A new Pew poll offers good news for advocates of common sense gun laws; 85% support closing the gun show loophole, 80% favor preventing purchases by the mentally ill (not a very good stat, that one, because "mentally ill" is not defined), 67% want a federal database to track all gun sales, 58% would ban semi-automatics, 55% would ban assault rifles, 54% would ban high-capacity clips, and 53% would ban the online sale of ammunition. In the bad idea pile, 64% want police or armed guards in school -- I don't like it, but I can live with it -- but only 40% would arm teachers and administrators -- hands down, the very worst idea of the bunch. A Washington Post/ABC poll reflects Pew's findings, most notably in a similar percentage who would back an assault weapons ban -- 55%. If the GOP opposes most of these, they'll be losing friends when they need to gain them.
Speaking of which, the GOP's geographic base -- the American south -- is declining in political power, approaching a place in America "like Scotland's in the United Kingdom, as a cultural draw for the rest of the country, with a hint of the theme park." If the south's gonna rise again, it's not going to be any time soon.
Looking at those gun polling numbers, I have to conclude that Texas Republican Rep. Steve Stockman can not read the handwriting on the wall.
President Obama takes a hard line on the debt ceiling.
Rep. Jerry Nadler understands that reducing unemployment is deficit-reduction job one. Republicans have it exactly backwards: we have a revenue problem, not a spending problem. You don't grow the economy by shrinking demand.
Greg Sargent sees the debt limit fight as the House Tea Party's possible Waterloo. Josh Marshall points to the House GOP's obviously weak knees.
George H.W. Bush leaves the hospital. He'll need to undergo ongoing physical therapy.
Finally, President Obama wisely ties gun lobbyists' PR to gun sales. They don't want to protect anyone's rights, they don't care if anyone's safe or not. They just want to sell guns.
[cartoon via McClatchy Newspapers]
