Via the Free Beacon and the Corner. No surprise that two of O’s few Syria allies in Congress would be outraged on his behalf by Putin’s latest humiliation, but honestly, I’ve been against striking Syria all along and I was irritated by the op-ed too. Makes me wonder how many doves on the Hill are starting to chafe at the obvious enjoyment the Kremlin and its client are taking in embarrassing the White House, notwithstanding the fact that our president spent a full year moronically bumbling his way into this mess. You may hate having Ryan Leaf at quarterback, but that doesn’t make it easier to watch the other team celebrate for 15 minutes in the end zone after they pick him off and run it back. Hitting Syria is unpopular enough with American voters that Putin can probably go on dancing for awhile before sentiments start to shift in Congress, but there’ll be no new “resets” in 2017, needless to say. Coming soon from John McCain’s press shop: It’s time to arm the Novosibirsk rebels.

Speaking of which, why did the Times greenlight Putin’s piece after rejecting an op-ed submitted by McCain when he was GOP nominee in 2008? Both pieces were of national interest because of the stature of the author; both pieces were crafted with an eye to advancing a political agenda, not stating a candid opinion. If campaign talking points don’t qualify as news during a presidential election, why does Kremlin propaganda qualify in the middle of a big UN charade?

Update: Democrat Steve Israel says turnabout’s fair play and submits his own open letter on Syria to a Russian media outlet. Will it run?