Tag Archives: NRA
The Hard Goodbye
Breaking Point
Listen, Donald Trump supporters are a loyal bunch. For the most part, I can think of few things that will get them to even question Trump’s judgment. If Robert Mueller uncovers that Trump swore allegiance to Russia in an official ceremony, his supporters would find a way to suggest that it was the most patriotic thing that any president has ever done ever. He can do no wrong in their eyes, even when the things he does are empirically wrong. The same people who were chanting for Bill Clinton to be impeached almost 30 years ago are suggesting that Trump’s more shady infidelity is less than. All of the stuff that any other President would have been a traitor to our country for doing, is somehow excusable when done by an orange, rich toad. It’s mind boggling.
But I have to say, if there is one thing that might get some Trump loyalists to turn their head is him legislating their firearms. I know, even technically the NRA was on board for the bump stock ban, but I know that conservative gun enthusiasts are fans of their slippery slopes, and that had to raise a few hairs when Trump bypassed actual legislation and enacted a sweeping bump-stock ban. The way I see it, if we start seeing cracks in that specific armor, this might be where we see them.
Dire Days of the NRA
The NRA is apparently having some financial troubles. Apparently Andrew Cuomo, the Governor of New York isn’t such a fan of the NRA propaganda machine, perhaps finds their lobbying practices deplorable and is looking to hit them where it hurts: in their wallets. More specifically, I guess his administration is, pretty successfully, persuading banks and insurance companies to not do business with the NRA, and they aren’t taking to kindly to that. Now, I very much doubt that the NRA is going anywhere. There staying power is pretty good. But I find it pretty fascinating that all it takes is a few insurance companies and banks to turn their back to mess with the solvency of such a loud institution.
It Takes a Good Guy with a Gun
So over the weekend, Mike Pence showed up at the NRA convention in Dallas and gave a speech. Now, rather famously, people were not allowed to bring their guns into the speech. Well, no one but the Secret Service. Now, obviously, I think that’s reasonable. It’s a reasonable expectation that people shouldn’t be allowed to bring weapons into a crowded event. BUT I do have to admit, it’s a pretty hypocritical stance for the NRA to take in light of their constant message in the wake of literally every mass shooting, where they say, rather blatantly, that had more people been armed, tragedy would always be averted. One more stab in that respective back was Pence, in his speech, telling the crowd of people that it takes a good guy with a gun to beat a bad guy with a gun. Just twisting the heck out of that knife.
Discourse: The NRA Way
When it comes to news, on any given story, I have this habit of trying to read multiple sources to try and get a clearer picture of how things may have happened. Because it’s easy enough to make small gaffes or misspoken moments into bigger issues than they actually are. And as someone whose job it is to exaggerate things for comedic effect, I’d start from as neutral a place as I can. I say all that to talk about Ted Nugent. I saw several headlines over the weekend talking about Ted, known Gun advocate, and board member of the NRA. Now, he can be a bit…out there, but when it was suggested by headlines that he openly advocated for out and out shooting people, I thought to myself “well, obviously there is some context missing here. Then I listened to the clip and read the quote word for word and…yeah, no, he just told people to shoot liberals, democrats and half of the government. Seriously. “Don’t ask why. Just know that evil, dishonesty, and scam artists have always been around and that right now they’re liberal, they’re Democrat, they’re RINOs, they’re Hollywood, they’re fake news, they’re media, they’re academia, and they’re half of our government, at least, so come to that realization. There are rabid coyotes running around. You don’t wait till you see one to go get your gun. Keep your gun handy, and every time you see one, you shoot one.” Those are his words. One could reasonable call that an incitement to violence.
Teachers: The Alternative to Gun Control
Trump and friends are now floating around the idea of arming teachers in the wake of Parkland. I know it’s not a new idea, but it’s a particularly bad one. Seriously, it’s dumb. It’s a bad idea for a multitude of reasons, where the benefits are haphazard at best. A teacher holding a gun is expected to get into a standoff with a mentally unstable person, perhaps shoot the person, who is hopefully not wearing any kind of body armor, and will hopefully, in a high stress situation, not misfire the weapon, or shoot an innocent person in the crossfire. All of this doesn’t even take into account the idea of having a stressed out teacher having a firearm within reach while thinking about a frustrating problem child who won’t shut up…Just sayin’….
The “R” Doesn’t Just Stand for Rifle, it Also Stands for Responsible
Your Super Republican Neighbor Talking About Mass Shootings
Mind the Exit 