Adventures in Syria

If there is any indication that Obama's lack of leadership has hurt the US, it is the current situation with Syria. 

He is unable to build a coalition the way Bush did. He may have had British PM David Cameron convinced action needs to be taken in the wake of Assad's chemical attacks against his enemies (ie, his own people), but Parliament told him no. This is the first time in a long time where a PM has been told no by Parliament regarding usage of the military. You can chalk this up to two reasons:

One: Bush and Iraq. Apparently the Brits are still upset that Bush fabricated intelligence from MI6 to justify action in Iraq. (Fool me once, shame on me; fool me twice....um....well....you're not going to fool me again.)

Two: The Brits know Obama won't do anything except shake his fist before he says, "Oh, never mind," and returns to the golf course.

It's likely a combination of both, but with more emphasis on the second. Do they really think Obama means what he says, or can pull it off? Probably not, so why waste the time and money?

In the wake of the British vote, the haughty John Kerry, who served in Vietnam, made a speech where he praised France, our "oldest ally", for (verbally) supporting military action. Yeah, France helped us beat Britain 237 years ago, and have been surrendering ever since, but I suppose the "oldest" title still applies. I'm sure the British are stunned by the remark, and they may have even stopped laughing by the time you read this.

So, instead, Obama, as he searches the golf course for a solution, is tossing around the idea that the U.S. will go it alone on this one. 'Merica, heck yeah! Get 'er done!

Obviously this "no confidence" vote does not sit well with the administration, nor does it make us look good. There was a time, not so long ago, when this wouldn't have happened.

There is a third reason, I suppose, and it's certainly an unspoken one. 

Is it really a crisis when Arabs kill Arabs? Are we really worse off because there are now less Arabs in the world? The CIA says just over 1400 people were killed in the chemical attack. That means there are 1400 less Arabs to fly planes into buildings. The media and the politicos are trying to make a case that we need to do something, but I'm not sure the public cares. Maybe we're all still upset about Iraq.

It's a disaster all around. But Obama drew a red line, said, "Don't y'all cross this, I mean it," and now he has to follow through.

Ultimately the president is going to launch a missile off the deck of a ship, hit a camel in the butt, and declare victory. He'll go on a national speaking tour and tell us how he, alone, gave Syria the what-for just like when he killed bin Laden and the rest of the world better remember not to mess with the U.S. See how that rhymed?

BRIAN DRAKE is a broadcaster in California and the author of The Rogue Gentleman, a thriller in the tradition of Vince Flynn and Brad Thor.

Oprah Explains it All

Who are we, the little people, to argue with somebody as smart as Oprah Winfrey?

During an interview with Anderson Cooper on CNN on which she promoted her new film The Butler, Oprah uttered the quote to end all quotes: "A lot of people think if they think they’re not using the n-word themselves.....and do not harbor ill will towards black people that it’s not racist."

In the fairness of context, Oprah was referring to the Trayvon Martin case, and doesn't understand how people can't see that, no matter what angle you approach it from, race was for sure a factor in the original incident and the trial that followed.

Her attitude is pure Barbara Streisand. I'm not going to rehash the whole Zimmerman situation because the truth is out there, but to suggest that, within White America, that there is an underlying current of racism is absolutely misguided. But blacks, almost like some Jews, depend on the "we are victims" storyline in order to get what they want, whatever that may be, though I think, if pressed, they couldn't articulate what they want. They have to rely on the transgressions of the past to construct some kind of future, but because they continue to soak in the past, they cannot form their future.

To suggest even at the slightest that whites are racist just because is wrong, but you can't win with people like Oprah. Back in the '50s we saw Commies under every bed; I suppose Oprah sees racists everywhere she does, and especially in Switzerland. It must be tough living in her head.

What's funny is that, at another point in the interview, Oprah, the smartest woman in America, defeats her own argument. She says her movie shows a lynching in the first scene, but ends with a black man walking into the Oval Office of the first black president.

America has come a long way, and one has to really stretch to argue otherwise. And Oprah also forgets her own journey which led her to the role in the film.

In other words, America is so racist, that we made Oprah a billionaire who talks out of her ass, and made Obama the president who spends all day covering his.


BRIAN DRAKE is a broadcaster in California and the author of The Rogue Gentleman, a thriller in the tradition of Vince Flynn and Brad Thor. Follow him on Twitter.

But it was Free Speech When Bush was the Clown

These articles are hard to write. I do not by that mean I cannot put the words together (oh, please, hold you laughter for at least ten seconds) but there is such an overabundance of topics to write about that it is often tough to determine which one I should pay attention to. If I were writing every day, this would not be a problem, but I can barely manage once a week.

However, today, the Commentary Gods have handed me something on a silver platter.

Perhaps you were fortunate enough to see the video of a rodeo in Missouri where a clown put on an Obama mask and somebody asked the crowd if they wanted to see Obama run over by a bull.

Well, would you? Of course you would, so here is the video. You're welcome. Come back after you've watched it ten times.

Welcome back.

Can you hear the weeping and gnashing of teeth from the left? This is outrageously offensive, they say, and, as one knucklehead pointed out, "we are better than this." Bollocks, I say, this is political satire in its purest form. It's a live caricature of our Supreme Leader (Bless His Holy Name) and, the last time I checked, we are allowed to lampoon our government. Examples? Any sketch on Saturday Night Live (pre-Obama, of course) and various newspaper cartoons where The Leader is drawn with an exaggerated chin.

The left sure loved lampooning Bush! Portraying him as Hitler was a master stroke; the caricature of Dick Cheney as Darth Vader wasn't as imaginative. I guess we weren't "better than this" when it came to Bush and Cheney. Of course not. Bush likes to pull the wings off flies and Cheney eats newborn babies, everybody knows that.

It's a hoot to watch the left get in a tizzy when their own garbage is thrown back at them.

There is no free speech when it comes to Obama, either because the left starts throwing the racist term or because the IRS and NSA are listening. What we're left is David Letterman attempting intercourse with Obama on the set of his show. (You used to be funny, Dave. I liked it when you'd throw watermelons off the roof of an office building. Wait, was that racist?)

I can't wait until Hilary gets elected so all criticism of her can be called sexist. You know it's coming!

"The Republicans hate Hilary because....she's a woman."

"Would the GOP attack Hilary if she had a penis?"

"It was really inappropriate for John Boehner to make that menopause joke, Wolf. We're better than this."

Oh, the humanity.


BRIAN DRAKE is a broadcaster in California and the author of The Rogue Gentleman, a thriller in the tradition of Vince Flynn and Brad Thor. Follow him on Twitter.