In London exile in 1940, Charles de Gaulle decided "it was up to me to take responsibility for France" ("c'etait a moi d'assumer la France"). No U.S. president should assume he is, as de Gaulle almost mystically did, the nation, or is solely responsible for it. Remember this when U.S. President Barack Obama defends his choice to attack Syria.

U.S. power and security are somewhat dependent on a president's stature, which should not be diminished unnecessarily. Neither, however, should America's well-being be equated with a president's policy preferences or political health. The real but limited importance of presidential prestige, and the real but limited diminution of it that would result from blocking Obama's attack, both matter. But so do the manifest and manifold weaknesses of his argument.

George Orwell, who said insincerity is the enemy of clear language, would understand why our government talks of "quantitative easing" rather than printing money, and uses "enhanced interrogation" and "extraordinary rendition" rather than more concrete denotations. The debate about Syria has featured a peculiar phrase, "the vetted opposition."