Everyone knows I got kicked out of Canada antagonizing guns. The government ended up tallying $1B Canadian dollars spent on gun violence and 28 people shot at the Danzig BBQ in Toronto. Well now America wants to curb guns and Obama ain't having it from the gun lobbyists.
A president who has vowed to politicize gun control and critics who believe he's determined to confiscate their weapons came face-to-face Thursday in a rare respectful and reasoned interlude in one of America's most poisoned political debates.
For once, the nation's bitter, polarized politics failed to swamp a conversation on gun violence. In a CNN town hall moderated by Anderson Cooper, President Barack Obama faced off against critics of his new executive actions, including expanded background checks for gun sales -- but both sides listened carefully, referred to shared concerns and avoided histrionics. One absent voice: the National Rifle Association, which declined CNN's invitation to participate.
It was the kind of civilized exchange that some Americans thought they were in line for when Obama took office in 2009 promising to cleanse American politics of its "petty grievances" and "recriminations and worn-out dogmas."
