I thought, for the most part, the president gave a great speech last night. Right up until he used the venue to hint at legislation to come.
I get frustrated when people complain that politicians tend to politicize stuff like Newtown. That’s what they do. It’s there literal job description. But Obama’s politicization of the Newtown tragedy stood out not for its inappropriateness, but for its lack of substance. This line stood out:
In the coming weeks, I will use whatever power this office holds to engage my fellow citizens — from law enforcement to mental health professionals to parents and educators — in an effort aimed at preventing more tragedies like this.
I’ve seen this quote shortened many times on Twitter where “to engage my fellow citizens” is left out. The president didn’t say anything more than he’s ready to be the cheerleader-in-chief for more gun regulations.
I guess this means new gun legislation will come from the Senate, led by Harry Reid — who is no enemy of the NRA. From 2010:
In March, Mr. Reid helped open the Clark County Shooting Park, firing a shotgun and hitting two clay birds as the crowd cheered, according to press reports. Mr. Reid helped obtain $61 million for the new facility, and he was accompanied at the opening by NRA executive vice president Wayne LaPierre.
“I know how you worked,” Mr. LaPierre told Reid at the event, according to the Las Vegas Sun. Mr. LaPierre added that the park “would not have opened without the work of Sen. Reid.”
And although the NRA didn’t endorse Reid. . .
Mr. Reid’s campaign sought to put the best face on the decision, noting that the group has donated $4,950 to Mr. Reid’s campaign and suggesting it was significant that the NRA had even flirted with endorsing him.
If Dems and their supporters in the media are really serious about gun control, the first step would be getting rid of Harry Reid as Majority Leader, no?
There’s another issue here ignored by the MSM and that’s one of why Newtown gets more coverage than the daily carnage in the president’s hometown of Chicago? There have been 14 murders in the last seven days, 484 to date in 2012.
If we’re going to have any sort of worthwhile conversation on guns in America, we need to start with Chicago and ask why a city with some of the most restrictive gun control laws in the country is a war zone.