Where were you on Thursday? Did you make it to the “Stop the NRA” march in DC? No? Don’t worry; nobody else did either.
They say a picture is worth a thousand words. They might be right. Judging by the pictures from Thursday’s Stop the NRA march, the call for gun control has diminished to a whisper of what it was even just a few months ago.
The event was sponsored by Public Campaign, Occupy the NRA, CREDO, Every Child Matters, Moveon, United For Change, USA, New Yorkers Against Gun Violence, The Other 98%, and We Act Radio and was meant to recapture the enthusiasm for anti-gun legislation.
Carrying trite slogans accusing the NRA of fueling bloodshed for having the audacity to stand up for our Second Amendment rights, the crowd was generously estimated to be around 100, including media. The protesters marched along, and anxiously awaited the unveiling of Shepard Fairey’s newest poster.
Fairey was the artist responsible for Obama’s “Hope” picture that festooned the walls of dorm rooms everywhere and adorned the tee shirts of hipsters and other liberals who wished to showcase just how “progressive” they were.
The poster was revealed and, as one might expect, the poster blasts the NRA and says, “America: The land where God saves and Satan invests in assault weapons and high capacity magazines.” Fairey’s rhetoric seems a day late and a dollar short to resonate with Americans who are no longer clamoring for government to enact gun control.
If we compare Thursday’s march with the one in DC in January, it serves as a perfect illustration as to the grace from which the anti-gunners have fallen. In January, thousands marched in opposition to our Second Amendment rights. Many held signs demanding that Congress ban “assault weapons.” 100 residents of Newtown traveled to the protest. On Thursday, less than that showed up for the rally total.
This is hardly a scientific analysis of support for gun control; it is merely an observation. President Obama continually tried to shame Americans with an odd brand of peer pressure. He repeated over and over again that 90% of Americans supported gun control.
If that’s true, where’s the outrage? Where are the masses filling the street, outraged at Congress for being unable to pass gun control legislation? According to Obama, nine out of ten people are disappointed but yet, we hear virtually nothing. According to the frequently-cited stat, nine out of ten people should be outraged. But less than 100 people could gather in the nation’s capital to protest and share that outrage.
Could it be that the Dear Leader lied for the sake of political expediency?
DAVID GERGEN: I appreciate the Administration has a dilemma. They want Assad to fall. They want him to lose, but they don't want the rebels to win. It puts you in an awkward place because they're really worried it will become an Islamist state. But Norah, I respectfully disagree that the red line's a distraction. Once a President of the United States draws a red line it becomes important to the world. Everybody else reads in to how he responds to a red line. Is he serious about Iran? Is he not serious about Iran? He's drawn a red line on Iran. If he doesn't respect his own red line on Syria, there is no question that Israel and Iran will look at that and say, "Well, we can't trust the guy. He's not going to be tough."
