Dave Hardy reviews Richard Feldman’s book, and doesn’t find it to be as bad as it is made out to be.
It isn’t. He plainly thought the world of Harlon Carter (as do I), feels that gun laws do harm rather than good, and that NRA’s objectives are correct. He plainly dislikes Wayne and former ILA head Jim Baker, and their financial decisions, and dislikes Neal Knox. There’s some bias there, since Jim Baker got him essentially fired. But the dislikes take up maybe ten pages of the book — it’s just that the reviewers, who hate the progun cause, focus on quotes from those pages.
I think the book will actually help the firearms rights cause. Given the reviews, there will probably be a lot of people buying it who are antigun. But to find the ten pages of criticism, they will have to read about 280 pages on why gun laws (including assault weapons bans) are nonsense, Harlon’s brilliance in creating the modern NRA, how sleazy or foolish antigun politicians are sleazy or dumb (priceless case: NY governor Mario Cuomo tries to defuse tension during a meeting with Feldman and others, by intentionally sitting on a whoopee cushion and then showing it to them), how pro-gunners are honest and decent, etc., etc..
Read the whole thing. I’m not sure Feldman’s book is intended to be subversive, in the manner of enticing anti-gun people to buy it, and then hitting them with a pro-gun message, but if that’s the end result, I’m not going to complain.
UPDATE: Countertop Comments:
Frankly, complaining about people driving Mercedes in Northern Virginia/Washington, D.C. to people in Northern Virginia/Washington, D.C. is a bit ludicrous. Sure, folks in the heartland might be offended, but its no different than any place else. Thats what the average person here drives, so thats what your going to see.
Even the marketing arrangements and nepotism that Feldman complains of, it isn’t any different than what you would see anywhere else in D.C.
And the salary’s too. Last time I checked, Wayne LaPierre was making around $600k a year. Its nice, but not a lot. Not by D.C. standards, not when the heads of much less powerful (and smaller, and poorer) organizations are making millions a year in salary in addition to all the perks and bonuses they all get (and they all get them).
If the NRA wants to continue to be successful, and its phenomenally successful (GOA complains that every piece of gun control legislation has its finger prints on it, well yeah. Thats cause nothing gets by without the NRA’s sign off. But remove the NRA and everything gets by. You have to pick your battles, and considering where we’ve been, we’re doing pretty good right now) , its going to have to continue to hire the best.
I don’t disagree. I don’t honestly think we’re doing too badly as a movement right now. We have our opponents on the ropes. Get rid of the leaders? I’m not going to consider it until I’m convinced they are doing the wrong thing.
I’d say there’s “no such thing as bad publicity”, but I’d worry that a marketing exec may skin puppies to promote the next “Saw” movie.
I was a bit surprised to see it in the Post, since I don’t know if his overall message (they are run by well paid lobbyists) is going to resonate much in a city of well paid lobbyists.
As I stated in the comments at the Washington Post
Frankly, complaining about people driving Mercedes in Northern Virginia/Washington, D.C. to people in Northern Virginia/Washington, D.C. is a bit ludicrous. Sure, folks in the heartland might be offended, but its no different than any place else. Thats what the average person here drives, so thats what your going to see.
Even the marketing arrangements and nepotism that Feldman complains of, it isn’t any different than what you would see anywhere else in D.C.
And the salary’s too. Last time I checked, Wayne LaPierre was making around $600k a year. Its nice, but not a lot. Not by D.C. standards, not when the heads of much less powerful (and smaller, and poorer) organizations are making millions a year in salary in addition to all the perks and bonuses they all get (and they all get them).
If the NRA wants to continue to be successful, and its phenomenally successful (GOA complains that every piece of gun control legislation has its finger prints on it, well yeah. Thats cause nothing gets by without the NRA’s sign off. But remove the NRA and everything gets by. You have to pick your battles, and considering where we’ve been, we’re doing pretty good right now) , its going to have to continue to hire the best.
I’ve never met Wayne in person, but he’s always left me with the impression that he’s a bit smarmy, and not someone I would like if I did meet him in person.
But as EVP for NRA? Judging by the results we’ve been getting lately, I’d say he’s doing pretty well for us. Larry Pratt’s complaints notwithstanding.
There is a deliberate effort on the part of the Hillary/Soros/MoveOn.org crowd to discredit and minimize the NRAs influence in the ’08 elections. The timing of this book and all the attention it’s been getting is not an accident. Feldman has an axe to grind so take anything said about him and this book with a substantial grain of salt.