Mark Sappenfield
writes Why Republicans defy public opinion in gun-control fight:
To the surprise of precisely no one within the Beltway, the Senate's top Republican on Saturday told people across his home state of Kentucky that – if he has his way – President Obama's gun-control proposals won't go anywhere. […]
But don't expect a backlash against Senator McConnell if he blocks Obama's plans. After all, those aren't the numbers that he will be looking at.
He will note that only 44 percent of Republicans back a ban on assault weapons, and Republicans similarly line up against the magazine ban. He will also note that, among those who say protecting gun rights is more important than controlling guns, nearly one-quarter have contributed a gun-rights group. Among those who think gun control is more important, only 5 percent have contributed to gun-control groups. […]
He faces reelection in 2014. Turnout is generally low in a midterm cycle, meaning McConnell will want to woo the most engaged voters—and gun-rights supporters fit that bill. Moreover, in red-state Kentucky, McConnell likely has more to fear from a right-wing challenger in the Republican primary than a Democrat in the general election (even if Ashley Judd does join the race). That's why he'll tack to the right—as moderate Sen. Lindsey Graham (R) is doing in South Carolina.
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Blast from the Past. At Daily Kos on this date in 2008—'This is something that really went right':
The Pentagon is making a big deal about Robert Gates' self-congratulatory speech on Friday at a South Carolina factory that builds Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles. DoD has not one but three stories related to this fake event, each one gushing about a program that was ramped up around four years later than it should have been.
Hard to say which is more outlandish, the fact that Gates had the gall to trumpet the Pentagon's success in quickly acquiring large numbers of MRAPs, or the corporate media reports that provided virtually no context about the Defense Department's miserable failure to actually acquire these desperately needed vehicles quickly. Here is Gates crowing during his tour of the factory:
"There have been so many aspects of this war where government and others have been subject to criticism. This is something that really went right," (Gates) said.
It was a glorious success story:
"For all of the talk about how Washington can't get anything done, this is an amazing example of Republicans, Democrats, the executive branch, the Congress, manufacturers, government bureaucrats, everybody pitching in and doing the right thing," he told reporters during the flight back to Washington.
Not one of the news reports about this PR spectacle bothered to ponder or assess how many servicemen were killed or maimed in Iraq while waiting for the Pentagon to send them MRAPs to replace their crappy humvees. What's more, these articles barely even acknowledge that any delay occurred at all. Though you'd never know it from reading these articles, it's a notorious scandal. |
Tweet of the Day:
CBS hiring Condi Rice is important reminder that being consistently wrong about US foreign policy is great way to make a name for yourself!
— @speechboy71 via Twitter for Mac
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