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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsObama’s Speech: A Cause Already Lost
On Tuesday, I went to vote at the local elementary school a few hours before President Obama spoke to the country about Syria, and on my way out I remembered that September 11, 2001, fell on another New York primary dayone that had to be cancelled before it was a few hours old. Michael Bloombergs mayoralty began amid the open wounds of the terror strikes, stretched across twelve years of inconclusive wars, and now its coming to an end with a debate about another war.
The White House had announced the speech a couple of days before John Kerry accidentally breathed life into a diplomatic initiative with Russia, and by the time Obama turned onto the red carpet leading to the cameras in the East Room, his objective had already been compromised. Thats been the case from the beginning of the Administrations march to limited strikes: everything crumbles from half-heartedness before it can harden into action. The speech was written as a piece of persuasion, an effort to get the country and the Congress behind the President in standing up for Syrias children and international norms. So Obama took on the doubts and the questions one at a time. Whats so special about chemical weapons? Why does this matter to American security? What if this turns into a quagmire? Why does it always have to be us?
He answered those questions in his respectful, reasonable way, and although I dont think he made the case for national security, which has become the sine qua non, the mere act of taking seriously the skeptical letters of his fellow citizens distinguished Obama dramatically from his predecessor. When he talked about ideals and principlessounding, for the first time in his Presidency, like his new Ambassador to the United Nations, Samantha PowerObama seemed to feel that those words meant something. Yet somehow it didnt matter. The country wont be persuaded. The case wasnt made. The vote is already lost.
And Obama had already moved away from his own cause even as he spoke. Kerrys slip about Syria avoiding a military strike by turning over its chemical weapons and the instant Russian response had taken the pressure off; you could hear all of Washington (other than the local office of the National Coalition for Syrian Revolution and Opposition Forces) breathe a sigh of relief. White Houses dont do this sort of thing, but the speech probably should have been cancelled, because it no longer served any purpose. The President spoke to the nation because he said he would, just as he prepared for military action because he said he would.
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/comment/2013/09/obamas-syria-speech-a-cause-already-lost.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter
NYC_SKP
(68,644 posts)Looks like the New Yorker has chosen the "Hand Wringing" template for their response to the President's address.
I think he came off as a bit awkward and uncomfortable, but I was happy to hear most of what he said.
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