Tuesday, March 30, 2010

It's On! Bloomberg Slams Obama Over Gun Control

In one corner you have the grating nanny-stater, seemingly more interested is controlling your intake of salt than your ability to protect yourself against marauding thugs, although disarming the public does rank high on his list of pet peeves. He's joined by the oaf mayor of Boston, Mumbles Menino. In the other corner, weighing in at a spindly 179 pounds and wheezing heavily after a game of HORSE against Clark Kellogg washed down with a packs of smokes is Barack Obama, fresh off ramming through a bill so remarkably unpopular his party is now facing an even more epic defeat at the polls come November. He's got a lot more unpalatable legislation to shove down our by the time we fire up Waterloo on November 2 and this battle sure doesn't look like one of them.

Leaving us with, well, nobody left to root for.
President Obama is under the gun when it comes to Mayor Bloomberg and his crusade against illegal weapons.

Bloomberg, generally considered a White House ally, put Obama on notice after he fired off a letter to the White House this month where he reportedly accused the president of dragging his feet when it comes to gun control, according to a report today.

In the March 3 letter sent from Bloomberg's coalition, Mayors Against Illegal Guns, the mayor points to a separate report the group sent the Obama administration last August, which laid out 40 recommendations to "improve enforcement of existing gun laws," according to The Huffington Post.

The letter was co-signed by Boston Mayor Tom Menino.

"We appreciate the ... consideration of the report, but this is an urgent matter: further delay will almost certainly result in the needless loss of innocent lives, including many children. Mr. President, the time has come for action," the mayors wrote, according to the letter obtained by The Huffington Post.

The White House did not immediately have a comment in regards to the letter.

Bloomberg has been an ardent fighter for gun control, blaming illegal handguns smuggled into New York State for shootings that take place in the city. He has also taken on the National Rifle Association in the past.
Of course blaming the criminal for their actions is always the logical course, and in Bloomberg's case he's gone out of his way to do that, at least when the perp is a celebrity.

I have little doubt Obama would be more than happy to disarm the public (doing it for the children, of course), but outside of party gadflies like Chuckie Schumer, most Democrats are still scarred from the losing battles over gun control back in the 1990s and likely have no stomach to re-fight that battle. When you already have a testy public deeply suspicious of Obama and seething over the healthcare mess, going gun-grabbing is the last thing any sane Obama adviser would recommend.

Bloomberg can flap his gums all he wants and this is seemingly little more than a ploy to get himself some facetime. Hey, it's been nearly five months since he was last elected and he's probably looking ahead for something else to do. Maybe he can use it as a platform to run for Senate against Kirsten Gillibrand if he really thinks he can be effective on the issue. Otherwise, he may just want to dummy up and get back to the important things, like making sure proper calorie counts are visible on fast-food menus.

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