It’s been one hell of a week, or one week of hell. And it will continue and probably get worse if we respond by dropping bombs on Syria.
Congressman Alan Grayson took full advantage of his five minutes to question Secretary of State John Kerry, Sec of Defense Chuck Hagel and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Martin Dempsey. If you didn’t see it yet, watch it now:
And now go to DontAttackSyria.com and sign on if you haven’t yet.
Congressman Grayson joined us for a few minutes this morning to give an update on his efforts to stop the US from attacking a country that hasn’t attacked us or our allies, from spending money that could be better used at home on an ill-advised attack, and from making an already bad situation even worse.
He’s been making the rounds lately, as he has committed to whipping votes and informing the American people why an attack would be a mistake. The Atlantic published an interview with him with the headline “The Democratic Congressman Who Thinks He Can Stop the Syria War.”
With our help, I think he can.
Congressman Grayson’s office just sent out a release with the latest counts on who’s leaning which way:
More Than 3-to-1 Against an Attack on Syria
Huge Momentum Building in U.S. House of Representatives Against Military Intervention in Syria
(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – Enormous momentum has built against U.S. military intervention in Syria. Four national news organizations that are currently tracking vote counts have reported that members of the U.S. House of Representatives are overwhelmingly against authorizing a war in Syria.
From ABC News: “After this week’s full court press by the Obama administration, the president does not yet have the votes to authorize the military strike on Syria.”
· 199 Members Against Military Intervention
[63 ‘No’, 136 ‘Lean No’]· Only 45 Members For Military Intervention [20 ‘Yes’, 25 ‘Lean Yes’]
From the Washington Post: “Already, scores of members of both parties have expressed skepticism about the administration’s cause for intervening in that country’s civil war, despite intelligence reports that say the Syrian regime used chemical weapons on its own people.”
· 178 Members Against Military Intervention [86 ‘No’, 92 ‘Lean No’]
· Only 19 Members For Military Intervention [No ‘Lean Yes’ category available]
From Fire Dog Lake: “House leadership tried to create the illusion of “momentum” yesterday…Nonetheless, the number of representatives coming out in opposition to the vote continue to dramatically outstrip those in favor.”
· 144 Members Against Military Intervention [48 ‘No’, 96‘Lean No’]
· Only 58 Members For Military Intervention [28 ‘Yes’, 30 ‘Lean Yes’]
From The Hill: “The White House faces a tough task in convincing a majority in the House and Senate to approve authorization for a military strike against Syria.”
· 89 Members Against Military Intervention [‘No’ and ‘Lean No’ reported together]
· Only 28 Members For Military Intervention [‘Yes’ and ‘Lean Yes’ reported together]
“A huge, bi-partisan majority has recognized that a unilateral attack on Syria is not our responsibility, it won’t accomplish anything, it’s expensive, and it’s dangerous,”said Rep. Alan Grayson, a leader of opponents against military intervention.
Absurdity Today’s Julianna Forlano joined in to help lighten things up with her humorous take on today’s news.
And I was joined by Bruce Borey to talk about How to Beat the Bookies at Pro Football, as the football season officially gets underway tonight! Click over to that link to read about the project, and see our picks, based on my father’s system, for this week’s games.