Obama Late to the Party on Gun-Control ?

Here's Piers Morgan on Barack Obama's 'frustration' with his failure to pass 'sufficient common-sense gun-safety-laws.'

Well, I just think it's too little, too late.  Y'know, the president's been in office now, er nearly eight years; He's had plenty of time to prioritise gun-violence in America, and it's only very recently that we've heard him talk this way.

Really ?  Seems to me that the president has been out there time and time again, after one mass shooting after another, decrying gun-violence, and urging Congress to work with him across party-lines, only for the Republicans (and some Democrats) in Congress to consistently block any efforts at gun-control.

But, perhaps not quite, memory being what it is after all.  Looking over a review the Guardian did on Obama's responses to mass-shooting on his watch, tells a slightly different story, with Obama only really pushing for action in the last two or three years.  So Piers may have a point after all.

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As for what it will take for actual meaningful change in US gun-laws ?  Well probably a complete sweep of the Congress for one, on such a scale, that will only come about when the underlying culture changes.  And can we hope for such change as the millennials take over ?  Well...don't count on it.

Here's one more poll-result, I just have to include because it's so utterly bonkers.

Story after story in the media of gun-owners accidentally shooting themselves or their loved ones, of children accessing guns and blowing their brains out.  Never mind the increased risk of suicide.  But Americans actually believe having a gun in the house increases their safety.  This is the kind of crazy that decades of propaganda from the NRA has wrought, and with which Barack Obama has to battle.

Sorry Jezza; New Host of Top Gear

So, with Clarkson officially out, inevitably the speculation ramps up over a replacement.  And there do seem to be a hell of a lot of names being floated about.  So who should it be then ?

Chris Evans, who consistently denies any interest in the role ?

Bringing back Noel Edmonds or Angela Rippon.  Uh, no comment.

Steve Coogan, the man who wrote, this...?

Steve Coogan as Alan Partridge ?  A fictional character as presenter ?  Surely Coogan can get one of the networks to agree to a Partridge motoring outlet if that's what he wants, but at the expense of Top Gear ?

Piers Morgan ?  Does anybody actually want that ?

Stephen Fry ?  That's a joke, right ?  That Stephen Fry ?  You kid, surely ?

Various race-car-drivers with no previous presenting experience ?

Various television presenters with little or no automotive experience ?


Suppose it depends in part on what the BBC plans to do with the show, and whether it is looking for another blokish politically incorrect middle-aged white fella to replace Clarkson (Nigel Farage, anyone...), or whether it fulfils the Guardianistas' desire for an 'eco-feminist Top Gear'.  I might suggest Sandi Toksvig as host, but she's got far too much humour and personality for the PC crowd.

Surely, there's a middle-way; someone who's a million miles away from a Clarkson clone, someone with the driving and the presenting experience, and someone who's self-evidently passionate (maybe a little too passionate at times) about motors and motoring.  Has there ever been anyone so perfect for Top Gear as Vicki Butler-Henderson ?

And to be blunt, someone ever so slightly easier on the eye, than ole' Slabber-chops Clarkson.

Guess it won't happen with all the Fifth Gear hate, but a guy can dream...

And as for the question of Josie Kidd, I think I'd still prefer VBH, but either of these gals would be preferable to pretty much any of the idiot males being mentioned for the role currently.  Shit, why not Larry King ?  And the Huffington Post even mentioned Vladimir Putin as a candidate...