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In the annals of grotesquerie, one of the prime sources of amusement is career politicians attempting to convince people that what is not, is. My favorite example in recent years was Senator John McCain (whom I don’t think has been quite sane for a while) standing in a bazaar in Baghdad while the war in Iraq was in full flower, assuring the Folks Back Home that it was perfectly safe to go shopping here. At the time, he was wearing a flak vest and surrounded by heavily armed security guards.

One of the favorite dodges of politicians and journalists is to allow that they, too, are shooters and gun owners, even if they have straight F ratings from the NRA or have defamed the NRA and its members in at least one column a week. Joe Biden has admitted that he has a Beretta over/under, and that he has no fear someone will try to take it away from him. Governor Andrew Cuomo, just prior to his screaming fit about guns during his State of the State Address, allowed that he has a Remington pump shotgun, and if that’s good enough for him to hunt with, why would anyone need an assault weapon and high-capacity magazines?

John Kerry humiliated himself by showing up at a trap range and revealing that he had no idea how the sport worked, or how to hold a shotgun. Sarah Palin, who made herself out as a hell of a shooter, was taped trying to gun down a caribou, which she missed repeatedly, and had to have her guide yank the rifle away from her because she didn’t know how to operate it. Hillary Clinton, during her disastrous presidential run, allowed that she was the veritable reincarnation of Annie Oakley as a kid, and if she hadn’t discovered politics, who knows what might have come of it?

Political columnists do it, too. They will tell you that they grew up on a farm, and lived with guns, and that they got a gun for Christmas one year, and that they are gun owners and shooters. What they don’t bother to mention is that they got the hell away from the farm just as fast as they possibly could and have not picked up a firearm in the 30 years since and would like to see you do without your guns.

Most recent on the list of covert gun users is President Obama, golfer, basketball player and, if we can believe the press releases, skeet shooter. There is even a photo of the Pres shooting a skeet gun, or maybe it’s Photoshop. The gun appears to be a Browning Citori, which I’m sure thrills the hell out of Browning. There’s no evidence, however, that aside from this one shot, he has actually completed a round of skeet. Also, whose gun is it? His? Does he have a permit for it?

I’m not convinced. Also, someone should tell him to get his elbows up, and that you don’t “do skeet shooting,” you shoot skeet.