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Obama and Gun Laws: Having his cake and eating it too
Such a shame that an otherwise admirable, reasonable man is pandering to the rural pro-gun armpit of America... this is not how he began. A few years ago, he was so in favor of laws and restrictions on guns that his current "red" positions seem hypocritical. 
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dy...id=opinionsbox1
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Barack Obama, who informs campaign audiences that he taught constitutional law for 10 years, might be expected to weigh in on the historic Second Amendment case before the U.S. Supreme Court. The justices are pondering whether the 1976 District of Columbia law effectively prohibiting personal gun ownership in the nation's capital is constitutional. But Obama has not stated his position. Obama, disagreeing with the D.C. government and gun control advocates, declares that the Second Amendment's "right of the people to keep and bear arms" applies to individuals, not just the "well regulated militia" in the amendment. In the next breath, he asserts that this constitutional guarantee does not preclude local "common sense" restrictions on firearms. Does the draconian prohibition in Washington fit that description? My attempts to get an answer have proved unavailing. The front-running Democratic presidential candidate is doing the gun dance. That is a dance that many Democrats do, as revealed in private conversation with party strategists. As urban liberals, they reject constitutional protection for gun owners. As campaign managers, they want to avoid the fate of the many Democratic candidates who have lost elections because of gun control advocacy. The party's House leadership last year pulled from the floor a bill for a congressional seat for the District to protect Democratic members from having to vote on a Republican amendment against the D.C. gun law. Hillary Clinton has extolled the Second Amendment, though not to the degree Obama has. Campaigning at Iowa's Cornell College on Dec. 5, he asserted that the Second Amendment "is an individual right and not just a right of the militia." He has repeated that formulation along the primary trail, declaring at a Milwaukee news conference before the Feb. 19 Wisconsin primary: "I believe the Second Amendment means something. . . . There is an individual right to bear arms." That would imply that the D.C. gun law is unconstitutional. Mayor Adrian Fenty's brief to the Supreme Court rests on the proposition that the Second Amendment "protects the possession and use of guns only in service of an organized militia." Consequently, I concluded in a March 13 column about the case that Obama had "weighed in against the D.C. law." On March 24, a reader wrote in an e-mail to The Post that "Obama supports the D.C. law" and demanded a correction. That was based on an Associated Press account of Obama's Milwaukee news conference asserting that "he voiced support for the District of Columbia's ban on handguns." In fact, all he said was: "The notion that somehow local jurisdictions can't initiate gun safety laws to deal with gang-bangers and random shootings on the street isn't borne out by our Constitution." That leaves Obama unrevealed on the D.C. law. In response to my inquiry about his specific position, Obama's campaign e-mailed me a one-paragraph answer: Obama believes that while the "Second Amendment creates an individual right, . . . he also believes that the Constitution permits federal, state and local government to adopt reasonable and common sense gun safety measures." Though the paragraph is titled "Obama on the D.C. Court case," that specific gun ban is never mentioned. I tried again last week, without success, to learn Obama's position before writing this column. Obama's dance on gun rights is part of his evolution from the radical young Illinois state legislator he once was. He was recorded in a 1996 questionnaire as advocating a ban on the manufacture, sale and possession of handguns (a position he has since disavowed). He was on the board of the Chicago-based Joyce Foundation, which takes an aggressive gun control position, and in 2000 considered becoming its full-time president. In 2006, he voted with an 84 to 16 majority (and against Clinton) to prohibit confiscation of firearms during an emergency, but that is his only pro-gun vote in Springfield or Washington. The National Rifle Association grades his voting record (and Clinton's) an "F." There is no anti-gun litmus test for Democrats. In 2006, Ted Strickland was elected governor of Ohio and Bob Casey U.S. senator from Pennsylvania with NRA grades of "A." Following their model, Obama talks about the rights of "Americans to protect their families." He has not yet stated whether that right should exist in Washington. |
F%#k all politicians. They all lie a lot of the time, one way or another. I wouldn't be surprised if Obama ends up losing the presidential battle anyway or ruining the American empire. Reading beautifully written scripts is only part of the battle. It doesnt make Obama a "Change We Can Believe In", other than maybe a change that can once and for all cripple the American empire. Who knows. As far as I can tell, these US elections have the WORST EVER candidates that I can recall since I started following politics.
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| Originally posted by Magnetonium F%#k all politicians. They all lie a lot of the time, one way or another. I wouldn't be surprised if Obama ends up losing the presidential battle anyway or ruining the American empire. Reading beautifully written scripts is only part of the battle. It doesnt make Obama a "Change We Can Believe In", other than maybe a change that can once and for all cripple the American empire. Who knows. As far as I can tell, these US elections have the WORST EVER candidates that I can recall since I started following politics. |
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| Originally posted by Magnetonium F%#k all politicians. They all lie a lot of the time, one way or another. I wouldn't be surprised if Obama ends up losing the presidential battle anyway or ruining the American empire. Reading beautifully written scripts is only part of the battle. It doesnt make Obama a "Change We Can Believe In", other than maybe a change that can once and for all cripple the American empire. Who knows. As far as I can tell, these US elections have the WORST EVER candidates that I can recall since I started following politics. |
Well it's not like he's in the NRA's back pocket either if they're rating him an, "F".
I do have to admit though, even though I lean to the right, I do like Obama other than some waffling on some points such as this.
it would be a nice "change" to see him take a position on this. of all things, i think americans want to see politicians not playing both sides of an issue.
perhaps they have numbers on this issue, but i would think the people who care about an 'individual' right to guns are the same people who wouldn't vote for him anyway. i could be wrong.
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| Originally posted by jerZ07002 it would be a nice "change" to see him take a position on this. of all things, i think americans want to see politicians not playing both sides of an issue. perhaps they have numbers on this issue, but i would think the people who care about an 'individual' right to guns are the same people who wouldn't vote for him anyway. i could be wrong. |
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| Originally posted by Groundhog Boy You are wrong. Far more than would vote for Hillary. I actually know quite a few people who support him and either own or support the right to own firearms. |
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| Originally posted by Lebezniatnikov First of all, Obama wrote those "scripts" that you refer to - they aren't somebody else's ideas, they are his own. |
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| Originally posted by Magnetonium There are bloody threads on this friggin forum which describe in detail certain individuals who write these beautiful scripts for Obama and the like ... no need to be so silly. I am sure he adds a sentence or two, and tweeks a word or two here or there, but the core material is prepared FOR him. Heck, you should know that all important politicians have people employed who write scripts for them for Christ's sake. Yes, Obama can and does write some of his speeches. Thats what pretty much many politicians are capable of doing from time to time. But then again, most politicians write books, stories and articles or whatever the combination as well - but they still have people who write speeches for them, its only a question for which politicians use these services more or less than others. |
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| Originally posted by Fir3start3r So who are his scribes then? |
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Speechwriters are the most exotic of political staffers. Half artist, half operative, they toil almost entirely anonymously in a presidential campaign. But their mission -- crafting the words the candidate speaks -- is critical to a campaign's success. Michael Gerson, who was President Bush's lead speechwriter from 1999 until mid-2006, redefined the role, becoming not just the president's wordsmith but also one of his most trusted advisers. He has been alternately described as the architect of Bush's "compassionate conservative" governing philosophy and as the most influential speechwriter since Ted Sorenson, who plied his trade on behalf of President John F. Kennedy. While every 2008 presidential campaign insists that its candidate is intimately involved in crafting his or her speeches, the reality is that each will come to depend on a single individual who can seamlessly express the candidate's vision for the country in words. Here's a look at a few of the individuals with that responsibility: ? Brett O'Donnell. Before signing on with Sen. John McCain's (R-Ariz.) presidential bid, O'Donnell was the director of debate at Liberty University for 14 years. In 2004, O'Donnell was involved in prepping Bush for his debates against Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.). He served in the same role for former Virginia attorney general Jerry Kilgore (R) in the 2005 gubernatorial race, which Kilgore lost. ? Jon Favreau. No, the man charged with writing speeches for Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) is not the actor who played the lovelorn Mike Peters in the movie "Swingers." This Jon Favreau worked a stint as a telemarketer in high school, graduated from the College of the Holy Cross and served as a speechwriter for Kerry in 2004. He signed on to Obama's team after that election and was the architect of Obama's teasing "announcement" during an appearance in December on "Monday Night Football." ? Matt Rees. Rees has written speeches for nearly every Bush administration official of note, including the president. Now he is charged with finding the right words for former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney (R). The campaign is careful to note that its candidate -- an English major at Brigham Young University -- plays an active role in his own speechwriting. PLAYERS Sen. Chris Dodd (Conn.) rarely rises above 1 or 2 percent in national polls relating to the 2008 Democratic field. But his speech last week to the International Association of Fire Fighters received rave reviews, and early word is that his first-quarter fundraising is surprisingly strong. That mini-momentum is seen in staff hires as well; Dodd has added three operatives who have deep campaign experience to his team in recent days. Taylor West will serve as the campaign's Iowa press secretary, fresh off a stint in the same role for Iowa Gov. Chet Culver. Hari Sevugan, who served as spokesman for Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) in 2006, has also joined Dodd's press shop. Scott Arceneaux will be the campaign's national political director. Arceneaux managed Judy Feder's unsuccessful campaign in Virginia's 10th District last year and has previously worked in Louisiana and Maryland. |
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| Originally posted by Magnetonium After spending 2.345 seconds on google, I was able to find this interesting article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dy...7031701306.html Which Candidate's Speechwriter Will Be the Next Michael Gerson? |
OK, finding a SECOND really good article took me a horribly long 3 minutes time.
What Would Obama Say?
TURNING A PHRASE Jon Favreau, chief speechwriter to Senator Barack Obama, at work the night of the New Hampshire primary.
COMMENT: HOLLY SHIT!!! He's the CHIEF SPEECHWRITER???!!! That means there's a few more. Who's the junior speechwriter on the Obama team? And who's the assistant speechmanager writer guy? Who's in charge of writing the open and final paragraphs?
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AT the Radisson Hotel in Nashua, N.H., Jon Favreau sipped Diet Coke and munched on carrot sticks and crackers to pass the time. His boss, Senator Barack Obama, wandered in and out of the room.
Finally, results from the New Hampshire Democratic primary started coming in, surprising everyone. Hillary Clinton was pulling past Senator Obama, who had won the Iowa caucuses only five days earlier.
Mr. Favreau, the campaign�s 26-year-old head speechwriter, found himself in the hotel lounge with less than three hours to revise what was to have been a victory speech. What made it particularly strange was that his words were being challenged. Mrs. Clinton had helped turn her campaign around by discounting Mr. Obama�s elegant oratory, saying, �You campaign in poetry, but you govern in prose.�
�To be honest,� Mr. Favreau said, �the first time I really stopped to think about how it felt was when he started giving the speech. I looked around at the senior staff, and they were all smiling. And I looked around the room and thought, �This is going to be O.K.� �
Mr. Favreau, or Favs, as everyone calls him, looks every bit his age, with a baby face and closely shorn stubble. And he leads a team of two other young speechwriters: 26-year-old Adam Frankel, who worked with John F. Kennedy�s adviser and speechwriter Theodore C. Sorensen on his memoirs, and Ben Rhodes, who, at 30, calls himself the �elder statesman� of the group and who helped write the Iraq Study Group report as an assistant to Lee H. Hamilton.
Together they are working for a politician who not only is known for his speaking ability but also wrote two best-selling books and gave the much-lauded keynote speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention.
�You�re like Ted Williams�s batting coach,� Mr. Favreau said.
But even Ted Williams needed a little help with his swing.
�Barack trusts him,� said David Axelrod, Mr. Obama�s chief campaign strategist. �And Barack doesn�t trust too many folks with that � the notion of surrendering that much authority over his own words.�
When he first met Mr. Obama, Mr. Favreau was 23, a recent graduate of the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass., near where he grew up. Mr. Obama was rehearsing his 2004 convention speech backstage, when Mr. Favreau, then a member of John Kerry�s staff, interrupted him: the senator needed to rewrite a line from his speech to avoid an overlap.
�He kind of looked at me, kind of confused � like, �Who is this kid?� � Mr. Favreau recalled.
Mr. Obama became his boss the following year. Mr. Favreau had risen to a job as a speechwriter on the Kerry campaign, but by then was unemployed. He was, he said, �broke, taking advantage of all the happy-hour specials I could find in Washington.�
Robert Gibbs, Mr. Obama�s communications director, had known Mr. Favreau during the Kerry campaign, and recommended him as a writer.
Life was relatively quiet then, and Mr. Obama and Mr. Favreau had some time to hang out. When Mr. Obama�s White Sox swept Mr. Favreau�s beloved Red Sox three games to none in their American League 2005 division series, the senator walked over to his speechwriter�s desk with a little broom and started sweeping it off.
Mr. Favreau also used this time to master Mr. Obama�s voice. He took down almost everything the senator said and absorbed it. Now, he said, when he sits down to write, he just channels Mr. Obama � his ideas, his sentences, his phrases.
�The trick of speechwriting, if you will, is making the client say your brilliant words while somehow managing to make it sound as though they issued straight from their own soul,� said the writer Christopher Buckley, who was a speechwriter for the first President Bush. �Imagine putting the words �Ask not what your country can do for you� into the mouth of Ron Paul, and you can see the problem.�
Many Democratic candidates have attempted to evoke both John and Robert Kennedy, but Senator Obama seems to have had more success than most. It helps that Mr. Obama seems to have the �lan that John Kennedy had, not to mention a photogenic family.
For his inspiration, Mr. Favreau said, �I actually read a lot of Bobby� Kennedy.
�I see shades of J.F.K., R.F.K.,� he said, and then added, �King.�
Not everyone is so enamored. Mr. Obama excels at inspirational speeches read from a teleprompter before television cameras, critics have noted, but many of his other speeches on the campaign trail have failed to electrify.
Ted Widmer, a historian at Brown University, said that Mr. Obama�s speeches �were perfect for getting to where he was early in the race, but I think now that we�re in a serious campaign, it would be helpful to hear more concrete proposals.�
�There�s more to governing, there�s more to being president, than speechwriting,� he added.
Mr. Favreau said that when he is writing, he stays up until 3 a.m. and gets up as early as 5. He hasn�t slept for more than six hours in as long as he can remember, he said.
Coffee helped him through the Iowa caucuses. Two days before the victory there, he walked across the street from the campaign�s Des Moines headquarters and cloistered himself inside a local cafe.
He and Mr. Obama had talked about the post-caucus speech for about 30 minutes, settling on a theme of unity and an opening line: �They said this day would never come.�
�I knew that it would have multiple meanings to multiple people,� Mr. Favreau said. �Barack and I talked about it, and it was one that worked for the campaign. There were many months during the campaign when they said he�d never win. And of course there was the day that would never come, when an African-American would be winning the first primary in a white state.�
In discussions about the speech, the issue of race never came up, Mr. Favreau said. But, he added, �I know I thought about it.�
As Senator Obama�s star has risen, so has Mr. Favreau�s. In New Hampshire, Mr. Favreau stood in the back of a gym watching his boss campaign when Michael Gerson, a former speechwriter to the current President Bush, introduced himself. He complimented him on the Iowa victory speech.
The campaign staff has started teasing Mr. Favreau about his newfound celebrity. Not that it�s any great pickup line. Mr. Favreau, who said he doesn�t have a girlfriend, observed somewhat dryly that �the rigors of this campaign have prevented any sort of serious relationship.�
�There�s been a few times when people have said, �I don�t believe you, that you�re Barack Obama�s speechwriter,� � he went on. �To which I reply, �If I really wanted to hit on you, don�t you think I�d make up something more outlandish?� �
He does have other things to worry about. �Can you get through this process and keep the core of yourself?� Mr. Favreau asked. �You know, we�re finding out. I�m confident he can. And I think I can, too.�
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| Originally posted by Fir3start3r Wow, it took you 2.345 seconds to sift through all the results and find this one interesting article? Thats some watch you have... |
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| Originally posted by Magnetonium I was being sarcastic - I am merely hinting that I wasnt making things up and Obama has a bunch of people who help write speeches for him. I just didnt feel like searching for the articles. I cant save every article that I read in the various media. So pardon me for my rudeness. |
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| Originally posted by Fir3start3r I was being sarcastic too. Kiss and make up? /I had no doubt he had people that wrote for him btw... |
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| Originally posted by Lebezniatnikov You can't be serious? First of all, Obama wrote those "scripts" that you refer to - they aren't somebody else's ideas, they are his own. Second of all... I'd take Hillary and John McCain over Kerry and Bush any day of the week and twice on Sunday. |
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| Originally posted by SiLveR_NrGy_985 you'd vote for a BUSH 2!?? this guy is a scumbag! in an all honesty like magnetonium said all these politicans are full of shyt! this whole illusion of right or left... we all know Hillary,Mccain,etc are all zionist pigs !! |
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| Originally posted by SiLveR_NrGy_985 in an all honesty like magnetonium said all these politicans are full of shyt! this whole illusion of right or left... we all know Hillary,Mccain,etc are all zionist pigs !! |
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| Originally posted by jerZ07002 does that include obama? |
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| Originally posted by SiLveR_NrGy_985 apparently you've been following what he's doing so i dunno you tell me.... |
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| Originally posted by jerZ07002 i mean whether he's a full of shit zionist, in your opinion. |
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| Originally posted by SiLveR_NrGy_985 well it appears that most of them are zionists and in order for them to be "electable" in this country its important to have the support of the israel lobby, for the pure manipulative interest of israel... |
Or maybe he believes we should have guns in the aftermath of some future event.
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| Originally posted by jerZ07002 i can't argue with that. politicians in america are definitely subordinate to the israeli cause, which makes no sense to me. how 16 million people can influence 300 million..... |
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