The election, gay marriage and Syria

This morning's lecture at Lakeside Chautauqua is on the 2012 election. I think I'll skip that. I know why we lost--Christians, libertarians, independents and conservatives stayed home and pouted because their favorite candidate was no longer in the race. If you can't win against a man with a disastrous record who lies all the time and was already involved in several scandals (increased since then), there's not much hope.

“You may be in favor of raising taxes on the rich, increasing support for the poor, nurturing the planet, and repealing Section 14(b) of the Taft-Hartley Act, but if you don’t support gay marriage, you’re out of the club.” (Michael Kinsley) And to think as recently as 2012, President Obama had not publicly supported it in his campaign, and in fact, in 2004 he said he supported the law of the land (DOMA) to one group and was against it to another. He seemed to blame Bush for the 1996 law which Biden voted for. But his grasp of history and time has always been shaky. Abortion, however, he's been perfectly clear on that one.

Both the Clinton administration and the Bush administration had "intelligence" that reported on chemical and biological warfare of various middle eastern governments against their own people. It's a good hook for Americans who have a collective memory of ignoring what was happening in Europe in the 1930s. However, we've been suckered twice. Let's not have another president push us into a civil war where we have no national interest and can offer no humanitarian aid. But at least, Bush consulted with Congress and had its backing; Obama does not. Nor can we trust the U.N. on this.