Putin's now universally known initiative on chemical weapons control in Syria has, in my opinion, opened the door to essential American character traits which may preordain our getting more involved in Syria's war.

We don't like to be lied to. We particularly don't like to be played for chumps. When we do decide to address a problem, we are impatient. We are capable of revenge, but as one pundit has put it, "...we have the watches, the Middle Easterners have the time."  We don't have the patience for cold revenge, we like ours hot. And if Putin is playing us for chumps, he has all but written a scenario for American intervention.

When one discovers a friend has lied or an associate has stolen, a trust has been violated and the pre-existing bond is broken - often irrevocably.

Such is the case with our current government versus U.S. citizens allied with people aroud the world.  Each day, new revelations detail how our government has spied on its own citizens, foreign leaders, and allies.  Glenn Greenwald, the Guardian reporter who covers the Edward Snowden story, is rumored to be preparing a story how the U.S. government assigned the CIA to spy to benefit U.S. multi-national corporations on matters not affecting U.S. security,  In essence, spying for fun and profit.  This was made legal during the Clinton administration but it was never made ethical or honorable - nor was it made widely public.

In the chaos surrounding the possible Syria strike, mass shootings, George Zimmerman and all sorts of other things, you might have missed out on a really strange story - Dennis Rodman's apparent new job as ambassador to North Korea.

It may seem un-American to offer advice to the enemy but, if ever there was a win-win situation, this is it.

If Al Qaeda would like to win, all they have to do is copy our Vietnam experience, declare victory, and go home.  The American people can finish your job.  It will be peaceful, bloodless, and all of our objectives will be fulfilled.

One of the really amazing things about Pope Francis rebuking homophobia was how nonchalant he was about it. There was no huge press conference or media campaign with long explanations about why being gay was now okay - in fact, the Pope seemed to secede his authority on the issue altogether - "Who am I to judge?"

We have a possibly equally strange rebuke of homophobia in the form of professional wrestler Darren Young. After being asked by a reporter if "a gay wrestler could be successful in the WWE," Young simply laughed and said "Absolutely. Look at me. I'm a WWE superstar and to be honest with you, I'll tell you right now, I'm gay. And I'm happy. I'm very happy." Here's the video from The Young Turks: