There must be a point to this…

I’m just having trouble discerning what it might be.

OK… So I’m sitting here scratching my head. You’re probably scratching your head and asking the same question I am: What is he doing?

Throughout his long years in office, Barack Obama has made no secret of his hatred of American gun owners. Almost from day one he’s picked fights with Congress and the Supreme Court over gun control. He’s never passed up an opportunity to demonize the NRA. However, he’s had his limits. He toned it down leading up to his re-election and before the midterm elections. At the time, it looked like he and his advisers were reading the tea leaves correctly; like they understood that support for gun control by the American People might have been a mile wide, but it was only an inch deep. Now, I’m wondering how they went off the rails.

When Obama first came to office, his drive, albeit a weak one, for gun control was understandable as a political tool. For decades, a majority of Americans told pollsters that they supported “stricter gun control laws” and “the assault weapon ban”. They supported gun control in the abstract even if they opposed its specifics. For a liberal Democrat (i.e. a socialist), gun control was a safe bet; a great way to rally the rank and file and to pump up the donors. But, throughout Obama’s tenure the polls have shifted. A majority now oppose gun control. That mile wide, inch deep support has dried up.

So, what’s up with this?

President Obama sat down Monday with top law enforcement officials to review and finalize new executive actions aimed at tightening the country’s gun laws – a push that Republicans on Capitol Hill and the campaign trail are calling a “dangerous” overreach.

The president lit a fire under the gun control debate last week when he and his aides announced White House plans to kick off the new year with executive action on gun rules. Obama met Monday afternoon with Attorney General Loretta Lynch, FBI Director James Comey and other top officials to work out those plans.

It’s not just the “what” of it, it’s the “when”. When all you have to offer the electorate is two, cranky, old socialists and an unidentified man, now is not the time to remind people that yours is the party of crazy gun grabbers. Obama and his tea leaf readers can’t possibly think that this is a way to keep the White House and regain the Senate. It’s almost as if he’s deliberately trying to scuttle his party in the 2016 elections.

Hence the head scratching.

Be First to Comment

Leave a Reply