President Barack Obama has promised to fight "vigorously" for legal measures that would limit gun ownership, the size of ammunition magazines and the requirements for background checks when purchasing a gun. As a politician, it's the president's job to lie a lot - at least that's how it works in America in the modern day. But sometimes politicians take this to the next level and do something so laden with hypocrisy that it actually circles back around 180 degrees and becomes funny.
In this instance, the hilarity from Obama stems from a comment that those who oppose further restrictions on guns "examine their own conscience" when considering the issue. This plea came after it was announced that he would consider executive action on the issue of gun control and after Democrats in the Senate begged him to try to circumvent Congress altogether on the issue of the debt ceiling. Examine your conscience? Let's just say that any politician who did that - honestly did it - and then didn't step away from their position in utter shame...well, that is one deluded person.
No, "conscience" has about as much place in modern U.S. politics as bartering with whiskey and the horse and buggy have in modern commerce. It's a dead concept. Speaking further on the issue of gun control, the president noted, "My starting point is not to worry about the politics. My starting point is to focus on what makes sense, what works, what should we be doing to make sure that our children are safe and that we're reducing the incidence of gun violence. I think we can do that in a sensible way that comports with the Second Amendment."
Sounds good, in theory. Where it goes awry is in thinking that guns are the only real problem and not some larger, more insidious moral and social cancer that has taken over this country since the concept of personal accountability began to erode. That the politicians, including Obama, play to that lost sense of accountability to win elections is an issue that should have them all examining their consciences. Especially President Obama.
In this instance, the hilarity from Obama stems from a comment that those who oppose further restrictions on guns "examine their own conscience" when considering the issue. This plea came after it was announced that he would consider executive action on the issue of gun control and after Democrats in the Senate begged him to try to circumvent Congress altogether on the issue of the debt ceiling. Examine your conscience? Let's just say that any politician who did that - honestly did it - and then didn't step away from their position in utter shame...well, that is one deluded person.
No, "conscience" has about as much place in modern U.S. politics as bartering with whiskey and the horse and buggy have in modern commerce. It's a dead concept. Speaking further on the issue of gun control, the president noted, "My starting point is not to worry about the politics. My starting point is to focus on what makes sense, what works, what should we be doing to make sure that our children are safe and that we're reducing the incidence of gun violence. I think we can do that in a sensible way that comports with the Second Amendment."
Sounds good, in theory. Where it goes awry is in thinking that guns are the only real problem and not some larger, more insidious moral and social cancer that has taken over this country since the concept of personal accountability began to erode. That the politicians, including Obama, play to that lost sense of accountability to win elections is an issue that should have them all examining their consciences. Especially President Obama.