President Bush's Boy Feels the Sting of His Boss' Mistake

KeepAndBearArms.com ^ | May 8, 2003 | Sam Cohen

[Atlas Sneezed]

The New Hampshire State Republican Committee is sponsoring a series of in-state visits from party bigwigs. Last night, Karl Rove, advisor to the President, and a friend of George W. Bush for 30 years, spoke at a lecture hall at Southern New Hampshire University, in Manchester. The hall was full, with several hundred people there, including a state senator, a recent Congressional candidate, and a number of other people I knew. (New Hampshire's a small state.) I sat in the front row, and after Rove's speech, was the last of a half-dozen people to be recognized for questions.

I introduced myself as a director of Gun Owners of New Hampshire, the NRA state affiliate, noting -- for the benefit of the audience -- that even Bill Clinton admitted that the country's 83 million gun owners, and the NRA, delivered the electoral votes of Arkansas, Tennessee, and West Virginia in the 2000 election. I then told of assistant White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan's statement a couple of weeks ago that President Bush had joined Democrat senators Dianne Feinstein and Chuck Schumer in calling for renewal of the so-called Assault Weapons Ban of 1994, due to sunset after ten years in 2004.

My question was whether President Bush was aware that many thousands of gun-rights activists around the country felt so strongly about this that we had drawn a line in the sand (my exact words), and would not support ANY politician -- even President Bush himself -- who supported this atrocious legislation.

Rove began his answer by referring to the tremendous amount of email that the White House had received on this subject, but then he shot back the question of whether we supported Bush in the 2000 elections.

I said "absolutely." His follow-up was that Bush had publicly campaigned on his position of "enforcing existing gun laws," and his position hasn't changed; he was just being consistent. Rove then closed the session and walked off the stage.

Just a few minutes later, I approached him to continue in private as he was leaving the building; I was the last to do so before he got into his car. This is where it got interesting: Rove took my arm and literally got in my face, using the old drill sergeant intimidation trick of speaking through clenched teeth with his nose an inch from mine. It didn't work, because I'm taller (and older, and uglier) than he is, and I took HIS arm in turn. He told me that Bush was sticking to his position, but that Congress would never pass the legislation. I told him that there were a lot of us, that we were dead serious, and that if Bush let the ban get renewed he'd lose the election, because freedom is more important than politics. He looked at me -- still with clenched teeth -- turned, and walked to his car, obviously angry.

GOOD! First, his anger told me that he knew that the hypocritical strategy was dangerous. More importantly, it tells me he'll remember the exchange.

Molon Labe!

Sam Cohen http://www.thespiritof76.com/rkba.html

* RKBA! (...the exclamation point means "shall not be infringed!")

[Atlas Sneezed]

Bang

[WoofDog123]

"GOOD! First, his anger told me that he knew that the hypocritical strategy was dangerous. More importantly, it tells me he'll remember the exchange. "

Do these folks do revenge tax audits like their predecessors?

[WorkingClassFilth]

Cool. Maybe somebody will need to rethink their strategery.

[UnBlinkingEye]

Support Bush if you love globalism, defeat him if you don't.

[JeepInMazar]

bang

[eddie willers]

So who do you prefer...Dean or Kerry?

[LarryM]

This points up Bush's political cowardice, which we have seen many times. It started with Ted Kennedy's education bill, then with his failure to veto CFR, and now he teams up with Schumer against his own base. Nobody should wonder why the public despises politicians.

[therut]

I hope like H--l that this law gets flushed. This would be a turning point in the gun debate in this country. We need soooo bad to get this stupid gun law off the books and show that a gun law can be repealed. I know Bush said he supported this in his pre-election debate but I hoped that he would somehow change his mind on supporting it again or I hoped that the congress would let it die. He was still better than Gore who believed that there is no individual right at all to own firearms. If this passes I don't know what I will do in the next election I will have to think hard about how I vote. Another thing I challenge all to sign up for the NRA or other gun group. I signed up 7 new members this year paid for it myself. If each member in the NRA would dish out 35.00 and sign someone up even your spouse it would be noticed the membership increasing to over 8 million members. Bite the bullet and JUST DO IT. Don't forget the women in your life. My 18 year old niece could not wait to put her NRA bumper sticker on her truck.

[cynicom]

But wait, if we do not vote for Bush those bad old democrats will be in power. What the hell is the difference, not a dimes worth.

[cynicom]

Watch the pub whiners come on here, wring their hands, and pull that old nonsense about the lesser of two evils. I do not know why the pubs come here.

[green team 1999]

there is not enough votes in congress or the senate to pass it right now. and i think the white house is up to something

[Cicero]

I'm not sure whether it's Bush or Rove, if that distinction is possible for an outsider to make.

In any case, I think it's foolish. The gun controllers are not going to vote for Bush if he does this. But many gun-rights advocates may indeed stay home. Besides which, the 2000 election clearly demonstrated, even to the leftists, that gun-control is a losing issue at the polls.

This issue is very similar to the abortion issue. Bush is pro-life by conviction, but he lets Rove talk him into supporting pro-abort candidates for the Senate, even in states where that is not an advantage at the polls.

[isthisnickcool]

What the hell is the difference, not a dimes worth.

So,

Ronald Reagan = Jimmy Carter?

Al Gore = Dick Cheney?

Phil Graham = Hillary Clinton?

"Not a dimes worth?" Some might not agree......

[thegreatbeast]

It would be nice to see the Brady Bunch take ONE step back after all this time. And such cynical games such as that laid out by Rove is more 41 than 43 I hope.

[hornetguy]

A little triangulation going om maybe?

[cmotormac44]

I cannot believe anyone is dumb enough to actually believe this remark---then again, after living over 80 years, I have met a lot of dumb people

[Sonny M]

So who do you prefer...Dean or Kerry?

Carefull with that question, Dean, and I do loath the man, is no gun grabber. He actually does take a literal interpretation of the 2nd amendment, believes its a states rights issue, and has the best scores out of any democrat with the NRA and the GOA. He also said, though not this year and not since he started this run, that he would not sign a bill banning any kind of firearm, or any kind of gun control bill, and his record does show that. That in mind, Getting to have guns, in return, living in a socialist hellhole, where I would need a gun to survive, is not a situation I want. This is also a guy, who conceded we won't always have the strongest military (code word for "cut defence spending, and let china have its way with us, the way a man named Bubbha would have his way with another man named herbert in prison).

[TexanToTheCore]

My suspicion is that this bill will never get reported out of committee. It would be a good strategy and one that has been used many times in the past.

[cynicom]

Looked in the mirror, good exercise, good training, that is why you have a closed mind.