by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist
The National Rifle Association's annual convention has come to an end and by now most of the hookers and conventioneers have found their way back to the respective homes. This year the NRA held its rolling orgy of paranoia and gun lust in Indianapolis, Indiana. Aside from the aforementioned hordes of hookers and clown cars of conventioneers, the affair also brought in gun merchants, the media, and enough politicians to staff and operate the Sinaloa Drug Cartel.
Donald Trump was there, his fourth NRA convention in as many years, and he took the opportunity to throw red meat to attendees with dire warnings that Democrats want to take their guns away, and he also used the occasion to whine about how unfairly the opposition party has treated him. He is Donald Trump, after all, and the bottom line is always all about him.
The NRA conventions are usually standard fare with politicians like Trump trying to scare the rubes into voting for know-nothings and buying more guns, and gun manufacturers proudly showing their wares to the gun-loving attendees. Then, in the evenings, all of the convention-goers, many from the small towns and the backwoods of rural America, head out into the streets to have their yearly dose of fun.
This year's convention, however, strayed from the script. When the members and merchants met in Indianapolis last week the NRA was coming off of a very hard year. There had been stories in the press indicating that the organization was experiencing some daunting money troubles, as well as a set of stories indicating that Russia may have funneled money to the NRA for it to surreptitiously move into Donald Trump's 2016 election campaign. In fact, while the convention was going on, Russian agent Maria Buttina was sentenced to eighteen months in prison for that very offense.
During the preceding year the NRA had also been suffering a barrage of bad publicity that was generated in large part by a group of angry Florida high school students who had managed to survive a mass shooting at their school in February of 2018. The NRA, itself used to controlling the news, sent some of its member goons to attack a few of those students, a strategy that backfired spectacularly and helped to firm public opposition to the gun rights' group.
But the real "high drama" of the convention boiled down to a personal dispute between two of its more powerful members: Wayne LaPierre, the long-time Chief Executive Officer and Executive Vice President of the Group, and Oliver North, the group's temporary and unpaid ceremonial president. As the week began, LaPierre, who has ruled the NRA with an iron fist for longer than most members can remember, sent a letter to the organziation's 75-member board of directors in which he stated that North was trying to blackmail him into resigning over alleged financial improprieties which reportedly including a $200,000 wardrobe purchase that LaPierre enjoyed at the group's expense.
At some point the board must have addressed the matter internally, although those machinations remain clouded in secrecy, and toward the end of the week North presented the board with a letter in which he stated that he had learned that he would not be nominated for a second year as the NRA president and was therefore submitting his resignation. He did, however, volunteer to come back if the group again needed his guidance.
Wayne LaPierre, whose annual salary has fluctuated between one and five million dollars over recent years, has apparently dodged a bullet and has retained command of the National Rifle Association, at least for the time being. But a warning shot has been fired, and LaPierre would be wise not to ignore it.
The New York State Attorney General, Letitia James, is opening an investigation into the National Rifle Association apparently to have a look at its finances as well as to see if it is adhering to rules regarding non-profit organizations - thank you Oliver North - and those students from Parkland, Florida, maybe moving off to college, but they are still mad as hell!
Wayne LaPierre would be well advised to sleep lightly because the winds of change are finally beginning to blow into his aging face!
Citizen Journalist
The National Rifle Association's annual convention has come to an end and by now most of the hookers and conventioneers have found their way back to the respective homes. This year the NRA held its rolling orgy of paranoia and gun lust in Indianapolis, Indiana. Aside from the aforementioned hordes of hookers and clown cars of conventioneers, the affair also brought in gun merchants, the media, and enough politicians to staff and operate the Sinaloa Drug Cartel.
Donald Trump was there, his fourth NRA convention in as many years, and he took the opportunity to throw red meat to attendees with dire warnings that Democrats want to take their guns away, and he also used the occasion to whine about how unfairly the opposition party has treated him. He is Donald Trump, after all, and the bottom line is always all about him.
The NRA conventions are usually standard fare with politicians like Trump trying to scare the rubes into voting for know-nothings and buying more guns, and gun manufacturers proudly showing their wares to the gun-loving attendees. Then, in the evenings, all of the convention-goers, many from the small towns and the backwoods of rural America, head out into the streets to have their yearly dose of fun.
This year's convention, however, strayed from the script. When the members and merchants met in Indianapolis last week the NRA was coming off of a very hard year. There had been stories in the press indicating that the organization was experiencing some daunting money troubles, as well as a set of stories indicating that Russia may have funneled money to the NRA for it to surreptitiously move into Donald Trump's 2016 election campaign. In fact, while the convention was going on, Russian agent Maria Buttina was sentenced to eighteen months in prison for that very offense.
During the preceding year the NRA had also been suffering a barrage of bad publicity that was generated in large part by a group of angry Florida high school students who had managed to survive a mass shooting at their school in February of 2018. The NRA, itself used to controlling the news, sent some of its member goons to attack a few of those students, a strategy that backfired spectacularly and helped to firm public opposition to the gun rights' group.
But the real "high drama" of the convention boiled down to a personal dispute between two of its more powerful members: Wayne LaPierre, the long-time Chief Executive Officer and Executive Vice President of the Group, and Oliver North, the group's temporary and unpaid ceremonial president. As the week began, LaPierre, who has ruled the NRA with an iron fist for longer than most members can remember, sent a letter to the organziation's 75-member board of directors in which he stated that North was trying to blackmail him into resigning over alleged financial improprieties which reportedly including a $200,000 wardrobe purchase that LaPierre enjoyed at the group's expense.
At some point the board must have addressed the matter internally, although those machinations remain clouded in secrecy, and toward the end of the week North presented the board with a letter in which he stated that he had learned that he would not be nominated for a second year as the NRA president and was therefore submitting his resignation. He did, however, volunteer to come back if the group again needed his guidance.
Wayne LaPierre, whose annual salary has fluctuated between one and five million dollars over recent years, has apparently dodged a bullet and has retained command of the National Rifle Association, at least for the time being. But a warning shot has been fired, and LaPierre would be wise not to ignore it.
The New York State Attorney General, Letitia James, is opening an investigation into the National Rifle Association apparently to have a look at its finances as well as to see if it is adhering to rules regarding non-profit organizations - thank you Oliver North - and those students from Parkland, Florida, maybe moving off to college, but they are still mad as hell!
Wayne LaPierre would be well advised to sleep lightly because the winds of change are finally beginning to blow into his aging face!
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