What We Know

Disarmament
Republicans armed themselves with disputed talking points from the gun lobby about how a bill to expand background checks and outlaw a national gun registry was instead tantamount to a national gun registry. Turning the dispute from gun safety to gun rights, they took to the Senate floor to denounce the compromise, even arguing with its sponsors, Senator Joe Manchin III, Democrat of West Virginia, and Patrick Toomey, Republican of Pennsylvania, two National Rifle Association-blessed lawmakers who could not contain their umbrage. Mr. Obama on Wednesday accused the gun lobby and opposition lawmakers of willfully lying about the measure. (NYT, 4/17/2013)

We'll make three points:

1) We wonder if Democrats armed themselves with "disputed talking points" from Liberal academics and the Obama administration about Obamacare.... Of course, there was no "willful lying" back then.

2) In his remarks, Obama expressed indignation that some on the other side objected to his constant parading of the Newtown parents. Here is how we see it. We are heartbroken for the loss these parents suffered. It is incalculable. Do the parents have a right to speak out? Of course they do. However, we should not reflexively pass legislation that the parents want simply because they have suffered a loss. For one thing, the parents do not speak with one voice. Some Newtown parents have come out against gun legislation. Similarly, anti-war mom Cindy Sheehan was said by some on the Left to speak with "absolute moral authority" against the war because her son had died in Iraq.  Until it was pointed out that some moms of deceased soldiers supported the war! Ann Coulter was excoriated by Liberals for her attacks on the "Jersey Girls." But Coulter's point was that the Jersey Girls had given up their status as apolitical victims of a horrible tragedy to take a political position in opposition to the Bush administration. Once they did, they were subject to the same public scrutiny as any public commentator on their motives and their political views. That's the way it works.

3) If we are beaming today, it's because we were listening to Rush Limbaugh today and heard him repeat a point from yesterday's post. Namely that the failed gun legislation would have done absolutely nothing to prevent the Newtown massacre. Does El Rushbo read RedStateVT?


Relatively
According to a Unicef report issued last week — “Child Well-Being in Rich Countries” — the United States once again ranked among the worst wealthy countries for children, coming in 26th place of 29 countries included.
...
According to the report, the United States has the second highest share of children living under the relative poverty line, defined as 50 percent of each country’s median income, and the second largest “child poverty gap” (the distance between the poverty line and the median incomes of those below the line).

The United States ranked 25th out of 29 in the percentage of people 15 to 19 years old who were enrolled in schools and colleges and 23rd in the percentage of people in that cohort not participating in either education, employment or training. (Charles M. Blow, NYT, 4/17/2013)

And yet somehow, despite the abject poverty and abysmal conditions in the U.S., people from other countries will risk everything to come to America. Amazing!

Humor columnist Blow apparently never got....er, never read the memo that notes that other countries report fraudulent data. No country wants to be at the bottom so they game the study. Liberals like Blow just love these studies because they confirm their beliefs that the U.S. is a corrupt country that can only be cured by more spending on entitlements.