Slate Pitch: Obama Is the Shrewdest Political Tactician Since LBJ

[Pryderi]

The conventional view in Washington these days is that President Barack Obama is not having such a great second term and might already be suffering a bit of lame duckery. After all, he failed to overcome NRA and GOP opposition to modest gun safety legislation after the horrific Newtown massacre, and his immigration reform push has crashed into that brick wall known as the Republican-controlled House of Representatives. But here's a Slate pitch: Obama is the most wily tactician in the nation's capital since Lyndon Johnson.

Consider what Obama has recently done to two of his most bothersome foes: Vladimir Putin and John Boehner. Faced with the thorny question of how to respond to the Bashar al-Assad's presumed use of chemical weapons in Syria, Obama sent conflicting messages at first. He dispatched Secretary of State John Kerry to deliver a hawkish message that seemed to suggest a retaliatory but limited strike against the regime was imminent, but then Obama surprisingly announced he would seek authorization from Congress for such an attack, fully realizing that such a move would take weeks to pull off—that is, if he could rally sufficient votes.

Having sparked a contentious debate on Capitol Hill—with opposition to a strike on the rise—Obama appeared to have led himself into a political quagmire. He got perilously close to what could have been an embarrassing defeat. But before Congress could vote, this mess yielded a beneficial outcome: it drew Putin into co-ownership of the chemical weapons problem. As Obama failed to gain support on the Hill for an attack on the Assad regime, Putin leapt into the fray to broker a deal that would supposedly end with Syria's chemical weapons under international control.

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/09/slate-pitch-obama-shrewd-political-strategist

[BeyondGeography]

1. But look what the stress is doing to him

[frylock]

2. poor david cameron..

it's as if his humiliating defeat in parliament never ever happened.

[Shivering Jemmy]

4. in the end he did not matter

Cameron was a lever to apply pressure, that is all.

A lever that broke, but still just a tool.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

3. KICKED, RECOMMENDED, and BOOKMARKED FOR ONE OF THE GREATEST PRESIDENTS EVER!!!!!