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For Senator John McCain - even for an instant - to make an abhorrent and atrocious comment about
President Obama...by accusing the President of being "directly responsible" for the Orlando shooting...is downright and disgustingly evil.
The gunman - who brutally killed 49 people and wounded 53 others in a gay nightclub in the early hours of Sunday, June 12th - had reportedly sworn allegiance to ISIS. McCain blamed Mr. Obama for the rampage in Orlando because the Arizona Republican feels it's the President's fault for the growth of the terrorist organization. McCain believes that Mr. Obama should never have pulled American troops out of Iraq, as the Senator thinks that enabled al-Qaeda to go to Syria and become ISIS.
After McCain uttered such incendiary and inflammatory remarks to reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC - on Thursday, June 16th - the Senator released a statement...saying he "misspoke."
To put it bluntly...that's a bunch of crap. My mind is actually thinking of words more vulgar, but because I generally don't speak them...I won't write them.
Does Senator McCain really want me - and the entire country - to believe that he repeatedly made a flagrant and reprehensible comment...but that he - in reality - didn't mean what he said? No way. What came out of McCain's mouth is exactly how he feels. So to say, after the fact - "I did not mean to imply that the President was personally responsible. I was referring to President Obama's national security decisions, not the President himself." - then why the hell didn't he say that to begin with? Why would he say...three times...that the President was "directly responsible?"
Now I don't want to hear from my Conservative readers that I'm coming down hard on Senator McCain because he's a Republican. First of all...if a liberal Democrat made such a statement about the President, I would be just as critical and just as disapproving. Secondly...when Donald Trump spewed nasty noise about Senator McCain...claiming he was not a military hero...because he was a prisoner of war...I defended McCain...and chastised Trump. So this has nothing to do with Senator McCain being a Republican.
If McCain had responded to the reporter's question about the Orlando massacre...and - one time - said that President Obama was "directly responsible" for the shooting...but then said he "misspoke"...maybe I'd buy it. Maybe. But the reporter - a second time - asked McCain the same question and he reiterated the same words. The reporter gave McCain a third chance to correct his egregious allegation...by phrasing his question in the same manner as the Senator had answered...asking McCain if he is saying that President Obama is "directly responsible" for the Orlando shooting. And McCain firmly replied..."That's what I said."
There was no misspeaking. Senator McCain should be ashamed of himself and he owes President Obama a public apology for his cruel, vicious and unthinkable charge.
Shame on you, Senator McCain. Shame on you.
And that's The Controversy for today.
I'm Gary B. Duglin.
"We'll talk again."
The Controversy is a publication of
GBD Productions. Founder and Editor-In-Chief of The Controversy is Gary B.
Duglin.
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Photo credits: nbcnews.com (Senator John McCain), bearingarms.com (President Barack Obama #1), Fox News Channel and deadline.com (Mr. Donald Trump) and abcnews.com (President Barack Obama #2)
Copyright 2016 Gary B. Duglin
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Aaron Sorkin wrote for actor Michael Douglas - as President Andrew Shepherd - in the 1995 motion picture, The American President, "You cannot address crime prevention without getting rid of assault weapons and handguns. I consider them a threat to national security and I will go door to door if I have to, but I'm gonna convince Americans that I'm right...and I'm gonna get the guns."
Unfortunately, Andrew Shepherd is a fictional character and The American President is a fictional movie.
A real-life President - Bill Clinton - signed in to law...on September 13th, 1994 - the same day it was passed by Congress - The Federal Assault Weapons Ban...officially called The Public Safety and Recreational Firearms Use Protection Act, which was a subsection of The Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994. The ban was active for a scheduled ten years, but expired on September 13th, 2004. Legislation to renew or replace the ban was proposed on numerous occasions, but efforts to do so were unsuccessful.
For five years - between May 2003 and June 2008 - California Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein, Florida Democratic House Representative Alcee Hastings and Republican House Representatives Michael Castle of Delaware and Mark Kirk of Illinois introduced bills to reauthorize the ban. At that same time, Senator Frank
Lautenberg of New Jersey and House Representative Carolyn McCarthy of New York - both Democrats - introduced similar bills, which would have created a new ban with a revised definition for assault weapons. Regrettably, none of the bills left committee.
Shame on President George W. Bush and the Republicans in Congress - at that time - who did not push for the ban to be reinstated when Democrats...and even some Republicans...did all they could to keep the law on the books.
After the 2008 Presidential election, Barack Obama spelled out a detailed agenda to "make the expired federal Assault Weapons Ban permanent." A few months later in 2009...President Obama instructed Attorney General Eric Holder to further make the President's desire...to revive the ban...known to all lawmakers...and to the country. Attempts to pass a new federal Assault Weapons Ban were made in December 2012 after twenty first-grade children and six educators were slaughtered - shot to death - in the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre in Newtown, Connecticut. A month later, Senator Dianne Feinstein introduced The Assault Weapons Ban of 2013. The bill was similar to the 1994 ban, but that it would not have expired after ten years. But the Republican Congressional delegation from Texas condemned Senator Feinstein's bill...as did the National Rifle Association. On March 14th, 2013...Democrats and Republicans of the Senate Judiciary Committee approved a version of the bill. But on April 17th, 2013, the new bill was defeated by a vote of 40 in favor and 60 opposed.
I hope those Senators and Representatives who said "Nay" in 2004 and 2013 feel really good about themselves today that 50 innocent Americans are dead...and 53 more are hospitalized after being wounded...when - at about 2 a.m. on Sunday, June 12th, 2016 - a mentally unstable, homophobic hater...who had reportedly sworn allegiance to ISIS...went on a shooting rampage...and opened fire at a crowded gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida. Of course, I'm being sarcastic...because any politician who voted against a renewal of the Assault Weapons Ban...should be feeling lousy that they didn't vote to approve such a ban. Meanwhile, President Obama has officially tagged the attack in Orlando..."an act of terror" and "an act of hate" by a "very sick person."
Authorities say the cold-blooded killer - who died in a gun battle with SWAT officers - was known to...and had been watched by...federal agents...within the last few years...but that he was dismissed as a threat to anyone. Obviously, somebody made a tragic mistake with their observation of this deranged madman. And now...50 victims are dead...and 53 more are laying in a hospital...wounded by the bullets of a psychotic. Ammunition and firearms - including an assault weapon and handgun - were legally purchased within the last week before his deadly shooting spree. How was somebody who was already on The F.B.I.'s radar...able to buy guns? This should never have happened...and can NOT ever happen again.
Maybe now...Republicans will join forces with Democrats...and pass a gun control law that will stop the heinous type of crime that stole the lives of 50 beautiful souls.
Fifty individuals left their homes on Saturday evening, June 11th...thinking they would be returning after a night of mirth, merriment and music...but to end up being...brutally murdered. The families of those 50 people have had their hearts ripped out from inside them...and they are now suffering deeply that their loved ones are gone forever.
After the tragedy in Orlando - the worst mass shooting in American history - if Republicans in Congress still refuse to pass a commonsense gun control law that would ban assault weapons in the United States...America is not the country I have always thought it to be. And if Americans overall...do not demand Congress to act accordingly...then our nation is going to agonize again and again...and more families will be grieving...following future shooting horrors. I, therefore, ask each of you who are reading this column...to think about that for more than a minute...because the next person killed...might just be someone you love...or one of your friends. And now think of this. Or that someone...may be you.
And that's The Controversy for today.
I'm Gary B. Duglin.
"We'll talk again."
After the above commentary was published, The F.B.I. adjusted the count of those killed from 50 to 49. Federal agents now say that the original total included the gunman...which authorities do not consider..."a victim."
The Controversy is a publication of
GBD Productions. Founder and Editor-In-Chief of The Controversy is Gary B.
Duglin.
One of the chief goals of a blog...one of the major reasons to
publish a blog...is to entice others to express their opinions about the subject
for which the author is writing. The Controversy is being read by a tremendous
amount of people throughout the United States of America and all around the
world. If you agree or disagree with my commentary...your views are welcomed.
Tell me that you love what I write...or that you hate it. Give your name...make
up one...or remain anonymous if you prefer. The Controversy is your outlet to
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share The Controversy with others by posting it on Facebook, Twitter and on
other social media forums. Please also pass a link to everyone in your e-mail
directories. The Controversy wants to know your thoughts on the column above or
on any other editorial or essay written on this blog.
Now, please express
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that you click on the word "Publish." Thank you for your thoughts and thank you
for reading The Controversy.
Photo credits: tvovermind.com (Academy Award Winner Aaron Sorkin), monologuedb.com, Castle Rock Entertainment and Columbia Pictures (Academy Award Winner Michael Douglas), wired.com (former President Bill Clinton), MSNBC and NBC News (Senator Dianne Feinstein), nj.com (Senator Frank Lautenberg), zimbio.com (former President George W. Bush), humanevents.com (former Attorney General Eric Holder) and voanews.com (President Barack Obama)
Copyright 2016 Gary B. Duglin and
TheControversy.net. All Rights
Reserved.
After reading the commentary
below, please express your own thoughts. Instructions on how to do so are
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History has been made. Hillary Clinton - on Monday, June 6th, 2016 - was declared the presumptive Democratic nominee for President of the United States. As such, the former Secretary of State is America's first woman to achieve that goal for a major political party.
The Associated Press - followed by the major television networks - named Mrs. Clinton the presumptive nominee after she won 36 pledged delegates in the Puerto Rico Primary on Sunday, June 5th and by confirming that 13 additional super delegates would take Secretary Clinton over the top of the 2,383 total delegates necessary to clinch the nomination.
Bernie Sanders must - and I do say must - now acknowledge... and quite frankly...embrace...the fact that Hillary Clinton will be the Democratic nominee. The Vermont Senator cannot remain defiant... and object to the AP and the networks counting the super delegates in Secretary Clinton's column. If Sanders waits to accept the inevitable...until the Philadelphia convention...then he will potentially hurt Mrs. Clinton...and the entire Democratic Party might not be unified. If Sanders doesn't start now...to encourage...and persuade the "Bernie Backers"...to get 100% behind Secretary Clinton - and to do it in a convincing fashion - Democrats risk the possibility of those Sanders voters staying home on November 8th and not casting their ballots for Hillary Clinton in the general election. And that would be a tragic mistake that could put America in the hands of an egomaniacal, narcissistic, racist xenophobe who is unfit and dangerous to be occupying The Oval Office.
That all being said, is Donald Trump's campaign imploding? Has the presumptive Republican nominee irreparably ruptured his chances of even being nominated at the GOP convention in Cleveland? Is it possible for the Rules Committee to...change certain rules...that would keep Trump from being nominated? According to political legal experts...the answer to that question...is yes.
Trump's racist remarks about Federal District Court Judge Gonzalo Curiel may do him in. One Congressional supporter, Republican Senator Mark Kirk of Illinois has already revoked his endorsement for Trump. And should Speaker of the House Paul Ryan...Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell...Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus...and other top Republicans...withdraw
their support of Trump...the billionaire businessman would be politically bankrupt. To make derogatory comments about a person because of ethnic heritage...to say that an officer of the Court cannot make an impartial ruling in a case because of where his parents were born...is without question... despicable racism. So I'm not so sure that Donald Trump's name will even appear on the Election 2016 ballot as the Republican nominee. As for what those Americans who have voted for Trump in the primaries...and who agree with his warped thinking...will say...or do...if Trump is not the nominee...l shudder to think. At the risk of sounding dramatic...riots could erupt in Cleveland...and elsewhere. But if Bernie Sanders doesn't become a team player...and come forward this week to endorse Hillary Clinton...Philadelphia may end up looking like the 1968 Chicago Democratic Convention. And God help us all if
such turmoil breaks out in either city this July.
Should Trump somehow escape the tumult that is currently facing his campaign...and is nominated at the Republican Convention...then Bernie Sanders needs to do what he has said all along...and that is...to do anything he can to keep Donald Trump from winning The White House. Well Bernie...you're overdue. You can't wait any longer. It's passed the time for you to suspend your campaign and drop out of the race for President. Do it now, Senator. Do it now...before it's too late.
And that's The Controversy for today.
I'm Gary B. Duglin.
"We'll talk again."
The Controversy is a publication of
GBD Productions. Founder and Editor-In-Chief of The Controversy is Gary B.
Duglin.
One of the chief goals of a blog...one of the major reasons to
publish a blog...is to entice others to express their opinions about the subject
for which the author is writing. The Controversy is being read by a tremendous
amount of people throughout the United States of America and all around the
world. If you agree or disagree with my commentary...your views are welcomed.
Tell me that you love what I write...or that you hate it. Give your name...make
up one...or remain anonymous if you prefer. The Controversy is your outlet to
speak your mind and to say what you want about the topics discussed. Please
share The Controversy with others by posting it on Facebook, Twitter and on
other social media forums. Please also pass a link to everyone in your e-mail
directories. The Controversy wants to know your thoughts on the column above or
on any other editorial or essay written on this blog.
Now, please express
your opinions. Just click on the word "Comments" below and write your remarks
in the box that appears. Make sure please that when you finish your statement
that you click on the word "Publish." Thank you for your thoughts and thank you
for reading The Controversy.
Photo credits: nbcnews.com (former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton), huffingtonpost.com (Senator Bernie Sanders), newyorker.com (Mr. Donald Trump), huffingtonpost.com (Federal District Court Judge Gonzalo Curiel), americanprinciples.org (Senator Mark Kirk), freebeacon.com (Speaker of the House Paul Ryan), nydailynews.com (Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell) and nationalreview.com (Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus)
Copyright 2016 Gary B. Duglin and
TheControversy.net. All Rights
Reserved.
