“…So when I’ve said the use of chemical weapons would be a game changer, that wasn’t unique to—that wasn’t a position unique to the United States, and it shouldn’t have been a surprise. … But we don’t know who used them. We don’t have a chain of custody. … We’ve also called on the United Nations to investigate.”

This is a president who likens himself to Franklin D. Roosevelt? That answer is omnidirectional babble on an issue that has the “international community” of Turkey, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Lebanon and Jordan on tenterhooks; and strategic chess players watching in Russia, Iran, North Korea and China.

If it annoys Mr. Obama’s supporters to have his performance this week described as political chameleonism rather than thought-out leadership, let’s move to another question about something they want—the closing of Guantanamo, as promised in 2009.

“It’s easy to demagogue the issue.” Mr. Obama said. Uh-huh, but what’s to be done? “Ultimately we’re going to need some help from Congress. And I’m going to ask some folks over there who, you know, care about fighting terrorism but also care about who we are as a people to step up, and help me on it.” But that means he has to have a drink with Mitch McConnell. Mr. Obama’s distancing of himself from both parties in Congress on legislative matters is the stuff of Washington legend.