Daily Clips: January 7th, 2016
The gun lobby’s con game will come to an end: “The apologists for the weapons industry — they pass themselves off as the gun-rights movement — demonstrate their intellectual bankruptcy by regularly contradicting themselves with a straight face.” That’s quite an opening to a column, EJ Dionne. Throughout, one can feel his anger and the frustration coursing throughout his words.
He pointed out the blatant contradictions of the gun lobby, but this was not the strength of his argument. After all, we all know how intransigent the NRA and its proponents can be. What stuck with me was the following take-away:
But something important happened in the East Room when Obama offered a series of constrained but useful steps toward limiting the carnage on our streets, in our schools and houses of worship and movie theaters. He made clear that the era of cowering before the gun lobby and apologizing, trimming, hedging and equivocating is over.
We will look back upon Obama’s presidency as the time when the gun responsibility movement found its voice. And in many ways, the president made this journey with all of us. While he certainly cannot be credited as the catalyst for the entire transformation, his leadership on the issue has been very powerful. It looks to carry into the 2016 election as well. Dionne concludes:
Obama isn’t running for reelection, but the 2016 Democratic presidential candidates have shown that they, too, are unafraid to take on those who remain unmoved by death after death. At this point, Democrats have little to lose. Only fearlessness will flip the politics of guns and begin to put Republicans on the defensive.
DNC Chair says young women have been complacent since Roe v. Wade: Debbie, Debbie, Debbie. If you continue to make statements like this, you may very well find yourself as the #1 enemy for the progressive cause (and young women). Stop. Making. Enemies. And. Unite. The. Party.
US jobs market holding firmer despite slowing growth: According to Reuters, “the number of Americans filing for jobless benefits fell last week and layoffs in December were the smallest in 15-1/2 years, pointing to labor market strength even as economic growth appears to have slowed sharply in the fourth quarter.” Good news for Democrats (and the country). This way they can frame their economic message as: “while the economy is getting better, we still have work to do.”
