Whoops: Obama Sat On Foundation Board That Funded Advocacy of Banning Handguns

[ruggerson]

"Barack Obama’s presidential campaign has worked to assure uneasy gun owners that he believes the Constitution protects their rights and that he doesn’t want to take away their guns.

But before he became a national political figure, he sat on the board of a Chicago-based foundation that doled out at least nine grants totaling nearly $2.7 million to groups that advocated the opposite positions.

The foundation funded legal scholarship advancing the theory that the Second Amendment does not protect individual gun owners’ rights, as well as two groups that advocated handgun bans. And it paid to support a book called “Every Handgun Is Aimed at You: The Case for Banning Handguns.”

<snip>

"In his appeal to gun owners, Obama has not emphasized his own legislative record, which includes supporting a ban on semiautomatic weapons and concealed weapons, and a limit on handgun purchases to one a month. He has blamed his staff for indicating on a questionnaire filled out during his 1996 state Senate bid under his name that he supports banning “the manufacture, sale and possession of handguns.”

Obama, who taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago and served as president of the Harvard Law Review, has instead focused on his respect for what he contends are constitutionally guaranteed gun owners’ rights, the “passion” of hunters and the “tradition” of handgun ownership.

In February, he told an Idaho audience “I have no intention of taking away folks' guns.” Days later, when Politico asked him about the comment, he said, “It’s important for us to recognize that we’ve got a tradition of handgun ownership and gun ownership generally.”

Pressed to clarify his stance during a debate Wednesday evening in Philadelphia, Obama told ABC News anchor Charles Gibson, “I have never favored an all-out ban on handguns. What I think we can provide is common-sense approaches to the issue of illegal guns that are ending up on the streets.”


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[monmouth]

1. If you were from Chicago, banning of handguns might be a good thing...n/t

[virtualobserver]

16. the Joyce Foundation does a lot of things

you don't have to agree 100% with every position taken when you sit on a board

per Wikipedia they are into..........

Education: Focuses on public schools in Chicago, Cleveland, and Milwaukee; concentrates on teacher quality, early childhood education, and “innovations,” primarily charter schools, small schools, and similar initiatives.

Employment: Focuses on workforce development, education, and job training for low-income workers.

Environment: Concentrates on environmental issues affecting the Great Lakes region, especially water and energy issues.

Gun violence: Funds research and advocacy to reduce gun deaths and injuries. This includes support of anti-gun groups.

Money and politics: Supports research and advocacy around such issues as campaign finance and ethics reform.

Culture: Supports arts organizations, primarily in Chicago; its Joyce Awards also supports arts groups in other Midwest cities.

[stellanoir]

2. Sitting on a board and having complete control over what an organization

does with their funds are two entirely different things.

[depakid]

3. Right wing TRASH from politico

Here's the Joyce Foundation: http://www.joycefdn.org/

Judge their work for yourselves.

[BlooInBloo]

4. Clinton supporters love all things that attack Democrats.

[depakid]

11. That's not a fair statement

but what is fair to say is that gun nuts are often single minded and hypersensitive to anything that might remotely effect their obsession.

This bit from politico being one example out of many.

[BlooInBloo]

19. I guess you missed all of the National Review, etc. citations being given by her supporters.

[ruggerson]

21. I guess you missed Obama supporters here citing Drudge daily

[BlooInBloo]

22. Yes, I did. Please link to them?

[ruggerson]

23. there are hundreds of them

find them yourself

[BlooInBloo]

24. Ah.

[PM7nj]

5. Great! Another reason to support Obama!

From todays Philadelphia Daily News:

Teen who played with gun now charged in brother's death

By DANA DiFILIPPO
Philadelphia Daily News

[e-mail] 215-854-5934
When 12-year-old William Wright of Port Richmond caught a bullet in the head as he and his brother played with a gun last month, police initially decided the fatal blast was self-inflicted and accidental.

http://www.philly.com/dailynews/local/20080419_Teen_who_played_with_gun_now_charged_in_brother_s_death.html

[Alexander]

6. Another right-wing source? Shillbots just can't stop with these, can they?

Hmm, who else uses right-wing sources?

:eyes:

[ruggerson]

10. You guys shot your wad with Drudge

I didn't hear any complaints here whenever anyone posted the latest anti Hillary crap from Drudge.

At least politico has reporters from both sides of the aisle.

[Alexander]

29. "You guys"? I never source Drudge. Try again.

When you're done stereotyping Obama supporters, maybe you could try linking to credible sources for a change.

[Armstead]

7. Yes, let's just keep hammering away at those right-wing wedge issues

Maybe Hillary will succeed in tarring Obama as an extreme left-wing Democrat, so she can run against the GOP who will successfully brtand her as an extreme left wing Democrat.

[BeyondGeography]

8. Another example of why this campaign needs to end

Going after Obama for being associated with a group that had a hard-line position on handguns.

The Republicans are laughing their heads off.

[ruggerson]

13. I think the reporters

are less concerned with the handgun ban than with Obama's denial that he ever favored it.

Myself, I agree with Obama that handguns should be banned. But I don't know if it's a position that will help us get him elected.

[BeyondGeography]

18. Being a board member doesn't mean anything

and Obama doesn't believe handguns should be banned.

[ruggerson]

20. I think we both know it will be used to hammer him

considering his own handwriting is on a questionnaire indicating he supports a ban of handguns.

[anonymous171]

25. That wasn't filled out by him.

And Hillary will be no less immune, despite her newest "Annie Oakley" persona.

[AllentownJake]

9. Guns are a loser

For both candidates.

Hillary's Million Mom march is going to be spun to the gun lovers just as bad as Obama's board membership.

http://archives.cnn.com/2000/ALLPOLITICS/stories/05/09/hrc.guns/index.html

[Hepburn]

12. What the hell is wrong with banning handguns?

I sure as hell favor that. I would rather have a POTUS with that 'tude than one who thinks she is Annie Oakley...and just fucking LOVES her guns.

[lisa58]

14. handguns?

[anonymous171]

15. Hillary Clinton and Million Mom March Against Handguns.

[msallied]

17. Why are you using a right-wing wedge issue to smear Obama?

It seems the consensus among most Democrats is one of anti-gun. Granted, I don't stand within that consensus. I'm a big supporter of the 2nd Amendment, and we will find that the gun lobby has enough influence in Congress to keep this from being too much of an issue, but that's not the point. The point is, if you're trying to drum up favorability points for Hillary over this issue, you're barking up the wrong tree. Gun owners seeking refuge for their 2nd Amendment rights are no more likely to find them in Hillary Clinton than in Barack Obama.

[MadHound]

26. OMG, Obama sat on the board of foundation that works towards traditional Democratic values

No wonder Hillary supporters are pissed, since their candidate sat on the board of WalMart, which has sucked the life out of community after community, and gee, is the number one retailer of guns in the country. You know, those traditional Republican values.

How strange it is, supposed Democrats attacking a candidate for supporting *gasp* Democratic stances. Are you even sure that you are in the right party?

[99th_Monkey]

28. It's an outrage I tell you! An absolute outrage!!

:sarcasm:

BTW - I just posted about the Clinton FDA's cozy relationship with Monsanto, and a Clinton supporter jumped on me
calling the post "a stretch" ... LOL

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=5581363&mesg_id=5581363

[99th_Monkey]

27. So do you hold all board member of foundations politically resp. for the grants the staff make?

you know that a board member typically doesn't have the authority to unilaterally determine
the fate of a particular grant application for politically motivated reasons... or at least
they shouldn't have such unilateral authority, lest it appear "shady" or "playing personal
favorites" since boards typically -- if they ever even see or consider applications -- do so
by a vote of ALL board members.

BTW, I just posted this string about Clinton's responsibility for Monsanto's kid glove treatment
by Clinton's FDA, and THAT was called "stretching it" by one Clinton supporter.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=5581363&mesg_id=5581363
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=5581363&mesg_id=5581409

:rofl:

[blogslut]

30. So?

Ask a police officer what he/she thinks about private citizens owning handguns.

[NC_Nurse]

31. Yeah. He's a Democrat, remember when that actually MEANT something?

I know, I'm Not talking about the Clintons. I guess we're supposed to think they are the standard bearers for the party.
I sure hope not.