Talk about an epistle......Whoever wrote this has a lot to say, about nothing.
I think I get the message: "NRA = Bad........Strict Gun Control and Confiscation of Americans' Firearms = Good" Just one more reason that the NRA is right: "All In". On Fri, Apr 20, 2012 at 9:47 AM, Tommy News <[email protected]> wrote: > Guns, Paranoia and Obama Assassination Jokes: Inside the NRA's Annual > Convention > In recent years, the NRA's leadership has expertly cultivated a very > profitable hatred and paranoia among its membership. > April 18, 2012 | LIKE THIS ARTICLE ? > Join our mailing list: > Sign up to stay up to date on the latest headlines via email. > ST. LOUIS -- The hotel minibus had barely left the airport > when the guy to my left dropped the Obama assassination joke. > > There were eight of us on our way to the National Rifle Association's > annual convention downtown, rolling past a domino-row of highway > billboards advertising the event's "Acres of Guns and Gear." The > banter suggested the minibus crew was microcosmic of the NRA's claimed > four million members, more than 70,000 of whom made the election-year > pilgrimage. There was a soft-spoken father from Long Island and his > teenage daughter headed to the University of Akron on a Division-I > marksmanship scholarship. There were retired New Hampshire hunters > from NRA families going back generations. There was a Russian > immigrant whose only hobby is fully automatic machine guns. > > And there was a professional Second Amendment extremist named Stephen > Burke. An Endowment Life Member of the NRA and an attorney from > Springfield, Massachusetts, Burke specializes in getting guns into the > hands of ex-cons whose licenses have been revoked or downgraded for > criminal activity. > > Burke is a loud and boastful retired lance corporal who displays a > photo of himself with NRA Executive Vice President & CEO Wayne > LaPierre on his professional website. The only thing he abhors more > than gun control is silence. When a conversation about former New York > Governor George Pataki's pro-gun record entered a lull, he asked the > group what sounded like an American history riddle or piece of trivia: > "What do Abraham Lincoln, John F. Kennedy, and Barack Obama have in > common?" > > The collective intelligence of the minibus was stumped. After a few > beats, he delivered the answer: "Nothing. Yet." > > Most of the bus erupted in laughter, but the father from Long Island > looked out the window, embarrassed. > > Parents who want to shield their children from presidential > assassination jokes should consider vacation destinations other than > NRA conventions. The group's leadership has in recent years expertly > cultivated a very profitable hatred and paranoia among its membership. > This fact was on majestic display in St. Louis, where NRA officials > painted the president as a dedicated "enemy of freedom" quietly > implementing the early stages of a master gun confiscation plan. The > convention marked the opening salvo in the group's campaign to defeat > Obama and his gun control allies in November. The official battle cry > for this effort, unveiled on Friday, is "All In." > > The NRA's election-year slogan is meant to evoke a bit of the Wild > West tough guy imagery that remains central to American gun culture. > The phrase comes from poker, the card game of the frontier, and the > desired picture is that of a noble, steely-eyed gun lobby pushing its > mountain of chips across the table of America's destiny, betting > everything on one last high-stakes hand. In NRA land, where impending > Second Amendment Apocalypse is a state of mind and a business > strategy, the next election is always the final hand. As he did in > 2008, chief NRA spokesman Wayne LaPierre describes 2012 as "the most > important election of our lifetime." > > For a group with a self-replenishing supply of chips, the slogan "All > In" is absurd. Recent years have seen record profits for the gun and > ammo industries, of which the NRA is an integral part. During > Saturday's Leadership Forum, two grateful firms -- Ruger and > MidwayUSA, the sponsor of the convention -- together donated more than > $8 million to the NRA's lobbying arm, the Institute for Legislative > Action. These two gifts alone -- raised through a "round-up" campaign > on sales -- nearly equal the group's record spending for the 2008 > cycle. > > Flush with cash from the Obama-era gun boom it's done so much to fuel > and drive, the NRA is today a very different beast than when it faced > the possibility of bankruptcy in the mid-1990s. It has even mutated in > large and important ways since 2007, when one of its former lobbyists, > Richard Feldman, described the organization as a "cynical, mercenary > political cult." Today's NRA is less a lobbying and campaigning > organization than a highly profitable, multi-division industry, > merchandising, and fundraising machine. It has an annual budget of > between $220 and $250 million and executives eligible for the Buffet > Rule. An election year for them is a night at the blackjack table for > Michael Jordan. > > "All In" works better as a slogan if considered in terms of the > group's maximalist -- which is another word for extreme, and in the > gun context, possibly insane -- interpretation of the Second > Amendment. While the NRA once focused on playing national defense > against major gun control legislation, it now plays ferocious > legislative offense at the state level, where it has expanded gun > rights beyond what actors in previous gun debates could have imagined. > Its top national legislative priority at the moment is a Senate bill > introduced by South Dakota's John Thune that would force all states > that issue concealed carry permits to recognize those of every other > state. (Carry a laser-sighted 9mm Glock in Laredo? Bring it to > Brooklyn.) > > Better known is the group's work pushing controversial "Stand Your > Ground" legislation at the state level, which a growing number of > critics and a growing body of evidence says encourages vigilantism, > increases gun violence, and complicates the prosecution of the > perpetrators of violent crime. > > In pushing its no-limits reading of the Second Amendment in > statehouses across the country, the NRA has enjoyed paradigm-shifting > success. "Thirty years ago, there was a national conversation about a > national handgun ban, and today we're having a conversation about > nationwide right-to-carry [handguns]," bragged Chris Cox, executive > director of the NRA's Institute of Legislative Action, more than once > during the convention. > > It is unclear whether the NRA's side in this conversation is a winner > on the national stage. Alone among the speakers at Friday's > "Leadership Forum," Mitt Romney declined to toss bloody cuts of steak > at the NRA audience. Now in general election mode, Romney, who only > joined the NRA in 2006, has seen the recent data indicating the > group's impotence in national elections. (Though its SuperPAC > potential in the wake of Citizens United is huge.) Romney knows most > NRA members sniff him with suspicion for signing an assault weapons > ban and tripling gun registration fees as governor of Massachusetts. > But he's probably right in thinking he can survive these suspicions, > or at least that he has much bigger problems. Romney took no chances > pandering at an event featuring swing-voter-kryptonite clowns like > Glenn Beck, (Ret.) Gen. Jerry Boykin, and Ted Nugent. > > (Nugent, an NRA board member who worked the convention plugging his > new book and branded line of ammunition, made headlines and drew > Secret Service attention after video emerged of himurging a crowd > there to "ride into that battlefield and chop their heads off in > November" and saying that he "will either be dead or in jail by this > time next year" if Obama is re-elected. He has since saidhe will > "stand by" those comments; asked about an effort by Democrats that > Romney (who sought and received Nugent's endorsement) distance himself > from Nugent's comments, Nugent claimed that "Mitt Romney knows what > I'm saying is true.") > > Romney's speech could have been delivered before the National > Restaurant Association -- heavy on "freedom" and nearly bereft of the > word "gun" or its synonyms. Aside from a call to fire Attorney General > Eric Holder, which sent the crowd to its feet, he left the NRA > rank-and-file cold. > > Don Craiger, a retired Lt. Colonel from Rockford Illinois, could only > muster a shrug after Romney's speech. "He can't be any worse than what > we've got," he said. "Anybody would be better." Back in the media > room, writers for the gun press were withering in their assessment. > "We should title our pieces 'The content of Mitt Romney's NRA Speech,' > and then just have a giant blank space underneath," sneered a feature > writer for leading handgun magazines. "Lackluster," said Roy Kubicek, > the pro-gun blogger behind Days of Our Trailers. "I wasn't impressed. > He said as little as he could that could be used against him in the > general. Because of his actions as governor, I have little faith in > him. He's a politician to the core, he'll blow whichever way the wind > is blowing." > > "Hell no I don't trust him, the guy is an empty shell -- but what am I > gonna do, vote for Ron Paul?" said Ross Davis, a 30-year-old > landscaper from Tennessee standing in line to meet Ted Nugent. > > > > -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > > For the gun business, Romney's failings as a gun-rights champion may > offer the best of both worlds in the event of his election: highly > unlikely to pursue gun control measures as president, but leaving > enough doubt to keep alive embers of panic about gun confiscation. > Manufactured panic is the undisputed basis of the industry's recent > growth, which research suggests would have otherwise stalled. > Throughout the convention's seven-acre display floorshow, > manufacturers and dealers reported record sales following Obama's > election and the spread of conceal-and-carry laws. Those in the gun > industry can't afford to be anything but "All In" when it comes to the > NRA's two-track operation of politics and propaganda that inflates > fears of impending gun confiscation while simultaneously expanding > opportunities for carrying and using them. > > (Exactly what the NRA is doing with the fruits of this strategy is the > subject of some gnawing questions raised by a Bloomberg Businessweek > investigation into the group's finances. The magazine revealed > numerous instances in which the donation amounts stated in the NRA's > 2010 tax filings well exceeded the amount actually received by the > charities named, sometimes by as much as one half.) > > There's no lack of self-awareness about panic-production on the > industry side of the equation. > > "There's a lot of panic buying when Democrats are in power, and a lot > of it is driven by the NRA and the gun press," said convention > exhibitor Steve Johnston, a manager at Graf's Reloading, a gun and > ammo shop in St. Charles, Missouri. "But then after a while > [following] the election, people start to get depressed and think, 'Oh > wait, I don't really need three AR-15's. I need to pay for food.'" > > And so maybe a couple of those AR-15s end up on the newly saturated > secondary gun market, where prices come down and tracking the guns get > harder, thanks to the NRA's efforts to lower the bar for federal gun > licenses, which has proliferated the number of "kitchen table" gun > dealers. But soon there's another election cycle to hype, and more > gun-confiscation bogeyman to invent. The process begins anew, just in > time for the new models. "Having a Democrat in office is sort of like > a double-edged sword," said a representative with a major handgun > manufacturer who asked not to be identified. "You want your guy to > win, but it's not as good for business. There will be a sales dip if > the Republican wins." > > Whether the NRA and its industry allies really want to defeat Obama is > a question worth asking. So is the question of whether they are > capable of making it happen. The last few cycles have been unkind to > the NRA's self-image as a grassroots-driven get-out-the-vote > powerhouse to be feared and placated. Whatever the truth about the > NRA's oft-cited role in ushering in the Republican Congress of 1994 > and defeating Al Gore in Tennessee in 2000, that's all in the > rear-view. In 2006 the NRA bet on losing candidates with 80 percent of > its money spent on independent expenditures. Two years later, the > group spent more than $7 million only to see its chosen "A"-rated > Congressional candidates go down in flames in 80 percent of their > races against candidates endorsed by the NRA's nemesis, the Brady > Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. The gun lobby would love to chalk > those painful drubbings up to larger Democratic waves, but the trend > continuedeven amidst the GOP's 2010 resurgence. > > According to NRA rhetoric, 2008 should have meant the death of the > Second Amendment and the start of a new era of liberal darkness at > midnight. In the run-up to Obama's victory, Wayne LaPierre, America's > best-paid Little Shepard Boy, had seen wolves everywhere, calling 2008 > "arguably the most important year in [the NRA's] history." It's a > dog-eared script for the NRA that precedes LaPierre's arrival on the > scene in 1977. A decade earlier, NRA president Harlon Carter warned > that the 1968 Gun Control Act augured a time when "our children will > not be able to enjoy the shooting sports." > > As any gun control advocate can tell you, that didn't happen. > Three-and-a-half years after Obama's victory, gun owners have more > rights than ever, as well as a friendly landmark 2010 Supreme Court > decision in the form of MacDonald v. Chicago finding state handgun > bans unconstitutional. Yet the NRA's script is more shrill than ever. > The group continues to hype a discredited slippery-slope argument to > the soundtrack air-raid sirens and chinging cash registers. Obama's > election has been such a boon for membership dues and gun sales, you > get the sense the NRA is upset mostly over its wounded ego. > > "We didn't do so well last time, and need to reclaim our title," said > Miranda Bond, Coordinator for the NRA-ILA's Grassroots Division. > "Obama is the most dangerous president we've ever faced, and we need > to do more." > > Neither Bond nor her colleagues in St. Louis mentioned "the most > dangerous president they've ever faced" has earned an "F" rating from > the Brady Campaign. To be fair, there were a few mentions of Obama's > failure to advance the cause of common-sense gun regulation, even > after the shooting of a U.S. Congresswoman by a deranged Army reject > who legally purchased a Glock with extended magazine like he was super > sizing a burger meal. But these recognitions were uniformly couched in > warnings of a stealth attack just over the horizon -- Barack Obama as > the billion-dollar B-2 bomber of gun control. Unless the gun lobby's > "brassroots" can recruit the 96 percent of America's 100 million gun > owners who do not belong to the NRA, officials warned, the mask will > slide off after Obama's reelection, the ATF confiscation army > unleashed on God-fearing gun owners across the land. > > The group's get-out-the-vote strategy in 2012 involves closing what > the NRA worries is a yawning social media gap between its members and > progressive and Democratic groups. The NRA knows that a large and > growing portion of its four million members are in, or soon to be in, > the market for hearing aids and mechanized mall carts. Just as > worrying, many of the younger attendees in St. Louis weren't > interested in flashlight-on-the-chin ghost stories about Obama II or > UN blue helmets. "We're here because we're into guns, not politics," > said one 20-something attendee, to the nods of her friends. If the NRA > wants to reach millennials, they should start by replacing whichever > new media comm outfit they hired to run the group's online efforts. > The face of NRA's would-be viral 2012"Trigger the Vote" campaign is > 68-year-old actor R. Lee "Gunny" Ermey, best known as the donut-hating > drill sergeant in Full Metal Jacket. > > "Democrats can win the gun control war in 50 years if they just get > wise and back off and let age take its course," said Terry Joggerst, a > retired NRA member who had a 40-year career with Winchester. "When > these 50-year-olds are all dead, and the young people who are more > video game oriented replace them, the balance of power will swing. The > people who feel most strongly about guns and gun rights are not the > young." > > > > -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > > The love in St. Louis that dared not speak its name was "Stand Your > Ground." Speaker after speaker, including Romney, made direct and > oblique references to the "Castle Doctrine," which allows people to > defend their homes, but not one uttered the name of the Castle > Doctrine's radical son, known as "Shoot First" or "Kill at Will" to > its critics. This is because the shooting death of Trayvon Martin blew > the lid off the NRA's state-level efforts, and the group understands > it is rapidly becoming a losing issue nationally and possibly within > its own ranks. Two days after the conclusion of the conference, the > NRA's partner in pushing "Stand Your Ground" bills, the American > Legislative Exchange Council, announced it was disbanding its Task > Force on Elections and Public Safetyand moving forward would focus > only on economic legislation. > > Even before the ALEC announcement, there were signs the NRA is nervous > about defending "Stand Your Ground" laws against an avalanche of bad > press. Chris Cox of the NRA-ILA is usually an articulate spokesperson. > But when confronted by a member who worried the controversial laws > were outside the group's founding mission and risked hurting the > larger cause, Cox lapsed into incoherence and noticeably did not > mention either the law or ALEC by name: > > There's support across the board for the Second Amendment, there's > support across the board, even post-media hysteria over the last few > weeks, there's support across the board for legitimate self-defense. > We don't apologize for support -- whether you call it a national right > or a God-given right, legislation that recognizes our right to defend > ourselves. The fact that other groups and other business entities and > others are supportive of that concept of constitutional freedom, or > that they're concerned about it from a Second Amendment standpoint or > an economic freedom standpoint, that's not my position to be, you can > call them and ask them, that's not my position to take, for debate, > for them. We stand in strong defense of any effort to allow > law-abiding, good people to defend themselves against criminal attack. > We don't apologize for that. It's not a problem in this country. We > will defend our efforts. We will defend those laws, and if others want > to join that fight, we will. [Listen to the audio here.] > > While Cox refused to engage with the details of Trayvon Martin's > death, his members were more open. Jon Alexander, an NRA member and > organizer from Illinois, said he supported the law in theory but > admitted to becoming wary of it in practice. "We should have a right > to defend ourselves anywhere we have a right to be," he said. "But I > think what happened in Florida, I don't think [Zimmerman is] eligible > for that kind of protection. I don't think he was standing his ground. > I think he was looking for trouble. But I'm not a lawyer." > > Neither is Wayne LaPierre, who closed out the Leadership Forum by > blasting the media over its coverage of Martin's death. Attacks on the > media were a running theme of the convention, and walking its halls > with a "MEDIA" badge felt just slightly safer than wearing antlers. On > the exhibition floor, major-gun manufacturer Remington mounted a large > television display that looped a Remington-branded video lambasting > the major networks. Singling out Brian Williams and NBC, one > screenshot described the network as "agenda-driven, flawed, > irresponsible, alarming, deceptive, [and] misleading." > > > "We're very worried about this so-called 'Stand Your Ground' law here > in St. Louis," said McCowan of the NAACP. "It's gaining traction and > it's clear that it encourages people to shoot first, then tell the > police what you want to tell them, because you just killed your > witness. We hope the pushback will grow."A few hours before LaPierre's > anti-media tirade, an alliance of local and national activists > gathered in the marble foyer of St. Louis City Hall to release > a218,000 signature petitioncalling for the repeal of Florida's "Stand > Your Ground" legislation. "These citizens believe, as we do, that it > is long past time to repeal these reckless laws, and to fight for > every reasonable effort to keep our children safe and gun violence out > of our lives," said gun violence prevention activist Joe Grace, who > launched the petition. Democratic State Rep. Jamila Nasheed asked > Missourians to join her in the fight against NRA-backed legislation > currently pending in the Missouri House. Flanking Nasheed were three > survivors of last year's mass shooting in Tucson, and Rev. Elston > McCowan of the St. Louis NAACP. Nasheed's coalition can expect > support from New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's new initiative to > repeal "Stand Your Ground" laws wherever they have passed. > > Patricia Maisch, a native of St. Louis and survivor of the Tucson > massacre, had traveled to her hometown in hopes of meeting with NRA > executives. "We used to say we didn't want their guns, we wanted their > help, but I don't think that's possible anymore," she said. "The > leadership has gone beyond the pale. If you talk to older members of > the organization, they'll tell you the NRA is not what it was when > they were a kid. Now it's all about making money and selling guns and > frightening their members. They have no incentive to stop the cycle." > > How could they? The NRA and its industry partners are the cycle. As > Chris Cox likes to say, "The fight is never over." > > > More: > > http://www.alternet.org/story/155043/guns%2C_paranoia_and_obama_assassination_jokes%3A_inside_the_nra%27s_annual_convention?page=entire > > -- > Together, we can change the world, one mind at a time. > Have a great day, > Tommy > > > > -- > Together, we can change the world, one mind at a time. > Have a great day, > Tommy > > -- > Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. > For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum > > * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ > * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. > * Read the latest breaking news, and more. > -- Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. 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