In response to There’s No Appetite For Repealing Stand Your Ground Laws:
I suspect you’re right about the dim prospects for success in the great Stand Your Ground jihad. There’s very little reason to suspect they’re a problem, either from a legal standpoint, or the general opinion of voters. Striking down a law that makes things tough on home invaders isn’t going to fire up the popular imagination, in the absence of compelling evidence that it’s causing harm to innocent people.
But starting a crusade is the point of this particular crusade. It’s somewhat comical that the Race-Baiter-In-Chief forgot that he sponsored a Stand Your Ground law during his lackluster state political career. Then again, nobody else can remember anything Barack Obama did as a senator, outside of his unseemly reluctance to compel doctors to save children who survive abortion procedures. It’s possible Obama doesn’t remember his Illinois career all that well, either. Or maybe he just assumed this was another inconvenient factoid his supporters would forget upon command.
The important thing is to get people riled about about gun control again, and SYG laws probably look like just the ticket. The long odds against success might actually be an attractive feature for Obama, because it’ll keep his supporters motivated throughout the coming election cycle. We’ll probably hear local radio and TV ads – sponsored by the sort of group the IRS cheerfully grants expedited tax-exempt status to, provided they’re liberal – claiming that a vote for the candidate who supports SYG is a vote for the wanton murder of minority youth. And the Democrats can always hope that impassioned attacks against an SYG-supporting candidate will prompt the target to say something intemperate. Maybe they’ll even get a Macaca Moment out of it.
And there won’t be any political cost for the crusade. The media won’t dwell on the popularity of SYG laws, or portray opponents as pitting themselves against the will of the people. I expect to hear a lot of reports parroting the talking points from Obama’s speech on Friday: “Some say these Stand Your Ground laws fill gun owners with a false sense of confidence, which some believe can make a violent – even deadly -confrontation more likely…” I’ll bet we hear a lot about what “some believe” and “some say” during the SYG crusade.
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