We all know how much the Liar-In-Chief Trump likes to toot his own horn, tell everybody what he thinks, and have his picture taken surrounded by smiling supporters as he triumphantly signs some piece of paper. Well, here is one instance where the picture wasn’t released when he signed the document, and, even now, the White House refuses to release the photo today.

I wonder why ? ?  ?


The White House has refused to release any images of Donald Trump signing a bill that made it easier for some people with a mental illness to buy guns.

Requests from US media outlets initially came after the US President signed the bill into law on 28 February last year, just a month after his inauguration.

But calls for their release have intensified in the wake of the Florida school shooting, which left 17 people dead, including 14 students.

The bill, HJ Resolution 40, repealed an Obama-era rule that would have added thousands of mentally ill US citizens to a database preventing them buying firearms.

Barack Obama pushed for the change following the Sandy Hook school shooting in 2012, in which 20 children between six and seven years old were shot dead. The law came into effect in 2016.

On the day Mr Trump signed the bill, the National Rifle Association (NRA), America’s most powerful pro-gun pressure group, called it a “new era for law-abiding gun owners”.

“We now have a president who respects and supports our right to keep and bear arms,” its statement said.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), a group rarely on the side of the NRA when it comes to gun legislation, also supported Mr Trump’s repeal of the rule, insisting there was no evidence people affected “have a propensity for violence in general or gun violence in particular”.

CBS News said it has made requests for access to the images a total of 13 times, including after Wednesday’s tragedy in Florida.

Sarah Huckabee Sanders, White House Press Secretary, responded just once, according to the news channel. "We don't plan to release the picture at this time,” she said on 19 April.

Presidential administrations typically release its own images of bill signings from the Oval Office, and often invite the press in to take pictures of their own.

Mr Trump signed another bill on the same day, the Waters of the United States rule, with images and video of the ceremony being widely circulated.



By the way (I know people get sick and tired of hearing me say this) but it is up to us, the voters, the constituents of the people we elected to office, to let the people in DC and Harrisburg know how we feel about subjects we feel are most important. I wrote all of my state and federal legislators concerning the Florida school shooting basically telling them that the time for condolences and excuses is over. It’s time for them to do something to come together and hash out a plan for prevention of mass shootings in the U.S. When I hear people like speaker Ryan say we can’t take any “knee jerk” reactions to these shootings. It has been more than 15 years since Columbine, more than 10 years since Sandy Hook, less than 6 months since the Las Vegas shooting. And Ryan and the other people we elected still haven’t done a thing to stem this horrifying tide of American citizens being shot at school, at concerts, at shopping centers, at church . . . All just going about their day-to-day activities. And Ryan considers DOING SOMETHING a “knee jerk” reaction ! ? ! ?  Mr. Ryan needs to see a doctor because after 15 years of increasing frequency of these mass killings, if he sees this as “knee jerk” he’s probably got Parkinson’s disease. Oh yeah, and with all the issues that are facing our legislators, they’re bailing today for a couple of weeks off. And I’ll Bet most of them won’t be attending open forums with constituents to discuss issues affecting them . . . Instead they’ll be fund raising or taking some “official trip” with their legislative buddies and their spouses. It’s up to us to e-mail, write, phone, of visit the office of these people and let them know how you feel about the issues you feel are important. If you don’t, they’ll just keep listening to the NRA, or the Koch brothers, or their Kremlin handlers. WE GET THE GOVERNMENT WE DESERVE ! ! !

Last edited by Rongone (2/16/2018 12:15 pm)