[image: Fox News Halftime Report] April 7, 2017 By Chris Stirewalt
*On the roster: Donald Trump, exceptionalist **- **Russian outrage over Syria strikes - It’s official: Gorsuch confirmed as Justice - ‘Power Play’ plays on - Orgies are a young snake’s game* *DONALD TRUMP, EXCEPTIONALIST* If you wondered what American exceptionalism looks like, the 59,000 pounds of U.S. warheads raining down on Syria’s air force is a pretty good snapshot. America, the apex power of the world, does not tolerate the use of chemical weapons. We forbid it. Another country used chemical weapons – repeatedly – in its civil war, so the United States punished that nation by depleting its military. There are other countries in the world with the capability to deliver that kind of firepower and spend something approaching $100 million to send a message about the rules of war. But only the United States has the wherewithal to do so without even breaking a sweat. And, we dare say, that no other country in the world combines such capabilities with our moral authority. As much maligned, sometimes rightly, as America’s overseas interventions have been, no great power in history can match our track record of the use of force without conquest. Members of Congress, Democratic and Republican, want President Trump to get congressional authorization if he intends to keep up the strikes or undertake, ahem, a forward strategy of freedom to remove Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad from power and install a Western-style liberal democracy in his place. But as for the legality of this attack, there’s not much to debate. As when the British Empire unilaterally decided in 1807 to use its navy to stop the slave trade, powerful nations have special privileges when confronting moral odium. Right and might together are hard to beat. And that is what the traditional understanding of American Exceptionalism has been, not the more recent vintage <http://email.foxnews.com/t?r=6&c=52264&l=261&ctl=A171F:2A4996131A41F58628BA72AD8D56CD24&;> that held that it was a little different from patriotism. Exceptionalism does not here refer to the qualities of the nation, but rather that there are exceptions to the rules for this nation because of its qualities. America can have nuclear weapons but says that others can’t. America can sail its navy when and where it pleases, but forbid others so to do. And so on… It is not fair, but for more than a century, and in some ways since our founding, it is a right which America has claimed and defended as a privilege merited by our virtue. Now, you may or may not like that role for our country. You may, as Trump held during his campaign, believe that America is a sap and a sucker that spends money and sheds blood overseas without anything in return, allowing other countries to take advantage of us. Or you may believe, as Trump did <http://email.foxnews.com/t?r=6&c=52264&l=261&ctl=A1720:2A4996131A41F58628BA72AD8D56CD24&;> when his predecessor, Barack Obama, contemplated a similar action punishing for atrocities committed four years ago, that such interventions threaten U.S. national security and divert needed resources from rebuilding the United States. And given the ways in which America has failed in the exercise of its power over the decades, these are far from unsupported arguments. In fact, what is happening in Syria today can properly be said to substantially descend from a confused and confusing application of American power. And here we get to the questions with which human beings always struggle the most. We arrange our thinking and pursuits very much around questions relating to the word “can.” Those are simpler since they relate more to the other understanding of being exceptional -- can we do it? The hard ones are about “should.” The application of American power, exceptional or not, should always be governed more by the latter than the former. But as for the question of what America’s rightful role in the world is, Trump, after many years arguing the opposite, has placed himself firmly on the side of the exceptionalists. *RUSSIAN OUTRAGE OVER SYRIA STRIKES* AP: <http://email.foxnews.com/t?r=6&c=52264&l=261&ctl=A1721:2A4996131A41F58628BA72AD8D56CD24&;> “World leaders rallied around the United States after it launched a missile strike early Friday on a Syrian air base in response to this week's chemical attack, while Russia condemned the move as ‘aggression’ and suspended crucial coordination with Washington in Syria's congested skies. The overnight missile attack, which marked the first time the U.S. has directly targeted Syrian President *Bashar Assad*'s forces, was condemned by his allies in Russia and Iran but welcomed by the Syrian opposition and its supporters, who expressed hope it signaled a turning point in the devastating six-year-old civil war. The bombing represents Trump's most dramatic military order since taking office and thrusts the U.S. administration deeper into the complex Syrian conflict. The Obama administration threatened to attack Assad's forces after previous chemical attacks, but never followed through.” *But claim they wouldn’t have been harmed - *Miami Herald: <http://email.foxnews.com/t?r=6&c=52264&l=261&ctl=A1722:2A4996131A41F58628BA72AD8D56CD24&;> “The Russian military says its facilities in Syria are reliably protected by cutting edge air defense weapons … Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. *Igor Konashenkov* said Friday that the S-400 and Pantsyr air defense systems offer a ‘guaranteed protection’ to Russian warplanes stationed at Hemeimeem air base in Syria's province of Latakia. He added that a Russian navy outpost in Syria's Mediterranean port of Tartus is protected by S-300 air defense systems. Konashenkov has previously said that the Russian military would help the Syrian military beef up its air defenses following the U.S. strike. *And Iran isn’t happy either - *LA Times: <http://email.foxnews.com/t?r=6&c=52264&l=261&ctl=A1723:2A4996131A41F58628BA72AD8D56CD24&;> “Iran on Friday condemned the Trump administration’s missile strikes against Syria, saying the unilateral U.S. action would strengthen terrorists and ‘further complicate the situation’ in the Middle East. The Islamic republic, a strong ally of Syrian President Bashar Assad, said that while it condemned the use of chemical weapons, the U.S. response was ‘dangerous, destructive and a violation of international law.’ Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman *Bahram Ghassemi* rejected the conclusion that Assad’s forces had carried out the poison attack on Tuesday that killed more than 70 people in the town of Khan Sheikhoun, in rebel-held Idlib province.” *SOME MEMBERS OF GOP ARE NOT ON BOARD* The Hill <http://email.foxnews.com/t?r=6&c=52264&l=261&ctl=A1724:2A4996131A41F58628BA72AD8D56CD24&;>: “Sen. *Rand Paul* (R-Ky.) said Thursday night that President Trump needs congressional authorization for military action in Syria after Trump ordered an airstrike in retaliation for a deadly chemical attack earlier this week. ‘While we all condemn the atrocities in Syria, the United States was not attacked,’ Paul said in a statement shortly after reports that the U.S. had launched more than 50 Tomahawk cruise missiles against an airfield in Syria. ‘The President needs congressional authorization for military action as required by the Constitution, and I call on him to come to Congress for a proper debate,’ Paul said. *THE RULEBOOK: ONE COURT TO RULE THEM ALL * “To avoid the confusion which would unavoidably result from the contradictory decisions of a number of independent judicatories, all nations have found it necessary to establish one court paramount to the rest, possessing a general superintendence, and authorized to settle and declare in the last resort a uniform rule of civil justice.” – *Alexander Hamilton**, Federalist No. 22 <http://email.foxnews.com/t?r=6&c=52264&l=261&ctl=A1725:2A4996131A41F58628BA72AD8D56CD24&;> * *TIME OUT: HAIL, LEXINGTON! * History: <http://email.foxnews.com/t?r=6&c=52264&l=261&ctl=A1726:2A4996131A41F58628BA72AD8D56CD24&;> “On this day in 1776, Navy Captain *John Barry*, commander of the American warship Lexington, makes the first American naval capture of a British vessel when he takes command of the British warship HMS Edward off the coast of Virginia. The capture of the Edward and its cargo turned Captain Barry into a national hero and boosted the morale of the Continental forces. Barry was born in the seaboard county of Wexford, Ireland, in 1745 and offered his services to the Continental Congress upon the outbreak of the American Revolution. Congress purchased Barry’s ship, Black Prince, which it renamed Alfred and placed under the command of Commodore *Esek Hopkins*. It was the first ship to fly the American flag, raised by *John Paul Jones*.” *IT’S OFFICIAL: GORSUCH CONFIRMED AS JUSTICE* AP: <http://email.foxnews.com/t?r=6&c=52264&l=261&ctl=A1727:2A4996131A41F58628BA72AD8D56CD24&;> “The Senate confirmed *Neil Gorsuch* to become the newest associate justice on the Supreme Court Friday, elevating *Donald Trump*'s nominee following a corrosive partisan confrontation that could have lasting impacts for the Senate and the court. Vice President *Mike Pence* was presiding as the Senate voted 54-45 in favor of Gorsuch, a 49-year-old veteran of the 10th U.S. Circuit of Appeals in Denver whose rulings make him an intellectual heir to the late Justice *Antonin Scalia*, whose seat he will fill. Gorsuch won support from 51 of the chambers' Republicans as well as three moderate Democrats up for re-election in states Trump won last fall: *Joe Manchin* of West Virginia, *Heidi Heitkamp*of North Dakota and *Joe Donnelly* of Indiana. GOP Sen. Johnny Isakson of Georgia did not vote.” <https://www.avast.com/sig-email?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_campaign=sig-email&utm_content=emailclient&utm_term=icon> Virus-free. www.avast.com <https://www.avast.com/sig-email?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_campaign=sig-email&utm_content=emailclient&utm_term=link> __._,_.___ ------------------------------ Posted by: "Beowulf" <[email protected]> ------------------------------ Visit Your Group <https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/grendelreport/info;_ylc=X3oDMTJmdXJ2cWcyBF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzIwMTk0ODA2BGdycHNwSWQDMTcwNTMyMzY2NwRzZWMDdnRsBHNsawN2Z2hwBHN0aW1lAzE0OTE1OTU2MTg-> [image: Yahoo! 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