Mon 16 Apr 2007
Dana Perino, deputy White House press secretary:
As far as policy, the President believes that there is a right for people to bear arms, but that all laws must be followed. And certainly bringing a gun into a school dormitory and shooting — I don’t want to say numbers because I know that they’re still trying to figure out many people were wounded and possibly killed, but obviously that would be against the law and something that someone should be held accountable for.
Boy is that a phrase — “the President believes that there is a right for people to bear arms” — you really, really, really need to avoid actually using two hours after 32 people are murdered with a gun. Normally I find political side-stepping just pretentious, slippery and fake, but in some cases, it’s appropriate — like while trying to show some respect for the dead. Then again, this is the Bush administration.
April 17th, 2007 at 12:47 pm
I’m sad, obviously, that people are dead and that people are scared. I am also sad because there is going to be backlash against foreign exchange students and against freedom of speech. Because the guy was an English major and I’m hearing he wrote a lot of disturbing things in class. People are going to freak out when anyone puts anything disturbing in their writing. Most of us are just venting and the things we write aren’t real.