Okay, you did it. You're going to be the 44th President of the United States.
Historic occasion, blah blah blah, first AA president, yadda yadda yadda. That's nice and all, but what are you going to do? I mean, really? There's no teleprompter for this one, Barry. There's no media cushion for you to fall back on here. Your party controls the House and Senate. There's literally nothing stopping you from getting whatever you want.
So there's no one to blame if you can't deliver.
Oh, sure, you'll be able to blame George W. for a while. Claim he left you a bigger mess than you realized, that the Iraq situation was more volatile than had been reported, that the economic mess was more far-reaching than previously thought. That's only going to carry you so far - especially since your party has controlled the House and Senate for two years. Then you've actually got to make things happen - claim ownership. It will be up to you whether your initiatives pass or fail, whether you deliver on your lofty claims or not.
95% of Americans will get a tax cut. Free health care for all. Revamp retirement funds. That's a lot of scratch to cover, even if you utterly soak those eeevil rich folks. With any kind of luck you'll be too busy to try to take my guns, since you will actually have the votes. But we'll see. 2009 and beyond will prove interesting, to say the least...
That is all.
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8 comments:
Jay, Those six beers you drank last night, was that the end or did you carry on drinking? How do you balance that with responsible gun management? Isn't that risky, especially with kids in the house?
The tone of your post this morning, was what, the result of a hangover or your real attitude? Are you really that bitter and cynical? Isn't it possible to you that although he's a politician like all the rest, he might be less indebted to the Washington power machine and be able to accomplish some of what he's promised? That's what I'm hoping for.
Mike,
All of my guns are safely locked away when not being handled - and I view handling a gun in exactly the same manner as driving a car. I won't do it if I've had anything to drink. Anything. (Well, anything alcoholic, that is). That's just good sense.
And to be frank, it's rather insulting to insinuate that I would act in an unsafe manner towards my family. I'll thank you not to insult me in that manner again.
I actually put that post together last night, and upon re-reading it find nothing with which to disagree. Obama's got to make it on his own now. He's had the full, unabashed support of the media this entire campaign, and now he's got to stand on his own two feet and pass - or fail - on his own.
We've already seen him start to back-pedal on some of his campaign promises before he even got elected - without repercussion.
I fear that the politician that was elected last night is not the man that people thought they were voting for. One need look no further than the people Obama has surrounded himself with than to see immediately that all his talk about "changing Washington" is a load of BS - Joe Biden, John Kerry, most of his campaign staff are Clinton holdovers, etc.
This ain't change. This is business as usually in a new wrapper.
All he has to do as far as the gun thing is concerned is "storke of the pen, law of the land". Just a quick little ExOrd banning surplus ammo or any foreign ammo/firearms import. Done.
We're all going to need AA before it's all said and done.
Jay, Thanks for taking my questions. Bob S. told me on my blog that my comment here was offensive. I admit to not beating around the bush, but not to being offensive.
I'm seriously wondering how you guys do that balancing act. Please take my comments at face value. If guns are required for home protection, wouldn't you have to be abstemious to be able to use them properly, if the need arose? In recent years the general view is that very few drinks disqualifies someone from driving. Is it the same for guns? Do you and your friends adhere to this?
Mike,
The threshhold is ZERO. If I am drinking, even a single glass of champagne at midnight on New Year's, I won't even so much as THINK about taking a gun out of the safe.
But it's like saying that because you own a car you should never drink, because you might drink and drive.
I take safety VERY seriously, and you cannot be safe if you are handling a firearm after drinking alcohol (or smoking pot, if that's your thing, or meth/crack/smack whatever). End of story.
There's nothing unsafe about having a few beers with a gun in the house. It's when the choice is made to handle firearms after drinking that it becomes unsafe; and that's a choice I won't make.
I did not have a firearm on my person; I did not have a firearm within reach; I would have had to go to the gun room, open the safe, take out a firearm, and load it before there would any potential danger. I don't think that presents any more risk than owning a car and having a few beers in my home.
You're making a connection where none exists. That's where the offense comes in. I see no reason to cast aspersions on the my alcohol consumption simply because I'm a gun owner; certainly no more or less than because I own an automobile.
"If the need arose". Well, I could be drinking at home and one of my kids could get hurt, requiring a trip to the hospital. I wouldn't drive them, I'd have my wife drive or I'd call an ambulance. Not to mention that the odds of the rare home invasion happening on the one night of the year I had a few beers are pretty darn slim.
Would I go for a gun in that extremely unlikely scenario? No.
Under the influence I'm more of a danger than the intruder. Plain and simple. Operating a firearm requires sober, clear judgement, plain and simple.
Jay, I swear I wasn't making any connections or insinuations.
I loved your answer. It leaves me with the utmost admiration and respect for you and the way you do your personal business. And I do realize it's your personal business. I thank you for allowing me to talk so directly to you about it.
Another question on this subject: what percentage of your gun buddies follow such a clean program as you outlined?
mike,
No harm no foul.
I take safety *VERY* seriously, as bullets have a nasty way of not caring what's in their way, and there's no way to un-shoot something...
And there's a lot of really neat stuff in my house I'd prefer remain unventilated... ;)
As for other gunnies out there, I'd wager that the *VAST* majority are as fastidious about safety as I am. Unfortunately, there's a very small subsection that insists on being idiots with guns.
They're the ones that show up on YouTube. Or the police blotter. Or, sometimes, the morgue.
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