Issues Under Fire: As US Creeps Closer to War, Obama Looks More Like Lawyer than Leader

In an uncomfortable attempt to disown his own red line, President Obama nimbly manipulated the history of chemical weapons to remind the world of its responsibilities. During a joint press conference with Prime Minister Reinfeldt of Sweden, the President tried to pull a fast one. More of a flimflam than a flip flop, like a shifty shyster President Obama massaged his message to meet the moment.

"First of all, I didn’t set a red line," he said. "The world set a red line. "So when I said that my calculus would be altered by chemical weapons, which the overall consensus of humanity says is wrong – that’s not something I just made up. I didn’t pluck it out of thin air. "My credibility isn't on the line. The international community’s credibility is on the line.

Appearing as though he was the only one willing and or capable of responding to the Syrian dictator's acts of inhumanity, one could almost feel the shame of his or her own inaction. The remarks were clearly designed to embarrass those who’ve elected to sit this latest military adventure out.

One must admit the genius of President Obama’s sales and marketing team. They have managed to launch and promote this act of war, despite world opinion trending in the opposite direction. When the road to war started to get bit rocky, the administration paved the path over with guilt. If guilt fails to galvanize the unwilling, there's always the time tested standby of FEAR. 

With his Secretary of State John Kerry back home dropping names like Adolph Hitler and Saddam Hussein during congressional hearings to illustrate the depths of Bashar al-Assad’s depravity, many listening from Europe had to have gotten the not so subtle inference. As the President spoke, the minds eye was but a blink away from the images of Auschwitz, Buchenwald and Dachau.  The WW2 references brought back memories of what slow to act looked like; thousands of emaciated bodies strewn about like worthless rag dolls.

We can only take our hats off to the brilliant writers who fed the President these lines. While we weren't fooled for a New York minute, he did deliver the "twist" so smoothly, we were certain a lot of folks bought the bull.

Words are powerful and when uttered by powerful people, they tend to stick to those people. When those people refuse to own the words they speak, they often end up eating them. One can only hope the President has a healthy appetite for what he's serving up.