Polluted public discourse

I generally try to steer clear of political rants here, but it is striking how the likes of Paul Ryan and Marco Rubio combine delighted support when a Republican president bombs Syria, with opposing it and mocking its military ineffectuality when a Democrat does the same thing. They don't even try to appear consistent or principled, counting instead on voters' short memories and susceptibility to partisan stereotyping.

The Democrats are very far from wholly reciprocating, partly because they fear coming off as anti-military action, and partly because they still seem to imagine that there are neutral refs or other arbiters out there, whom they would benefit from pleasing as reasonable and sincere.

But the net effect is a huge tilt and bias in overall political discourse around presidents and foreign policy / military action - alongside the other bias, which almost always lies in favor of military action, be it wise or feckless, so that one will look "strong" rather than "weak."