Obama's first decision as President-elect: Adding to his anti-gun "F-Troop"

By Chad D. Baus

As a Chicago 'community organizer' and member of the Illinois and U.S. Senate, Barack Obama established a strong anti-Second Amendment record. But as a candidate for President, the former Joyce Foundation board member sought to convince voters that his administration would offer no threat to their gun rights, despite having selected NRA "F"-rated Joe Biden as his vice president.

In our election night coverage, we predicted that despite Obama's campaign pledges to not infringe on the Second Amendment, his cabinet picks would be an early sign of his true intentions.

It is day two of the transition to an Obama presidency, and the administration is now made up of three persons with rated by the NRA with an "F"-rating, and his transition team is headed by no less than Bill Clinton's former point man on gun control.

The Boston Herald is reporting that "Clinton crony Rahm Emanuel" has been selected by Obama as White House chief of staff.

From the story:

President-elect Barack Obama pivoted quickly to begin filling out his new administration yesterday, selecting hard-charging Illinois Rep. Rahm Emanuel as White House chief of staff and announcing a transition team.

Several Democrats described a sprawling operation well under way and stocked with longtime associates of Obama, as well as veterans of the Clinton White House.

Known for his bluntness as well as his single-minded determination, Emanuel was a political and policy aide in Bill Clinton’s White House. He won a Chicago-area House seat six years ago and as chairman of the Democratic campaign committee in 2006, he played an instrumental role in restoring his party to power after 12 years in the minority.

This is arguably the most important position in the White House, other than the President himself. The chief of staff sets the ideological tone of the White House. And what does Obama's selection of Emanuel indicate that tone be on the issue of gun rights?

Like Obama and Vice President-elect Joe Biden, Illinois Rep. Rahm Emanuel has established a solid anti-gun record, having voted against a law prohibiting product misuse lawsuits on gun manufacturers and against prohibiting suing gunmakers & sellers for gun misuse, and voiced support for mandating "smart gun" technology.

While Obama ran as the "change" candidate, Obama's choices point to a "change" back to the 1990's. The story goes on to note that John Podesta, Bill Clinton`s former White House chief of staff, is heading the Obama transition team. Gun owners will remember Podesta well for his work as President Clinton's point man on gun control, coordinating federal lawsuits against the firearm industry and Clinton`s failed effort to mandate universal firearm-owner licensing.

More recently (as the NRA reported in America's First Freedom magazine), Podesta has acted as a "linchpin in a murky network of radical left-wing political organizations--outgrowths of world citizen George Soros` petulant 2003 effort in which he pitted his personal fortune against American voters in an unsuccessful effort to oust George W. Bush as president and install Sen. John Kerry."

For a guy who claimed during the campaign that he won't come after your guns, he sure is acting quickly to build up the "F-Troop".

Chad D. Baus is the Buckeye Firearms Association Vice Chairman.