A fairly decent response from Obama here on the dreadful news from Oregon. In thinking about weapons of death, let’s for a moment set aside the USA’s trillions of dollars spent on “keeping Americans safe” – a project whose side effects include (a) creating murderous chaos elsewhere and (b) fuelling a titanic deficit which actually serves (this is how crazy capitalism is) to recycle profits and keep the global economy more or less working. Let’s instead narrow the focus to America’s gun laws. With little to lose, Obama may go out on a limb this time. Good luck to him. He’ll need it.
(Richard North Patterson writes better than average political-legal thrillers which along the way give useful windows (he’s a pal of Bill Clinton) on America’s political machinery. He’s addressed race and abortion in two of his better books, and in Balance of Power does the same with gun control. In the process you get a primer on relations between White House, Congress and Senate. £16 on Amazon, no Kindle version, but I borrowed my copy from a public library. There are still a few around; just don’t leave it too long.)
I note that the shooter appeared to have blogged his approval of the IRA. Don’t expect rationality and elementary logic to prevail: can’t be long before Murdoch and Rothermere link that titbit to John McDonnell …