Reid And Pelosi Give Obama The Finger-- Bow Down To The NRA

Oh, yeah-- that worked

The NRA will be happy to know that bullying Democrats-- even when they control both houses of Congress and the presidency-- works. Earlier today Nancy Pelosi told Eric Holder that a reinstating a ban on automatic weapons will take a better man than her. Yep, while John Bolton was being applauded wildly for telling the American neo-fascist movement at their CPAC NutFest in DC that Chicago should be nuked, Speaker Pelosi was closing the door on Holder's request to stem the tide of senseless violence here and in Mexico by banning automatic weapons.

And, just in case Holder didn't get the message, 22 Democrats joined the Republicans yesterday to vote for compulsory gun worship in Washington, DC-- Max Baucus (MT), Evan Bayh (IN), Mark Begich (AK), Michael Bennet (CO), Robert Byrd (WV), Bob Casey (PA), Kent Conrad (ND), Byron Dorgan (ND), Russ Feingold (WI), Kay Hagan (NC), Tim Johnson (SD), Mary Landrieu (LA), Blanche Lincoln (AR), Claire McCaskill (MO), Ben Nelson (NE), Mark Pryor (AR), Harry Reid (NV), John Tester (MT), both Udalls (NM & CO), Mark Warner (VA) and Jim Webb (VA). It would be so ironic if a dozen or so of them learned the problems associated with that that first hand... even if just for a fleeting few last moments.

And if that vote wasn't clear enough for Holder that the Democrats are too scared to tackle gun control, Harry Reid left no room for doubt last night that he's as scared of the Republican front groups as Pelosi is.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid will join Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) in opposing any effort to revive the 1994 assault weapons ban, putting them on the opposite side of the Obama administration.

Reid spokesman Jim Manley said the Nevada Democrat will preserve his traditional pro-gun rights voting record.

"Senator Reid would oppose an effort (to) reinstate the ban if the Senate were to vote on it in the future," Manley told The Hill in an e-mail late Thursday night.

It was not immediately clear whether Reid would block the bill from the Senate, but his opposition casts serious doubt on its chances. Also, Manley noted that Reid voted against the ban in 1994 and again when it expired in 2004.

Imagine if Reid had shown that kind of backbone when Bush and Cheney were shredding the Constitution over the last eight years! Now it will be interesting to see how the Senate's most junior member, Kirsten Gillibrand, reacts to this schism. Will she represent her pals at the NRA or the Democratic base that will determine who wins her first statewide primary?