Much is being made about this Newsweek article about Obama making a play for gun control.
Breathe. Think forward, not in the moment.
Ask yourself why the current Administration would choose to come hard for guns now? He has not made a single move on guns for 2 years. It is a political loser and the entire Left knows it. It has been for years. He is trying to channel Reagan! He is trying everything to make it look like he is moving Right. For a man who wants and needs the political Middle in 2 years, Gun Control is a wedge issue that will alienate the very people he needs.
So, what is the political value of making noise on guns now?
It is a chit to trade for what he really wants, which is for the Right to ease off of his Healthcare and settle for modifications rather than repeal or de-fund.
The rabid Left will make noise for him and be his Useful Idiots, but he will trade Gun Control in a hot second for a little breathing room on Healthcare.
What will be even more fascinating to watch will be the folks who have threatened all-out war in the face of the next Gun Control law. Watch how quickly they will move their own line, once again...
That is the ultimate reason the Establishment has no respect for us. Lots of talk, no action. Until we begin rational rhetoric that we back-up, we will forever have precisely the political clout we deserve.
Sam
III
The entire left does not know it.
ReplyDeleteLook at the list of co-sponsors for McCarthy's bill.
Hell, Sam, the righr doesn't seem to get it either.
But, I agree. Shifting lines in the sand only earn us well-deserved scorn.
Am I going to war over gun registration or permits? Probably not. Will I resist? Yes. How? I'm not tipping my hand quite yet.
Yeah, breathe. Don't talk about lines you can't back up. I agree. But don't be so quick to laugh this one off. There's a lot of support for tighter laws on the "right".
The list of co-sponsors is a who's-who of the Left. At 40 co-sponsors they still only represent 10% of the House.
ReplyDeleteEvery thinking political player on the Left does understand that Gun Control is a loser in political terms, that is why it has not been a national element of any D campaign in a decade.
The rabid Left will always want it, but they are as ineffective as the skinheads of the Right.
The only reason Obama would make a serious run at Gun Control is if he has decided that he will not even bother to run in 2012. That becomes more possible as states enact Proof of Birth requirements to get on the ballot.
Here's the way to measure how serious he is about Gun Control: If he supports a hi-cap ban, it is political theater. He'll take it if he can get it, but he will not invest any serious political capital for it.
If he makes a serious run at renewing the "Assault Weapons" ban, then a different reality obtains. But it doesn't, because not one member of the Congress or Administration is floating a test bill or test language.
They know the same numbers that Gallup knows: http://www.gallup.com/poll/145556/Doubt-Political-Rhetoric-Major-Factor-Ariz-Shootings.aspx
Gun control is not a serious threat right now - they have far more effective ways to enslave the population without coming for guns, and those are the chains they are working to tighten right now. 1A and 4A infringeents condition the mind against using guns, and that strikes at the spirit of resistance.
TSA pat downs are far more effective tools against Liberty than hi-cap bans or even door-to-door confiscations. When you kill the will to fight, it doesn't matter if there is a rifle in the closet.
Sam
III
Right now the left is like that yapping chihuahua. It's the distractor while the silent bad dog slips in and bites you in the ass.
ReplyDeletewhen they do decide to shift and make the end run in gun control, there will be no mistakingit.
You are correct again, Sam. If it occurs, it will be for the distraction. When you wrote " TSA pat downs are far more effective tools against Liberty than hi-cap bans or even door-to-door confiscations. When you kill the will to fight, it doesn't matter if there is a rifle in the closet" you hit the nail on the head.
ReplyDeleteEver since TSA began their "enhanced pat-downs", I've been saying that any man who allows his wife and/or three-year-old daughter to be groped by some low-wage TSA flunky has essentially caved in. I know that may sound harsh, but it is the truth.
If you haven't read "Walter Mitty's Second Amendment" by Jeff Snyder, let me know, and I'll send you a copy. It puts the boots to each and every one of us who values the Second Amendment, not because we shouldn't, but because it truly has been used against us, even as we have fought for it.
"TSA pat downs are far more effective tools against Liberty than hi-cap bans or even door-to-door confiscations. When you kill the will to fight, it doesn't matter if there is a rifle in the closet."
ReplyDeleteI completely agree. But...
"If he makes a serious run at renewing the "Assault Weapons" ban, then a different reality obtains. But it doesn't, because not one member of the Congress or Administration is floating a test bill or test language."
Given today's announcement, do you still stand by your statement that there will be no push for gun control?
Reg T-
ReplyDeleteI agree with you on the wife and kids. Not gonna happen. For me, for now, that means a week long drive to get to the lower 48 instead of a flight of a few hours. I'm not subjecting my family to that, and my wife has indicated that she not only supports my opinion on this, she would expect the same from any man.
For now, it means I don't fly. I hope avoidance remains an option, but I don't think it will be that way forever.
Here's the other thing though, and Sam has brought this up as well. While the 2A is not the be all and end all of liberty, it would suck to fight for freedom with rocks and sticks, as did Tunisia and as is Egypt.
There's more to freedom than the 2A, I agree. I do think, however, that Sam has misread the political climate. I'm not freaking out worrying about door to door confiscations, but today's announcement that there will be a Presidential push to re-institute the AWB would not have been made for no reason.
Both parties will move forward with measures to reduce firearms freedom, and Eric Holder's announcement today is partial proof.
We can lose our freedom though, and still be fully armed. Again, I largely agree with Sam's statement that 2A infringements are not the worst threat, but they are still a real threat nonetheless.
Any move on that end is therefore worthy of resistance by any means possible.
Resist.
AP
I was wrong about an Obama/Holder statement. I got bad information and did not verify it before writing.
ReplyDeleteHowever, if one reads between the lines- following news articles and the talk of the Left, and combines that with the Newsweek article, and these:
http://washingtonexaminer.com/politics/white-house/2011/01/obama-push-gun-control-measures
http://www.thenewamerican.com/index.php/usnews/politics/6099-obama-planning-gun-control-legislation
http://slatest.slate.com/id/2282748/
Which basically repeat it, I think the road ahead is clear. A GOP majority is not a roadblock to AWB type legislation, IMO, as many GOPers would support further 2nd Amendment violations.
We'll see in the coming weeks.
My money is on the AWB.