And if he had done what he said we should do, he would not have suffered a humiliating defeat on Gun Control.
In his speech after Newtown he said this:
Can we honestly say that we're doing enough to keep our children, all of them, safe from harm?
Can we claim, as a nation, that we're all together there, letting them know they are loved and teaching them to love in return?
Can we say that we're truly doing enough to give all the children of this country the chance they deserve to live out their lives in happiness and with purpose?
I've been reflecting on this the last few days, and if we're honest with ourselves, the answer's no. We're not doing enough. And we will have to change. Since I've been president, this is the fourth time we have come together to comfort a grieving community torn apart by mass shootings, fourth time we've hugged survivors, the fourth time we've consoled the families of victims.
Emphasis is mine.
I believe him. He's right. We need to change the way we look at ways to prevent events like Newtown. The problem is, what he and the Democrats proposed wasn't anything different than what they have been proposing in one form or another for the past 50 years. In the wake of a horrific tragedy, the President and Democrats in congress did not get creative and look for new solutions, they dusted off a 50 year old playbook and proceded to try and get something they've always wanted. And when the People hear
Democrat Senators pushing the bill, even the sponsor of the bill admit that the Legislation they say is so needed
would not have prevented the crime that is the impetus for the Bill, support for it fell.
But there were clues early on that Obama was not really after an actual solution. In the same speech referenced above he said this:
Are we prepared to say that such violence visited on our children year after year after year is somehow the price of our freedom?
When you say that you want to engage in a conversation so that you can come to an agreement to solve a problem, its helpful if you don't start that conversation with an accusation that the other guy doesn't care about dead kids.
Most people are in favor of background checks, and Obama could have gotten them. But he instead engaged in the tactic of demonizing those who he saw as opponents rather than as partners moving towards a solution. Then he spent a good deal of time and poltical capital in pursuing a ban on magzines and so called "assault rifles."
We need to change the way we look at this problem, on that much Obama is correct on. We need to make it more difficult for persons with serious mental illness to get guns. That's it. That's what6's needed. It would pass in a heartbeat.
