CHRIS Christie’s appearance on the Late Show on Monday night (February 4) is a clear indication that he is going to be among the Republican contenders for the presidential nomination in 2016.

Christie was the butt of numerous jokes on the show during the 2012 campaign, some of them pretty vicious ones, and all directed at his weight.

He showed that he could take it very well and even came armed with two doughnuts in his pockets, which he pulled out and ate at the right moments, putting the laugh back on his host, David Letterman.

US politicians are aware of the power that Letterman has; during the 2008 race, John McCain was mercilessly torn to pieces by Letterman when he suddenly broke an appointment to appear on the Late Show. Despite this, McCain came back on the show when he had the time and took all the ribbing that Letterman dished out. He knew that he was gaining votes by doing so.

As Letterman himself put it, “the road to the White House runs through here,” meaning his show.

That’s why Christie showed up, despite being an object of derision time and time again in 2012. Bridges were mended pretty fast and Letterman more or less endorsed him to recontest the post of governor of New Jersey. And there is no doubt that when Christie runs in 2016, he will have access to the Late Show.

In 2012, Mitt Romney kept away from the show which tends to poke fun at Republican candidates. That was a mistake. Letterman, though now in his 60s and nearing the end of an illustrious career, can still make or break politicians. Barack Obama appeared on the show a few times during the campaign and his wife did likewise. It did him no disfavours.

Christie will need to do something about his weight before he runs for the presidency; it tends to get in the way of conversation. But that can be done easily and given his personality he looks to be a good bet for the Republicans, who at the moment are looking like a party without a base.

THE solution to eradicating mass shootings is to introduce more guns into the population, only this time in the hands of guards at schools.

That’s if you choose to believe the US National Rifle Association, the biggest and most powerful lobby group for the weapons industry in the US of A.

This brilliant idea comes from the mouth of Wayne LaPierre, the NRA’s vice-president, just a week after 20 children were killed in Connecticut, along with eight adults.

It was announced at a press conference where LaPierre blamed violent video games, the media and lax law enforcement for the numerous shootings in schools and other public places that have become as much a feature of life in America as the four-yearly presidential elections.

Only, the shootings come more often and with more violence.

So the NRA sees the solution as good guys with guns to combat bad guys with guns. No restrictions on the sale of firearms at all.

The arrogance of the NRA was evident in that neither LaPierre nor the group’s president, David Keene, would answer any questions from the media present. Of course, the US media have themselves to blame too as they have become lapdogs for this lobby or that and are now viewed as easily buyable.

The NRA, thus, thinks it is fine for a man on the street to own an M-16 or a Kalashnikov. And in support of this, no doubt many crazies would cite the second amendment of the US constitution which refers to a period long ago in the country’s history when turf wars were being fought.

In states: “A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.” It was adopted in 1791 and has no relevance to the state as it exists in 2012.

But try telling that to the NRA or any of the four million-odd gun nuts in the US of A.

In the US of A, they value their guns more than their children. That’s why you get situations like that in Connecticut where 20 children were shot dead by a nutjob. Another eight adults also died, among them the shooter.

But nobody will dare question the interpretation of the second amendment of the constitution that Americans claim gives them the right to bear arms.

The gun lobby is the third-most powerful lobby in the country, after the Zionist lobby and Big Pharma. In the end it all translates down to money, pure and simple – there’s too much money in firearms sales for the industry to ever contemplate any restrictions on the sale of guns.

It’s quite a while – 10 years – since the horror of a shooting like this was brought to the big screen so maybe people have forgotten what it is like when innocents are gunned down in cold blood.

In 2002, Michael Moore’s powerful film Bowling for Columbine brought home the wrenching tragedy that took place at the school there in April 1999. It is a powerful indictment of the gun lobby and the general trend towards settling disputes through violence, an attitude that dominates America.

But 10 years later memories have faded and though there are periodic mass killings to remind us that Americans love their guns, nobody in the US ever does something to stop the madness.

It’s ironic that the Republican Party backs the gun lobby to the hilt, while at the same time insisting that no foetus can be destroyed because it is a human being from day one!