And, yes, that’s apparently a direct quote: “One day after President Obama assailed[*] the “political posturing” of Republicans who have called for barring the Syrian refugees from entering the United States, Senator Ted Cruz delivered this retort: “Come back and insult me to my face.”” …Not that Barack Obama would dare engage Cruz in a public debate, of course.  For several reasons, starting with the fact that the President’s a bit of a coward when it comes to trash-talking people ,and following up with the minor detail that Obama’s own party is getting just the tiniest bit antsy about the Syrian refugee thing.

Sen. Charles Schumer (N.Y.), the third ranking member of the Senate Democratic leadership, on Tuesday said it may be necessary to halt the resettlement of Syrian refugees in the United States.

Republicans immediately seized on Schumer’s comment, which breaks with other Democrats who have argued against halting the program.

I’m not a fan of Chuck Schumer, but I recognize that he has functioning political instincts. And I imagine that they’re screaming at [mc_name name=’Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY)’ chamber=’senate’ mcid=’S000148′ ] right now to get his party out of this mess. And it does have the potential to be a godawful mess (particularly since Syrians using forged passports to enter this country are a thing anyway).

To give just one example: I imagine that Barack Obama must have found it hysterical to suggest that we’re scared of “widows and orphans” – which is to say, women and child refugees.  This would have been a much better sick burn if it weren’t for the minor detail that the Saint-Denis raid featured a female jihadi who blew herself up rather than be captured. Or that ISIS, like all ‘proper’ drug-addled death cults, actually does use children and teenagers for suicide bombers. In other words… yeah, I think that it’s reasonable to assume that Islamic State is interested in getting as many fanatics that don’t fit our profiles of a ‘proper’ terrorist into the country as they can. Why doesn’t Barack Obama?

Now, I know, I know: the man doesn’t actually care. Obama’s just punching the clock until 2017 and making sure that everybody in his party kisses up to him until then. But the rest of his party still has to win elections in this country; and it’s no accident that the Democrats who seem most likely to want to publicly oppose the President’s views on this issue are also the Democrats who have to worry the most about what Republicans actually think about them. That’s what we call a hint, in this business.  It will be a real shame if nobody in the White House picks up on it…

Moe Lane

PS: Jumping back to Ted Cruz’s invitation for Barack Obama to come and talk trash to Ted’s face in a public debate if Barack thinks he’s tough enough (he’s not); no doubt some of the Smug Set will pontificate on Obama not needing to ‘punch down’ or whatnot.  But that’s fine.  Why?  Well, it’s like this.  In 2017, [mc_name name=’Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX)’ chamber=’senate’ mcid=’C001098′ ] will either be: President; Vice President; waiting on a Cabinet appointment; or the Senator from Texas. Barack Obama will be a private citizen. In other words: in 2017 Obama would not be punching down if he responded to Cruz’s friendly suggestion that Obama show some courage. I’m morally certain that [mc_name name=’Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX)’ chamber=’senate’ mcid=’C001098′ ] would be happy to repeat the invite for a public debate in a year and two months.

I’m equally morally certain that Barack Obama still won’t have the guts to accept it.

*He did it abroad, too.