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1.) It’s Tinker Bell’s red line! — President Obama wants you to know he didn’t set a red line in Syria — and his credibility isn’t on the line there. Or something like that. TheDC’s Neil Munro reports:
“President Barack Obama repeatedly denied Wednesday that he ever set a ‘red line’ against the use of chemical weapons in Syria, and he insisted that the ‘world community’ and Congress created the so-called red line, and should enforce the line. ‘I didn’t set a red line,’ he insisted to reporters at a press conference in Sweden Wednesday morning. ‘The world set a red line when governments representing 98 percent of the world’s population said the use of chemical weapons are abhorrent and passed a [1993] treaty forbidding their use even when countries are engaged in war,’ he said. … ‘My credibility is not on the line,’ he insisted. ‘The international community’s credibility is on the line, and America and Congress’ credibility is on the line, because we give [only] lip service to the notion that these international norms are important,’ he said.”
Oh, the international community’s credibility is on the line. The international community is a real thing in the same way a unicorn is a real thing. And someone should give the president a transcript of his remarks from last year if he doesn’t think he set a red line. This is a truly pathetic display of presidential leadership.
2.) Kerry vs. Reality — John Kerry says the Syrian rebels are becoming increasingly secular. TheDC’s Neil Munro reports:
“Despite evidence to the contrary, Secretary of State John Kerry told a Senate hearing Tuesday that Syria’s rebel forces are increasingly dominated by secular groups. ‘It’s our judgment that — and the judgment of our good friends who actually know a lot of this in many ways better than we do because it’s their region, their neighborhood — … [that] the secular component of Syria will re-emerge’ once the Syrian government is deposed, Kerry claimed in the hearing. Those ‘good friends’ are officials from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates, which are all religious and political enemies of Syria’s embattled dictatorship.”
Reality says the rebels aren’t becoming increasingly secular. You choose: Reality or John Kerry?
3.) A Daiquiris for me and one for thee — and a massacre — Ernest Hemingway was a great writer, but this is rather revolting. TheDC’s Jamie Weinstein reports:
“Humberto Fontova says you don’t know squat about Cuba. ‘[A]lmost everything most people (except Cuban exiles) think they know about Cuba isn’t just wrong — it’s almost the exact opposite of the truth,’ Fontova, a refugee from Castro’s Cuba and the author of numerous books about the country, told The Daily Caller in an interview about his new book, ‘The Longest Romance: The Mainstream and Fidel Castro.’ … While Fontova writes about influential Cuban agents in the United States and how the mainstream media continues to suck up to the Castro brothers in his new book, perhaps his most shockingly lurid anecdote is of writer Ernest Hemingway, who lived in Cuba at the time of the Cuban Revolution. ‘Hemingway hailed Castro’s revolution as ‘very pure and beautiful,’ Fontova said. ‘He was also a guest of honor at many of Che Guevara’s firing squad massacres. Hemingway loved to watch Che’s firing squads murder hundreds of Cubans. Hemingway would watch the massacres from a picnic chair while sipping Daiquiris.'”
Click the link to read the full interview.
4.) America, we hardly recognize ye? — Welcome to Obama’s America, part infinity. TheDC’s Sarah Hofmann reports:
“Cleveland Indians closer Chris Perez was sentenced to a year of probation and fined $250 after mailing nine ounces of weed to his dog in June, USA Today reports. Major League Baseball usually opts for treatment in marijuana cases instead of imposing a punishment. The ruling judge in the case, Brian Hagan, admonished Perez, who was also ordered to speak to high school students about drugs, in the courtroom. ‘You’re highly regarded; kids look up to you,’ he said. ‘But you made a big mistake. I hope that through your efforts you can deter someone else from making that same mistake.'”
Holy hell. If you can’t ship weed to your dog in this country anymore then we’ve basically become the Soviet Union.
5.) Tweet of Yesterday — Justin Green: We’re done here. Get this man out of here RT @igorbobic Kerry says Tom Friedman is “most often” correct
6.) Today in North Korean News — BREAKING: “Friendly Meeting with Staff Members of Malaysian Embassy Here Held”