I’m going to be leading a TPMPrime Live Chat this afternoon at 5:30 PM University of Wisconsin History Professor Will Jones. We’re going to be talking about the Civil Rights movement and his new book looking back at the March on Washington at 50. Get your questions in now and join us at 5:30 PM.
Texas and Mississippi limiting how and where the same-sex spouses of National Guard members can obtain the benefits that the Pentagon now says they’re entitled to received.
I’ve had a bunch of readers writing in this afternoon questioning – with more or less levels of engagement or outrage – my contention that the President does not require congressional authority to launch an attack on Syria. I’m not sure how regular a reader TPM Reader PM is since he refers to me as “Mr. Marshall” but here’s his take on the question.
Mr. Marshall writes:
I think there is no question that the President does not need Congress’s approval to take the action he seems inclined to take. And I’m surprised how many people now seem to think or pretend otherwise.
Chuck Hagel and John Kerry appeared before the Senate to try to clarify what happens next in Syria.
As I signaled over the weekend, I’m not clear on the best way to proceed with the poor set of options we appear to have in Syria. I’m also of mixed mind on Obama’s decision to take the question to Congress. I think there is no question that the President does not need Congress’s approval to take the action he seems inclined to take. And I’m surprised how many people now seem to think or pretend otherwise. That said, it is often wise to seek such authorization. And what we’ve seen over the last three days shows some of the perversity that grows up when Congress is not involved in questions of war and peace. Read More
The day’s main event in the Syria debate was expected to be the Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing featuring Chuck Hagel and John Kerry, which gets underway at 2:30 p.m. ET (you can watch live streaming coverage here). But the day’s most consequential development turned out to be the unexpected — and unexpectedly full-throated — support for Obama’s Syria mission from John Boehner and Eric Cantor, who this morning publicly urged their House GOP colleagues to back the plan, too. More on this development from Sahil Kapur.
I’m just back from a ten day vacation and missed most of the Syria developments over that period. But in case you missed it, here’s my quick take from over the weekend on some key issues to keep in mind.
So it appears there’s a totally over-the-top drug running crime family running Suriname. One of the weirdest stories I’ve seen in some time.