The recent infusion of $3 million from local zillionaires Bill Gates, Paul Allen, Steve Ballmer, and Nick Hanauer, has drawn national attention to Washington’s Initiative 594, which would close the so-called “gun show loophole” by finally imposing universal criminal background checks on all private gun sales in the state. And it’s got national pundits wondering if the NRA has finally met its match.
Yesterday in the Daily Beast, columnist Cliff Schector suggested that in Bill Gates, “the NRA pissed off the wrong nerd genius.” And then last night on MSNBC, Lawrence O’Donnell repeated the theme, ending with NRA lobbyist Brian Judy’s infamous background-checks-equal-Hitler audio. “I think the rule is, when you reach for Nazi Germany, you know you’re losing,” concludes O’Donnell.
To be clear, this has been a very bad month for the NRA, which has been running silent ever since I released Judy’s anti-Semitic comments back on July 28. A month later, local and national coverage of I-594 still leads with that audio, and the NRA remains speechless. At this point it’s not only preventing the NRA from fighting I-594, it’s also interfering with its ability to lobby Washington lawmakers in advance of the coming legislative session.
Generally, I’m not a fan of really rich people buying their issues onto the ballot. But I’m also not a fan of fighting a political battle with one hand tied behind my back. The NRA has enjoyed the money advantage for far too long. It is entertaining watching them run up against an even wealthier foe.
America’s Evolving Gun Culture
Guns are becoming a form of social communication. If you’re annoyed by little things like, say, strangers stumbling upon you and a prostitute having public sex in an alley, you can express your displeasure by shooting at them.
“A drunken man in a tuxedo fired a gunshot at a couple early Tuesday morning after they interrupted him having sex with a woman in a downtown alley, Seattle police said.”
http://blogs.seattletimes.com/.....tle-alley/
Roger Rabbit Commentary: I’m curious how you pack a rod and rod someone at the same time without shooting off your rod with your rod.
No Goldy, this will not be the NRA’s Waterloo.
re 2 — You may be right. The NRA membership is far too astute to be put off by a little anti-semitism. But politicians supporting NRA policies may find it difficult to justify their support of an anti-semitic organization.
Did it ever occur to you that the reason that the NRA does not put distance between themselves and the anti-semitism is because it would piss-off their ignoramus constituency?
Classic double-bind situation.
Is a 9 year old girl with an UZI a well ordered militia?
How come a 9 year old can kill some with a gun and I cannot find any consequences to the parents, but the mom of the 9-year-old in South Carolina this summer was arrested for letting her kid play unsupervised at the playground while she was at work.
http://www.theatlantic.com/nat.....ne/374436/
“The NRA has enjoyed the money advantage for far too long. ” – NRA has not had the money advantage for quite a long time, Bloomberg and Soros have seen to that in virtually every encounter to this point. Many times that NRA is against government, so who could match their resources?
Now, is the millions from these rich elite bad for the cause, probably.
However, it does prove the point that “gun control” has always been about the wealthy and powerful having guns and the ordinary people not having guns. Initially, the goal was to only prevent black people from having guns and that was one of the initial causes that made the NRA a force for the ordinary people.
Washington elections may be a loss, but as anyone that has followed the issues involved, both sides loose from time to time,. However, since Sandy Hook, gun control has lost many more than won.
Bloomberg and Gates are wealthy, but they certainly lack a lot in convincing people to follow them.
Now that Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership by the Second Amendment Foundation is merging with SAF, I expect to see much more influence for gun civil rights in the Jewish community.
“Now that Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership by the Second Amendment Foundation is merging with SAF, I expect to see much more influence for gun civil rights in the Jewish community.”
I doubt that. The SAF is rabidly anti-semitic, perhaps not in the public persona they present, but the members are mostly hard-core “libertarians” and sovereign citizen types. There are an awful lot of holocaust deniers and active racist skinheads in their ranks.
I get their email newsletter. They regularly quote lunatics like Bryan Fischer and have shared links to article from the Family Research Council, Conservative Citizens for America and Media Research. Organizations that are active in promoting the christian dominionist/white supremacist/neonazi “American Patriot” ideal.
Koch brothers spend money on what they believe in and they are evil. Progressive Marxist millionaires do the same and it’s good….got it.
The logic of a 2 time Obama voter perhaps?
“The logic of a 2 time Obama voter perhaps?”
No, more like the logic of thumb-up-his-ass, America-hating TeaBircher who doesn’t know shit from Shinola. Here, allow me to fix it so even a dumbfuck like you can get it.
“America-hating, mom-hating and apple pie-hating fascist TeaBircher Koch brothers spend $billions on destroying America, mom and apple pie and they are 100% fucking evil. So-called progressive billionaires occasionally throw a paltry million or so at a good cause and, when they do, it’s decent of them, but it isn’t fucking wonderful.”
When ISIL is standing outside your door, remember YOU voted for 594!!!