U.S.A. – -(Ammoland.com)- “This is all about winning elections in order to stop the Radical Left maniacs from destroying our Country,” Donald Trump declared Saturday in his “Endorsement of Dr. Oz.” “Dr. Oz is Pro-Life, very strong on Crime, the Border, Election Fraud, our Great Military, and our Vets, Tax Cuts, and will always fight for and support our under-siege Second Amendment.”
A skeptical reaction by the Fletcher character from The Outlaw Josie Wales comes to mind. As does a nagging suspicion about being played.
Hey, someone’s gotta say it.
Regular readers of this column will remember the documentation of Oz’s stances on guns before he was running for office, including hosting “This Is Our Lane: Doctors Speak about Gun Violence,” endorsing infringements “including the banning of semiautomatic firearms” under the guise of “public health,” and further using his mass media platform to “sell” due process-denying “red flag laws” to his low-information audience.
The Gun Feed provided further irrefutable evidence of where Oz’s sympathies lie, including his call for fans to contact Congress to get the CDC back into the anti-gun advocacy through junk science business, and his Moms Demand Action-promoted hosting of anti-gun Rep. Lucy McBath.
“If the former president backs him that will tell all but the most self-deluded ‘3D chess’ apologists all they need to know,” I noted at the time.
Not quite. The guy made a name for himself on TV by firing people. Perhaps if he was better at picking them in the first place, he wouldn’t need to end up angrily attacking so many he had nothing but high praise for in the beginning.
Consider all the wonderful things he said about William Barr, Christopher Wray, Jeff Sessions, Mike Pence, Anthony Scaramucci, “Mad Dog” Mattis, Mark Milley, and more.
Then consider how he described them and their qualifications after their fallings out, respectively: Barr; Wray; Sessions; Pence; Scaramucci; Mattis; Milley…
That’s not to say Trump was wrong in his final assessments, but we’re talking about his initial ones here. And noting he’s a man who puts the highest priority on being perceived as a winner, we see the reason he has nothing but superlatives in his latest endorsement:
“Perhaps most importantly, I believe that Mehmet Oz will be the one most able to win the General Election against a Radical Left Democrat looking to do unthinkable harm to our Country.”
How electing someone the smart money says will be a leader in future Republican “compromises” on guns will be a “win” (for anyone who cares about the right to keep and bear arms) is left unstated. But it’s bigger than that, though, right? We need a Republican Senate majority so we can stop dangerous Biden appointments, like the recently confirmed Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, pushed over the top by two other Trump endorsees Susan Collins, and Mitt Romney.
Speaking of that process, it’s on Senate Judiciary Committee Republicans to explain why they didn’t even try to deny a quorum and prevent the vote from coming to the floor. It’s also on each of the national “gun rights groups” that did not urge their members to pressure them, and are now using the existential threat Jackson represents to solicit donations. There was no chance? How would they know without a committed fight, and how would that fight, and its risks, compare against the ones their members will now be forced into?
Now, in Pennsylvania, gun owners will once more be forced into a “lesser of two evils” decision, and one that can’t be resolved in the primary. Trump’s first choice, Sean Parnell, appeared to be on track with key “conservative” issues, including guns and immigration but suspended his campaign after being accused of abuse by his estranged wife. The other alternative is globalist “Bush Republican” David McCormick who throws gun owners this bone while wearing the obligatory orange vest and cap:
“Protecting our 2nd Amendment Rights – Dave grew up hunting on his family’s farm in Bloomsburg and remains a hunter to this day. He is a strong believer in our Second Amendment rights and will stand up against the extreme left who want to abolish our Constitutional right to keep and bear arms.”
An identical testimonial, equally as weasel-worded and meaningless, could have been offered up by Fudds for Biden. This is the best that Pennsylvania Republicans can offer, and the most that Pennsylvania gun owners have the clout to demand? Over the years acceptance of oath-breaking lumps like Tom Ridge, Arlen Specter, and Pat Toomey have convinced the establishment that they can get away with serial betrayals and never pay a price at the polls.
Left unaddressed is what the effects of taking fire out of bellies will have on voter turnout. Won‘t everyone be surprised, including Donald Trump considering his prospects for a 2024 comeback, if their best-laid schemes result in John Fetterman, Malcolm Kenyatta, or Conor Lamb taking home the prize?
About David Codrea:
David Codrea is the winner of multiple journalist awards for investigating/defending the RKBA and a long-time gun owner rights advocate who defiantly challenges the folly of citizen disarmament. He blogs at “The War on Guns: Notes from the Resistance,” is a regularly featured contributor to Firearms News, and posts on Twitter: @dcodrea and Facebook.
