No Guns Here...

In the wake of the Sandy Hook mass murders, it is often difficult to separate truth from fiction between the warring factions.  Here to help you think is NY Senator Charles Schumer, who yesterday said, of NRA Executive VP Wayne LaPierre:

"LaPierre "blames everything but guns, movies, the media, President Obama, gun-free school zones, you name it, the video games, he blames them," Schumer said. "Now, trying to prevent shootings in schools without talking about guns is like trying to prevent lung cancer without talking about cigarettes."

With apologies to Candy Crowley, I'd like to correct the Senator on a couple of points.  LaPierre did indeed mention the president FOUR times in his official remarks.  Three of them were to point out that the president, as well as members of congress, are themselves protected by armed security, but that they think that denying the same protection to your children in schools makes them SAFER.  The fourth mention was this:

Ladies and gentlemen, there is no national, one-size-fits-all solution to protecting our children. But do know this President zeroed out school emergency planning grants in last year's budget, and scrapped "Secure Our Schools" policing grants in next year's budget.

At this point, at least half of you should probably stop reading, as hearing for the first time the actual message that LaPierre delivered may cause painful cognitive dissonance.  Return to your TV and what LaPierre REALLY MEANT to say will be repeated to you for the next few days, as part of the greater campaign against high capacity magazines, military style weapons, gun owners, and the second amendment.  

As to his point that LaPierre doesn't talk about guns, there are TWENTY mentions of guns in the official remarks.  Here are a few of them and I hope that you might agree with at least some of his points...

As brave, heroic and self-sacrificing as those teachers were in those classrooms, and as prompt, professional and well-trained as those police were when they responded, they were unable — through no fault of their own — to stop it.

As parents, we do everything we can to keep our children safe. It is now time for us to assume responsibility for their safety at school. The only way to stop a monster from killing our kids is to be personally involved and invested in a plan of absolute protection. The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun. Would you rather have your 911 call bring a good guy with a gun from a mile away ... or a minute away?

Now, I can imagine the shocking headlines you'll print tomorrow morning: "More guns," you'll claim, "are the NRA's answer to everything!" Your implication will be that guns are evil and have no place in society, much less in our schools. But since when did the word "gun" automatically become a bad word?

A gun in the hands of a Secret Service agent protecting the President isn't a bad word. A gun in the hands of a soldier protecting the United States isn't a bad word. And when you hear the glass breaking in your living room at 3 a.m. and call 911, you won't be able to pray hard enough for a gun in the hands of a good guy to get there fast enough to protect you.

So why is the idea of a gun good when it's used to protect our President or our country or our police, but bad when it's used to protect our children in their schools? They're our kids. They're our responsibility. And it's not just our duty to protect them — it's our right to protect them.

Oil Production and Obama

Under fire for surging gas prices in an election year, President Obama this week predictably trotted out his three year old energy speech and mocked republicans for their belief that increased domestic oil production would lead to decreased dependence on foreign oil.  


Pause for effect.  


There are so many ways we could go with this, but let's focus on one way.  In his remarks, the president stated:


Now, we absolutely need safe, responsible oil production here in America. That’s why under my Administration, America is producing more oil today than at any time in the last eight years.

It was painful to hear his stand-in press secretary try to explain later that President Obama wasn't really trying to take credit for the increased domestic production.  


Which is understandable in light of recent developments, such as:


1. Blocking the Keystone Pipeline.  Desperate to keep this loser issue off the table, congressional democrats have thrown all manner of disruptions and distractions into the effort to get Keystone up again, including, strangely, an effort to make sure that none of the Keystone oil goes outside the country.  Its not really clear why petroleum exports would be a bad thing... other than it involves US oil companies making money... never mind.  


2. My personal favorite... the Gulf of Mexico moratorium and slowdown following the Deepwater Horizon blowout, imposed on the industry across the board regardless of the facts.  I have blogged about this ad nauseum so I'll stop now.  


3. The real reason production is up... Obama and the EPA have been slow to throw up barriers to fracking, which is where all the increases in production are coming from. 


Now let me be clear.  All of this tripe sounds great rolling off the teleprompter, but the same plan rehashed over the course of three years is not a plan, it is a speech.  And time has borne that out.  


If only he were serious.