Roger Williams: A lesson in poor leadership

Last week, just four hours after a gunman opened fire inside a western Oregon community college, the networks suspended their news coverage to give the president the airwaves.
The nation, looking for answers, was glued to radios and television screens as new details poured in. President Obama's audience was set. He would have their undivided attention.

This was the president's chance to offer guidance and deliver concrete solutions to the American people.

It was his chance to lead. But he took a different path.

"When you decide to vote for somebody, you are making a determination as to whether this cause of continuing death for innocent people should be a relevant factor in your decision," the president said.

As a Texan and chair of the House Conservatives Fund, no one supports the rights of fellow lawful gun owners more than I do.

As a Christian, I am highly offended that the president would suggest that I, or those whom I help elect to Congress, would cower to the wishes of a special interest group at the cost of innocent American lives.

I am offended that the president would place blame on me and my party because I oppose ineffective knee-jerk responses to horrific events. Yes, I disagree with the logic: Make laws first and hope their outcomes work out later.

Instead of ordering a thorough investigation and using those findings to work with Congress to pass realistic and effective reforms, President Obama used this as an opportunity to profit from people's emotions and shove his badly bruised anti-gun agenda back into the ring for another round.

Never mind that an expansion of background checks would not have prevented the shooting in Newtown. Never mind that a ban on the broad definition of assault rifles — which to many antigun supporters, is a firearm that looks scary — would not have stopped the shootings at Virginia Tech, Tucson or the African American church in Charleston.

These realities do not matter to the president. In his eyes, a horrific tragedy involving a gun sets the stage for him to promote his policies.

Reactionary responses fuel passions, but when it comes down to it they are oftentimes nothing more than talking points without substance. As we saw, the most specific idea President Obama put forward was that "we're going to have to change our laws."

Instead of addressing the common theme for all of these catastrophes — mental health — expanding government was his top priority.

President Obama took advantage of a highly anticipated press conference to talk down to his political opponents and prop up the image of his moral compass. It was shameful.
He even admitted, "This is something we should politicize." Well I disagree, and if the president truly wants the help of Congress as he said he did, then he should be working to bridge the divide, not separate us further.

One of the more public criticisms of this president is that he dislikes meeting with members of Congress — even those within his own party. As the executive, it is his responsibility to find common ground with lawmakers to ensure the proper functioning of our government.

If President Obama would take the time to sit down with those of us who are constitutionally tasked with passing the laws, he would discover, regardless of party or NRA rating, that we oppose criminal acts of violence and destruction so blatantly demonstrated last week.

Time and again President Obama has missed opportunities to take the high ground, bring us together and work to produce results that we can all get behind.

Instead this president prefers to point fingers, divide the nation and shift blame for the inexcusable action of an obviously troubled young man.

He would prefer to mock from his bully pulpit in front of the cameras and the microphones in a demonstration of passive aggressiveness that is not suited for any leader, let alone the president of the United States.

Roger Williams, a U.S. congressman from Texas, is the chairman of the House Conservatives Fund.