Americans saw an angry and frustrated president Thursday evening, a president who has reached his breaking point as more innocent victims of gun violence are counted and more funerals are planned. For the 15th time in his tenure, President Obama had to face the cameras to somehow lead the nation in grieving the carnage left in the wake of a lone gunman, reports the National Journal. As he did the previous 14 times, he offered condolences to the grieving, prayers for the fallen, and investigations for the facts. Gone this time was the subdued resignation that politics in Washington and a hostile Congress keep him from going further. This time, he vowed to go against those odds in a desperate bid to make sure that never again would he have to make what he bitterly described as a now-routine speech.
A president famed for his cool was visibly shaken; a politician noted for his calculation was ready for a fight he is likely to lose. He has tried before to change gun laws and didn't deny that he may fail in this latest bid to pass laws making mass shootings less likely. He made clear that this is a fight he is eager to wage in his remaining 15 months in office. He all but dared the National Rifle Association and its allies in Congress to oppose him, outright appealing to gun owners to join his crusade. Mocking the well-practiced arguments against restrictive gun laws, an exasperated Obama asked, “Does anybody really believe that?” The months to come will determine if presidential fury will work any better than his past, more-conventional lobbying and speechmaking.