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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsThe NRAs core message takes a turn towards culture-war zealotry
Posted with permission.
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/the-nras-core-message-takes-turn-towards-culture-war-zealotry?cid=sm_fb_maddow
The NRAs core message takes a turn towards culture-war zealotry
08/07/17 12:00 PM
By Steve Benen
The National Rifle Association released an odd video in June, complaining bitterly about American news organizations, public schools, popular culture, Barack Obama, and progressive activism. The diatribe made no mention of guns or the rights of firearm owners, which was probably not an accident: the NRAs central focus has apparently begun to shift away from its core mission.
This seemed equally obvious on Friday, when the far-right group released a follow-up online video, which also starred spokesperson Dana Loesch, and which also put a spotlight on the NRAs broad, new objectives.
Consider this the shot across your proverbial bow. We are going to fisk the New York Times and find out just what deep, rich means to this old, gray hag, this untrustworthy, dishonest rag that has subsisted on the welfare of mediocrity for one, two, three, more decades. Were going to laser-focus on your so-called honest pursuit of truth. In short, were coming for you.
After the video was released, Loesch said phrasing such as were coming for you shouldnt be seen as a threat of physical violence. Others appear to have had alternate interpretations.
Note, however, that the NRA once again made no mention of guns, ammunition, personal safety, or the Second Amendment, even in passing. Watching the video in isolation, free of context, and one might assume it was created by some far-right media watchdog, not the nations premier organization committed to firearm ownership.
And thats because in 2017, the lines for the NRA have become blurred.
Theres no great mystery here. As we discussed a few months ago, the NRA has found itself in the strange position of having succeeded too much: the groups allies run the White House, Congress, most of the nations gubernatorial offices, and state legislatures. If the NRA has thrived in recent years by making its members terrified, that window is now closed: even the most paranoid Americans wont believe that federal laws are on the way banning guns.
That sense of comfort, however, wont encourage anyone to grab their checkbooks and send donations to the NRA, so the organization apparently believes a wider focus is necessary. You may not fear the president or Congress, the argument goes, but you should resent major news organizations and the culture youve come to resent.
And the proper way to express that frustration, evidently, is to align ones self with the NRA, which is standing by now to accept your generous contribution.
The NRAs transition from Second Amendment protections to culture-war zealotry happened gradually, and it now appears to be effectively complete.
underpants
(183,006 posts)so now they went with the tried and true playing victim.
Hoyt
(54,770 posts)buying gunz, ammo guaranteed to damage internal organs that is even against the rules of war, training programs for urban warfare, and all that crap will flourish.
I suspect Trump is part of that strategy.
Gunners, and gun profiteers, are like cockroaches. You can send them elsewhere for awhile, but they'll come back.