Guns Harry Reid Iraq

Ten Years After Caving on Iraq, Senate Democrats Cave on Assault Weapons

My Wednesday column and renewed disgust for the Senate Democrats:

It wasn’t the first time, and it won’t be the last time, but yesterday I was ashamed to be a registered member of the Democratic Party. Not only was it the tenth anniversary of the invasion and occupation of Iraq, which more than half of all Senate Democrats along with 81 House Democrats supported, but it was also a day when the Democratic Party handed the National Rifle Association its biggest victory this year without even putting up a fight.

I’m not simply referring to the fact that Harry Reid has decided to pull the Feinstein section of the Senate gun control bill that intend to ban 157 different military-style weapons, I’m also talking about the broad flaccidity of the Democrats on this issue — flaccidity all across the board, from activists to financiers to to the president to the party apparatus itself, the likes of which were on display ten years ago when too many Democrats endorsed the ill-fated crusade into Iraq.

Let’s start with Reid himself. Once again, Reid’s well-deserved Droopy Dog personality reemerged and allowed the majority party in the Senate to be steamrolled, not just by the Republicans and the NRA, but by at least 15 members of his own party — 15 Democrats, including Reid himself, have refused support a new assault weapons ban. It’s no secret that Reid is one of many congressional Democrats who’s sympathetic to the NRA, and the NRA has returned the favor with a friendly “B” grade for Droopy, signifying “a generally pro-gun candidate; may have opposed some pro-gun reform in the past.” [continue reading here]