Calvin Trillin: "The Harry Golden Rule (for journalists), properly stated, is that in present-day America it's very difficult, when commenting on events of the day, to invent something so bizarre that it might not actually come to pass while your piece is still on the presses."
Let me give you an example:
If an American president said that when I was a boy, he would have been impeached for treason - likely imprisoned. He certainly would NOT have been re-elected.
Americans might have suspected that his motives in disbanding the Sixth Fleet were not in keeping with America's best interests.
Keep all this in context with the unfolding events in Syria.