With full cognizance of the human toll of the Syrian civil war, I just wanted to say that I really wish the White House would not have taken this step. It seems like a small step – basically small arms to a totally disorganized insurgency that now seems to be on the ropes. But these slopes tend to be very slippery. And my gut feel is that this is being driven not by a clear or concerted strategy but rather by being pinned down by earlier statements and slowly giving way to outside analysts, talkative senators and allies who, inevitably, will not share much of any of the burden of an expanding intervention. Read More

Fascinating piece on how progressives, in the US and worldwide, are falling in love with Pope Francis.

When I saw the headline of this LiveWire item I was all prepping to knock Rick Santorum thinking he was living in the past and trying to relitigate how best to exploit “You didn’t build that!” Alas, I ended up kind of agreeing with him because his basic point was ‘Hey Jackasses, Not everyone is a small business owner!’

Scott Walker shot himself in the foot real bad.

Just wanted to flag that today is the 238th anniversary of the founding of the United States Army, which is actually slightly older than the United States itself.

Paul Ryan tells conservatives it was the Gollum’s Ring like power of Obamacare that doomed him and Mitt.

On the general issue of intervention in Syria, I shared my thoughts here. Separate from that, however, the degree of regional sectarian escalation that seems be happening is astounding. After Hezbollah committed itself to support the Assad regime (remember, both have deep alliances with Shia Iran), there have been calls around the Sunni Arab world to join the jihad in Syria. Read More

Rep. Pete King (R) warns of Snowden’s connections to China, his girlfriends (alleged?) connections to China and the fact that Snowden himself had “studied Chinese.” Watch.

Pentagon: Top West Point Official ‘Misused His Position To Obtain Cat Care’

A small thing but sort of remarkable. In his first statement on gay marriage as pope, Pope Francis deliberately avoided the standard ‘between a man and a women’ phrasing when referring to the importance of marriage.

Now, before you write in, I am under zero illusion that this presages a change in Church doctrine or policy. Still these small signs are significant.