The Cult of the Hidden

Bob Novak remarks on Barack Obama and gun rights:

What may be Obama's authentic position on gun rights was revealed in early April when he told a closed-door Silicon Valley fundraiser that "bitter" small-town residents "cling" to the Bible and Second Amendment. That ran against his public assertion as a former constitutional law professor that the Constitution guarantees rights for individual gun owners, not just group rights for state militias. But his legal opinion forced Obama into a political corner.

Journalists, like biographers, try to go out and discover information that's not already widely known. One habit of this, on full display here, is a tendency to privilege the secret and unknown as "real" and the public and known as artifice. Thus, to Novak the real key to understanding Obama's thinking on gun regulations is not to consult his record as a legislator, candidate, and academic but rather to put all that to one side in favor of a not-really-on-point remark made behind what Obama thought were closed doors.

But when you get right down to it, there's no reason to accept this epistemology. Of course it's useful to add more information to the knowledge base. But to a very substantial extent the "real" John McCain is John McCain, the politician and public figure, just as the "real" Barack Obama is Barack Obama, the politician and public figure.

Comments

Novak is a GOP shill. taking the time to type out words like "epistemology" in response to anything he writes is to waste time that could be better spent laughing at him.

Posted by cleek | July 1, 2008 9:00 AM

This is the new attack on Obama, regarding gun rights. The GOP will try to scare gun owners into voting for more wars, less jobs, higher deficits, etc just on the gun issue alone.

Interesting that by Novak's reasoning, then McCain for sure will take us to war with Iran, because he revealed his real self when he joked about bombing Iran.

Ironically, that is more revealing of McCain and his intentions than what Novak cites about Obama.

Posted by cm | July 1, 2008 9:06 AM

This is also a massive problem in intelligence work. It's only human to value the information that you got from a desperately brave agent who fled over the Finnish border mere yards ahead of the NKVD tracker dogs more highly than the information you got from the Wall Street Journal reporting the rising price of grain on the international market. But that doesn't necessarily mean that the former is more likely to be true or even (if true) more relevant. Open-source intelligence is consistently undervalued.

Posted by ajay | July 1, 2008 9:09 AM

on full display here, is a tendency to privilege the secret and unknown as "real"

Oh, come on. What's on display here is a tendency to privilege what will make the opponent (and Novak is every bit the combatant as any formal member of McCain's campaign staff) look the worst. If Novak thought Obama's public record was more damaging do you really think he would be "privileging" an off the record comment about how important gun rights are?

Posted by stuck in 200 | July 1, 2008 9:21 AM

Re Robert Novak

Fascist cocksucker Novak is a congenital liar. Shame on the Washington Post for publishing this scumbags' columns twice a week. Fuckface Novak makes even Bill Kristol look almost legitimate.

Posted by SLC | July 1, 2008 9:24 AM

Right. (Either your philosophical training or your philosophical predisposition makes this kind of commentary stand out.) The tendency that you are talking about runs deep indeed--it is the way we see ourselves, thanks to Freud and his disciples, and so it should come as no surprise that we see others in the same way.

Posted by Chris Dornan | July 1, 2008 9:30 AM

Novak is an idiot and a GOP operative, and his comments should always be analyzed in that light. There isn't even any contradiction here; it's perfectly plausible to think both that handgun bans are unconstitutional and that marginalized people cling irrationally to their gun rights. Why can't those both be "real" positions?

Posted by Tom Nawrocki | July 1, 2008 9:36 AM

Weren't those comments made in San Francisco? Novak seems to confusing an enclave of productive entrepeneurs with a haven of gay latte sipping liberals.

Posted by Gene O'Grady | July 1, 2008 9:52 AM

you know he said guns and religion, not their bibles and the 2nd amendment. He is quoting jmc who always says it this way. Novak and McCain should retire soon. McCain said Darfur was in Somolia yesterday.

Posted by carole | July 1, 2008 10:00 AM

you know he said guns and religion, not their bibles and the 2nd amendment. He is quoting jmc who always says it this way. Novak and McCain should retire soon. McCain said Darfur was in Somolia yesterday.

Posted by carole | July 1, 2008 10:00 AM

"Thus, to Novak the real key to understanding Obama's thinking on gun regulations is not to consult his record as a legislator, candidate, and academic but rather to put all that to one side in favor of a not-really-on-point remark made behind what Obama thought were closed doors."

This would be a serious dig at Novak if Obama's record as a legislator actually contradicted said remark.

As for his remarks as a Presidential candidate, when a candidate changes his views in a politically expedient manner, most people have the sense to doubt there's actually been a change of heart.

Posted by Brett Bellmore | July 1, 2008 10:05 AM

Thank you Tom. I just read that three times trying to figure out how one position "ran against" the other. It only works if you dumb down the views to "guns = good" versus "guns = bad".

Posted by JG | July 1, 2008 10:05 AM

By that same token, McCain's backdoor history includes massive amounts of infidelity, taking bribes from people like Charles Keating, and calling his wife a "c*nt".
I like the Novak rules!

Posted by flounder | July 1, 2008 11:24 AM

By that same token, McCain's backdoor history includes massive amounts of infidelity, taking bribes from people like Charles Keating, and calling his wife a "c*nt".
I like the Novak rules!

Posted by flounder | July 1, 2008 11:28 AM

Make sure all potential McCain supporters google:
"The wife U. S. Republican John McCain callously
left behind.

Telling not to google it, usually works.

Posted by Kirk Muse | July 1, 2008 11:48 AM

Novak is complete dirt. But you read his stuff and then copied it in the marketplace.

Novak wins.

Posted by JohnMcC | July 1, 2008 11:52 AM

Not even wrong.

What Obama said was that the people in question voted their postition on god and guns because they had given up on getting help with jobs, health care, etc. - and that this left them understandably bitter.

Nothing in that had the slightest to do with what Obama thought of the wisdom or constitutionality of gun control.

Posted by snoey | July 1, 2008 1:12 PM

Not even wrong.

What Obama said was that the people in question voted their postition on god and guns because they had given up on getting help with jobs, health care, etc. - and that this left them understandably bitter.

Nothing in that had the slightest to do with what Obama thought of the wisdom or constitutionality of gun control.

Posted by snoey | July 1, 2008 1:15 PM

and not much better by me on the double post - sorry

Posted by snoey | July 1, 2008 1:28 PM

"a not-really-on-point remark made behind what Obama thought were closed doors"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6oGF3cyHE7M&feature=related

Erm....

Posted by waiguoren | July 1, 2008 10:09 PM