Settle down, tough guy.

Via Politico:

A resolution to authorize a military strike against Syria remains on the table in the Senate despite a pause for diplomacy, Democratic leaders said Wednesday morning.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said he’s “happy” that a diplomatic solution is being pursued with Russia calling on Syria to relinquish control of its chemical weapons, which Syrian President Bashar Assad is accused of using against his own people.

But Reid emphasized that he is ready to to call up an authorization of military force for a vote in the upper chamber if there is any evidence that the proposal from Russia isn’t serious or is a stalling tactic because “talking and action are two separate things.”

“We’ll see what we can do to give the president the time and the space that our country needs,” Reid said in his first comments following President Barack Obama’s national address on Syria on Tuesday night. “Congress should not take the threat of military action off the table.”

The Senate’s No. 2 Democrat, Dick Durbin, said the Senate will move on with other legislation as diplomatic negotiations are pursued on Thursday between Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian top brass.

Update: He does realize we would be bombing Assad on behalf of the people who carried out 9/11, right?

Via Washington Examiner:

. . . Reid had already postponed what would have been their first vote on the resolution Wednesday after lawmakers learned of the Russian proposal. Some believe Reid was eager to delay the vote any way because it appeared headed for defeat.

“Today we bow our heads in solemn remembrance of a devastating time in our nation’s history,” Reid said of the 9/11 attacks 12 years ago. “Even as we pay tribute to America’s tradition of freedom for every citizen, across the globe an evil dictator denies his citizens not only their right to liberty but also their right to live.