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Fri Nov 13, 2020, 01:55 PM

Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin (59,788 posts)

Barack Obama Says Congress' Lack of Action After Sandy Hook was 'Angriest' Day of His Presidency

Source: Newsweek

Reflecting back on his presidency, former President Barack Obama said the "angriest" day of his two terms at the White House was when Congress failed to take action in response to the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.

"That was, not only maybe the saddest day of my presidency, but when Congress failed to do anything in the aftermath of Sandy Hook, was probably the angriest I ever was during my presidency," Obama told Oprah Winfrey in a new Apple TV+ interview.

"I was disgusted and appalled by the inaction," Obama continued. "Because you had parents who had just lost their children, sitting in front of senators and asking them for very modest, reasonable approaches. This wasn't some radical agenda. They were asking for more effective background checks and other provisions to keep firearms out of the hands of disturbed folks."

On December 14, 2012, a gunman stormed Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newton, Connecticut and killed 26 people, including 20 children. The mass shooting remains the second-deadliest school shooting in the U.S.

Read more: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/barack-obama-says-congress-lack-of-action-after-sandy-hook-was-angriest-day-of-his-presidency/ar-BB1aZD4v?ocid=DELLDHP&li=BBnbfcL

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16 replies	Author	Time	Post
Barack Obama Says Congress' Lack of Action After Sandy Hook was 'Angriest' Day of His Presidency (Original post)	Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin	Nov 13	OP
A tragic day and to what end? A pedophile getting a "high score"?	ck4829	Nov 13	#1
These "Republican Representatives" are the most foul, undeserving people to ever set foot in D.C. nt	chowder66	Nov 13	#2
It was the Democratic Senate that killed gun control post Sandy Hook	hack89	Nov 13	#8
Thanks I didn't know this.	chowder66	Nov 13	#11
As I recall, it was another of those "motion to proceed" votes...	CBHagman	Nov 14	#12
Yes. It required 60 votes instead of a simple majority and only one republican	chowder66	Nov 14	#13
It was doomed to be killed by the bastard GOP senators, who'd	Hortensis	Nov 14	#15
Thanks for the reference!	CBHagman	Nov 14	#16
This was minority rule writ large.	Grins	Nov 13	#3
It was a Democratic Senate that killed gun control post Sandy Hook	hack89	Nov 13	#9
I got a lot of good out of reading Churchill's books that were published after we won WWII.	abqtommy	Nov 13	#4
Unfortunately, Congress was more interested in	ManiacJoe	Nov 13	#5
Huh?	Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin	Nov 13	#6
The Senate tried to pass an AWB and failed. Nt	hack89	Nov 13	#10
Perfect is the enemy of the good.	needledriver	Nov 13	#7
While I think background checks on all weapon transfers is a good idea...	EX500rider	Nov 14	#14

Response to Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin (Original post)

Fri Nov 13, 2020, 02:05 PM

ck4829 (29,458 posts)

1. A tragic day and to what end? A pedophile getting a "high score"?

The 112th Congress needs to have this attached to them.

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Response to Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin (Original post)

Fri Nov 13, 2020, 02:37 PM

chowder66 (4,990 posts)

2. These "Republican Representatives" are the most foul, undeserving people to ever set foot in D.C. nt

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Response to chowder66 (Reply #2)

Fri Nov 13, 2020, 10:44 PM

hack89 (38,572 posts)

8. It was the Democratic Senate that killed gun control post Sandy Hook

The Republican House forced the Senate to take the lead.

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Response to hack89 (Reply #8)

Fri Nov 13, 2020, 11:19 PM

chowder66 (4,990 posts)

11. Thanks I didn't know this.

I just read that they didn't have the votes they needed. They needed 60 but would have only had 55 with Sanders and one Republican (if all of the 15 Democratic Senators switched their vote).

They decided to vote against to keep their seats and their majority.

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Response to chowder66 (Reply #11)

Sat Nov 14, 2020, 12:15 AM

CBHagman (16,279 posts)

12. As I recall, it was another of those "motion to proceed" votes...

...in an era when a supermajority was required just to get an up-or-down vote in the Senate. There were a lot of those in President Obama's second term, though this was one of the most appalling. But the headlines would only state that a bill "failed" in the Senate.

The vote was also before the NRA became tabloid fodder. It seemed a much more powerful organization then.

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Response to CBHagman (Reply #12)

Sat Nov 14, 2020, 10:19 AM

chowder66 (4,990 posts)

13. Yes. It required 60 votes instead of a simple majority and only one republican

Here's the article I found;

snip

In addition to Feinstein and the bill's 24 Democratic co-sponsors -- a quarter of the Senate -- 13 other Democrats voted for it. They were joined by Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Mark Kirk, R-Ill. On the opposing side, there were 44 Republicans, one independent and, somewhat shockingly, 15 Democrats.

While the 15 Democrats who essentially broke party lines and voted against the bill did have an impact on the optics of the vote total, they didn't entirely cause the bill's failure. Even if the 15 Democrats who voted against the bill had switched their votes, it would have been short five votes to pass because it needed 60 votes total.

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/15-democrats-helped-tank-2013-assault-weapons-ban/story?id=50275295

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Response to chowder66 (Reply #13)

Sat Nov 14, 2020, 08:12 PM

Hortensis (42,976 posts)

15. It was doomed to be killed by the bastard GOP senators, who'd

already abandoned decency and principle for corruption. The Democrats couldn't save it.

I remember feeling sick. For once I didn't care about our senators' reelection problems. I wanted them all to vote for what was right, but we would probably have lost even more of them in the next election if they had.

I didn't remember that, incredibly, public support for the ban was only 52%. Given what's happened to the right, it's interesting and encouraging that maybe half of them have advanced on this issue, in spite of their leadership.

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Response to chowder66 (Reply #13)

Sat Nov 14, 2020, 10:01 PM

CBHagman (16,279 posts)

16. Thanks for the reference!

I lost track of the number of times I read headlines that something failed in the Senate under similar circumstances.

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Response to Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin (Original post)

Fri Nov 13, 2020, 04:10 PM

Grins (3,481 posts)

3. This was minority rule writ large.

90% of the country wanted something, anything, to be done about guns, but enough Senators from states that represent a minority of the population blocked it!

That is the egregious power of the electoral college and 2-Senators per state rule to thwart the demands of the majority. Ultimately, minority rule ends up in violence.

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Response to Grins (Reply #3)

Fri Nov 13, 2020, 10:45 PM

hack89 (38,572 posts)

9. It was a Democratic Senate that killed gun control post Sandy Hook

You can thank Harry Reid for that.

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Response to Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin (Original post)

Fri Nov 13, 2020, 07:13 PM

abqtommy (7,478 posts)

4. I got a lot of good out of reading Churchill's books that were published after we won WWII.

Now I'm gonna have to pick up Obama's book. Thanks for this.

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Response to Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin (Original post)

Fri Nov 13, 2020, 07:36 PM

ManiacJoe (9,911 posts)

5. Unfortunately, Congress was more interested in

passing a gun ban than actually working on any issues related to Sandy Hook.

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Response to ManiacJoe (Reply #5)

Fri Nov 13, 2020, 09:19 PM

Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin (59,788 posts)

6. Huh?

When did Congress try to pass a gun ban?

They didn't try to do anything.

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Response to Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin (Reply #6)

Fri Nov 13, 2020, 10:46 PM

hack89 (38,572 posts)

10. The Senate tried to pass an AWB and failed. Nt

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Response to Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin (Original post)

Fri Nov 13, 2020, 09:25 PM

needledriver (792 posts)

7. Perfect is the enemy of the good.

“They were asking for more effective background checks and other provisions to keep firearms out of the hands of disturbed folks."

Yes. There was real bipartisan support for meaningful, effective, reasonable gun control measures BUT they also had to lard up the bill with an “assault weapons” ban. Background checks could have been the law of the land for years by now but certain senators were not willing to budge on banning scary looking black guns.

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Response to Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin (Original post)

Sat Nov 14, 2020, 10:59 AM

EX500rider (6,509 posts)

14. While I think background checks on all weapon transfers is a good idea...

...is not clear how that would have helped here, he had none, killed his mother and took hers.

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