Newtown, Connecticut,Dec 17: A mournful President Barack Obama said on Sunday that the United States is failing to keep its children safe, pledging that change must come after an elementary-school massacre left 20 children dead.
“What choice do we have?” Mr. Obama said. “Are we really prepared to say that we're powerless in the face of such carnage, that the politics are too hard?”
In a vigil for the fallen, in a moment of grief that spread around the world, Mr. Obama conceded that none of his words would match the sorrow. But he declared to the community of Newtown, site of the second-deadliest school shooting in U.S. history- “You are not alone.”
For Mr. Obama, ending his fourth year in office, it was another sorrowful visit to another community in disbelief. It is the job of the president to be there, to listen and console, to offer help even when the only thing within his grasp is a hug.
