Obama Blames Us for the Oregon Shooting, and He’s Right
James Brady’s death last year was ruled a homicide.
After he was shot in the 1981 assassination attempt on Ronald Reagan’s life, the president’s press secretary spent the rest of his life in a wheelchair. When he died 33 years later, the coroner declared it was the original gunshot that killed him.
Brady spent those years, along with his wife Sarah, fighting for stricter gun control laws. The federal law requiring background checks for gun purchases – rife with exceptions – bears his name.
So does the press room where President Obama had to, once again, stride to the podium to express sympathy and grief for the families of people brutally murdered in yet another mass shooting. The president sounded familiar notes: He thanked the responders. He honored the victims and offered prayers for their families. But something was different in this speech.
This time, he was angry.
His anger wasn’t directed at Chris Harper Mercer, the murderer who hadn’t been named yet by the media when Obama spoke. His anger was for you. And me. And every other citizen in this country who has allowed shooting after shooting to destroy countless lives while our government refuses to act.
“This is a political choice that we make to allow this to happen every few months in America. We collectively are answerable to those families who lose their loved ones because of our inaction….
“So, tonight, as those of us who are lucky enough to hug our kids a little closer are thinking about the families who aren’t so fortunate, I’d ask the American people to think about how they can get our government to change these laws, and to save lives, and to let young people grow up.”
Obama’s frustration was visible on his face, palpable in a way it hasn’t been in the past. And no wonder. He was president when James Holmes killed 12 people in a movie theater. He was president for 20 dead children in Newtown, Connecticut, and nine dead black parishioners in Charleston, South Carolina. He was president when one of Congress’ own was shot in the head.