Yes, it's hopeless: I'm a political geek who's past saving.
It was a beautiful beach day when I arrived. I loaded luggage from the tightly-packed car onto the hauling cart in record time, then shoved it into a sluggish elevator. Got it all unloaded, got refrigerated items transferred from cooler to fridge. Committed the hanging clothes to a closet and set the bags down to be dealt with later.
The sun was beaming into the Atlantic, and I was in a hurry. Did I dash out to the beach or plant myself on the balcony with a cool drink and the binoculars— and then hit the beach? Of course not. I tuned in to the Senate Committee hearing on Syria. I heard Secretary of State Kerry do what I thought was impressive job with his statement and responses to questions. He was flanked at the witnesses' table by Joint Chiefs Chairman General Martin Dempsey and Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel who also answered questions.
Senator John McCain asked his questions, then entertained himself playing video poker on his phone. Senator (and I want to LOL when I say "Senator" here) Rand Paul tried to be charming and appealing before invoking his middle-school snarkiness; I loved it when Senator Kerry recommended that he attend the classified briefing scheduled for this morning. See, Paul has been talking about "not having enough information" on the Syrian situation and yet he opted out on one major classified briefing, designed for providing—you guessed it—information to Committee members. Check out a video of Kerry and Paul: http://www.forwardprogressives.com/cant-stand-rand-paul-then-watch-john-kerry-absolutely-embarrass-him-over-syria/
Senator McCain announced later that he couldn't support the Committee resolution as written (He and Lindsey Graham want a much broader scope of options, including toppling Assad. The American people and most of our representatives definitely don't want that.) I enjoyed the machinations of the hearing, distracted for a time from the images of the gassed children in their shrouds. In fact, I've put in countless hours of attentiveness to Syria-related commentary on TV and radio—from C-Span, CNN, MSNBC, the evening newscasts including PBS. And I still don't have a strong position.
Nevertheless, I don't believe this President is lying to us. I believe he has given deep consideration to the pros and cons in his decision to strike Syria. He has listened to numerous viewpoints and assorted advice. And I know he's smart. Sometimes he mulls over a situation endlessly before arriving at a decision, but his is never a knee-jerk reaction as was sometimes the case in the previous administration. I know President Obama is not one who ever, ever wanted to take the action he is proposing. He doesn't want war. Period. I trust his intentions. I trusted the answers I heard from the Secretary of State, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs and the Secretary of Defense. I just don't trust the chaos in Syria or the ability to limit our involvement over time. Far too many "what if's" invade my thoughts .
At this point it seems that Congress should approve limited action to deter Assad from future use of chemical weapons. But one strike might not deter him. What if the chemical weapons are moved to a place we would strike and the poisonous gas spreads into the population? How many children would be killed by our strike, no matter how "precise?" I think the President should lay out his case to the American people, and then we'll see whether Congress supports the President. I hope they do. But I'm not rock solid in that opinion, a rare thing for me. I am sure that my hope is for the highest good. If I could make a wish that could come true, I'd make a really big one: That Russia and China would agree to U.N. Security Council actions and that that body—or the appropriate body— would punish Assad for his horrifying atrocities. For his war crimes.
I feel a deep sadness that military action needed to be contemplated, much less executed. Besides being a poitical geek, I'm a poet. Like most people with beating hearts, poets don't want to see such horrors. But when we do, we must write about them. At our best, we interpret what's going on in our world through the lens of empathy. And I will strive to do that, whatever happens.
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