14th CD Common Sense Nonsense

IR welcomes a new contributor - 14th CD-based blogger Andy Haaf.

by Andy Haaf

If I had a dollar for every time a politician or candidate described themselves or their plans as "common sense" I would be in my 40 car garage sipping a martini as my Transportation Team washes my Aston Martin DBS instead of ranting to you. They washed the Bugatti earlier of course ;)

Here is another example of this on display in the Illinois Carry forums courtesy of Congressman Bill Foster (D). In response to his support for H.R. 6691 he writes:

"I am a strong supporter of 2nd Amendment rights and I support the constitutionally protected right of law-abiding citizens to own firearms. I also support existing gun safety regulations that use a common-sense approach to keeping guns out of the hands of criminals. By encouraging responsible gun ownership and vigorously enforcing our gun laws, we can reduce the number of tragic incidents of gun violence and improve public safety in our communities. I have demonstrated my commitment to fairness by ensuring that public lands stay open to responsible hunters and their firearms."

What does "common sense" mean exactly Congressman? If you deem Wikipedia as a reliable source they refer to it as:

"consists of what people in common would agree on: that which they 'sense' (in common) as their common natural understanding"

A few questions for the Congressman then:

1. What do conservatives and liberals have in "common" on gun control versus the right to bear arms?
2. What do conservatives and liberals have in "common" on life?
3. What do conservatives and liberals have in "common" on taxation?
4. What do conservatives and liberals have in "common" on oil production?
5. ... and the list of questions goes on and on.

Using "common sense" is a politician's way of not divulging what they really believe versus what might seem reasonable at the moment. And no, I do not believe conservatives should use it either.

Here is another interesting part of the Congressman's remarks. He writes:

"While I do not sit on either of these committees, I am supportive of these kinds of measures and will keep your thoughts in mind should it come up for a vote."

What does this statement mean exactly? Will you vote yes for the resolution or not? This is clearly an example of a politician "keeping his options open". He says to the constituent "I am supportive" but does not actually say whether he will vote yes or not.

As I stated in my last post ... Congressman Foster is neither a Businessman, a Scientist or a Democrat. He is a Politician.

Comments

[spintreebob]

Well said. In general usage, common sense includes commonly accepted urban legends, olde wives tales, and biases as in "everybody knows that . . ."

Common sense a tool carefully crafted by Alinsky organizers. At an (unstacked) townhall meeting 99% of the people will get up and complain (game of aint it awful) about taxes, wasteful spending, deficits, bureacratic snafus that they experience, etc.

At the end a high profile leader of unquestionable prestige, such as a prominent clergyman or Oprah type celebrity will get up and summarize:

What we have heard hear is people's frustration with the status quo. We all agree that we want change. We all want government to solve problems and not ignore them. We all agre that we want common sense solutions to our daily life problems.

That is the way an organizer is taught to orchestrate a townhall meeting.