Earlier today via Twitter

Oliver Willis ‏@owillis
if only we had a seasonally appropriate story about middle eastern people seeking refuge being turned away by the heartless 2:03 PM – 16 Nov 2015

And in Kansas:

Rep. Kevin Yoder ‏@RepKevinYoder
Today, I wrote @POTUS demanding he reject refugees from Syria or other nations w/ties to ISIS from entering the US. 4:39 PM – 16 Nov 2015

And in Missouri:

Jason Hancock ‏@J_Hancock
@PeterKinder, @HanawayForGov & @JohnBrunnerMO each call on @GovJayNixon to block Syrian refugee relocation to Missouri #mogov 2:28 PM – 16 Nov 2015

Governor Nixon didn’t.

From commenter the Conster at Balloon Juice:

You only have to play 1-D chess when everyone else is eating paste.

“….and now Assad’s chemical arsenal will be in far better control than it would have been after a limited military strike.”

A video from Representative Vicky Hartzler (r) on Syria:

Representative Vicky Hartzler (r): Hi, I wanted to give you an update on the situation in Syria. Since I’ve been back this we, uh, week I’ve sat in on over four hours of classified briefings and an additional, uh, two hours of briefings by Secretary of State, uh, John Kerry, uh, Department of Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and, uh, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Martin Dempsey on this, uh, situation.

Uh, obviously I’m looking at all of the information. And at this point I still do not see a direct U.S. interest in getting involved. And I see a lot of potential hazards for having military action. Uh, certainly there’s the possibility of retaliation that I’m concerned about that could draw us into an even further conflict in the Middle East. I’m also concerned about the cost of waging this war. We have, uh, significant defense cuts right now going on, uh, which is hampering our, our military and our national security. We are still at war in Afghanistan. And so at this time I still do not see, uh, a reason to get involved.

I very much appreciated all of the input that I have received from you. Thank you for phone calls, your e-mails, your responses to facebook. And I continue to want to hear from you.

As you know the President spoke last night about this situation and, uh, certainly I agree that these chemical, uh, attacks were severe atrocities. Uh, but yet there is really no clear ally in this civil war over there that we can get behind and, uh, I don’t see the, the benefit or wisdom of it at this time.

The Russians, as you know, have put forth a proposal, uh, that, uh, our country is looking at and I think that is wise to look into this idea of involving a U.N. Security Council agreement for Assad to give up his chemical weapons and for it to come under control of, uh, foreign United Nations, uh, forces, to be dismantled. Uh, but I, I have my doubts that that will transpire knowing the track history of Russia. But certainly it’s worthy to, uh, to pursue.

So I’m gonna to continue to be monitoring the situation and I welcome your input into this very, very important topic. Uh, thank you for, uh, the privilege of representing you and, uh, rest assured, I’m gonna continue to do due diligence and do all I can to stand for our military and for a strong national security. Have a good day.

Well, it appears that isolationism trumps defense sequestration.

So, if a state commits crimes against humanity and we’re really not into any of the other sides that we can get behind, we do what? Just asking.

Previously:

Rep. Vicky Hartzler (r): caught between Syria and a hard place (September 10, 2013)

Rep. Vicky Hartzler (r): Syriously (September 3, 2013)

Rep. Vicky Hartzler (r): What about that Syria thing? (September 1, 2013)

President Obama: calling on Congress to debate and vote on use of military force in Syria (August 31, 2013)

On one hand, the teabagger base doesn’t like anything they imagine President Obama would like to do.

From Representative Vicky Hartzler (r):

Congresswoman Hartzler issues statement following conference call on Syria

Congresswoman Vicky Hartzler (MO-4) has issued the following statement regarding her conference call with citizens of the Fourth District who expressed their views on the situation in Syria:

“I pledged that I would listen to the thoughts and concerns of the citizens of Missouri’s Fourth Congressional District regarding this important issue. I have previously stated that I have concerns about the President’s plan to strike Syria, and have yet to be convinced that military action against the Assad regime is in the interests of the United States. Our conference call has further solidified my deep reservations as 97% of participants expressed opposition to our involvement. I thank all the citizens of our district who called in or who have expressed their feelings through telephone calls, emails, letters, and faxes to our offices in Washington and throughout the district. I value the input and will consider all the comments my office has received as I have the opportunity to cast MO-4’s vote in this critical time.”

[….]

[emphasis in original]

From Ezra Klein:

….There’s no peaceful, productive relationship with Congress for this vote to disrupt. The White House can’t get anything past House Republicans now. Neither a “yes” nor a “no” vote on Syria won’t change that. The downstream consequences of a congressional rebuff are, effectively, zero. It’s a few bad news cycles, and then all Washington will be talking about is the October debt limit….

….Indeed, a lengthy involvement in Syria could harm the White House’s other priorities. As Matt Yglesias at Slate notes, it’s going to be a lot harder for the White House to hold the line against the GOP’s attempts to cancel sequestration’s defense cuts (and only the defense cuts) when the military is actually dropping bombs in a foreign land….

Gee, leverage on defense sequestration. And then there’s the AIPAC voting block in the district.

Decisions, decisions.

Previously:

Rep. Vicky Hartzler (r): Syriously (September 3, 2013)

Rep. Vicky Hartzler (r): What about that Syria thing? (September 1, 2013)

President Obama: calling on Congress to debate and vote on use of military force in Syria (August 31, 2013)