In an age where political payback is the order of the day, where “the Chicago way” knows no bounds, where civil dialogue has given way to stifling groupthink, criticism is not always welcome, or well received, or even prudent.

In the case of our President’s most recent bald-faced lie simple misinterpretation, however, I feel compelled to correct, to guide, to set the record straight. By most accounts, this President is one heck of a smart man. And by his own account, this gun control issue is of monumental importance to him and to the nation.

So it becomes difficult to reconcile that a purportedly brilliant man, the President of the United States of America and a “Constitutional Law Professor” no less, would vociferously agitate for the abolition of a fundamental constitutional right by combining blatant distortions of fact, monarchic executive orders that divide even his base supporters, an absurd ignorance of firearms, and a few outright lies.

If he were as brilliant as some confidently claim, he would know the simplest workings of an issue that he has prioritized above nearly all others. If we are to give him the benefit of doubt that he is as intelligent as everyone claims, then we can only deduce that he is being purposefully dishonest in regard to matters as simple as, say, federal background checks. Of course, maybe he really does struggle to comprehend the simplicity of background checks. It is unfortunate to have to wonder.

I have not encountered many people in life, at least among the sane, that claim a “passion” for a subject but then lack even a basic understanding of that topic. When it comes to guns, a subject to which President Obama is welded emotionally and politically, is he purposefully dishonest or is he just less intelligent than he or others think he is?

Regardless of your views of his honesty, or his intelligence, make no mistake that he is a rain-maker when it comes to selling firearms and ammunition. He wanted to renew the assault weapons ban but failed miserably in that endeavor, not only losing the associated public relations war but stoking an unprecedented AR-15 buying frenzy in the process. He and other prominent Democrats rallied behind anti-gunners and their crazy notions, ending up defeated, and frustrated, and as out of touch as ever. It’s safe to say that during his Presidency, if there is one area in which he has been drubbed politically, time and again, it is in his opposition to gun rights.

This assumed brilliant man publicly lobbies for increased background checks while pointing out the inherent racial bias of federal background checks. He bangs the politically correct drum (built on dishonest, and debunked, statistics) about violence against women while intent on denying the fundamental right that could most empower past or future victims. He works, through pre-emptive executive order and with a claimed attempt to save police lives (uh, no, it would not), to ban an ammunition that, statistically speaking, simply does not put police officers at risk.

We are, as a society, being led by our President who chooses to trust Iran with the nuclear bomb more than our own citizens with an individual right that shall not be infringed. In the face of overwhelming opposition, we are moving toward executive actions that are, at premise, and depending on one’s perspective, either bold and pointed lies or simple and staggering stupidity.

Can we trust this government to do the right thing when it comes to gun data any more than we can trust it similarly with other data? Be it phone or email or tax or healthcare or, well, I think you get the basic idea of what we risk becoming.

How are we to entrust our federal government and states to properly protect gun-related data in light of the rather unfortunate fact that we cannot even entrust them not to arm the Mexican drug cartels against its own citizens? Why are we to trust delicate data to a government that doesn’t even trust itself with its own data? How can we believe benign claims when off the cuff remarks clearly suggest a conflicting view?

Ironically, at a time when more than 60% of Americans don’t trust their government, gun owners are singled out as being paranoid because they refuse to fall in line with what is being sold falsely as “reasonable” and/or “common sense.”

Strangely, the narrative paints Barack Obama as a genius and gun owners as stupid, the President somehow impeded by racist religious zealots “clinging” to their guns and their antiquated ways. Lost in the translation, somehow, is just how soundly he is losing this, his prized fight.

The progressive genius is being defeated at every turn by sounder logic, more citizen momentum, greater passion, plain fact, American pride, and intractable legal decisions (even on his home turf). How can one of history’s most popular and impacting Presidents be so consistently humbled by such a plainly obvious divide? He either has a debilitating political blind spot that manifests as dishonesty or he lacks the intelligence to understand why his gun control efforts have failed so completely and thoroughly.

Which is it? Is our President patently dishonest or is he simply ill-informed about this, one of his fundamental platform issues? My opinion? He’s a very smart man.

The views and opinions expressed in this post are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the position of Guns.com.