Jesse Jackson
Do not turn your eyes from the horror of the
As he has shown in his moving words after the horror, President Obama clearly is grief-stricken, as we all should be, about the children murdered in their innocence.
"Can we honestly say we're doing enough to keep our children, all of them, safe from harm?" Obama asked in his remarks in
The president pledged that "in the coming weeks, I'll use whatever power this office holds to engage my fellow citizens, from law enforcement to mental health professionals to parents and educators, in an effort aimed at preventing more tragedies like this."
As the president said, we've seen too many of these tragedies. And daily in major cities like
Legislators are afraid to act because the gun lobby is well funded, and this country is saturated in guns. As of 2009, there were an estimated 310 million nonmilitary firearms owned in America. There are 129,817 federally licensed firearms dealers, of which 51,438 are retail gun stores. That compares with 10,787
So, if action is to take place, Americans in large numbers must make their voices heard.
Sen.
On his own, the president could challenge Americans to rethink our infatuation with guns and violence. I would invite him to come home to
The
Obama could use a platform in
Will the horror of
- The Other Cliffs
- A Holiday Letter from America
- Take Care of the Children
- Newtown: The American Paradox
- The NRA vs Common Sense
- NRA 'Solutions' are Straight Out of a Stallone Movie
- Put Prospective Gun Owners Under the Microscope
- Too Many People Who Should Not Have Guns Do
- Newtown Shines Spotlight on Mental Health
- After Newtown: Will We Finally Act?
- Sandy Hook: Explaining Evil
- Fine Words, Delayed Action
- On Newtown, Mourn First, then Act
- School Shooting a Watershed Moment
- News and Social Media Amok
- In Colorado, Empty Gun Dorm Sends a Message
- Who Moved My Twinkie?
- The 'Land of Opportunity' is Becoming Hollywood Fiction
- Our Endless State of War
- Name that Foreign Policy Legacy
- A Date with History: The Cuban Missile Crisis
- False Tweets, Future Jailbirds?
- Hurricane Sandy's Wakeup Call
- Principled Pragmatism Beats Bush-style Bluster
- Empire and Its Consequences
- Netanyahu Foolish to Take Sides in American Election
- Hurricane Sandy and the Living Planet
- Hurricane Sandy Aftermath: New Jersey's Even-Odd System
- Hurricane Sandy Aftermath: Mamaroneck Damage
- Hurricane Sandy Aftermath: Brooklyn Looters Beware
- New York Cancels Marathon for First Time Due to Sandy
- Canceled NYC Marathon Disappoints Runners
- Hurricane Sandy Retrospective
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