Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
Last Saturday at the White House Correspondents' Dinner, comedian Conan O'Brien asked this question as a joke:
"Incidentally, you may not know this, but Wayne LaPierre is merely the
executive vice president of the NRA. Which begs the question, how
freaking crazy do you have to be to be the actual president of the NRA?
He's not even at the top."
Well boys and girls, the answer to this question is batshit freaking crazy. This weekend at the NRA Convention in Houston, Texas, NRA vice president Jim Porter will be elevated to president (the position of president rotates every two years). Media Matters reports, Five Things To Know About The NRA's New President Jim Porter:
Porter's father was the NRA's president from 1959 to 1961 and chaired the 1977 annual meeting
at which hardliners took over the organization and began transforming
it into the no-compromise lobbying powerhouse the group remains today.
Porter said during a June 2012 speech at
the New York Rifle & Pistol Association's Annual Meeting that
Attorney General Eric Holder, who he termed "rabidly un-American," was
"trying to kill the Second Amendment at the United Nations" with the
help of then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. He attributed this to
the proposed United Nations Arms Trade Treaty, which he claimed would
"make it illegal for individuals all over the world to own firearms."
This is a blatant misrepresentation of the treaty, which deals with the international arms trade, not private ownership.
* * *
Explaining the NRA's roots during the same June 2012 speech, Porter
said, "NRA was started 1871 right here in New York state. It was started
by some Yankee generals who didn't like the way my Southern boys had
the ability to shoot in what we call the 'War of Northern Aggression.'
Now y'all might call it the Civil War, but we call it the 'War of
Northern Aggression' down south."
Think Progress has more on this speech, Incoming NRA President Calls Civil War The ‘War Of Northern Aggression’:
In a 2012 speech to the New York Rifle & Pistol Association, where he also refers to President Obama as a “fake president”
and calls Attorney General Eric Holder “rabidly unAmerican,” incoming
National Rifle Association President Jim Porter applied an odd label to
the war that ended slavery in the United States and put down the single
greatest act of treason in our nation’s history:
The NRA was started, 1871, right here in New York state.
It was started by some Yankee generals who didn’t like the way my
southern boys had the ability to shoot in what we call the “War
of Northern Aggression.” Now, y’all might call it the Civil War, but we
call it the War of Northern Aggression down south.But that was the very reason that they started the National Rifle
Association, was to teach and train the civilian in the use of the
standard military firearm. And I am one who still feels very
strongly that that is one of our most greatest charges that we can have
today, is to train the civilian in the use of the standard military
firearm, so that when they have to fight for their country they’re ready
to do it. Also, when they’re ready to fight tyranny, they’re
ready to do it. Also, when they’re ready to fight tyranny, they have the
wherewithal and the weapons to do it.
* * *
In a February 2011 interview
with NRA News, Porter said: "I think everybody had a wake-up call after
the Democrats took over Congress in 2006, and I think they had a huge
shock when President Obama was elected in 2008. Most folks never would
believe that there would be a run on our rights, our individual rights
like there's been in this country. And people are so concerned that
where this government wants to take us is to a European socialistic,
bureaucratic type of government. And it's been a wake-up call."
* * *
In recent months, current NRA President Keene has split major media
appearances with Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre. But unlike
Keene, Porter doesn't have a great deal of experience
as a media personality, and reportedly plans to "serve a
behind-the-scenes role" and let LaPierre, known for his fiery speeches
and apocalyptic conspiracies, be the "face of the organization."
For more on Porter, check out this profile from the Educational Fund to Stop Gun Violence's Meet The NRA project.
So let's review: a conspiracy theorist ("one world order" U.N. blue helmets and the "federal guvmint is comin' to take yer guns!"), Neo-Confederate dead-ender still fighting the Civil War, a not so subtle racist (Obama and Holder are both African-Americans), a Birther (Obama is a "fake president"), a militia movement end-timer prepping for an armed revolution against the U.S. government (see this Fairleigh Dickinson University poll in which 44% of Republicans, think “in the next few years, an armed revolution may be necessary to protect our liberties”), and he is admittedly so "freaking crazy" that the NRA believes it is better to have Lil' Wayne LaPierre continue as its public spokesman and to hide Mr. Porter away. Holy shit!
The NRA should lose any legitimacy and credibility it may still have as it drifts ever further into the far-right fringes.