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Senator Bill Nelson visited President Assad of Syria and the White House was not happy about it. Tony Snow, the spokesman, said it "did not strengthen the hand of democracy in the region". Huh?
John Kerry, Chris Dodd, and Arlen Specter also plan visits to Syria. No doubt as we speak, the White House is passing the talking points to Limbaugh and other right-wing shills, to portray these Senators as enemies and traitors to our country. That's the way they work.
However, after the many months of work on the Baker-Hamilton ISG, many Senators thought the White House would pay more than lip-service to it. They barely got lip-service. The study was mostly ignored or portrayed as a plan for "surrender".
With that new reality, they have decided to follow the ISG findings for themselves. They have given up on any progress being made by this White House. They have decided to take on a bigger role for themselves, for better or worse. Normally, the House and Senate would leave such negotiations and meetings to the Executive Branch. However, this White House has shown itself incapable of dealing with the problem.
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