I have a crazy theory. A lot of people have commented that Obama was aloof at the debate on Wednesday night. He seemed out of it. People have been quick to blame it on his lack of preparedness or the fact that it was his anniversary. Bill Maher even joked that Obama was high. None of the proposed reasons make any sense. I think he was distracted by Syria.

On Wednesday, Syria killed several people inside Turkey with a mortar attack. Turkey has responded by shelling Syria with artillery. Turkey has not declared war yet, but they are close. If Turkey decides to actually declare war, the US will have to support them due to the fact that we are both NATO charter holders. An attack on one is an attack on all.

I think Obama was distracted last night because of all the stress related to Syria. He is either planning the U.S. invasion or doing everything in his power to avert a crisis. If it is an invasion, I suspect it would be a Special Operations forces mission instead of a full scale military invasion. The U.S. population does not currently have the appetite for another full scale war. While the CIA and certain tier 1 assets are currently in place in Syria, this would allow the U.S. to conduct more open raids with additional military hardware - i.e. drones.

Being president is not easy. Many of the debate preparations started late or were cut short due to him having to deal with serious issues. This is part of the reason why I believe a president should serve only one term, but make it 6 years. Our president should not spend his time in office worrying about getting re-elected. One term, 6 years.

And while I’m talking about the debate, here is Polifact’s fact check of the debate. Read it.