposal. The second choice is the best: we will defend ourselves.”

13. A Syrian Army officer: “We have more than 8,000 suicide martyrs within the Syrian army, ready to carry out martyrdom operations at any moment to stop the Americans and the British. I myself am ready to blow myself up against US aircraft carriers to stop them attacking Syria and its people.”

14. Khalaf Muftah, a senior Ba’ath Party official: “We have strategic weapons and we’re capable of responding.”

15. An anonymous senior Hezbollah source: “A large-scale Western strike on Syria will plunge Lebanon virtually and immediately into the inferno of a war with Israel.”

16. Ali Larjiani, the speaker of the Iranian parliament: “…the country which has been destroyed by the terrorists during the past two years will not sustain so much damage as the warmongers will receive in this war.”

17. Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei: “Starting this fire will be like a spark in a large store of gunpowder, with unclear and unspecified outcomes and consequences”

18. General Mohammad Ali Jafari, chief of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards: (an attack on Syria) “means the immediate destruction of Israel.”

19. Israeli President Shimon Peres: “Israel is not and has not been involved in the civil war in Syria, but if they try to hurt us, we will respond with full force.”

20. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: “We are not part of the civil war in Syria, but if we identify any attempt whatsoever to harm us, we will respond and we will respond in strength.”

21. The Jerusalem Post: “The lines between Hezbollah and the Syrian regime are so blurred that Israel will hold Damascus responsible if Hezbollah bombards Israel in the coming days, Israeli officials indicated on Wednesday.”

22. Ron Paul: “The danger of escalation with Russia is very high”

23. Pat Buchanan: “The sole beneficiary of this apparent use of poison gas against civilians in rebel-held territory appears to be the rebels, who have long sought to have us come in and fight their war.”

24. Retired U.S. General James Mattis: “We have no moral obligation to do the impossible and harm our children’s future because we think we just have to do something.”

25. Syrian refugee Um Ahmad: “Isn’t it enough, all the violence and fighting that we already have in the country, now America wants to bomb us, too?” Read more officialteapartyusa.com

The Right Lane update 8.30.13

The pursuit of Constitutionally grounded governance, freedom and individual liberty

"There is but one straight course, and that is to seek truth and pursue it steadily." --George Washington

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Year Five of Obama's Foreign Policy Ineptitude - The Price of Appeasement and Tolerance in the Middle East By Mark Alexander

"A universal peace ... is in the catalogue of events, which will never exist but in the imaginations of visionary philosophers, or in the breasts of benevolent enthusiasts." --James Madison (1792)

History of the World 101: Tyranny does not leave vacant the void created by appeasement and tolerance:

In 1938, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain addressed his countrymen infamously insisting that signing the Munich Agreement and adopting a policy of appeasement and tolerance toward Adolf Hitler would provide "peace for our time."  Seventy years and some very hard lessons later, candidate Barack Hussein Obama promised another "peace for our time," adopting Chamberlain's foreign policy and insisting he could mollify our radical Islamist foes and "reset" our relationship with Middle Eastern states by resolving the conflict between Western democracy and Islamic fascism. Recall, too, that he did so to great applause from his legions of mesmerized supporters.

Regarding the post-9/11 Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom, and the larger War on Terror, Obama promised, "Let me be as clear as I can be. I intend to end this war. My first day in office I will bring the Joint Chiefs of Staff in and I will give them a new mission and that is to end this war -- responsibly, deliberately, but decisively."  Of course, the only way to end a just war "responsibly, deliberately, but decisively" is through victory.

Obama based his foreign policy expertise with Islamists on little more than a grossly naïve assertion: "I have Muslim members of my family. I have lived in Muslim countries."

At that time, it was abundantly clear to anyone who could think beyond the cadence of Obama's rhetoric that he was a national security neophyte. Little has changed since then. A few months after his first election, Obama departed on his now-infamous Middle East Apology Tour, with the objective of appeasing the world's most dangerous fascist movement since the Third Reich -- Islamists occupying the borderless nation of "Jihadistan" -- one that is singularly devoted to the destruction of Western democracy, and one that seeks the imposition of a worldwide caliphate and Shariah law.

Obama's National Security Adviser, Denis McDonough, insisted that Obama was uniquely qualified to satiate the threat of Islamist regimes, noting, "the president himself experienced Islam on three continents before ... you know, growing up in Indonesia, having a Muslim father -- obviously Muslim Americans are a key part of Illinois and Chicago." Well, "community organizer" to the rescue!

Obama insisted a key part of his policy toward Islamist states was the need to re-educate Americans about the "religion of peace," stating, "I think that in the United States and the West generally, we have to educate ourselves more effectively on Islam. And one of the points I want to make is, is that if you actually took the number of Muslims Americans, we'd be one of the largest Muslim countries in the world."  There are indeed about 2.5 million Muslims in the U.S., but Obama's "largest Muslim countries" calculus neglected the fact that there are 205 million Muslims in Indonesia, 180 million in Pakistan, 175 million in India, 80 million in Egypt, 74 million in Iran, 32 million in Iraq, 30 million in Afghanistan, 25 million in Yemen and 20 million in Syria, and a billion Muslims in other countries around the world.

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42% Favor Candidate Who Opposes All Tax Increases

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Voters are still in agreement that tax cuts and government spending decreases help the economy, and support for a candidate who would oppose all tax increases is at its highest level in over a year.  A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 42% of Likely U.S. Voters would be more likely to vote for a candidate who promised to oppose all tax increases over one who would only raise taxes on the rich. Forty-one percent (41%) would vote for the one who would only raise taxes on the wealthy. Seventeen percent (17%) are undecided.

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Stupid Liberal Bumper Stickers By Mike Adams

I spent last week driving across the country – all the way from Colorado to North Carolina. I started my trip in a liberal city and I ended my trip in a liberal city. Along the way, I saw a lot of stupid liberal bumper stickers. I thought of a lot of responses to those stupid bumper stickers. I also thought it would be a real crime if I didn’t share them with you. Here are my top ten.

1.     This is Not a Medical Instrument. (This bumper sticker had a picture of a coat hanger on it). Thanks. I already knew that a coat hanger isn’t a medical instrument. That’s why a woman shouldn’t insert one into her vagina in order to kill her unborn child. I plan to get a bumper sticker with a gun on it saying “And this isn’t a medical instrument either. Keep it out of your vagina. And stop claiming a right to kill an innocent baby in a clean and sterile environment.” Unfortunately, it would take a bumper wider than the First Lady’s fanny to capture the idea.

2.     How Can You Be Pro Life and Eat Dead Animals? I don’t know. I guess the same way I can drive by a dead squirrel on the highway but would feel compelled to stop if I saw a dead person. Similarly, I guess I can’t equate a dead squirrel with a dead baby. And, yes, I do shoot and eat squirrels. I’m from Mississippi. Don’t judge me. You don’t know what you’re missing.

3.     Stop Global Warming. Ok, let’s do that. While we’re at it, let’s print bumper stickers saying “Stop Continental Drift.” It will remind people that every problem is a human problem with a government solution.

4.     War is not the Answer. Ok. What was the question? I was fondling my new Taurus Judge when I saw that one. And stop honking at me in traffic while I’m busy reloading with a fresh batch of 45 long colts.

5.     Love Wins. I saw that one on I-64 East somewhere in West Virginia. Who cares if she’s your cousin? Or even your little sister. Love wins! And pass the fried squirrel, Jethro!

6.     I like my president like I like my coffee. Strong, Smooth, and Black. Oh, really? When did Michelle Obama get elected president? You can’t be talking about Barack. He’s not strong. In fact, when he turns sideways and sticks out his tongue, he looks like a zipper. He’s not smooth without a TelePrompTer. And saying he’s black is really only a half-truth.

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Incompetent Commander in Chief

Obama Spills Military Strategy for Syria Before Firing a Shot Advertisement Like a boxer announcing he's going to throw an uppercut now, President Obama went on PBS and announced that he plans to fire a limited "shot across the bow" of the Syrian government. "If we are saying in a clear and decisive but very limited way, we send a shot across the bow saying, 'stop doing this,' that can have a positive impact on our national security over the long term," Obama said. "Clear and decisive but very limited" -- let's ponder that a moment. Now, I could imagine a different president -- say, Reagan -- using a "clear, decisive and limited" attack to send an effective message. It would probably involve dropping a really, really big bomb on the presidential palace in the middle of a city -- something just short of a nuke, like one of the infamous "daisy cutters." But I get the impression that's not what Obama means. His history shows not an aversion to violence, but an aversion to violence being attributed to him. Think of Afghanistan, where the rules of engagement were changed to appease Muslim sensibilities at the cost of American lives. And think of Libya, where the U.S. military "supported" other countries in the fighting and employed mercenaries, even though we were key in instigating the conflict that tossed out Moammar Gadhafi. And then there's Syria itself, where Obama has been covertly supplying arms and personnel (mercenaries again) for years to instigate and carry out the proxy "civil" war.

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Boehner to Obama: How Does Syria Plan Comport With 'Exclusive' Constitutional Power of Congress?  By Terence P. Jeffrey

 (CNSNews.com) - House Speaker John Boehner (R.-Ohio) sent a letter to President Barack Obama late Wednesday asking the president to tell the nation how his plans for Syria are “legally justified” and how that legal justification comports with the constitutional authority of Congress to authorize military action.  The letter marked a significant shift in both tone and substance from the statement Boehner had issued on Monday urging the president to “consult with Congress” and “explain” to the American people whatever “course of action he chooses” to take.” “In addition,” Boehner wrote in his Wednesday letter, "it is essential you address on what basis any use of force would be legally justified and how the justification comports with the exclusive authority of congressional authorization under Article 1 of the Constitution.”

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Krauthammer: Is ‘Humiliated’ Obama Being ‘Shamed’ Into War?

Britain’s rejection of taking action against the Syrian regime is a “complete humiliation” for President Barack Obama, syndicated columnist and Fox News commentator Charles Krauthammer said Thursday. Obama has been in consultation with several heads of state, including British Prime Minister David Cameron, about a military strike against Syrian President Bashar Assad, who the government believes to have been behind the chemical weapons attack that killed hundreds near Damascus last week. A United Nations investigation has not made a determination. “It is a complete humiliation for the Obama administration,” Krauthammer said on Fox News. “Forget about the merits of what Obama wants to do which I think it’s a bad idea. But let’s assume it’s a good idea. This involves the elementary conduct of international diplomacy, trying to get some allies aboard so you don’t act unilaterally. “So who’s the main ally in the world who’s been with us in every trench for the last 100 years? The British. And now the British have voted against us,” Krauthammer continued. “The other supposed ally was the French, President Hollande, and now he’s saying we got to wait for the report from the U.N. inspectors which will be early next week.”

He pointed out that Democrats, including Obama, previously ridiculed the Bush administration for supposedly taking unilateral action in Iraq. “So here is Obama and the Democrats who railed against the Bush administration for its supposedly unilateral invasion of Iraq where we had 48 allies for a mission that involved boots on the ground, a real invasion, a real war. And here’s Obama trying to gather an ally or two for a pinprick and he gets nothing.” In his Washington Post column published earlier Thursday, Krauthammer said the Obama administration was being “shamed into action.”

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The Syria Question - Mark Alexander

"[W]e have concluded that the Syrian government in fact carried these [chemical weapons attacks] out," says tough-talking Barack Obama. Yet there is some doubt that Bashar al-Assad himself actually ordered the chemical attacks. U.S. intelligence officials call the evidence "not a slam dunk," while British intelligence concludes that there is "a limited but growing body of intelligence which supports the judgement that the regime was responsible for the attacks." The alternate theory is that a possible rogue commander ordered the attacks. However, the practical effect of whether it was such a rogue official or Assad himself is of little import.

Either way, action against Assad's regime is not a sure thing at the moment, despite Obama's naive and ill-advised "red line" threat, and his current insistence that he can go it alone if need be. In the UK, an ally Obama hoped to "lead from behind," Parliament rejected Prime Minister David Cameron's appeal to follow Obama to war, leaving France as the president's only possible ally. Obama, meanwhile, isn't worrying about Congress -- whatever he does will be on his own there too. Unfortunately, the administration has telegraphed its punches, and an unnamed U.S. official noted that Obama wants a strike against Syria "just muscular enough not to get mocked." Now there's a bold foreign policy. U.S. military action in service of Obama's ego is not in our national interest. The former community organizer and Nobel Peace Prize laureate is trying desperately to look presidential with his proposed "shot across the bow," but the reality is that the deterioration in the Middle East is in large measure thanks to his failed foreign policy, which has given rise to the "Arab Fall." Wasn't this the man who bragged in 2009 that he'd "restored America's standing in the world"?

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Bill Clinton: It’s Harder to Vote than Purchase Assault Weapons by Gary DeMar

When you start hearing intelligent people say stupid things, you know they’ve lost the argument. Bill Clinton is a smart man. He’s a Rhodes Scholar. He’s well read. But he can’t defend liberalism by an appeal to facts. So he does the only thing he can. He makes up stuff. The same tactic is used by today’s racialists. Everything is about race. Criticism of an Obama policy is an attack on him and all blacks because he’s black. People are getting tired of hearing the “it’s all about race” narrative. Even President Obama is not convinced that race is a factor of conservative opposition to his policies. Obama told PBS' Newshour that Republican opposition to his policies isn't about the color of his skin. “It doesn't have to do with race in particular.” Bill Clinton’s latest act of desperation to motivate the liberal base is to claim that voting is more difficult than purchasing an assault weapon.

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Obama vs. House Republicans: “Nuclear War” Written by Gary North

Sometimes, I get excited. What if this plays out? The House of Representatives may decide to let Obama’s immigration reform bill die. The House doesn’t kill it. It just lets it sit. This caught my attention: an article with the catchy title, “Obama’s Immigration Nuclear Option: Stopping Deportations Unilaterally.” When it comes to the idea of a political nuclear war between the President and the House of Representatives, I get all tingly. If that happens, advocates of immigration reform have another idea: They’ll push Obama to press the button on the immigration-reform nuclear option. The option commonly referred to by immigration reformers as “Plan B” would see the president take executive action to prevent undocumented immigrants from being deported — along the lines of the deferred-action program the administration created for “Dreamers” last year. It wouldn’t be a panacea, and it wouldn’t give them citizenship. But such an action could at least spare some from the constant threat of deportation. And perhaps just as important, it could exact major political revenge on Republicans, galvanizing the Hispanic electorate against them and further hurting their image with the fastest-growing segment of voters. By now, you know the phrase “undocumented immigrants” is MediaSpeak for “illegal aliens.” Obama does not have to enforce the deportation law. He can just sort of forget to enforce it. That would be round one of the “nuclear option.” But that might not end it. Spending bills must originate in the House of Representatives, according to the U.S. Constitution. (You remember the Constitution, don’t you? That’s the document that says that Congress must declare all wars.) The House might sort of forget to provide any funding for the laws that President Obama decides to enforce. What would be President Obama’s nuclear response? How could he force the House to provide the funding? He could get out his teleprompter and deliver a speech against the House for not funding the laws of the land. Then Boehner could do a YouTube video on enforcing the laws against illegal aliens. Then Obama could threaten to tell the Secretary of the Treasury to stop cooking the books and admit that the debt ceiling was breached on June 1 — something the President has refused to do. Then the federal government would shut down. That’s why I get all tingly. I don’t think it will come to nuclear war. One side or the other will surrender. Obama and Boehner are both very good at strategic capitulations. It’s President Sequester vs. Congressman TARP. Both of them are willing to eat a mud sandwich or two.

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"The power of the people pervading the proposed system, together with the strong confederation of the states, will form an adequate security against every danger that has been apprehended." –John Dickinson, Letters of Fabius, 1788

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