More Words Of Wisdom

Posted on by under education, Election 2022, Election 2024, Environmental Issues, guns, Law and justice, Political commentary

Of the several newsletters I subscribe to, one of my favourites is by Robert B. Hubbell.  I don’t know much about Mr. Hubbell apart from the fact that he is an attorney in California, but he often speaks words of wisdom.  I’m sharing the first part of his newsletter from this morning about President Biden’s speech last night.  If you enjoy his style, feel free to subscribe to his newsletter – it’s free!

Biden meets the moment.

June 3, 2022

Robert B. Hubbell

[Audio version here ]

          President Biden met the moment by delivering a powerful call to “stop the carnage” caused by endless mass killings of America’s youth. In a speech delivered Thursday evening, he rose above his familiar role of “consoler-in-chief” to deliver a strong call to (1) ban assault rifles, (2) implement universal background checks, and (3) rescind legal immunity for manufacturers of firearms. Failing a complete ban, Biden called for raising the age limit to 21 for the purchase of an assault rifle. A video of President Biden’s remarks is here (starting at the 12-minute mark).

          Biden’s call for a ban on assault weapons created a marker for measuring the success of gun control legislation—a sorely needed counterweight to the feeble efforts currently under discussion in the Senate. Some political commentators (on CNN) called Biden’s remarks “demagoguery” for proposing measures that cannot pass in the current Senate. Those commentators miss the point of Biden’s speech. He is attempting to wrest control of the terms of the debate from temporizing Republicans and give it back to the American people—so that they can vote on the issue of gun control in 2022 and 2024. America must ban assault weapons and will never succeed unless we declare our resolve to achieve a ban. In that regard, Biden’s speech was a welcome change of tactics that succeeded in its purpose.

          Unlike Biden’s initial comments after Uvalde, Thursday’s speech was strong and animated. I have said many times that Biden is not a great orator but is an effective communicator. On Thursday, he was a bit of both. Immediately after Biden concluded his speech, I received texts and emails from readers who were impressed and thankful that Biden had confronted the gun lobby head-on. (One reader disagreed, saying that Biden’s speech was “weak” and that his delivery was a “lullaby.”)

          Many gun control advocates are frustrated that Biden is not implementing significant gun control by executive action. But Biden is limited in what he can do by executive action. Only Congress can legislate; the President’s role is limited to “faithfully executing laws” passed by Congress. In many instances, Congress vests rulemaking authority in executive agencies to implement legislation. That is where Biden can put his thumb on the scale—by ordering agencies to amend the rules delegated to the executive branch by Congress.  

          An example is “ghost guns”—firearms manufactured at home on 3-D printers or sold as “do it yourself home assembly kits” that do not contain serial numbers. Biden issued an executive order that included “ghost guns” (and components) within the definition of a “firearm” within the meaning of the Gun Control Act and Federal Firearms Act (“Acts”). Biden’s executive order prohibited the manufacture or sale of ghost-guns (or kits) that do not include serial numbers. Sellers of such kits must register as firearms dealers. But Biden cannot and did not outlaw the manufacture of ghost guns at home for personal use or assembling ghost guns from serialized parts—an order that would exceed the legislative rulemaking authority delegated to the executive branch by the Acts. See WhiteHouse.gov , Fact Sheet: The Biden Administration Cracks Down on Ghost Guns .

          Biden has already issued a slew of executive orders amending rules to extend the reach and effectiveness of existing laws regulating guns. See WhiteHouse.gov , Fact Sheet: President Biden’s Historic Actions to Make Our Communities Safer by Reducing Gun Crime . But Biden cannot ban assault rifles by executive order. If he tried, such a rule would be immediately challenged in court as exceeding his authority to “faithfully execute” the laws enacted by Congress. The urge to blame Biden for lack of action is misplaced; it is up to Congress to act.

          On Thursday, Biden challenged Congress to do its job by passing legislation that will make America safer. Many in Congress—including many Democrats—are already sputtering excuses about why Americans must accept fig leaves to protect themselves from armor-piercing bullets. Okay. . . let’s put the question to the voters in 2022 and 2024: Are we incapable of protecting our children from mass killings caused by assault weapons? We may win; we may lose. But if we refuse even to try, we become participants in the collective failure of will to protect our children. I will not be part of that failure . . . and I hope you will not be, either.

33 thoughts on “More Words Of Wisdom”

  1. I’ve got into an exchange with a guy on ‘the other side’. I’m keeping it civil because it’s not his blog and the blog owner is a moderate and Democrat; they seem to be kind of friends.
    There’s still this ‘wall’ with him, no seeking common ground.
    There’s the problem for President Biden, the entrenchment amongst a voter base that pulls the strings of their chosen Elected.

    Like

    • Therein lies the problem … we know that we need civil discourse, we need to listen to each other in earnest, then talk through the issues, finding bits of common ground to build on. But, it always feels like we’re talking to a brick wall when we try to talk to Republicans. They are on the defensive from the time our lips begin to move. You’re right … that is Biden’s problem and I don’t see any way for it to be solved until the voters wake up and understand just how much they are being lied to. Sigh.

      Liked by 1 person

      • Yeah, discourse shut down last night. After a tirade of insults I was informed all further comments of mine would be ignored.

        I fear it is reaching the next stage Jill, where folk have to be given a jolt that ; unless they start getting active on the civil front, communal violence on a para-military level on both sides is not an impossible scenario.

        Liked by 1 person

        • Then give them the finger and move on … you can’t argue with insanity.

          I know you’re right, but I don’t know what it takes to open people’s eyes. Perhaps in 30-40 years, after they have lived under dictatorial rule for several decades, they will grow a spine, but today they have none.

          Liked by 1 person

          • Didn’t bother Jill, I’ve encountered far worse going head to head with some of the more fanatical Jeremy Corbyn supporters.

            It’ll come quicker than that Jill. If old-school Republicans don’t get a grip on the party there will be a kick back from folk that will make Republicans wish they only had Antifada to deal with

            Liked by 1 person

              • Congrats on getting ‘thus far’ Jill, Sheila is that young too.
                I want to hang around as long as possible, so I can have the fiendish satisfaction of saying:
                ‘Toldja’ to climate change deniers and Boris Johnson supporters (to name but a few).

                Liked by 1 person

                • Somehow, I don’t feel that it’s much of an accomplishment, or maybe I just feel like this is old enough for this old body. Not feeling up to snuff lately and in truth, I think this is probably my last year on earth. But … we shall see. When I was born, the docs told my parents I wouldn’t live to see my first birthday and that they should institutionalize me and try for another! I showed them!!! So, who knows, maybe I’m just in a funk and I’ll be around another coupl’a years. 🤷

                  Liked by 1 person

                  • Go with the current Jill and let it take you to smoother places to rest for a while.
                    All our challenges are hard and prone to bring us low or ‘out’ for a while.
                    You have fought for one hell of a long time against all the odds, and even after last year you came back again and again.
                    New folk reading your posts would not have believed your recent past.
                    Oh it’s hard to keep spirits up and soaring too.
                    The fact you have accomplished so much against the odds is testament to your inner courage, strength and determination.
                    Let’s hear it for Jill I say 👏👏👏👏🌻🌼🌷🌸🌻🌼🌷🌸

                    Liked by 1 person

  3. Why don’t we give a grant of few thousand to each person so they can buy an old car to restore or go antique hunting or set themselves up as tv ghost adventurers. People can have the grant if they don’t have firearms and can only use it for something none violent from the discovery channel. That should keep them occupied without the need to hug an assault rifle.

    Liked by 3 people

    • A marvelous idea, but the people in this country would lie, cheat, and steal to abuse the privilege and use every last dime to buy more guns under the guise of some constructive project. Sigh.

      Liked by 3 people

  4. As long as Joe Biden is attemting to make legislation work within the limits he;s allowed it’s good. but better still would be encouraging the legislation that can only come from Congress.LETS HOPE THERE ARE ENOUGH PEOPLE SICK AND FED UP OF THE FAILED POLITICIANS LIKE ABBOT AND THE KING OF CANCUN .

    Liked by 3 people

    • I think that before anything even remotely resembling good sense can come from Congress, we must rid ourselves of the detritus otherwise known as the GOP, or Republican Party. Their mantra is racism and bigotry, more guns, and encouraging stupidity by making true education illegal. I, for one, am definitely sick and fed up, but mine is only one voice. Sigh.
      Cwtch

      Liked by 3 people

  5. Yes yes…I subscribe to him also. He is fantastic! Between him, Robert Reich, Max Boot, Heather Cox Richardson, Eugene Robinson, Greg Olear and a few more, it’s eye opening and sometimes I feel all is lost and sometimes there’s a ray of hope.

    Liked by 3 people

  6. Pingback: MORE WORDS OF WISDOM. |jilldennison.com | Ramblings of an Occupy Liberal

  7. Elect anti-gun candidates, or wait till you or your loved ones get gunned down by a madman. Well and good. My questions: Are there enough good anti-gun candidates to be elected, enough to make a real difference. Keeping a majority in the House is mandatory. Gaining at least a 10 person majority in the Senate is a must! Mqke sure you are running good candidates, including in the Red States!

    Liked by 3 people

    • I am trying to elect anti-gun candidates, but my vote is one of about 156 million votes! It’s my intent to use this blog to raise awareness of many issues, including guns, education, climate change, wealth disparity, bigotry in all its forms, and more. Are there enough anti-gun candidates? Sure. But are they as well-funded as the pro-gun ones? No. The NRA is a powerful lobby with seemingly unlimited funds to ‘buy’ our legislators. I shan’t give up, but I’d be a fool if I failed to realize that it’s an uphill battle.

      Liked by 2 people

      • I meant America, not just you, Jill. All the good people of America. Too often you take certain comments personally, when they are intended as generalizations. I wish I knew how to avoid that, but in the heat of response I think in general terms. My bad

        Liked by 1 person

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