Obama's Syria Media Blitz

First, we have this:

The footage could be vital in the administration's quest to convince Congress and the American public that the U.S. must launch punitive strikes against Syria, former U.N. Ambassador Bill Richardson said.

"That video will sensitize the American people that this isn't just an intervention, that this is a military strike to stop that type of atrocity," the former congressman told CNN.

Not to sound callous, but there've been something on the order of 100,000 deaths in Syria's current conflict. Certainly there are some women and kids included in that number, and even though they were killed by bullets, rockets and the like, they aren't any less dead than the ones in the video.

You could show video of a kid bleeding out from a bullet wound and it'd tug the heartstrings like a Sally Struthers infomercial, too. Yet to this day no one is arguing that the mere fact of war in Syria warrants our involvement.

The administration's argument reminds me a lot of this scene from Idiocracy:

Pvt. Joe Bowers: What *are* these electrolytes? Do you even know?

Secretary of State: They're... what they use to make Brawndo!

Pvt. Joe Bowers: But *why* do they use them to make Brawndo?

Secretary of Defense: [raises hand after a pause] Because Brawndo's got electrolytes.

Everyone: Why do we need to intervene in Syria?

Obama: Chemical weapons are a "red line".

Everyone: Why are chemical weapons a "red line"?

Kerry: Because they're the things that cause us to intervene.

And then there's this aspect of it ...

Ummm ... yeah. Spare me.

So Obama plans to follow the leaked video footage up with this:

I saw some criticism of the fact that the interviews are being taped rather than broadcast live, but, honestly, I want them to get as many takes as they need to make sure he sticks to the script. Straying from TOTUS is what got us into this mess to begin with.

And if that isn't enough for you ...

For a guy who's supposedly such a great orator, he seems to have a hard time convincing people to get behind his ideas. Of course, it isn't that the ideas suck, it's that the people who oppose them are all racists.

Or something.

Related: VDH - If It Wasn’t Syria, It Would Have Been Something Else

posted by Andy at 08:10 PM

| Access Comments