SEARING SYRIA

Hello again.  I have a few things I want to say, and reviving this blog for the moment is probably the most efficient way of getting them out.

First, it seems the president wants to get us into another war.  You may have thought he knew better.  I did.
But live and learn.  What's really going on is of course not something we'll be told presently.

If we do a hit-and-run on an already devastated Syria, I don't know what we accomplish.  Probably we strengthen our enemies and invite more terrorist attacks on ourselves.  I do know that I never again want to hear an American leader talk about punishing another country or teaching it a lesson or injuring it to send a message to other countries. All of that is bogus, anyway.

Mr. Obama was reportedly alarmed when David Cameron went to his usually compliant Parliament for permission to join the party and got smacked down.  I wish him the same from our Congress.

And what's with Secretary of State John Forbes Kerry?  He isn't even recognizable as the fellow who ran for president.  Who is this stone face with the mean, lifeless little eyes?  And how can he be so shameless as to compare not arbitrarily attacking another country to "Munich"?  He sounds and acts altogether like George W. Bush.

The one benefit of this episode is that we learn where the Democrats who want to be president really stand.
Hillary, Biden, and Elizabeth Warren are for this adventure.  That's all I'd need to know about them.

Other heroes are being very quiet but will have to open up about it sooner or later.

Christopher Scott Murphy doesn't seem like a hero.  He's a 40-year-old United States senator from Connecticut, of Irish and Polish ancestry.  He looks and sounds like everybody.  He's soft-spoken and modest in manner, not a rock star, more likable than charismatic.  Picture at: http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ3w2IrHgsCWcEYqYCyfc0_Ajwxb3svQFT-wucjZT6mjGI7SjcqdFeLE9H3Sm766EwKiTOFybPscUethlFMifP5NkisJdR89nP27yx0VhytimvctaCOT024feq39rxSJ8aoEdaKMi_kPs/s200/Chris+Murphy.jpg&imgrefurl=http://ctstatepolitics.blogspot.com/2012/01/chris-murphy-has-g-page.html&h=266&w=190&sz=1&tbnid=Zp2u8sOJ--bxAM:&tbnh=186&tbnw=132&zoom=1&usg=__BCMndMZeysXBxVG_bkPYA4ax5Ug=&docid=IzuU6Uh7ZEaa7M&itg=1&sa=X&ei=qc4pUt6vJ_PE4APClYCoCQ&ved=0CJQBEPwdMAo

But he is being heroic.  He has said firmly in his undramatic way that he's against this.  He's also the only young Democrat I can think of offhand who's a consistent progressive and not a weasel.

And his political history is heroic.  He gave up a safe state representative seat for a risky run for the state senate against a strong Republican incumbent.  He gave up that senate seat, which he had made safe, for a risky run at a Congressional seat against long-invincible Republican Nancy Johnson.  He gave up that House seat, which he had made safe, for a risky run at the U.S. Senate.  He has won every time - and won big every time.

If I had to choose a Democratic presidential candidate right now, it would be Chris Murphy.  No indication that he's running.  But he might look at the field and conclude that he has to.

We've had 43-year-old presidents, and they were popular and are well-regarded by historians: TR and JFK.
Murphy may strike us as a kid, but he has 3 years of tough votes and high pressure to mature into a commander-in-chief, if he's going to.

We're a long way from being sure now who the candidates will be or what '16 will bring.  But we can be more sure than before what the issues should be.