Welcome to the weekly standard podcast. I'm your host, Michael Graham with us. And look at standard is John McCormick and John, it's an unusual thing to see a man cry in public unless, of course, it's a former speaker of the house to see a president cry is pretty powerful, but to see Obama, no drama crying today as he made his, announce the executive action to take regarding guns was a, I think, a very powerful political moment. Um, it may have been, you know, and I think it, I think it could very well be sincere, you know, if you look at this Obama's perspective, he chose not to do anything about comfortable.
He thinks that his inaction has led to the deaths of many innocent people, including innocent little children. And so, you know, the fact that he had 60 democratic votes in the Senate and a low majority of the house, he held the White House and didn't push a single gun control vote during that period of time where he actually had the power to do something. Um, yeah, you know, a lot of people pointed out online that I feel guilty to a fight that I have the power to save these lives and decide not to pursue the politics. You know, I was watching some of the coverage and listening to her friends at NPR and more allies and said, the White House concedes that these efforts will not stop all mass shootings, you know, all know the White House concedes that these efforts will stop no mass shootings, don't they?
I mean, I got it. I think you have to get the White House credit that they are pretty much admitting that these measures are taking are minuscule in their impact. Or am I missing some of the spin? Well, I think the White House wants to make him a bigger deal.
Mary, you know, the NRA, a lot of people, you know, the close of the smokes are doing really this, this is all you get every time you hit. You know, the NRA was shocked. You know, the president doesn't have the power to change the law. I mean, the NRA is concerned that this might have some sort of chilling effect on private sales and whether it's a good idea to expand universal bad rush.
I don't have a very strong in either way. But you know, the power to actually pass this law when he had Congress back in 2010, he does not do for, you know, the people of politics. He really wanted the NRA enforcement, the Democrats wanted to hold on to Congress. And that's a simple reason why they didn't hold any of these votes back then.
And I think they're sort of somewhat empty gesture on his way out the door. Maybe do a swacious conscience and they can feel better for the fact that he didn't do anything in the hurt less. Well, so since there can be no real result of these minuscule measures, that leaves us to talk about the fun part, which is the politics. I would argue that today's big loser is Hillary Clinton.
Would you agree? I think that's right. You know, I think they basically kicked the opponent's nest. You know, if you actually poll on the issue of expanding, go to the background checks.
I mean, there's a fair amount of support, but the question always is who actually got a vote on this issue. And there are a whole lot of gun owners who are willing to vote on it. And I'm not sure that you really get, you know, that many of, you know, suburban soccer moms who are going to vote for the Democratic candidate because of this. You know, because it's such a small, mostly symbolic issue.
It doesn't mean as you pointed out, you know, there wasn't a single instance of all those, you know, mass shootings where the gun was purchased this way in a climate sale. They were all done, you know, background check for a reform and all these big, you know, shootings and so, yeah, this is going to stop something and save some lives that really doesn't seem like it's true. I mean, if they want to do anything, they don't have to consider much, you know, bigger measures, you know, I mean, the problem isn't, you know, young people, the problem here are problems that help you with problems that people, I mean, maybe he wants to start banning gun sales for people that are 30, that's unconstitutional, but it's a demand, you know, 30, that's really go after these mass shooters. You know, he doesn't want to, he doesn't want to take anything, he doesn't want to take on this all up and it didn't even hold a vote on that.
And that's my point is there's very little upside for the people who want to restrict the gun rights here. They got virtually nothing. But the symbolism, these political spark that's emitted when the President States announces, I don't care what the laws are, I'm going to make my own laws. That just jins up the people who are focused on voting on gun rights in the Second Amendment.
So like I said, bad news for Hillary Clinton because she has to run with an issue that doesn't leave her side energized, but energizes her opposition. So the question I have for you, John, is which of her opponents in the Republican field benefits most from this? Yeah, who benefits most? Not quite true, benefits most.
Maybe Ted Cruz, you know, is coming out as a tough, you know, leader in Iowa right now. Maybe people that could hurt the most, you know, would obviously people have a mixed record on gun control. That would be Donald Trump and Chris Christie Donald Trump back in 2000 said that, you know, he supports you. So luck in the ban one time that longer waiting period before you get it on.
Of course, it's completely reinvented himself in 2015, run Republican primary. Chris Christie, too, if you go look at his record back in 1993, he said that opposition to efforts to repeal new dirty, this whole weapons ban are the issue that energizes the game of politics. He was asked about this by Chris Wallace and said he doesn't remember saying that that he's run on the issue, too. You know, Christie also signed this issue this bill in 2013 banning people on the terror watch list, the government's terror watch list from owning a purchase and guns.
And, you know, not the real issue where it's, you know, overwhelmingly popular when you pull it, but in one Republican activist base, they come to see this as really a gross and printed upon due process. Republican, I'll turn it though, which would sort of cut people's due process, you know, people who run the terror watch list to keep them from getting guns, but the government actually have to show a probable cause that they were, you know, an actual risk of being a terrorist. Or maybe we can even find out who's on the stinking list to begin with. So exactly.
Exactly. And this is the part of Ted Kennedy. Find out who's on the list and that will be helpful. I think that your comment on Ted Cruz is definitely on point because Cruz has been so vocal in the idea that the Constitution in and of itself is worthy of defense and violating it as a problem.
And if you're looking at this field, obviously you assume the most of the Republicans are going to be pretty, you know, pro-constitution. But Ted Cruz has really talked about it. So has Ben Carson, but I don't think anyone thinks of protecting the second amendment and Ben Carson in the same sentence. No, I think Carson also has some mixed records.
You know, I think some courts already said that we should have a ban on some weapons in the cities, but not rural America. So sort of taking a mixture of you on that as well. Let me ask you how this is viewed in Washington. I mean, I just assume that everyone in DC saw this as nothing, but, you know, painfully emotional Kabuki theater where the president whipped people's emotions up to tremendous heights and then gave them, you know, the equivalent of you know, Nichols' worth of of of of SAV, you know, just a tiny little effort after this tidal wave of emotion.
And so my question from DC is two points. Number one is does DDC see this as transparent as it seems to me? And number two is using the calculus inside DC for politics. How is this a smart political move for the party and power in the White House?
Well, I think the second question indicates the answer to the first question. That would be that, you know, the politics aren't good. The president acknowledged that the reason they don't pass these laws is because they want to win elections. And so why do you do something that's unpopular?
And I think the honest answer is that he genuinely guilty about the fact that he had the power to actually pass the law. They didn't have a single vote. They didn't have a single vote. They didn't have a single vote in the House or the Senate.
And it couldn't tell the Sandy Hook, a massacre for him to actually try and make this an issue and that failed. You know, the match between Bill Hale, which I have. So the president honestly thinks that some of these measures he's talked about would have prevented any of these mass shootings. Because I don't know if he honestly believes that they're going to prevent the match.
I think he thinks that he needs to at least issue a live and move the move the ball down the field as much as he can to do whatever he can to do the brave political thing, you know, whatever to take the, you know, the West Wing, you know, president Bartlett's approach and, you know, the consequences be damned. I need to show that I'm willing to stand for truth in the Democratic way. And what is right, even if it doesn't come from much at all. You know, I mean, even there are substantive measures, obviously, would accomplish much at all.
And they're still, you know, beginning to push for those things. I'm like, you know, it's all I've been saying, which has been gotten about in the Senate. Well, let me, before he cries again, let me ease the president's conscience. There's nothing you could have done, Mr.
President, though, stops Sandy Hook. There's nothing to stop a crazy kid from using his parents' gun and committing mass murder. There's nothing could have done to stop Aurora, a crazy guy using totally legally obtainable guns who went through a background check committing a crime. So I hope it's nothing else.
While he's accomplished nothing as a leader, maybe can feel a little bit better as a person if we ease his mind. Tom McCormick, thanks so much for joining us for the podcast. I appreciate it. Thank you.
You've been listening to the weekly standard podcast. Please be sure to check with the standard.com regularly for podcast updates. I'm your host, Michael Graham.