Like many parents, I suspect, my first reaction to the news of the shootings at Umpqua Community College, in Oregon, on Thursday was to think of the families of the victims, and my second reaction was to turn away and mutter some obscenities. With the implacable grip that the gun lobby has on Congress, there is virtually no prospect of the United States following the example of nearly every other advanced country and restricting the supply of deadly firearms to civilians. Given that seemingly immutable reality, what is there left to say? Quite a lot, it turns out.
Evidently, President Obama felt the same frustration and hopelessness that many others did. But rather than resigning himself to the situation, he went down to the White House briefing room and issued one of the most powerful statements that he has delivered since taking office. We should be grateful that he did. Even if it doesn’t do much immediate good, it will be there in the record, to remind historians where the primary blame lies for this ongoing national disgrace.
[For more of this story, written by John Cassidy, go to http://www.newyorker.com/news/...tics-of-hopelessness]
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