Courtesy of Mish.
The coalition of the willing is now down to the US alone as France now wants to wait for more data on alleged gas usage. Yet, President Obama rejects G20 pressure to abandon Syria air strike plan.
Obama Plans Full Court Press
Inquiring minds note that Obama plans a ‘full-court press’ to sway Congress and a speech to US citizens on September 20.
Obama’s address to the nation from the White House on Tuesday will be part of a rejuvenated lobbying effort on Syria as Congress returns to Washington next week. A Democratic congressional aide said the administration is planning “a full-court press” aimed at undecided lawmakers.
According to a Washington Post count, only 23 senators have been willing to go on record in favor of military force, while 17 are against. It will likely take 60 of the Senate’s 100 members to advance the measure to the House of Representatives.
In the House, where 218 votes will be required to pass the resolution, only 25 members are on record in support of military action so far, according to the Post, with 106 opposed.
Polls Show Citizens Solidly Against War
John Nichols writing for The Nation accurately sums up the situation in ‘Nobody Wants This Except the Military-Industrial Complex’
House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, backs President Obama’s request for authorization to intervene militarily in Syria, as does House Democratic Minority Nancy Pelosi, D-California.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, is similarly “in,” while Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, in mum.
The president has done a pretty good job of selling his plan to congressional leaders.
He has not, however, sold it to the American people.
Thus, when members of Congress decide which side they’re on in the Syrian intervention votes that are expected to take place next week, they will have to consider whether they want to respond to pro-war pressure from inside-the-Beltway—as so many did when they authorized action against Iraq—or to the anti-war sentiments of their constituents.
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