After President Trump tweeted a gutless response to yesterday’s Florida high school massacre that made no mention of the NRA-backed Republican gun laws that enable an epidemic of mass shootings only the United States experiences, Barack Obama responded with a tweet of his own.
Obama’s words exemplified the moral courage of a true leader, the president we all wish stood at the helm of our nation in these trying and tragic times.
We are grieving with Parkland. But we are not powerless. Caring for our kids is our first job. And until we can honestly say that we're doing enough to keep them safe from harm, including long overdue, common-sense gun safety laws that most Americans want, then we have to change.
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) February 15, 2018
He shared his grief over the loss of 17 high school students and employees, but went further, pointing out that the one thing that forces America to suffer endless gun massacres, while other wealthy nations don’t, is our pathetically lax gun laws.
He offered up a call to action to lawmakers to finally take a stand that allows American parents to sleep at night, rather than fearing what their children will face at school, church, or the movies the next day.
Trump, who last year signed a bill making it easier for mentally ill people to access guns, offered the standard NRA talking points, namely, “prayers and condolences.”
My prayers and condolences to the families of the victims of the terrible Florida shooting. No child, teacher or anyone else should ever feel unsafe in an American school.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 14, 2018
Without a ban on assault weapons, and bans on mentally ill people, domestic abusers, and terrorists accessing guns, this nation’s most dangerous past time will only further imperil its future.
The contrast could not be more stark between Trump’s pat response and Obama’s demand for a change in laws.
One man is a president. The other, an amoral, spineless coward, like his Republican counterparts in Congress.
Follow Lucia Brawley on Twitter and at luciabrawley.com.
