Chris Cox made an appearance on NRA News about an hour ago where he talked about the rumors that NRA issued a gag order against it’s Board members. I pointed out yesterday, due to the structure of NRA, this is not really possible, but held out the possibility staff may have asked the Board not to get involved with the Kagan hearings. After doing all the research, I have concluded that they have not even done this. First, let’s see what Chris had to say:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0VHHpEplIvQ[/youtube]
Now, I figured some people reluctant to take Chris at his word, because no doubt many know he’s been secretly keeping the NRA Board members in the dungeon at HQ (it’s located in the space right next to the NRA range, for those who don’t know). So today I had Bitter digging around, and talking to Board members. Scott Bach was willing to go on the record and say there’s been no “gag” order, or even a polite request. Tom King you’ve already heard from. Joe DeBergalis is saying the same story over at AR-15.com. If there’s been a gag order, it would seem none of the NRA Board members got the memo! Perhaps Chris Cox’s e-mail was broken that day. Or perhaps they were afraid to talk with the .45 ACP held to their heads. Who knows!
The accusations that I’m a shill, brown nose, and suck up are going to keep on coming in. The truth is that none of these folks have even a vague idea of what NRA’s real problems are. To be blunt, most of them don’t even know or care how NRA functions. So yes, I will keep defending the organization against half-baked criticisms and false rumors, spread by people who are far better at tearing down than building up, and I will do it without apology.
I just view the time and energy wasted trying to deal with these false rumors and manufactured “problems” just take away from the time we could spend trying to make improvements to the real issues faced in Fairfax and with many other pro-gun groups around the country. (No, not a single organization is perfect. There’s always room for improvement, but making up fake problems to bitch about isn’t a solution.)
“To be blunt, most of them don’t even know or care how NRA functions.”
there are plenty of things I do not know or care how they function…but I still expect them to function. if they do not function they need to be repaired or replaced.
the NRA is BROKEN. it needs to be repaired or replaced. it does not do the things I pay it to do. it does not even do most of the things is claims to do.
I am unmoved by internal machinations. RESULTS matter. ACTIONS matter.
when a supreme court nominee calls me the equivalent of the KKK because I am an NRA member I EXPECT them to raise their hand and object on my behalf. because that is what I pay them to do!
I doubt the RedStateBlog more every day. They seem to be under some delusion that all Republicans are conservative, all conservatives are Republicans and the NRA should prostrate itself before the GOP and do their bidding.
At least that is how I read their rants of late anyway.
I would really like to hear their evidence of the gag order if they have any. Perhaps they do??
Be patient Allen. We have to get through the confirmation hearings first.
“when a supreme court nominee calls me the equivalent of the KKK because I am an NRA member I EXPECT them to raise their hand and object on my behalf. because that is what I pay them to do!”
Sebastian and Bitter would know better than I would but unless you’re donating to NRA-ILA directly and just paying NRA membership dues I think they’re restricted to only using 15% of your contribution toward lobbying/political efforts. Given an annual membership rate of $35/year that equates to $5.25 a year that you’re paying them for dealing with everything that pertains to you in your state and at the federal level. You might want to cut them a little slack if they fail to tilt at every windmill you deem necessary in light of that.
That’s one thing that bugs me about gunnies and non-gunnies alike. They think that the NRA is just a political entity when it’s not. It makes it kind of hard to criticize the anti-gunners for making that assumption when actual members do the same thing. Membership dues paid to the NRA primarily go toward supporting the magazines we get, the shooting sports, training, etc. Hardly any of it goes toward political efforts. You have to give extra to the NRA-ILA and NRA-PVF for that.
I think NRA will do the right thing in the end. People are latching on to a false rumor and making assumptions that their move is surely going to disappoint. I think they are doing what the rest of us are doing: watching the confirmation hearings. There’s probably one other thing they are doing that the rest of us are not — working with friends on the Hill to make sure the right questions get asked of her.
Remember when Sotomayor opened her mouth and said there was no right to self-defense? Pure gold. That’s why you wait for the damned hearings before taking your position. The operative phrase for the hearing is “give them enough rope.”
My concern is this: I don’t like Kagan being named to the Court; I think she’ll be awful for RKBA, but no worse than Stevens. BUT, even if she is “shot down,” who imagines that Obama will nominate anyone any better on the RKBA issue? Unfortunately, Obama was elected in ’08, and we can’t change the reality that it’s his pick for whom to put on the Court. … If this is not a wake up call for 2012, nothing is. If he’s there through 2016, almost certainly he’ll get another nomination, and there’s a good chance it could be to replace one of the “good five.” Then what? Pro-RKBA folks have *got* to realize that the election in 2012 is really, “Who gets to name the next Justice?”
“Be patient Allen. We have to get through the confirmation hearings first.”
really? why? what exactly are they waiting for? is there some rule that says the NRA will get it’s hand slapped if they don’t wait? is there hopes for some “hallelujah moment” during these hearings where she drops the softball bat and becomes an avid IPSC shooter or something?
I think I understand now why Brady and VPC are not getting any support anymore from the Left Wing: Mooching & Whining Gun Owners are doing a much better job and for free to boot.
Allen:
Because you need votes from Democrats to stop her, and to get Democratic votes, you need the timing of your opposition to be spot on.
What do you think it looks like if you oppose out of the gate before the nominee has the chance to even speak? What signal does that send? Does that signal you’re willing to be fair to Democratic nominees? Does it signal that you’re in bed with the GOP leadership in opposing?
Think about it.
One of the things I found aggravating about the NRA, was I was a member for a year before I understood about the separate NRA-ILA, and how my dues only minimally funded NRA legislative activities. Being upfront and clear about that separation and the need to support NRA-ILA would be most useful.
“What do you think it looks like if you oppose out of the gate before the nominee has the chance to even speak? What signal does that send?”
it looks like we’ve already figured out what her opinion of us is (NRA=KKK) and we’re not going to stand for being called racists. it also signals that we will be fair with people who are fair to us gun owners. but they have to be fair first. we’re not going to give people who have kicked us in the teeth in the past a pass just to “hear what they have to say” unless they at least go through the motions of kissing our butts first.
if, the moment that came out, she put out an apology of some sort, or some sort of alternate explanation (“I meant the Kommie Kontainment Korps! really!”) I could see waiting. but that hasn’t happened.
the mainstream media is going to say the NRA is going the way of the republicans anyways. you should know this by now. might as well get out ahead of it.
I know! I know! We can all just sit around and whine and bitch that the GOP is unfair to “pure” messiahs like Ron Paul, and we’ll all just vote for Libertarian Party candidates in 2012!
That’ll show the GOP and the NRA how PURE patriots roll.
And in 2016, we can look forward to voting for Ron Paul as a challenger AGAIN.
My take on this – and believe me I know how the NRA works – is that after some Board members pushed hard against Sotomayor before Chris and Wayne were ready there were some hard feelings and cross words. Some might have been reminded about how my father was kicked off of the Board for testifying against changes to the McClure-Volkmer bill, even though he stated that he was not speaking for NRA or as a Director.
RedState got the rumor from Senate Republicans and my guess is that they misconstrued it from something a Director said when asked to testify against Kagan – something like, “I can’t. Board members aren’t supposed to do that until they get an OK from HQ” or something like that.
There is no question that there is such a desire for a unified front from HQ and Directors are more likely to go along and cooperate with that plan after the fall-out from the Sotomayor thing. Some could still feel a bit grumpy from that whole thing and state this “cooperative communication strategy” in less flattering terms.
So, there is no “gag order” but RedState and Senate Republicans are not lying. It’s just a difference in terminology.
As to opposing Kagan, I think the wait till the hearings are over policy needs to change. There was some validity in holding off on Sotomayor. Her writings and rulings on the subject could mostly have been attributed to respectful, non-activist judge jurisprudence, but Kagan is different and so is the process. Kagan is on the record against us and the Second Amendment and Sotomayor’s lies and dodges demonstrate that the hearings are meaningless. Declaring opposition after the hearings is too late. We need to get the rank and file riled so they can light up the Senators and that takes more time. I don’t just want bad grades for her supporters, I want her nomination rejected. That requires loud GunVoter participation.