When a President Admits He Can’t Fix a Problem

George Condon: “That is what Pres­id­ent Obama did Fri­day when asked if he can use his ‘mor­al au­thor­ity’ and bully pul­pit to reach those who see gun vi­ol­ence as a way out of their per­son­al troubles. It is such a rare mo­ment be­cause pres­id­ents have all the might of the U.S. mil­it­ary, all the reach of a sprawl­ing gov­ern­ment bur­eau­cracy, and all the mor­al sua­sion of the of­fice at their dis­pos­al. Pres­id­ents al­most nev­er ad­mit that they can’t do something.”

“That this pres­id­ent did just that provides a valu­able in­sight in­to his pro­found ex­as­per­a­tion at the con­tinu­ing do­mest­ic death toll from gun vi­ol­ence.”

Wonk Wire: The U.S. is much more violent than other countries