Tuesday, April 30, 2019

A Lobby Choking On Its Own Con Game

One of the more bizarre elements of trump's Darkest Timeline is how one of trump's most powerful allies - the NRA aka National Body Count Association - is falling apart.

Having been one of the Republicans' deepest-pocket fundraisers, the NRA should have been reveling in winning the 2016 election cycle against hated gun-safety Democrats and expanding its power as more Red States pursue insane agendas like arming teachers. Instead, this is happening (via Adam Wren at the Daily Beast):

As allegations of financial mismanagement thrust the NRA leadership into turmoil this weekend, with its president Lt. Col. Oliver North ousted Saturday in the wake of critical stories by outlets such as The New Yorker and The Wall Street Journal, the Scotts are among a number of members here who told me they think the association has lost focus on its original mission and needs a leadership change ahead of a Monday board of directors meeting. “I think one of the reasons people aren’t going to join as much is they either need a leadership change or they need to switch how they’re doing business,” Allan said. Both Allan and Jim complained about the increasing number of expensive-looking fundraising mailings they receive seemingly each week in the mail requesting more money. On Friday, news broke that North tried to force Wayne LaPierre, the association’s chief executive, to resign.
On Saturday morning, LaPierre received a standing ovation at the beginning of the members meeting. He was seated next to Oliver North’s empty chair and placard. First Vice President Richard Childress, the former NASCAR driver, took the dais awkwardly, explaining that he found out at 7 p.m. Friday that he would be presiding over the morning’s meeting. As he read a letter from North explaining that he would not be renominated to serve in his role, the room fell silent.
“There is a clear crisis and it needs to be dealt with immediately and responsibly so the NRA can continue to focus on protecting our Second Amendment,” North wrote in the letter read by Childress. North warned the organization could lose its tax-exempt status. Indeed, on Saturday, The New York Times reported that the New York Attorney General had opened an investigation into the association’s tax-exempt status. Members rebuffed a no-confidence vote against Pierre, voting instead to leave that issue to the board, which meets Monday...

So what exactly the hell is going on?

Drunk on their own success, maybe?

To me, I'd argue it's a combination of things.

It's a leadership headed by LaPierre who'd been in power for decades, convinced they are an untouchable gang who could set themselves higher salaries and never get voted out for it. Their internal elections process is a tightly-controlled vetting process that's bound to screen out any moderate voices from getting nominated in the first place.

One result of the same a-holes being in charge is that the decision-making calcifies. Most of them will share similar ideology regarding guns (and other cultural and economic issues). In their minds, whatever worked in 1989 will work in 2019. They'll double-down on a "solution" - MOAR GUNS -  when it doesn't work, because that's the only solution they'll know. There probably hasn't been an original idea on that board since 2000. This also means they will go "on offense" to defend a policy, such as increasing calls for more guns in public places like schools because the alternative equates to losing.

In the process, they alienated more and more members - ones who are rational about not having guns in schools, or who agree to the argument for universal background checks - into quitting or ignoring the growing demands for fundraising. I can sympathize: I've gotten sick of the constant emailing for fundraising help from candidates I raised money for years ago... and I actually *want* them to succeed. Yes, I will send you $25 for now, but dammit stop emailing EVERY HOUR FOR IT. /headdesk

Ahem. Back to the point. The extremist positions the NRA have shifted towards have scared off more and more people who understand how dire the situation in the real world is. That leads to less money in their coffers. Even as their expenses - trying to start their own media outlet, indulging in higher pay for board members - go up. Not enough people are buying into their gun-worship narrative anymore.

It doesn't help that the NRA is under legal scrutiny for money laundering for the Russians. Some of the deep-pocket allies that could keep their finances afloat do not want to mix their money into a pot that might lead to criminal charges.

Granted, this isn't the first time the NRA has faced financial woes. When researching this article I came across reports from the 1990s about how they were facing their end times. But when it seemed the organization was gasping its last, they apparently changed their internal rules to agree to more questionable tactics.

But this time it's different. There's state attorneys looking at their finances now. Serious civil and criminal allegations are out there. A bill for the gun-nuts' bad behavior is coming due.

Couldn't happen to a meaner, bloodier sack of death-worshipers. I hope they arrest the crooks. I'd love to see LaPierre scream about his gun rights, only to have the judges remind him that the Second Amendment is not a license to commit fraud.

1 comment:

dinthebeast said...

When I was a kid, the NRA were the guys who put on the hunter safety program you had to pass to get your hunting license, and as hunting was my dad's passion, I had mine at age ten.

I don't know if they even do that any more, last I checked it looked like the state had taken over that function.

There's no way my dad, were he still alive, would approve of what the NRA has become: a bunch of suits getting rich off of selling fear.

-Doug in Oakland