Watch this speech and then tell me that we can’t do anything:
This isn’t good enough anymore.
About The Author
BooMan
Martin Longman a contributing editor at the Washington Monthly. He is also the founder of Booman Tribune and Progress Pond. He has a degree in philosophy from Western Michigan University.
He mentioned the word god several times. He didn’t say the word gun once.
I still no no hope anything will change.
He referenced “shootings” and “violence.” I think you are nitpicking.
No, she’s not nitpicking. It is very curious he avoided the word ‘gun’ when he was talking about—guns. The avoidance of the word cannot be accidental. It might be compared to the red cloth exiting a bull in the arena: it makes quite a few people rabid and foaming at the mouth. No one can seriously be in favor of ‘shootings’ and ‘violence’, the owners of automatic weapons aren’t either, with those consequential exceptions. The starting point for the discussion might be specifically the ownership of assault weapons. Maybe the NRC and their owners can tell us what use these weapons might have in our present-day world. I wondered today if when the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the constitutional right to own guns they consulted experts on eighteenth-century English usage in the American colonies when the second amendment was formulated. The wording is not clear, not unclear. The juxtaposition of ‘militia’ and ‘arms’ can hardly cover the ownership of weapons outside the context of a militia. Is it today permissible to form a people’s militia?
Ok I should say that I’m a preacher’s kid so my perspective is from many memorial services. Saying the word “gun” might have been upsetting for the children who were in attendance–adults too. People are very raw and have PTSD and saying the word may have caused pain.
He doesn’t have to say everything every time. When we are discussing legislation, I’m sure he will say “gun” or “assault weapon”.
I agree that the avoidance of the word “gun” is no accident, and I also agree with the “red flag to a bull” reference.
Avoidance of the word gun in this speech is classic Obama. He helps bring everyone along so that they are already thinking the same thing by the time he finally says it or does it.
He is the teacher. In yesterday’s speech, he initially framed it as a question, so we would all have to come to the conclusion that no, we are not doing enough. So by the time he says it, you are only agreeing with him rather than having to process what he says as imposing a plan of action on you, which many people instinctively resist.
So President Obama makes this speech, and most thinking/caring people will be thinking “we need to do something about guns”. So by the time the president says the word guns later this week, most everyone will have gotten there before him, so it won’t be perceived (as much) as a threat. By then it’s clear that any reasonable person would come to the same conclusion.
I think that if this was a strategic omission on his part, then it is a smart one.
There is no quicker way to kill the likelihood of any discussion than to immediately trigger the defensive response on the part of those you are trying to gather into your fold. People are persuadable at this point. And many of those who were not previously amenable to even talking about it are now giving signals about their openness. I’m not talking about the gun nuts. I’m talking about those who previously were reflexive against any talk about guns, but who had not really thought it through. Now it has suddenly become very personal and relevant to them. After all, these people send their kids off to school every day. And now they see that this could easily have been their community.
I am not going to discount this President’s strategy at this point. Not after watching him for the last six months.
I posted my comment above before seeing this comment from you, but I think we may be making the very same point.
Yes, I believe we are making the same point. The President knows that this discussion needs to build slowly. If he goes out there shrieking, “GUNS!!! GUNS!!! BAN THE GUNS!!!”, then the walls will go up and never again come down. He knows he has an opportunity if he executes this properly.
I think he played it perfectly. We’ll see how it goes from here.
Booman, I think we have to be willing to have conversations about this in our communities. In our town we had an impromptu coffee conversation to talk about it and decided to have a community meeting. We are doing this on Tuesday evening. It is amazing how people are spreading the word and wanting to help.
Sen. Feinstein said that she will introduce an assault weapons ban. That seems like a reasonable place to start. And I do think we need hearings because it will force the Republicans to comment–to talk about it. They love to talk about guns until there is a tragedy–and then they disappear.
We have invited people who like to hunt to participate because I think it is really important not to discount that there are a lot of responsible gun owners who are also NRA members who do think we need reasonable rules. Let’s get them into this conversation.
I don’t know if we will be successful but I think it is foolish to think that the President can do this by himself–even if he does find just the right words at the right time. We have to make this happen. We have to learn about this complex issue. We have to find a way to talk about it and we have to figure out what steps we can take and achieve. This will not be solved all at once and that doesn’t mean we can’t do anything.
I wanted to add that the cynicism coming from the left is really counterproductive. I happen to think that cynicism is a cop out. It provides a justification for not doing anything. It is also incredibly draining and we are going to need stamina because this will be a very patient process.
The NRA, under its current leadership, needs to be marginalized. Part of the problem is that responsible gun owners empower the extremists simply by belonging to the NRA and paying dues. I’ve a hunch that many of them would like to vote with their feet except they want to belong to some national gun owners’ association, and the NRA is the only one.
So perhaps the time is ripe to form an alternative to the NRA, dedicated to gun safety as the NRA was orignally. If reasonable gun owners can’t take back the NRA, then they can leave it to the loons and let it become politically irrelevant.
I like the idea of an alternative to the NRA and this is why we are inviting hunters. Maybe they can change that organization–that is for them to decide but I do think it is important to bring gun owners into the conversation and to invite them to be a part of the solutions.
The NRA pretends that they were/are dedicated to gun safety and responsible gun ownership. All of their PR says so and therefore it must be so…
Get under that surface layer and you’ll find that they’re no more interested in these things than the tobacco and alcoholic beverage industries are concerned about “responsible use” of their products. They are a lobbying organization. And not just for gun ownership rights.
The real history of the NRA is a bit different. They were formed after the KKK was designated a terrorist organization with the goal of keeping guns out of the hands of black people and protecting the “rights” of scared white people to intimidate Those People that they used to literally own (as slaves) from getting revenge. And the founding principles live on…
A very powerful speech. It will be hard for the Right Wing Fundies to criticise this one…but they will. I hope this speech comes at a point in time when others are ready to listen. If they are, it might mark the beginning of a time when some sanity is restored, if not in a month or two folks will say, “oh yeah, there was that thing in Connecticut, what was the name of that town?”
Well, you can’t say Obama isn’t willing to try—thank God he’s a second termer, no prez having to face our crappy electorate again could do this. He’s basically picking up one of this country’s high voltage powerlines—sort of like health care reform…
The nation’s rightwing lunatics must be beside themselves—what will this week’s gun & ammo sales be? Will there be Christmas specials at WeaponsMart?
First, what reason do we have to believe that the latest gun atrocity has changed one person’s mind about gun control? I assume polls are now being conducted. But one big reason America has no gun control whatever is because most Americans oppose it, and are single issue voters on it. They love, love, love their guns.
Yes, the NRA helped fortify, manufacture and enshrine this gun love, but it’s a pretty long term love affair at this point. Nice kindergarten volunteering Moms in Deep Blue states apparently have massive home arsenals of multiple assault weapons and more ammo rounds than Hitler’s 2nd Panzer Division. Never know when it might be “needed”, I guess….
Second, what is the possible model for advancing any serious reform legislation in our current polluted and paralyzed Congress? What actual reform has the “conservative” Repub party ever been willing to consider, let alone support, in the past 20 years? The same party that annihilated the Dems the last time they tried some slight gun control reforms? How does reform even get started? Will the senate introduce a bill, even a simple restoration of the assault weapons ban (that Cheney and his braindead Repub Congress let lapse)?
The one thing we have in our favor is that if ANYTHING could induce some sort of “action” by our paralyzed and dysfunctional Congress and by our degenerate and perverted Gun Nut Nation, the Atrocity at Sandy Hook is it…
gun control generally polls poorly but when you poll the individual components the approval goes way up
I guess it’s kind of like health care reform in that way
Obama is different since winning his second term. He’s always been confident and composed, but now I see a steeled resolve in his language and posture. He’s addressed the gun control issue twice now, and both times he has alluded to the need for change.
This is where we find that sliver of hope in what has always seemed to be a hopeless battle. We as a nation have to grab this opportunity with both hands and demand changes in legislation, in enforcement, in attitudes towards mental health of our young men, and our entire attitude about gun culture.
It’s baby steps, people. But we have to strike while the iron is hot. Obama wants to make things happen, and we have to help him.
This was the realest speech I’ve seen him give. Even more real than the race in America speech. And this is exactly what presidential leadership is supposed to be about.
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One never knows … @NRA still silent, others are not.
I watched it, and I don’t think we can do anything.
Sorry to be a bummer.