President Obama, in a speech, left his teleprompter and startled his aides by saying that if Assad used chemical weapons on his own people that he will have crossed a red line and that the United States would then act. There is now credible evidence that Assad has indeed used chemical weapons on the rebels, and Obama is now backing down and looking for a way out. The question is not whether the United States should now intervene in the Syrian civil war, we should not, but what damage to the credibility of the United States has been done by a president who talks tough and threatens retaliation who then backs down and weasels his way out of his words.

He struts and says they shall not pass

With lips firm as a small mouth bass

Fierce eyes and brow like shiny brass

A strutting popinjay

With red lines drawn he stares them down

And when they’re crossed they cause a frown

He looks for ways he can back down

And he is here to stay

Each day there comes an acolyte

Explaining why things aren’t right

But when they are why then we’ll fight

As honor slips away