The Russians do a good job remaining fiercely independent, so I suppose one might expect this type of interference from them. In their minds, Syria has been a client State for a half dozen decades. What right does the U.S. have to butt in? I kind of agree with them. I have no confidence that the U.S. has many clues as to what is actually happening in Syria...especially with the multiple anti-Assad groups. Of those groups, I see four possibilities: alQueda, Hezbollah, Muslim Brotherhood, or some kind of week pro Western coalition. The least likely is the latter and all the others are horrible. 

The prettiest picture that I could find of myself.

12...I picked hydrogen as the most common gas (H2O). It only confirms my belief that compared to most folks on this sight, I am none to bright.

Eleven to twelve thousand people die in the USA annually from gun violence. That is 4, 10000'th of 1 percent of our population (.0004). Abortions, anyone care to take a guess? Very close to 1000000 per year. Yes that is one million...very close to 3% of our population (.03).

I am not trying to be a simpleton because the two situations, gun laws/rights and abortion laws/rights have many different nuances of discussion. But we can start with the first: gun ownership, is spelled out very clearly in the 2nd amendment of our nations primary laws, the Constitution. One must do some very in depth, imaginative reading to find or dream up even the slightest of resemblance of a mention of abortion.

So how many people did this Doctor kill or injure? And how many were killed or injured at Sandy Hook? And what is the great discussion occupying our Congress and President today? This is not about prioritizing according to damage done. It is clearly and solely prioritizing to ones political motives. It makes me sick. It is why I spend less time on this and other sights with my comments. I need to stay calm.

"The debate isn't how we free private enterprise and jump start private enterprise, the debate is do we want tyranny or liberty, a welfare/entitlement state or private property and self sufficiency. These are black and white choices - a switch, not a dial. Either we have the welfare/entitlement state or we don't."

Brent, I disagree a wee bit with your black and white terminology.  A dominant majority of Americans, conservatives included, believe in communally supporting the indigent and handicapped. Even though that is, to a degree, socialistic, it should never exceed more than 5 to 10 percent of the population needing assistance from government or society in general. Because of our tax laws and our political class, both right and left, looking to create dependence from the people on them, we now have created a general populace where nearly 45% of the population receive assistance. Actually, if you take into consideration our tax laws, the figure might actually approach 100%.

Way to go CJ and the PLF. These kinds of stories are chilling. Was the USSR ever this bad? Wait until these same types of people take over our healthcare. That's one thing I could wait forever for.

I do not know, but I wouldn't be surprised.

Remember when all this bruhaha started? We had 270 million people with health care insurance and about 40 million uninsured-many by their own choice. Instead of simply putting those uninsured on medicaid and incentivizing them off government assistance, the Dems blew up our entire health care system with Obamacare. If there is justice in this world they should be made to pay for the misery they will have created. May their party go down in oblivion.

I have often wondered how people who read very fast are able to absorb and remember what they read. That is, of course, because I am a very slow and deliberate reader, which has the equally egregious problem of getting bored with a book before I am able to finish it. Somewhere in the universe is the perfect solution? Probably not.

Mr Codevilla, with this essay,  crawled inside of me, read my mind, and felt my heart. Starting a new party, however, could mean terrible defeat for a number of years. OTH, what do we gain now when we win? We have merely elected the same people we thought we had defeated.

It seems that whenever Obama and his Executive branch want to spend money, they have it to spend. We are now hearing that Homeland Security (it should be put in scare quotes) has purchased 1.6 billion bullets along with other government agencies. These are not for military use. Who authorized this expenditure? I was under the sorry misunderstanding that the US House controls spending. Well guess what will happen under sequestration. The lawless Obama administration will sequester military funds only.All other spending will continue. Just wait and see.

Was the Manhattan Project financed with private funds? I think the Left can make a case from history that a certain amount of government intervention has enabled the furtherance of objectives that have improved the well being of mankind. Unfortunately we have lost trust in government interference because the objectives seem to be almost wholly political these days. Am I wrong?

Dr. Paul A. "The Glass Is Half Full" Rahe. Thanks for the pleasant thoughts on this Super Bowl Sunday. Playing political gamesmanship has never been a joy for me, but when dealing with powerful enemies in Government at any level it is a necessary evil. Better than to pray that those playing for our side have, in the end, the better skills. Therein has always been the problem for Republicans.

Washington, D.C. is full of lobbies: Gay lobby, pharmaceutical lobby, Hispanic lobby, insurance lobby, Planned Parenthood lobby, ethanol lobby. I could go on for about an hour. Other than the Israeli lobby, if there is one per say (I suspect there is) and the pro Life lobby, which of them is existential? So rather than argue about it's existence, why not discuss its value? Is Israel one of our strongest allies? Are they at the center of one of the world's most tenuous political areas, which happens to also be the center (hopefully not for long) of the worlds most widely used fuel? Why is any of this sinister? The Arabs have rarely been trustworthy allies. The Israelis, with a few exceptions, perhaps, have always been trustworthy allies. If they have paid consultants making sure our Congressmen are aware of their positions, I say it might be the only place where their POV is heard in the world today. Walt and Mearsheimer need to find another pony to ride.

How great to be able to log on to Ricochet and get first class straight forward news analysis not available elsewhere on an area of the world that is important to me. Thank you Judith.

...and what about Obamacare? They are already forcing Doctors to record all patients visits AND what is discussed with those patients, into a national database. HIPPA does not extend to the Federal Government. Ask your Doctor what info on yourself he is giving to the Feds.