Obama's Potemkin Townhall on Gun Control

Saw a bit of President Obama's townhall on gun control, where Taya Kyle, wife of American Sniper Chris Kyle, stood up and spoke to the President, and what ensued was a classic lesson in body language.


As the widow Kyle speaks, Obama starts off with hip finger across his lips. He removes it for about ten seconds and it springs back into place.The angry look on his face is self explanatory. If you had to caption the picture, would it be "Please, tell me more" or is that more of a "You can run, but you can't hide!" ?


If you were in sales, and Obama was a prospective client, you are almost certainly screwed. The finger across his lips is symbolic of the fact that he does not agree with anything you're saying and would like nothing more than to launch into a point by point rebuttal.

Anyone who thinks the purpose of his "townhall" was for listening with an open mind to all points of view, please disabuse yourself of that notion right now. Very shortly after his second or third finger to the lips, we see the also classic folded arms.


Folding your arms across your chest is the classic sign of rejection. "I will not accept anything you say. You cannot change my mind". Again, if you're in sales and this is your client, know that he has set his defenses against you. He is determined not to heed anything you say.


The end of the clip, I'm afraid the president is literally babbling about things he has no knowledge of: imaginary Internet gun sales taking place without a background check and the need for beefed up background checks for people buying (horrors!) sawed off shotguns, automatic weapons and silencers from "shell companies". News flash, Mr. Obama. All of those items are already illegal for ordinary citizens to own, unless they are in possession of a Federal Firearms License (FFL), which is both very expensive and difficult to obtain, and yes, already includes extensive and intensive background checks, far beyond what is required of a simple single firearm purchase. And I'm not sure even FFL holders can own sawed off shotguns below a certain length. I would say that Obama is at the very least mistaken about his facts or, most likely, lying through his proverbial teeth. Given his history, there is no reason to give him the benefit of the doubt.

The public evidence Obama claims is the basis for his executive orders most people would call "fairy tales", only if one wanted to be insulting to fairies.

Update: I was wondering what kind of role the NRA might have in Obama's Potemkin townhall. Got my answer today. The NRA was invited to participate with one (1) pre-screened question to the president. The primary spokesperson for an opposing view could show up as long as they only asked one question that we get ahead of time so we know how to spin it. Again, if anyone thinks the purpose of his "townhall" was listening with an open mind to more than one point of view, please disabuse yourself of that notion.

Update II: Another example of Obama listening to someone who knows what he's talking about, in exact opposition to Obama's executive orders:

In a related story, seismologists in Albuquerque recorded seismic activity which coincided with Obama's knee jerking whenever faced with someone who disagreed with him.