Russia is also now taking away Obama’s fig leaf that the threat of force is driving this phony weapons deal, by taking the threat of force entirely off the table. Obama is playing cards with Reggie Love, Putin is playing 3D chess like a boss.

◼ Russia Backing Away from Fake Syria Weapons Deal - Bryan Preston/PJMedia

Obama is being played. The Russian deal forced him to change course and re-write tonight’s speech at the last minute. Now he has to re-write it again, or pretend that the Russians didn’t just drop a flaming bag of something on the White House doorstep. It will be grimly amusing to see what Obama tells the American people about all this now. The words “fiasco” and “clusterf*ck” have been said by others today. He won’t use either word, but that doesn’t mean both don’t apply.

Harry Reid pretended that the Russia deal drove him to halt a vote on force in the Senate. The reality is that Democrat votes for force were “dropping like flies,” and the prospect of passage in the House was always grim. ◼ Obama lost the Congressional Black Caucus today. Sen. Mitch McConnell ◼ came out against bombing today, breaking with the House GOP leaders who had supported it, and probably killing off any chance that the Senate would help Obama out by at least giving him a split vote in Congress. The likelihood now is that he gets rejected by both houses with actual “No” votes or implicitly if neither brings the authorization to a vote, and then has to decide if he wants to strike Syria anyway. Does Barry feel lucky?

So Obama is being played by Putin. The question is, does he know or even care that he’s being played?

DRUDGE:
◼ SYRIA ACCEPTS RUSSIAN WEAPONS PROPOSAL - AP
◼ PUTIN: U.S. must call off strike - Russia Today
◼ Ships Assad more weapons - Times Of Israel
◼ Obama revises address to U.S. - New York Times
◼ 'Rebels' oppose proposal - Josh Rogin/Daily Beast
◼ MAG: Putin Didn't Save Obama, He Beat Him - Weekly Standard

Maybe Barack Obama and Vladimir Putin really did discuss the idea of putting Syrian chemical weapons under international control last week on the sidelines of the G20 conference. Putin sure doesn’t care that Obama’s taking credit for the proposal, or that the administration is posturing like a Mob enforcer. “The only reason why we are seeing this proposal,” said White House spokesman Jay Carney, “is because of the U.S. threat of military action.”


Right, Putin is laughing to himself. Whatever. If Obama wants to sell it like a Christmas miracle on Pennsylvania Avenue that’s fine with Putin, because Putin won.

◼ Navy Deploys 'USS Barry' Off Coast of Syria - National Review
◼ NOONAN: 'We've never had a presidential speech like this!' Wall St. Journal
◼ Russian Parliament Gloats as Putin Checkmates Obama Over Syria - Breitbart

Monday morning, Secretary of State John Kerry made what an administration official called a "major goof" with a never-going-to-happen hypothetical that suggested Syria could avoid American airstrikes by surrendering their chemical weapons. Even the State Department walked Kerry's statement back. But Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov immediately seized upon Kerry's flub, and now a member of the Russian parliament is gloating over Putin's checkmate of Obama.

◼ John Kerry changes story to claim credit - Buzzfeed
◼ SLAM! Obama should give Putin his Nobel Peace Prize! - FOX
◼ DEM SEN: 'We're not trusting Assad; We are trusting Russians' - Washington Free Beacon
◼ Syrian 'Rebels' Giving U.S. Targets To Defeat Regime - Sky News
◼ WH downplays ties to al Qaeda - Washington Times
◼ German paper says intercepts show Assad rejecting Sarin use - McClatchy
◼ PAPER: Intel officials warned president al Qaeda was strengthening - Washington Times
◼ Flailing Obama slumps to lowest ratings of his presidency, as US voters see him as ‘a weak and indecisive leader’' - Nile Gardiner/Telegraph