Foreign policy so easy even a "monkey" could do it, and this is no country for old [black] men.

Wow, I guess "the times they are a changing". Now the right has new found love for the Russians and Vladimir Putin is their hero. (The enemy of my enemy is my friend.) Nice. They deserve each other.

Anyway, here is hoping that O rethinks his Syria strike. Forget the poll numbers, forget the neocons and a pliant media, forget the criticism of his seemingly fractured plan when it comes to Syria. If a new compromise (A Russian proposal no less) is what it takes to say no American bombs in the Middle East, well then so be it.

The irony is, of course, that O made a big political miscalculation by asking congress to authorize the use of force in Syria. But I am glad for that mistake, because it's looking more and more like it's not going to happen.

Still, I wouldn't want to be one of O's speechwriters right about now. This was supposed to be his turn to explain to the American people why Bashar Assad was going to catch a beat down for gassing his own people. Now, given the way the world is turning, this is probably not going to happen. That, to me, is a good thing.

Sometimes the Big R wants you to chase, but it is not always wise to bite.

Take for instance Ann Coulter's latest cry for attention. Ann didn't want to be left out of the Syria debate, but rather than give us something of substance, she gives us this:

 "Ann Coulter joined Sean Hannity on Monday night to bash President Obama for a failure of leadership on Syria. Hannity called Obama “confused” and “wimpy,” while Coulter derided the White House for thinking this is a simple Aaron Sorkin monologue away from being solved, adding that she believes Vladimir Putin has made Obama into a “monkey” on Syria.

Hannity found the day’s events “embarrassing” for Obama, while Coulter acknowledged that Kerry’s off-the-cuff comment about Syria handing over their chemical weapons was ver cleverly snatched up by Putin. Hannity was astonished that Putin appears to be the “great peacemaker” in all this, with Coulter saying he’s “looking like a man” while Obama looks week.

She reminded Hannity how much the media (“Obama’s PR crew”) mocked Mitt Romney last year for saying Russia is America’s “number one geopolitical foe.” After using the Obama-as-Putin’s-”monkey” line again, Hannity asked her why she’s using that word specifically. Coulter simply insisted that “Putin is playing with him and making him look ridiculous.”

Moving right along and giving chase where the Big R needs chasing; Pine Bluff, Arkansas.

The more I read this story the angrier I get. (h/t Mike)

"When the time came to move 107-year-old Monroe Isadore to a new home, police say he resisted and barricaded himself inside. Authorities tried using a camera to monitor him, along with negotiating tactics, and finally gas to get him to come out.

None of it worked.

So, a SWAT team went inside and was greeted by gunfire, authorities say. The team fired back, and Isadore died.

The weekend confrontation raised a flurry of questions Monday as residents struggled to make sense of how someone known as a pleasant, churchgoing man who was hard of hearing and sometimes carried a cane had died in an explosive confrontation. Did authorities know how old he was? Did they follow proper procedure? Could they have done anything differently?

“It’s just a big puzzle,” said Ivory Perry, who has known Isadore for decades.

The standoff began Saturday, according to a police report obtained by The Associated Press. Laurie Barlow, 48, of Lonoke, told officers she had gone to the house where Isadore was living temporarily to help him move to a new home. She said Isadore had previously been excited about the move but that when she arrived Isadore barricaded himself in a room.

“Ms. Barlow stated his granddaughter finally got him to open the door and she went around to speak with Mr. Isadore, at that time she stated Mr. Isadore raised his arm and pointed a gun at her and stated `You better stop breaking in to my house,’” the report said.

After police moved Barlow and the granddaughter across the street, Isadore fired at a door moments after police tried to contact him. A SWAT team, called out when negotiations failed, maneuvered a camera into the house to see how Isadore was armed, then stormed inside after deploying gas and a distraction device, the report said. When Isadore fired, the entry team fired back.

Police Sgt. David DeFoor said Monday that Isadore had been living at the home temporarily, but did not go into more detail. The sergeant also said officers may not have been aware of the man’s age.

“The only thing they knew that I’m aware of was that he was older,” DeFoor said." [Source]

Sgt., I am quite sure that they knew something else, and it had nothing to do with his age.