Wednesday, 24 April 2013

THE HUMBLED PRESIDENT


Marianne Mavrikios on April 25, 2013

Following a recent string of gun-related tragedies over the past year, few people were surprised by President Obama's efforts to enact legislation aimed at reforming the nation's gun laws.

Of course, equally unsurprising was the deep division of opinions regarding both the effectiveness and necessity of such legislation, which included a proposal to ban some semi-automatic weapons resembling military assault rifles. In addition, the bill had also recently introduced a number of amendments, the most significant of which aimed to expand background checks for gun buyers at firearms shows and on the Internet.

As a result, prices for both firearms and ammunition have spiked over the past few months along with demand, as worried consumers began to stockpile the products.

Negative Reaction.

“Irresponsibility and demagoguery are a threatening mix especially when exhibited by the President of the United States.” One political commentator was quoted as saying.

President Obama became unhinged following the defeat in the Senate of the universal background check bill put forth by Senators Pat Toomey and Joe Manchin.

Obama said, “All that happened today was the preservation of the loophole that lets dangerous criminals buy guns without a background check. That didn’t make our kids safer.”

Since when do dangerous criminals buy their guns from licensed dealers?
I mean even Dianne Feinstein admitted on the floor of the Senate that a universal background check would not have prevented Newtown, but would have seen some people who were unfit to own firearms unable to purchase them. 

But all that matters to Obama is that he didn’t get his way. Hell hath no fury like Obama scorned, Commented another.

An Unresponsive Senate.


Things we perceive as good, fail and things we adopt as bad, prosper. This is where the game of politics is crippling the US as a country. Instead of coming together on major issues to resolve problems, Politicians seem to try getting political points from voters instead.

Unfortunately for the president who was re-elected, Using a national tragedy that sparked a coast-to-coast outrage, failed to get a measure through the Senate even when it was supported  by 9 out of 10 Americans and a majority of the senate, yet a certain minority of the opposition was able to block it. Thanks to the Guns lobby and a scare campaign relating to the second amendment of the constitution they were able to defeat the bill.
President Barack Obama measure was not a giant leap forward on gun control but would have been a step forward in the right direction, preventing people who had a record or had a mental illness from buying guns. In reality a logical step forward.

Gun violence falls on deaf ears.


For the families of those killed or wounded by gun violence and who watched with judging eyes as the Senate killed the measure by a vote of 54-46 (it needed a supermajority of 60 votes to pass), what to make of the vote was an easy call.
“Shame on you!” Patricia Maisch shouted from the visitors gallery above the Senate floor.
Maisch, a grandmotherly figure who disarmed the shooter in the Tucson carnage that nearly claimed the life of former Rep. Gabby Giffords, was happy to elaborate as reporters swarmed her after the vote. “I decided I could not sit still,” she said. “They have no souls, they have no compassion.”
But on Wednesday, they had the votes.

"We can do more if Congress gets its act together. And if this Congress refuses to listen to the American people and pass common-sense gun legislation, then the real impact is going to have to come from the voters," declared President Obama. "You need to let your representatives in Congress know that you are disappointed, and that if they don’t act this time, you will remember come election time."

A worthy Ideal.

We should remember that Democracy is about representing the people.
Humanity looking after humans, humanely.

What will it take for the American senate to polarize and stop playing their games? The Democratic government has been opposed in the last two terms by the Republican dominated Senate, which has seen crisis after crisis that has crippled the government and almost bankrupted the nation.  Whilst senators from both parties tussle in government enjoying the battles and all the perks that go with it, ordinary Americans are losing their jobs, their homes and their children to gun violence.

A Lost Opportunity Realised.

Pat yourselves on the back all you politicians, you are looking after your constituents while you milk the system at their expense. Enjoy your blood money from the donations of gun lobbies and return to your families remembering that others aren’t so lucky. You win today senators but everyone else is the loser.

The most powerful man in the world could not dominate his own government, and is humbled by a hostile senate, he’s hand cuffed by politics, overcome by gun lobbies, humbled by his humanity and his sincere desire to help his country.


AUTHOR: Pete Souza
Following the Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting on 14 December 2012, Obama argued for tighter gun controls in the United States. In an interview in the New Republic on 27 January 2013, Obama was asked "Have you ever fired a gun?" and he replied, "Yes, in fact, up at Camp David, we do skeet shooting all the time."





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