In a podcast with far left comedian Marc Maron, President Obama put forward a typical “first step” toward further infringement of Americans’ Second Amendment rights. Building on the existing, ineffective Brady Bill background check system, Obama posited the following “standards” for denying someone the right to purchase a gun. From thehill.com . . .
“The question is just, is there a way of accommodating that legitimate set of [hunting and sporting] traditions with some common-sense stuff that prevents a 21-year-old who’s angry about something — or confused about something, or is racist, or is deranged — from going into a gun store, and suddenly he’s packing and can do enormous harm?”
Of course, there’s no objective standard there, only emotional labels that would allow someone to use their political power to deny some people their constitutional rights. This is a favorite tactic of statists of all stripes. They have not interest in the rule of law, only the rule of man.
What I find fascinating about President Obama’s “standards” is that they appear to be pure projection. Other than the age he mentions (21, the legal age of adulthood in all 50 states), all of the reasons he mentions for preventing a person from getting a gun (angry, confused, racist, deranged) could apply directly to President himself. Let’s see:
“angry about something” – check. When hasn’t the President been angry about something?
“confused about something” – check. This President is confused about nearly everything, at least he seems so from his speeches.
“racist” – check. Wait, a racist President? Consider his “typical white woman” remarks about his own grandmother, his inserting of race into virtually every policy issue, his assuming the side of blacks in almost every prominent incident since he took office, before all the facts had been determined.
“deranged” – TBD. Many have claimed that President Obama is a narcissist, but many others believe that what appears to be a personality disorder may simply be the rational enactment of his deep-seated agenda.
By his own standards, President Obama has shown that he believes that he should never be trusted with owning a gun, because “suddenly he’s packing and can do enormous harm.” But the potential to do harm by owning a gun is minuscule compared the potential for harm given the power of the office of the Presidency.
We’ve seen that harm for the past seven years. The economy contracted in the first quarter, the national debt has been increased by 70%, race relations are at their lowest point in 40+ years, war is breaking out in eastern Europe and much of the Middle East and Africa are under siege thanks to this President’s policies.
It would be nice to see Mr. Obama apply his own standards to his own conduct, but he never has and he never will. Being the first black President means never having to answer to anyone.
©2015 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included.