I spent a big chunk of 2010 talking to people in the Tea Party Movement, and during that time I heard various things that were simply not true, starting at the top with the likes of Sarah Palin and Glenn Beck and working its way through the rank and file. But there was no lie that was more wrong and yet spread more widely among more people -- with more dangerous effect -- than this one:
President Obama is going to confiscate your guns.
I heard this repeatedly, especially during my first major road trip for what eventually became my book "The Backlash" -- a visit to the Knob Creek Machine Gun Shoot in Kentucky back in October 2009. Typical was one of "The Bazooka Brothers," Brian Kitts of Indiana, who was selling a Photoshopped picture of a young Barack Obama with Adolph Hitler and who told me this:
"At the very core, he's un-American," the gun merchant says of Obama. "The rest of the world sees him as weak and that's going to bite us in the ass." Kitts says he's been selling his brand of heavy firepower at Knob Creek for more than two decades, and -- despite nary a word from Obama in support of gun control in the initial months of his presidency -- he doesn't think it's far-fetched that his government would someday come knocking for people's weapons.
"There will have to be an emergency, or to compare it to Germany, a Reichstag event," Kitts continues, referring to the 1933 blaze at the German Parliament that Hitler blamed on Communists and used as an excuse to suspend civil liberties and consolidate power. "So here's a problem...we've got to declare martial law and suspend the Constitution indefinitely...Will that happen? I don't know. It's possible. That's what a lot of people are afraid of. A lot of people here are really into military history, and history can repeat itself."
I heard this not once but again and again in the fall of 2009, that Obama had a secret plan to confiscate guns or at least ammunition, that if he wasn't doing it in his first year in office then he was biding his time until after the 2010 election (which seemed just as silly than as it does now, knowing how the 2010 election actually turned out). Meanwhile, the fear of the coming Obama gun confiscation was having real-world effects. A rumor that Obama wanted to tax or seize people's ammo caused the price of bullets to skyrocket in 2009 way past what the government's ability to tax them would have been. Gun manufacturers -- who were supposedly going to be crushed by the Obama administration -- reported record profits. The worst impact was several lunatics whose mounting fear of the looming firearms crackdown caused them to go on shooting sprees -- most notably Pittsburgh's Richard Poplawski, who fatally gunned down three police officers.
In the reality-based world, Obama is doing nothing and saying nothing about guns. It's been that way for a long time; in the 2008 campaign, when he had occasion to be pressed on the issue, he blandly noted that he supported the Second Amendment (PDF file) just as any elected official from a duck-hunting prairie state might do. What's happened with guns on the federal legislation since he became the 44th president in January 2009? Obama signed bills that made it easier -- that's right, easier -- to bring guns into national parks and even on board Amtrak trains. That's the Obama gun confiscation, folks.
It's Big Lie -- and the sad truth is that the Big Lie still works.
Rather than combat the falsehoods, Obama and his underlings are so scared of playing into the stereotype (which is held, by the way, mostly among people who would not vote for Obama if he showed up at their front door, Publisher's Clearinghouse-style, with a tax-free check for $1 million) that they won't tackle common-sense policies that might kick the hornet's nest that is the National Rifle Association. Most recently, that fear has prevented any move to crack down on gun smuggling for Mexico's drug wars:
The issue has bedeviled Democrats for years, especially after defeats in the 1994 midterms and the 2000 presidential election, in which Al Gore lost his home state of Tennessee.
"That was the shift of the tectonic plate for the Democrats on the gun issue," said James Cavanaugh, former ATF special agent in charge in Nashville. "The thing that really, really, really scared the Democrats was Al Gore losing his home state, and the reason was the gun issue. They all know it."
The gun lobbyists are well aware of their power. "The White House is sensitized enough to understand it really is the third rail of American politics," said Richard Feldman, a former lobbyist for the NRA and a gun industry trade representative who has discussed gun policy with White House officials. "They have figured out that it is a lightning-rod issue, and they don't want it to injure them."
In the meantime, expect two more years of looser and looser gun laws from both Washington and state legislatures, no matter how many die in the crossfire, and then watch ultra-conservatives show up in droves in 2012, warning that Obama is actually really just waiting for his second term for that confiscation that everyone knows is coming. Because what they've really learned is that nothing works better -- even in America -- than the Big Lie.
Comment removed.
i don't have a gun. it's obviously obama's fault.— mellowjohn- The major issue with Democratic politicians is that they try to ignore the lies of the Republicans and hope people will pick up on the lack of truth. Republicans are blissfully ignorant. Also, the Democrats try to court everyone's votes. Many Republicans won't vote for Democrats for racial, social, and philosophical issues. If people don't agree with them, they won't vote for them even if it's for the best of the nation.— HandNik
- Wow. So the biggest issue with Democratic politicians isn't that they are fractured, can't pass meaningful legislation when they have full control of the government, misread the intentions of the American public, pass legislation that hurts the economy, lowers the quality of healthcare? You seem to have WAY too rosy of a view of Democratic politicians. — IggleFan68
- The Big Lie basically sums up Obama's campaign promises. And you fell for 'em hook line and sinker.— RG
- Comment removed.
- He promised to work toward gun control. He promised to end the revolving door with lobbyists. He promised to prosecute torture. He promised an open administration. He promised to end no bid contracts. Promised to allow five days of public review before signing bills. Promised to reduced earmarks. Promised immigration reform in first year. Promised public option and that healthcare would be negotiated on CSPAN. Said stimulus would keep UE under 8%. — RG
- He also promised to roll back the tax cuts and eliminate the capital gains tax for small biz. — RG
- Comment removed.
- Why are you moving the goalposts. You called me a liar and I gave proof. — RG
- Comment removed.
- no bid contracts, transparency, public option,prosecuting torture, gun control, public review of bills, CSPAN debate, earmarks, none of this was filibustered. — RG
- Comment removed.
- So you lied when you said Obama's broken promises were due to Republican filibusters. Thanks for admitting as much. — RG
- And until Scott Brown took over Teddy's seat, The Dems had a filibuster proof majority when you consider the two independents that caucus with them. — RG
Will Bunch, a senior writer at the Philadelphia Daily News, blogs about his obsessions, including national and local politics and world affairs, the media, pop music, the Philadelphia Phillies, soccer and other sports, not necessarily in that order.
E-mail Will by clicking here.
PLEASE COMMENT WITH PASSION...
...but not with racial slurs, potentially libelous allegations, obscenities or other juvenile noise. Such comments will, at our discretion, be deleted in their entirety, and repeat offenders will be blocked from commenting. ALSO: Any commenter advocating killing any government official will be immediately banned.
Thanks.
- Atrios
- Kiko's House
- Suburban Guerilla
- Booman Tribune
- All-Spin Zone
- Philly (Dragonballyee)
- Afro-Netizen
- Rowhouse Logic
- MyDD
- Bad Attitudes
- Billmon
- iFlipFlop
- CorrenteWire
- upyernoz
- Tattered Coat
- Fables of the Reconstruction
- Slacktivist
- Citizen Mom
- The Next Mayor
- Philly Future
- Philadelphia Will Do
- Philebrity
- Young Philly Politics
- Phillyblog
- Welcome to Phillyville
- Phawker
- A List of Things Thrown Five Minutes Ago
- Keystone Blog
- Philadelphia - America's Hometown
- BlankBaby
- Above Average Jane
- Phillyist
- Metroblogging Philadelphia
- The Clog
- Josh Marshall
- Daily Kos
- Juan Cole
- Oliver Willis
- Andy Borowitz
- War and Piece
- Wonkette
- BuzzFlash
- Raw Story
- Cursor
- Crooks and Liars
- Swing State Project
- Kevin Drum
- Talk Left
- AmericaBlog
- Hullabaloo
- Mad Kane
- Think Progress
- Jesus' General
- The Carpetbagger Report
- Majikthise
- Echidne of the Snakes
- David Sirota
- Glenn Greenwald
- TBogg
- Fire Dog Lake
- Taylor Marsh
- Matthew Yglesias
- Jon Swift
- Drudge Report
- Beer Leaguer
- The 700 Level
- Dick Polman
- Balls, Sticks and Stuff
- Shallow Center
- Philling Station
- Phillies Nation
- A Citizen's Blog
- The Good Phight
- Romenesko
- Editor and Publisher
- Pressthink
- Buzzmachine
- The Inksniffer
- Media Bloodhound
- Eat the Press
- Mickey Kaus
- Media (Huffington Post)
- Blinq
- The Corner
- Instapundit
- Andrew Sullivan
- Free Republic
- James Taranto
- Blonde Sagacity
- ScrappleFace
- Blogorrhea
- May
- April
- March
- February
- January
- December 2011
- November 2011
- October 2011
- September 2011
- August 2011
- July 2011
- June 2011
- May 2011
- April 2011
- March 2011
- February 2011
- January 2011
- December 2010
- November 2010
- October 2010
- September 2010
- August 2010
- July 2010
- June 2010
- May 2010
- April 2010
- March 2010
- February 2010
- January 2010
- December 2009
- November 2009
- October 2009
- September 2009
- August 2009
- July 2009
- June 2009
- May 2009
- April 2009
- March 2009
- February 2009
- January 2009
- December 2008
- November 2008
- October 2008
- September 2008
- August 2008
- July 2008
- June 2008
- May 2008
- April 2008
- March 2008
- January 2008
- News | Sports | Business | What's Happening | Restaurants & Food | Entertainment | Living | Marketplace | Jobs
