CNN has been hyping their “Guns in America” town hall special – scheduled for 8pm EST tonight – like a time share salesman at a retirement party. And why not? CNN has been chasing Fox’s tail for years. The President’s appearance on [what some call] the Communist News Network, formerly the Clinton News Network] will give CNN K-Street cred and a big fat ratings/earnings boost. Or will it? I have a sneaking suspicion . . .
that a large part of the gun rights crowd will give it a pass, in a not-entirely-misguided-attempt to keep their blood pressure within safe limits (a genuine concern for OFWGs). Beyond that, a large number of non-guncentric Americans suffer the same distressing Obama-triggered stimulus/response pattern. As in Obama -> this guy is the president? -> we’re so screwed.
Obviously, there are plenty Obama supporters who wouldn’t dare miss the President’s star turn on CNN – in the same sense that Boris Badenov wouldn’t dare miss his little chats with Fearless Leader. But here’s the dirty little secret about all this Obama “Guns in America” stuff: the vast majority of Americans are simply not interested in the subject. As cns.com reported ahead of the President’s executive order/tearjerker . . .
A newly released Gallup Poll shows that “guns/gun control” ranked near the bottom of Americans’ most pressing concerns in 2015. In fact, guns/gun control ranked 19th out of 23 top problems facing the country last year.
According to Gallup, only one percent of respondents mentioned guns/gun control as a concern for most of the months in 2015, although mentions spiked to 7 percent in October and December following mass shootings in those months that dominated the news. (The overall average for the year was 2 percent.)
Americans were most likely to mention some aspect of the federal government in 2015 when asked to name the country’s top problem.
So the feds aren’t the answer to America’s problems, they are the problem. Who saw that one coming? And look! There’s immigration at the top of the pile. Quick! Someone tell Donald Trump!
To paraphrase the Gyrocopter Pilot in The Road Warrior, a quick fella might think “Guns In America” was designed to distract attention away from the Obama administration’s domestic and foreign policy failures. I’d have to pin his head to the panel. You know; to make him watch this anti-gun agitprop.
Fortunately, TTAG will be live-blogging the event and providing in-depth analysis, although the actual depth of the post-show analysis may have more to do with a bottle of Colonel E.H. Taylor’s Single Barrel Bourbon whiskey than anything pithy the Prez says. More on that later. Or moron that later. Your choice. Anyway, are you gonna watch? Any ideas for a drinking game? Note: taking a shot every time Mr. Oabam says “common sense” does not constitute responsible drinking. Just sayin’ . . .