Navarrette: Of guns and political reality
http://www.statesman.com/opinion/navarrette-of-guns-and-political-reality-1163653.html
Ruben Navarrette Jr., Washington Post Writers Group
Published: 6:51 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 4, 2011
Consistent with its creed that words speak louder than actions, the Obama administration likes to send officials down to Mexico so they can pose for photo ops and talk about how the United States is a full partner in the drug war.
Yeah, some partner. The White House should have listened to Johnny Cash, who crooned:
"When I was just a baby my mama told me, ‘Son, always be a good boy, don't ever play with guns.' "
It turns out that someone in the White House has been playing with guns — or rather, playing politics with guns.
According to The Washington Post, White House officials last summer scuttled a proposal that would have required gun-shop owners on the U.S. side of the border to report bulk sales of high-powered semiautomatic rifles — the preferred weapons of drug dealers.
These officials did so despite the fact that, weeks earlier, President Barack Obama had personally assured Mexican President Felipe Calderón that he would crack down on gun smuggling from the United States to Mexico. And they did so despite the fact that the proposal in question came from within the administration. The Justice Department had proposed the plan on behalf of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the federal law enforcement agency responsible for keeping guns away from the wrong people.
That's not even the whole enchilada. According to the Post, and to the senior law enforcement sources it interviewed, it was then-White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel who killed the idea and for purely political reasons. It was strongly believed that the proposal would agitate the gun lobby, whose philosophy is that anyone should be able to buy any gun in any quantity at any time for any reason. Upsetting the National Rifle Association was not something that Emanuel was eager to do in the run-up to the midterm elections, sources said.
A spokesman for Emanuel, who is running for mayor of Chicago, denied the accusation. Ben LaBolt told the Post that Emanuel "did not stop the policy from being implemented" and offered assurances that Emanuel "has never taken a back seat to anyone when it comes to standing up to the NRA to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous criminals."
Swell. But what about keeping the issue of the Mexican drug war, which has cost more than 30,000 lives, out of the clumsy hands of U.S. politicians?
The White House had no comment. Yet spokesman Reid Cherlin did offer assurances that "the president is committed to cracking down on violence on the Southwest border."
As he tries to put out a fire that Americans help fuel by purchasing a good deal of the world's illegal drugs and selling most of the guns and bullets that drug cartels use to kill Mexican soldiers, police and civilians, I'm sure Calderon could do with fewer assurances from his neighbor — and more assistance.
By the way, note the specific language coming from the White House, which insists that Obama is committed to cracking down on violence "on the Southwest border."
Is this the extent of it? The administration has to look beyond the border and help control violence within Mexico. If that spirals out of control, the robberies, kidnappings and murders won't stay south of the border. In fact, such violence is already spilling over into the U.S. and Mexican drug cartels are believed responsible. Nor will the violence be contained to the Southwest. It could soon be coming to a city or town near you.
That's the message that officials in the U.S. border states — California, Texas, Arizona and New Mexico — have tried to get across to the White House since the Mexican drug war began. And no one is listening. Now we know one reason why. The problem isn't just indifference or inattention. There are those in government who are actually undermining the cause of border security and helping to destabilize Mexico for the sake of what happens in an election. Ironically, these politicos are just as afraid of the gun lobby as Mexicans are of the cartels.
Mexican dictator Porfirio Diaz was on to something a century ago when he supposedly lamented: "Poor Mexico, so far from God. And so close to the United States."
And, God help it, just as close to the American political system.
ruben@rubennavarrette.com
Consistent with its creed that words speak louder than actions, the Obama administration likes to send officials down to Mexico so they can pose for photo ops and talk about how the United States is a full partner in the drug war.
Yeah, some partner. The White House should have listened to Johnny Cash, who crooned:
"When I was just a baby my mama told me, ‘Son, always be a good boy, don't ever play with guns.' "
It turns out that someone in the White House has been playing with guns — or rather, playing politics with guns.
According to The Washington Post, White House officials last summer scuttled a proposal that would have required gun-shop owners on the U.S. side of the border to report bulk sales of high-powered semiautomatic rifles — the preferred weapons of drug dealers.
These officials did so despite the fact that, weeks earlier, President Barack Obama had personally assured Mexican President Felipe Calderón that he would crack down on gun smuggling from the United States to Mexico. And they did so despite the fact that the proposal in question came from within the administration. The Justice Department had proposed the plan on behalf of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the federal law enforcement agency responsible for keeping guns away from the wrong people.
That's not even the whole enchilada. According to the Post, and to the senior law enforcement sources it interviewed, it was then-White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel who killed the idea and for purely political reasons. It was strongly believed that the proposal would agitate the gun lobby, whose philosophy is that anyone should be able to buy any gun in any quantity at any time for any reason. Upsetting the National Rifle Association was not something that Emanuel was eager to do in the run-up to the midterm elections, sources said.
A spokesman for Emanuel, who is running for mayor of Chicago, denied the accusation. Ben LaBolt told the Post that Emanuel "did not stop the policy from being implemented" and offered assurances that Emanuel "has never taken a back seat to anyone when it comes to standing up to the NRA to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous criminals."
Swell. But what about keeping the issue of the Mexican drug war, which has cost more than 30,000 lives, out of the clumsy hands of U.S. politicians?
The White House had no comment. Yet spokesman Reid Cherlin did offer assurances that "the president is committed to cracking down on violence on the Southwest border."
As he tries to put out a fire that Americans help fuel by purchasing a good deal of the world's illegal drugs and selling most of the guns and bullets that drug cartels use to kill Mexican soldiers, police and civilians, I'm sure Calderon could do with fewer assurances from his neighbor — and more assistance.
By the way, note the specific language coming from the White House, which insists that Obama is committed to cracking down on violence "on the Southwest border."
Is this the extent of it? The administration has to look beyond the border and help control violence within Mexico. If that spirals out of control, the robberies, kidnappings and murders won't stay south of the border. In fact, such violence is already spilling over into the U.S. and Mexican drug cartels are believed responsible. Nor will the violence be contained to the Southwest. It could soon be coming to a city or town near you.
That's the message that officials in the U.S. border states — California, Texas, Arizona and New Mexico — have tried to get across to the White House since the Mexican drug war began. And no one is listening. Now we know one reason why. The problem isn't just indifference or inattention. There are those in government who are actually undermining the cause of border security and helping to destabilize Mexico for the sake of what happens in an election. Ironically, these politicos are just as afraid of the gun lobby as Mexicans are of the cartels.
Mexican dictator Porfirio Diaz was on to something a century ago when he supposedly lamented: "Poor Mexico, so far from God. And so close to the United States."
And, God help it, just as close to the American political system.
ruben@rubennavarrette.com
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