Best Defense

Thomas E. Ricks' daily take on national security.

Obama speaks for me

“I will tell you, right after Sandy Hook, Newtown, when twenty 6-year-olds are gunned down, and Congress literally does nothing — yes, that's the closest I came to feeling disgusted. I was pretty disgusted."

WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 18:  U.S. President Barack Obama pauses as he makes a statement regarding the shooting in Charleston, South Carolina, June 18, 2015 at the James Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House in Washington, DC. Authorities have arrested 21-year-old Dylann Roof of Lexington County, South Carolina, as a suspect in last night's deadly shooting at the Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina, killing nine people.  (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 18: U.S. President Barack Obama pauses as he makes a statement regarding the shooting in Charleston, South Carolina, June 18, 2015 at the James Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House in Washington, DC. Authorities have arrested 21-year-old Dylann Roof of Lexington County, South Carolina, as a suspect in last night's deadly shooting at the Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina, killing nine people. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 18: U.S. President Barack Obama pauses as he makes a statement regarding the shooting in Charleston, South Carolina, June 18, 2015 at the James Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House in Washington, DC. Authorities have arrested 21-year-old Dylann Roof of Lexington County, South Carolina, as a suspect in last night's deadly shooting at the Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina, killing nine people. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

 

 

In an interview:

“I will tell you, right after Sandy Hook, Newtown, when twenty 6-year-olds are gunned down, and Congress literally does nothing — yes, that’s the closest I came to feeling disgusted. I was pretty disgusted.”

Alex Wong/Getty Images

Thomas E. Ricks covered the U.S. military from 1991 to 2008 for the Wall Street Journal and then the Washington Post. He can be reached at ricksblogcomment@gmail.com. Twitter: @tomricks1

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