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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 23, 2013)
Opinion NRA: Hands Off Malia and Sasha Obama “Challenging People to Shape a Better Future Now” B ERNIE F OSTER Founder/Publisher B OBBIE D ORE F OSTER Executive Editor T ED B ANKS Advertising Manager J ERRY F OSTER Account Executive L ISA L OVING News Editor H ELEN S ILVIS Multimedia Editor B RUCE P OINSETTE Reporter D AVID K IDD Graphic Designer M ONICA J. F OSTER Seattle Office Coordinator J ULIE K EEFE S USAN F RIED Photographers The Skanner Newspaper, established in October 1975, is a weekly publica- tion, published each Wednesday by IMM Publications Inc., 415 N. Killingsworth St., P.O. Box 5455, Portland, OR 97228. Telephone (503) 285-5555. E-mail: info@theskanner.com J ust when you think leaders of the National Rifle Association can’t stoop any lower, they keep managing to plunge even deeper. This time, they have strayed way over the line of respectability by using Malia and Sasha’s enrollment in Sidwell Friends, a private Quaker school, to malign President Obama over his proposal to place limits on the sale of assault rifles and expand background checks. “Are the president’s kids more important than yours? Then why is he skeptical about putting armed security in our schools when his kids are protected by armed guards at their school? Mr. Obama demands the wealthy pay their fair share of taxes. But he’s just anoth- er elitist hypocrite when it comes to a fair share of security. Protec- tion for their kids. And gun-free zones for ours.” White House Press Secretary Jay Carney was correct when he said in a statement: “Most Americans agree that a president’s children should not be used as pawns in a political fight. But to go so far as to make the safety of the presi- dent’s children the subject of an attack ad is repugnant and coward- ly.” New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a Republican, said: “To talk about the president’s children or any public officer’s children who have – not by their own choice, but by requirement – to have protection and use that somehow to make a political point I think is reprehen- sible.” I am tempted to call NRA Exec- utive Vice President Wayne LaPierre and his comrades scum. But I’m going to resist the tempta- tion. Not because they don’t fit that description. I’m restraining World Wide Web site: referring to Secret Service agents, the longer version makes it clear T HE C URRY that NRA is referencing security R EPORT guards at the school, which has a lower school campus in Bethesda, Md. and middle and upper schools George E. in northwest Washington, D.C. Curry The Washington Post’s Fact Checker column awarded the NRA ad four Pinocchios, repre- senting a “whopper” of a lie. The myself because to call them scum newspaper noted, “…the online directory for Sidwell Friends lists would be an insult to scum. A second NRA ad, running four- 11 people as working in the Secu- and-a-half-minutes, tossed in an rity Department. Five are listed as ‘To talk about the president’s children or any public officer’s children who have – not by their own choice, but by requirement – to have protection and use that somehow to make a political point I think is reprehensible.’ —New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie image of NBC newsman David Gregory – whose children also attend Sidwell Friends School – for good measure. The narrator in the ad says “Armed Guards — Good enough for the David Gre- gory’s kids’ school, not for the rest of us. …[The] school Obama’s daughters attend has 11 armed guards.” Not surprisingly, the ad conve- niently ignores the fact that the Secret Service is required to pro- tect the president’s children. They protected Chelsea Clinton and Julie Nixon when they attended the school, known as “the Harvard of Washington’s private schools.” Although the original NRA ad leaves the impression that it is ‘special police officer,’ while two are listed as ‘on call special police officer,’ which presumably means they do not work full-time. The directory also lists two weekend shift supervisors, one security offi- cer and the chief of security.“ “… But we spoke to parents who said they had never seen a guard on campus with a weapon. And Ellis Turner, associate head of Sid- well Friends, told us emphatically: ‘Sidwell Friends security officers do not carry guns.’” The NRA’s ad claiming that President Obama is “skeptical about putting armed security in our schools” misrepresents his position. The clip was taken out of context from this exchange between the president and David Gregory on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” GREGORY: Should we have an armed guard at every school in the country? That’s what the NRA believes. They told me last week that that could work. OBAMA: I’m not going to pre- judge the recommendations that are given to me. I am skeptical that the only answer is putting more guns in schools. And I think the vast majority of the American peo- ple are skeptical that that somehow is going to solve our problem. Clearly, the president did not say he was skeptical about placing armed security guards in schools. Instead, he said that is not “the only answer.” Even more insane, at a press conference, Wayne LaPierre of the NRA asserted that the answer to preventing future incidents like the one at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. is the placement of armed guards in every school. Among the proposals presented by President Obama is providing federal funds to place more offi- cers in schools, if the school requests them. After acting on a specific pro- posal made by NRA, the gun lobbying organization denounced Obama yet again. After coming under attack by even some conser- vatives, NRA spokesman Andrew Arulanandam said: “If anyone thinks we’re talking specifically about someone’s children, they’re missing the point completely…” No, that’s exactly the point. Leave those beautiful Obama girls out of your degenerate ad cam- paigns. http://www.theskanner.com Fax: (503) 285-2900 The Skanner is a member of the National Newspaper Pub lishers Associ- ation and West Coast Black Pub lishers Association. All photos submitted become the property of The Skanner. We are not re - How To Petition the President at “We The People…” T he First Amendment gives all Americans the right to “petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” So in the age of the Internet, the Obama White House has created a petition website to make it easy to exercise that right. The “We the Peo- ple…” website: spon sible for lost or damaged photos either solicited or unsolicited. © 2013 The Skanner. ALL RIGHTS RE SERVED. REPRODUCTION IN WHOLE OR IN PART WITHOUT PERMISSION PROHIBITED. To see The Skanner News on your smart phone go to theskannermobile.com or scan this QR code with your app. • • • • • • • • https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/ It offers a place to post petitions and sign them if you agree. Any petition that gets enough support, currently 100,000 signatures, will automatically receive a an official response. Petitions must be short to meet the website guidelines. The Skanner News decided to post the following petition: “A Marshall Plan for Black America” African Americans as a group remain enormously disadvantaged in the United Local news Opinions Jobs, Bids Sports Entertainment Music reviews Bulletin board RSS feeds Page 4 The Portland Skanner January 23, 2013 States of America. The 2010 census showed that the medi- an wealth owned by White families was $110,000, yet an average Black family owns less than $5,000. Black unemployment is generally twice that of Whites. In fact, racial disparities, rooted in America’s shameful history of slavery and discrimination, affect every major economic indicator, as well as health and education outcomes. America has failed to live up to its promise of equal opportunities for all. This wrong must be put right. After WWII, the Marshall Plan rebuilt Europe. We call on President Obama to create “A Marshall Plan for Black Amer- ica.” We ask the president to fund a grass- roots economic development plan that will create true equality for all.
