If Bush said it, this statement would automatically be a Bushism; since it’s coming from Dodd, the media will just shrug it off as a, “oh, we all know what he meant.”
Guns and video games: ABC’s “This Week” host, George Stephanopoulos, noted that the father of Sen. Christopher J. Dodd (D-Conn.) called for new gun laws the day after 14 were shot dead at the University of Texas in 1966, and the host asked Dodd, a 2008 presidential hopeful, whether he would follow in his father’s footsteps. Dodd replied that there is more than guns to talk about: “mental health, what’s on our television and video things. And it isn’t just about legislation or regulation. It’s having a leader in the White House that’s willing to talk about these issues.”
I, too, have been greatly concerned about what’s on our… video things. That’s why I strongly support the National Doohickey Whatchamacallit Act.
Like Senator Ted Stevens, I’m concerned about what’s on this series of tubes. As he wisely pointed out, “the Internet is not something you just dump something on. It’s not a truck.”
On a slightly more serious note, how depressing is it that Dodd seems to be suggesting that the solution to violence in public places is having a leader who’s willing to talk about it? How, exactly, will that reduce violence? “Well, I was going to go on a shooting spree today, but then I heard this talk from President Dodd…”
Also – will anyone follow Dodd into the Tipper Gore path of taking on the entertainment industry? Or was the reference to “what’s on our television” just a rhetorical flourish that will never amount to an actual legislative proposal?
UPDATE: In other bad news for the Dodd campaign, it appears he is the preferred candidate of Alec Baldwin. Perhaps he can record get-out-the-vote calls for the campaign.
Or Baldwin might prefer Gore, as this Huffington Post comment seems to hint.