Sometimes when I watch Republicans defend the indefensible, I feel like banging my head against a wall. Okay, it is more than sometimes. Crooks and Liars posted this snippet of an interview on Fox of Senator Marco Rubio by Chris Wallace:
http://videocafe.crooksandliars.com/...
Wallace asked whether Rubio's vote against cloture was an indication of how he'll ultimately vote on the Manchin-Toomey background checks bill. Before I get to my problems with Rubio's responses, I want to give a h/t to whoever is the Democratic version of Frank Luntz, because I am seeing the phrase "gun safety" pushing on "gun control." Background checks consistently poll at close to 90%. As this site points out, they are more popular than kittens. If memory serves, Rachel Maddow says they are more popular than apple pie- or maybe it's Italian food. However, the NRA doesn't want them.
Here is the problem; The American people overwhelmingly favor something that lobbyists do not like. You might think that in a democracy, the people's desires might trump those of the lobbyists. However, we are more reverential to capitalism than we are to democracy. As a result, votes are for sale to the highest bidder. We just cannot admit that fact.
Politicians must find a way to justify defying the will of the people. They end up twisting themselves in knots doing so. In the clip above (and I really hope I linked it correctly), Wallace begins by pointing out that Rubio supported background checks in Florida. Rubio starts off by saying that his vote dealt with concealed carry permits not purchases. He is apparently unaware that he is suggesting that it is ok to buy a gun without a background check, but if you want to hide it on your person while walking around you should undergo a background check.
Rubio then goes on to say that his concealed carry permit in Florida should be proof that he is not a criminal and therefore is eligible to purchase a gun in another state. Again, he states that background checks will not be effective because criminals will not submit to them. Of course, it would be folly to suggest that a criminal might forge a concealed carry permit from Florida to purchase a gun elsewhere. BTW, as Jon Stewart pointed out, criminals probably have a problem with the commandment "Thou Shalt Not Kill," but they can work around it.
Rubio goes on to point out that nobody who's failed a background check has been arrested as proof that they are meaningless. There is nothing in the law that makes it illegal to fail a background check. What is illegal is knowingly selling this person a gun. Gun dealers do not have to keep track of their inventory, so if a gun goes "missing" it could be sold off the books. People on the terrorist watch list cannot be prevented from buying a gun.
Rubio talks about the mentally ill. I would hope that we could all accept as a given that anyone who could conceive and carry out these mass murders is not normal. Then Rubio talks about people being desensitized to violence. There is a word for people who are desensitized to violence- I believe that word is Republican.