What Biden Should Have Said

 

If he wanted to be truly effective, the “Great Uniter” he promised to be, if he wanted to actually do something productive last night:

 

The first paragraph was perfect. He was sympathetic and empathetic, and adequately expressed his sorrow at the tragedy of the Texas school shooting. He mentioned prayer in a non-sarcastic, Democrat way, and did not explicitly mention his deceased son as he is wont to do, though he implied that he knew the pain of loss of one’s child, which is perfectly acceptable. The worst critique I could give of the introductory part of his speech was that it was very mumbly and difficult to understand at times, but that’s Biden being Biden.

 

Then, instead of casting aside the mumbles and veering directly into a political attack on his opponents and half the country who support them, he should have said

 

“I am immediately convening a non-partisan panel of twelve individuals, elected and non-elected officials, lawmakers and scientific experts on this terrible subject, to study this plague of school shootings. In six months it will deliver its report and its recommendations to me, which I will then present in a live broadcast and submit to Congress to act upon.”

And the money quote:

 

“Yes, it will investigate the impact of firearms in school shootings. But as we’ve seen in Waukesha, other weapons can be used in mass terrorist attacks. If the evil person who perpetrated today’s crime drove his truck onto a playground, we would not be declaring war on Ford and GM.”

 

And even better, if the old man had any spine to rise above attempted scoring cheap points:

 

“This panel will address the elephant in the room when it comes to school shootings: Mental health. All these perpetrators are mentally ill to some degree. Indeed, parents and grandparents of many have come to law enforcement begging them to do something to prevent their troubled son or grandson from doing something evil. How to identify and prevent these shooters before they commit their terrible atrocities will be the core mission of the panel.”

 

And best:

 

“We have just sent $40 billion in aid to Ukraine. Over the past two years we have sent countless billions to schools across the country to aid in the fight against Covid. Based on the panel’s recommendations I would call for a multi-billion dollar bill to increase security at every one of our schools, from preschool to college, to protect our most innocent.”

Had he said that, his popularity would spike through the roof. But, alas, he couldn’t, and didn’t. Nothing will change.

 

I am a parent of a recent high school grad and a middle school grad. My daughters have been practicing active shooter drills for the past decade. I can remember a few false alarms over the years. I have an active dog in this fight, as do millions of voting parents.

 

So … can someone please whisper this into the President’s ear?