Ladies and gentlemen of the WVCDL and West Virginia. Today, around 3PM I met with Senator Manchin. In any conversation with a person of that level of power, there are two conversations that occur at once. The first is the obvious and direct meaning of what is spoken. The second conversation is the meaning between the lines. In this case, neither is good. West Virginia, in my opinion, you have been sold out.
First, let's talk about the direct conversation. It's very simple. Senator Manchin supports a three-pronged approach that includes universal background checks, including private sales. He supports mental health-care reform. And he supports magazine capacity limits, and possibly other restrictions.
Further, he stated to me directly, that he believes 75% of West Virginians, like him, believe that the only purposes behind gun ownership and the second amendment are hunting and recreational shooting. He told me that defense is not an angle he considers or believes in, and that is specifically in the context of defense of self, and defense from tyranny. Perhaps now you understand why I've been too angry to update you on the results of the meeting. In case you're thinking of stopping here, it gets worse.
Senator Manchin told me what the media will do if Congress (including the US House of Representatives) fails to pass an AWB and/or mag restrictions. "They will one, by one, put up pictures of dead children. They will show the carnage." Considering that tomorrow, President Obama will be exploiting children by dragging them on stage with him while he outlays his plan, this is not a huge leap. And these are the words of a United States senator. We, and I don't mean just West Virginians, I mean Americans, must prepare for this. That is a direct quote. Verbatim. We need every talking head in the conservative media out in front of this. Make it happen. Share this post far and wide.
When it became clear that we were not going to find common ground, and that Senator Manchin intends to support magazine capacity limits and other pointless gun-control laws doomed to failure, I told the senator that we would be there. We would be at every single event. We would be at every fund-raiser. We would be there, and the content of our signs would not be pleasant.
And now we get to the second conversation. The one between the lines. When I said we would be there, he said, "there won't be any events."
This confused me. No politician runs for office without fund-raisers and events. And I have to admit, it wasn't I that grasped the meaning of this. I want to be clear, that the following was not stated. This was deduced by a confidant of mine, and I think she is correct. Manchin was honest. There will be no events. Why would a US Senator not need funds? This is because there will be no campaign. Joe Manchin is too young to retire from a position of such power. What does that mean?
West Virginia, this means that Joe Manchin has sold you out. It means that he has accepted some position, likely promised by Barack Obama, to place his boot in your neck in exchange for power.
Now you know. Now you know why for four hours, I was too angry to update you.
