It’s great to be here at CPAC again. Are you having a great conference? Are you ready to make a difference for your country and your freedom? Let me hear you!
In November’s elections, we made history. But I know it’s the future that’s on our minds. As Americans, we’re weary. We’re despairing. And we’re sad. Because so much we care about is slipping away . . .
You feel it. The threats are all around us. Russia’s advancing. The Islamic State is consolidating power. With beheadings, rapes, murders and atrocities, they’re carving a bloody trail that leads to our doorstep. They’re already here!
How much longer before the horrors we’ve witnessed in Paris or Copenhagen come to the supposedly “gun-free zone” of the Mall of America? Or for that matter, the mall in your town? It’s not “if” — it’s just “when.”
With fires breaking out around the world, is war on the horizon? As Americans, we feel vulnerable in other ways, too.
Our economy is staggering. Our debt is astronomical. Politicians insist it’s all OK. But I’ve been on the road for the past two months, all over America, and everyone I talk to knows it’s not OK. They see their freedoms taken away.
You can’t say this. You can’t do that. You can’t ask why. If you do, you’ll be shouted down, shamed, accused, audited, investigated, your motives condemned and told to “shut up.”
Our right to privacy is unlocked, analyzed, mined for data, catalogued, cross-referenced and filed away for future use faster than you can say “Big Brother.”
Freedom of speech is being smothered under everything from “political correctness” to blackouts on political speech during election campaigns.
Freedom of religion faces cultural war — especially if you’re not of the right religion. I’m not just talking about the Christians beheaded by Islamic jihadists this month. I’m not talking about Mosul, Iraq, where they beheaded children for simply being Christian. I’m not talking about a kosher deli in Paris where people were gunned down for simply being Jewish.
I’m talking about here at home, where if terrorists release a video of a mass murder of Christians called “A Message Signed With Blood to the Nation of the Cross,” the leader of the free world refuses to even acknowledge their movement, their mission or their motive.
If so-called “gun-free zones” supposedly save lives, why doesn’t Obama simply declare Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan to be one big, happy “gun-free zone”?
Have you heard about their latest: “Jobs for jihadists”? I’m for “bullets for jihadi butchers”!
They can call us “bitter clingers” to guns and religion all they want, but they will never shake our faith in who we are and what we believe.
Our society is changing. It’s common now to not know your neighbors.
Not long ago, kids were embarrassed if Mom stood at the bus stop. Now it’s normal. Even at home, you’ve got to watch out for your kids. Hackers, identity thieves and genuine monsters are just a click away.
You tell me: Is there any doubt that if someone or some group wants to, they can read your email, listen on your phone or track your car?
Really? Authorities tracking license plates of law-abiding citizens?
Our health histories and our entire lives are available online, just waiting for someone to cash in on it all.
And there’s a sense it’s all become an inside game. The rich get richer. The poor get poorer. The powerful take more power. Wall Street rocks and rolls.
And even when they’re caught lying, cheating, stealing or ruining our entire economy with Ponzi schemes so big that even Bernie Madoff wouldn’t have the spine to try it, nobody goes to jail. Everybody gets a pass. Nothing changes.
And the business of “politics as usual” goes on. They give speeches they know aren’t true. They sign bills they didn’t read. When the law blows up in their faces, they give themselves another pass.
And the media’s in on the con … and on the gravy train. Today, most Americans say they don’t trust the media. My question is, where’d they find ANYBODY who believes the media any more?
Folks, Brian Williams isn’t the exception. He’s exactly what they’ve taught us to expect from them all. It’s not journalism any more — it’s entertainment, it’s celebrity, it’s agendas and it’s money. All too often, a lie is now an acceptable way of communicating. To the media, a lie has as much value as the truth.
We can’t trust the government to tell us the truth. They’ve already shown us that. The government evidently doesn’t trust us. Their surveillance and oppression through a weaponized IRS just proves it.
People don’t look to this town any more for answers. Our leaders lie to us and the media swear to it, as if their freedoms weren’t under attack as well.
But I’ve got news for the media: Your First Amendment right is not a license to kill the Second Amendment with lies. Your freedom is just as endangered, and your lies endanger us all.
Every day the media tell us we need just one more law, just one more gun ban, just one more restriction on the rights of law-abiding gun owners to prevent violent crime.
The story they should be telling is how few of the laws already on the books are enforced against the people who actually do us harm: armed, violent, dangerous criminals.
Instead, politicians waste their time and your tax dollars pushing nanny-state social schemes and gun laws that only disarm good people. In other words, not only do they refuse to protect us, they also want to deny us the ability to protect ourselves.
And every day of every year, innocent, good, defenseless people are beaten, bloodied, robbed, raped and murdered as a direct result.
Folks, when a criminal attacks, politicians aren’t there to protect you. Their laws can’t protect you. And the media’s lies can’t protect you, either. You’re on your own.
But you know what can protect you — when no one else can, when no one else will? The ironclad, absolute safeguard of the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms!
You know, we live in a time when, increasingly, the most vulnerable group among us is American women. We fear for our moms. We fear for our wives, sisters and daughters because we know how exposed they are. They can be spied upon, stalked online and set up for attack through social media or through a kicked-down door.
How about empowering women to protect themselves — by making them stronger? The NRA’s Refuse To Be A Victim® program has taught tens of thousands of women how to protect themselves – with or without a gun — for the past 20 years.
What have The New York Times or Hollywood celebrities or the anti-gun lobby done to empower women? All they’ve done is try to make women weaker — by scaring them, or shaming them, or flat-out denying them the option of owning a gun for their own protection.
You don’t empower women by leaving them defenseless. And you don’t strengthen a nation by taking away its freedoms.
We live in an age when our nation and her freedoms are increasingly vulnerable — from terrorists crossing our borders or embedded within our communities, to the mentally ill who roam our streets, to the criminal class unleashed upon us by those who refuse to protect us. The failure and false-heartedness of those in charge of our safety are going to get more and more of us killed.
The only solution is to face the truth: We individually are in charge of our own security. We are in charge of our own family’s safety. And along with law enforcement, we’re in charge of our neighborhoods, schools, towns and cities where we live.
History proves we’re right. Over the past 25 years, while dozens of states have restored the right to carry a gun, violent crime has fallen to the lowest level in decades. You don’t hear that in the media, do you?
But too many states refuse to recognize the Right-to-Carry permits issued by other states.
And honest, good, peaceable people too often go to jail as a result. Law-abiding Right-toCarry permit holders don’t pose a threat to anybody except the bad guys.
Good guys shouldn’t be forced to break the law to exercise their God-given, constitutional right to protect themselves and their families. And it’s time for Congress to act. Pass National Right-to-Carry Reciprocity for the entire United States. Pass it today!
Even if you don’t own a gun or don’t care about the right to do so, if you care about freedom in any of its forms, you belong in the NRA.
LaPierre is a fiery speaker, at times.
Why? Well, just look at our history. Over the past decades, by every measure, the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms has gotten stronger than ever — even as our other freedoms have been slowly, progressively diminished. The credit for rescuing firearm freedom goes to the 5 million members of the NRA.
Those 5 million NRA members share something really important in common. We share a determination to stand up, speak out, throw the liars out of office, shield the innocent from the lawless and defend all the freedoms that we hold dear.
I challenge you: Tell me where you find people like THAT who are absolutely determined to turn this country in a different, freer and better direction? You know we talk hard truth. You know we stand on principle. You know we never waver. You know we fight. And you know we win.
We are Charlton Heston vowing, “From my cold, dead hands!” I hear people say to me all the time, “Wayne, what the First Amendment needs is its own National Rifle Association.”
“What the economy needs is its own NRA.”
And, “What our nation’s military and police deserve is their own NRA.” They’re all saying, “We need someone to stand up for all the things we care about and consider most valuable in our lives.”
For the NRA, that always includes our firearms and our freedom to own them. But to defend firearm freedom, we need more than just firearm freedom. One right depends on another. They’re all cut from the same cloth of what it means to be free people.
So the NRA fights for freedom of speech and freedom of assembly and the right to privacy, too. We fight for the entire Bill of Rights because it is all connected.
Where do you think freedom’s safest place is? In the news media, The New York Times and MSNBC? In one of the political parties? 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue?
The safest place for American freedom is the National Rifle Association. The safest place for American freedom is in the hearts of our members.
So take our country back from the liars, the cheats, the press and political elites who want to take away our ability to define our own destiny. Join us!
Nice speech. Makes me happy as a NRA member to have Wayne as our “face.”
Just please stop with the wine club and ad emails…
Lots of fear mongering, especially for the ISIS “threat”. Speech is clearly marketed to stir up donations and appeal to a very particular audience (obviously since it’s at CPAC).
How about addressing that XM855 issue? Something a little more real than ISIS invading MOA?
At least his plan to deal with ISIS when and if they do attack a mall near you is better than the plan that the government has…which is no plan at all or to just “be careful”.
Again, the chances of ISIS attacking a mall, any mall in the US are next to NIL. However, we have the very REAL problem of the ATF going ban-happy right now. How about they get to doing something useful and fight the XM855 ban? Not to mention the Stabilizer issue. Among other things. Leave the ISIS chest-thumping to the politicians in the houses and the talkers on TV and radio. They need to do what we pay them for.
Hell, we haven’t even had an AQ attack in 14 years. ISIS is far more concerned with taking territory in SWA than they are with a mall over here.
There’s more to gun rights than the AR 15. The ATF is out of control for certain but the head of the NRA needs to appeal to all Americans every chance he gets. If our club stays small focusing on specific issues, we lose the fight on that and all other issues. If we grow to over 50% of the population speaking in broad terms, we may never have to fight these battles at all.
We need to take our country back, not our bullets. Win the country, win the bullets. Win the bullets, but not the country, lose something else.
And how, exactly, is this speech appealing to all Americans? Sure, it appeals to CPAC and hard-right conservatives, but they’re not “all Americans”.
Not to mention the pipe-dream of “winning the country”. The fight for our rights is going to be every day for the rest of as long as humans are around. There will always be those who have different politics and this speech does nothing to change their minds. In fact, it plays perfectly into their narrative that the NRA is full of xenophobic OFWGs afraid of Muslims around every corner. Again, how is mongering up fear of an ISIS attack on a shopping mall “winning the country”? How is that securing and fighting for our rights? The battle isn’t against ISIS, they’re a world away, they’re not making letters banning ammo and accessories. The battle is here, against the ATF, against this administration. This speech does absolutely nothing but echo in the chamber of nodding-heads. It does nothing useful whatsoever.
Just once Mr. Grindstone, I would like to hear your solution rather than your constant bitching.
Hmmm…like flying jets into the World Trade Center was unlikely? Like electing a guy with an african muslim name? Like being 18trillion in debt? (But we know the real number is magnitudes higher). Plenty of unhappy muslims in my nearby area(like Burbank and Palos Hills,Ill) who would do the deed in a heartbeat Grindstone…
I have a hard time reconciling those that want to hoard food and ammo and live in a bunker and wish to be left alone, which is their right, yet access the surface dwellers through the internet just to complain about how we choose to fight for the rights of all men, above and below ground.
Mike, as soon as I get paid as much as LaPierre, you’ll heard them. For now, I’m going to be that greasy wheel. And I’ve already emailed him, as a paying NRA member.
Like I said, 14 years ago.
Seriously? Obama having “Hussein” as a middle name is an ISIS invasion?
Nationa Debt Association?
Like who? Do you know any of them? Do you know they’re about to “do the deed in a heartbeat”? What evidence do you have to support your claim? When was the last time any of them did anything violent in the name of their religion?
Grindstone.. let’s run some statistics, shall we?
http://www.cis.org/immigrant-population-record-2013
If you read that, you’ll see that in 2013 we had roughly 300,000 Muslim Immigrants. Let’s assume that 1%. Nay. A tenth of 1% are radical.
That’s 300 radical muslims who believe it is their god-given duty to wage jihad. Who are being encouraged by ISIS to perpetrate lone wolf attacks against soft targets in the US.
It only takes 1 of those 300 to create a second Newtown.
Now consider.
http://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2014/09/04/myth-tiny-radical-minority/
So if the percentage is likely much higher than 1%, and likely closer to 15%
45,000 possible Jihadists.
Perhaps we’re not as paranoid as you think.
FTA: United States. A 2013 poll from Pew showed that 13% of American Muslims said that violence against civilians is often, sometimes or rarely justified to defend Islam.
So what is the breakdown of the “Often” the “sometimes” and the “rarely” groups? Even if you divided that 13% into even thirds, that leaves 4% under “often”. So, that would mean we have 12,000 whole radical, violent, terrorists right under our nose, right? Well, where are they? When was the last time we had an Islamic terrorist attack on the public? Boston? Ft. Hood?
The fastest way to stop Muslim terror attacks in the US is for the US to stop bombing the shit out of women, children, and (a few) targets on the other side of the planet. I would much rather see freedom here (sig brace, M855, etc) which are definitely an issue, right now – currently, than making plans for a possible (yet very improbable) ISIS attack.
Priorities people?
Freedom > Safety
::I’m taking off the filters for this one::
I’m with Grindstone here.
There is a lot of conservative hysteria and finger wagging in LaPierre’s speech and in this comment section. It’s like listening to NPR at night, just on the other end of the political spectrum.
Look folks, for people under (dare I say) 40 or so, or people who are more middle of the road (or left) politically, or folks who like to critically think, LaPierre is like goddam NRA membership kryptonite.
I will not rejoin that organization as long as NRA speeches sound like bipartisan circlejerks led by dudes who blamed mass shootings on video games. Fuck that guy. Fuck that guy and every other old, rich, out of touch idiot who secretly hates youth and anyone different than themselves.
Gun rights has -0- to do with ISIS. Fucking -0-. The fact that this speech mentions nothing about real and tangible threats to our rights, but sounds more like a Rush Limbaugh rant just proves that the NRA is more concerned with fear mongering and appealing to the lowest common denominator than trying to educate the average person about anti-gun legislation.
Yes, I said it. I am tired of this bipartisan crap. The 2nd amendment is not a Republican right. The fight for the 2nd amendment is lopsidedly pushed by one side of the political machine in the US, but I am not convinced that isn’t just because the other side is /against/ it. Politics are so stupid in the US, that whenever Red or Blue takes a stance on pretty much anything, the opposition is obligated to take the opposite stance.
I still won’t be giving the NRA any more of my money for the same reason I still won’t be voting: this shit is fucking retarded. This is all political theater and some of you eat it up with a spoon.
“Plenty of unhappy muslims in my nearby area(like Burbank and Palos Hills,Ill) who would do the deed in a heartbeat Grindstone…”
So what are they waiting for, then? The malls are open, guns and explosives are readily obtainable by almost anyone, ISIS is calling them to action, and yet this supposed army of disgruntled Muslim fanatics hasn’t done shit yet…
More people are killed by dogs every year in America than by Islamic terrorists.
Thank you, TheBear. I came here to write the same thing, but you have already covered all the bases. This kind of hysterical politicized fear-mongering is exactly why I dropped my NRA membership and refuse to donate a single cent of my money to them (even as those “round ups” that many online stores practice). I don’t want to be associated with an organization like that, with a leadership that is openly batshit insane, and members get tainted by association, and assumed to be crackpots by an outside observer (not unreasonable, after watching LaPierre or reading his transcripts).
Instead, I’ll give my money to guys like SAF, who are actually busy defending 2A in courts, and who manage to present themselves in a respectable, civilized manner.
Thank you for posting some alternatives, int19h.
They are. Perhaps not in the speech, but in terms of actions being taken, they are.
This speech would’ve been a perfect time to provide some information on that, rather than refer to the ISIS boogeyman lurking around every corner!
You haven’t noticed the Illinois muslims trying to join ISIS? Or the so-called lone wolf jags planning and carrying out attacks in the name of the moon god? Like in Texas? And you have no proof they aren’t planning anything. I also have a son who spends all of his time at DoD tracking Arabic chatter. They’re pretty clueless as they had no idea the so-called Arab Spring was coming. Why did millions of us bible-believing Christians understand the fallout? I guess we’re just paronoid-or prepared.
Grindstone,
Who is doing more to oppose the M855 ban – you or the NRA?
The prosecution rests.
In all seriousness, we need the NRA badly. Every single gun rights advocate should be a member. There should be 50 million NRA members in this nation, and 10 times the membership of the FPC, SAF, Calguns, etc.
I don’t get paid to fight for gun rights, I pay the NRA to do that.
I do vote, though. Last election, I voted for a state governor candidate that had an A+ NRA rating, yet lost to the incumbent who had an A rate yet vetoed a big pro-gun bill.
I agree we need the NRA, I never said we didn’t. But they’re way off the mark beating the fear drum about a non-threat like ISIS. It’s blatant pandering and aimed at drumming up those donations.
Christians around the world, especially those with family who have been beheaded, don’t consider ISIS a non-threat. I don’t consider Boko Haram, who murder almost 2,000 people, a non-threat. I don’t consider Islamic Terrorism a non-threat.
The same gun that I use to defend against the home invader, robber, carjacker, etc. also works against an Islamic terrorist. At least until I can tactically withdraw or fight to an AR or shotgun.
You consider Boko Haram an immediate threat to your local mall?
I consider Boko Haram and ISIS a threat to this world, and I live in this world. Yes, Islamic terrorism will probably strike the U.S. again. Or a U.S. Embassy. Again. Many will be surprised. “It can’t happen here!” many will believe – because their OPSEC is terrible, and yours could use some improvement as well.
Or you could remain in your ignorance that an attack “just couldn’t possibly happen here.” Again. Perhaps that suits your worldview. Not mine.
At least we all appreciate that the M855 ban needs to be opposed. You make good points, and I believe that the NRA needs to make this a priority.
The incessant pleas from the NRA organizations can be annoying and the rhetoric is indeed strong, but more power to them; especially when you must agree that the NRA’s coffers are not limitless when stacked against the money provided by anti-gun billionaires and the seemingly limitless taxpayer’s purse being used by some states and the current administration’s efforts to incrementally extinguish our Second Amendment gun freedoms and protections.
I take the sometimes overzealous but not so farfetched pleas for donations as a reminder that the NRA’s efforts are costly and we must all contribute to the challenge, or risk defeat, a little here, a little there, until we have no substantial Bill of Rights left, and yes, they ARE all interdependent.
I thought the words above attributed to LaPierre’s speech were on the whole very much on point, to make a point. Our proven American traditions, customs and freedoms, in particular the right to bear arms and freedom of speech, are being challenged more than they ever have been by deceitful government and parroting press able to broadcast its politically biased, stupid and self-serving message far and wide for innumerable non-critical accepting viewers to digest as gospel.
If LaPierre laid it on a little thick to motivate and open ‘even just one’ set of eyes and to counter some of the perpetual lies and calamities being flaunted by the antis and their lapdogs in the MSM, good for him.
Word
I could use another car medallion.
All joking aside, it’s sad that I am more inclined to believe LaPierre before either the President or either of my senators.
Not sad. Wise.
Increasingly wise as time marches on. The NRA is ahead of its time. I still remember the mockery they endured years ago for coining the phrase “jack-booted thug,” yet that is a disturbingly accurate description of many of our SWAT raids.
“If I were to select a jackbooted group of fascists who are perhaps as large a danger to American society as I could pick today, I would pick A.T.F.”
Rep. John Dingell (D-MI), 1981
The NRA didn’t popularize the expression until 1995.
Good speech…and not a big fan of Wayne. And it ain’t fear-mongering if it’s true.
^ This!
… although I believe that was a GREAT speech.
It would serve any presidential candidate well to embrace and hammer those points.
As a former speechwriter, I have to agree. Great speech! My thought is that Wayne’s speechwriter should replace Wayne as the head of the organization.
My thought is that my dog should replace the current head of the NRA. I don’t think it’d be a bad change.
If this is the actual transcript I have a suggestion for CPAC. Enough fear mongering.
Tone it down, rhetoric wise. The bell has been rung, and answered.
Now, time to look ahead, not back. Tell me more specific goals and objectives, and how to, with what NRA will do to make it happen, for my money. Starting with voting out the the most vulnerable of the dinosae turs in Congress, left and right. Seek consensus for a Conservative in the WH who can change government to get out of my life, my freedoms, and reduce regs and taxes, so businesss can put people to work, not live on handouts.
Those are typical 2A rights values, and connects the nonPOTG and nowPOTG on what they agree upon.
PS: Stop talking about what we Ameeicans do in the bedroom, or church, or with our bodies, which is none of your business, Govt, local or Fed, and the ignore the Left that tries to bait you, and they will be seen as the oppressors, in fact in those areas.
Uh…whatever? Dude’s on our side.
Let me simple it up for you.
Obama is a pro-jihadi traitor and should be up for impeachment for his withdrawal from Iraq alone. Everything else is just icing on the cake.
So you’re saying that this is what the NRA actually stands for, and gun rights are just incidental? Cuz that would explain a lot of their recent rhetoric.
Yeah, I get an email every week begging for money. It get’s old. I might buy a hat from the NRA store, I will renew my subscription and after a really big shooting where I know gun grabbers will be getting ready for a big assault weapons ban, even if the really big shooting was with a shotgun, then I donate $20.00.
I’m proud to be a member, just quit begging like a bum with a cardboard sign on the corner.
A simple phone call removes from the list of sponsors wanting to sell you something. Quit whining!
Uh, gee thanks for your suggestion? I already did call them up and tell them to quit calling me to renew my membership and pushing every other money making scheme at me they can think of. I’m not renewing my membership 11 months early.
Yeah Tominator, picking up the phone and making a call? WOW, who would have thought!
Wayne LaPierre’s speech was way better than I expected. The really eerie part about it: I have heard many of those specific points from lots of different people.
The speech was okay by me.
The crowd was weak. They were just there to see R. Paul.
Oh man! Ru Paul? The drag queen? Awesome!
Shante you stay.
Now here’s a speech even Dan Baum could love. Right, Dan? Because if you ain’t with us you’re against us. Right, Dan?
I don’t think there is an organization that can appeal to everybody, I have to say the NRA is the only 2A group with the Magentas, and the money, and influence it takes to fight the Anti’s.. There isnt anyone else Pro Gun, Pro 2A with more cash and influence to take on DC… yeah some of their stuff might be a little over the top,for some…. But Who sees exactly eye to eye on anything?
That /\
And the fact tht the gun-grabbers hate and fear the NRA.
I don’t disagree with you, but I don’t think the organization would lose any of its clout or any of its members by appealing to a wider audience and being less overtly political.
I couldn’t agree more. What I want from the NRA is a laser-like focus on our 2nd Amendment rights and more things like their excellent safety and training programs. What I don’t want is speeches about economic inequality and how scary the internet is.
+10000
He speaks the truth.
Proud life member here.
Historically I have been on the fence about la pierre but i must say this type of speech goes along ways to me being willing to believe that the NRA will stand up to the DIRTY demokrauts and fight for our 2nd amendment rights. No more middle of the road in my opinion it’s time to start calling things as they are….
Wanted to post earlier but wanted to see who would come out for this post. Surprising. A true libertarian would fully support Pierre and the NRA. Not because he is forced to pay a due or worries about the price of the cheese and wine at the reception. But because the threat of the 1st amendment crowd and the anti 2nd amendment crowd have blinders on as big as the pockets of Soros and the UN. It is either all of the Constitution or none of it. Any one that defends the “charter of negative liberties” is a fan in my book. Long live the green tip!!!
If your not a member of the NRA, become one. Or at least SAF and GOA. Hell join all three. Keep this in mind: if it wasn’t for the NRA, private ownership of arms would’ve been ancient history by at least a generation ago. We owe them more than 35$ a year for that.
It’s wrong for him to speak there. The NRA is supposed to be nonpartisan. There are plenty of pro gun liberals down south. Also many gun enthusiasts lean libertarian, and find conservative statist excesses to be almost as bad as liberal ones.
Don
Pro-gun Democrats yes…pro gun “liberals”..I disagree…
I’m a pro-gun liberal. A pleasure to meet you.
Well Don,
I doubt the NRA would turn down an invitation to speak At the Democratic convention,all they need is the invite.( don’t hold your breath for it )
But Just because a nonpartisan group is only invited to one party doesn’t mean they shouldn’t go to either…
The NRA is non partisan. CPAC is Conservative. Conservative values contain the Constitution. The Constitution contains the 2nd amendment. The NRA fights for the 2nd amendment. I don’t see what all the fuss is about.
Uh …you are kidding right?
Conservatives have done a fantastic job of GUTTING the rights covered By the 4th and 5th Amendments. I’m typing on a cell phone now but will provide citations later.
Don
You are using Conservative and Republican as if the terms are interchangeable. Have you not been paying attention lately. There is this little group of people trying to change the party. Maybe you heard of them. Tea Party or something like that. They have been out there rallying while the moderates and Libertarians have been sitting on the sidelines saying stupid shit like “There’s no difference between the Republicans and the Democrats”. I can’t remember a time when there has been a more stark contrast between the two. Anyone who denies this is just mad that their reason to troll is being eliminated.
If you are with us then get on the wagon. If you are not with us then get the hell out of the way.
Tea Party is chock full of people who want a federal gay marriage ban, and are willing to go as far as amending the Constitution for that. Ever since the group was hijacked from its original libertarian founders, it’s not about freedom at all, it’s about their own special conservative brand of non-free.
As for the rest, if LaPierre went to CPAC and delivered the speech that actually focused on gun rights and gun rights alone, I’d be fine with that. Instead, he trots out all the usual bogeymen in a clear attempt to align his platform with the overall conservative one. All this ISIS bullshit, and Russia, really? Economy and debt, and (suddenly) all that bitching about Wall Street and economic inequality? “Cultural war” and a rant about political correctness? Generic privacy issues? A lot of religious overtones? All exactly the kind of stuff that does not belong in a speech by the head of an ostensibly single-issue organization. Just shut up and talk about guns; otherwise, go and run for Senator in Alabama.
You can’t ban gay marriage because by definition marriage is one man and one woman taking the vow. The government recognizes this union (which existed before our laws) and supported it because of the likelihood of children being born out of it. Why would the government (the people) want to include same sex couples in such a family structure? Homosexuality exists but that doesn’t make it normal. Marriage is normal. Why do you want to pervert this sacred matrimony? A Margarita made with white wine instead of tequila is not a Margarita.
That is a Conservative view that is not any more prevalent in the Tea Party than the Republican Party as a whole. As a matter of fact, the demographic that opposes redefining marriage the most is the black community and the black community overwhelmingly supports Democrats.
If you are going to take a swipe at the Tea Party, you are going to have to do better than that, because the emails I keep getting from Tea Party groups mostly target the IRS, the AG, the Healthcare Act, support for the Keystone Pipeline and energy independence, fair tax, etc. DOMA is important to the majority of Americans but the Tea Party has its hands full dealing with the fact that out of control spending has us $18,000,000,000,000 in debt. Makes the marriage issue seem petty. In fact it is petty.
Great point
LaPierre just said what most thinking Americans already can see with their own eyes every day. Most folks at least in my generation (mid-60’s) are astounded at what has happened to our country in the past 15 years or so, particularly the past 6 years. It is one thing after another that seems to be designed to make many normal citizens want to jump off a cliff. It’s insane; no border security, encouraging mass illegal immigration for pure political advantage, taking over the health care system ostensibly to help a tiny per centage of the total population, dis-respecting long time allies around the world while spreading our legs (rhetorically speaking) for seemingly every bad actor to be found.
Someone mentioned a weaponized IRS with the power to ruin your life if you vote the wrong way or speak out. No one in government seems to be accountable for their actions. IF you are on the ‘inside” the riches await, if not you get to finance those who are. Money is being wasted by the billions with no oversight with any teeth and no end in sight.
The country is becoming unrecognizable in many ways. The freedoms and standards of performance and character most folks always wanted to believe was present in society at large and in our top elected officials has been shown missing. Trying hard not to be Pollyanna about this process but frankly much of what I see nowadays is disgusting. What is worse, the population in general doesn’t seem to care a whit. If they did they would correct it right? That is all.
I’d be a lot more interested in what Wayne has to say if he wasn’t using his position to rake in more than $1 million a year in salary and perks.
I’ve stopped getting NRA “money, please!” e-mails because I consistently answered by saying Wayne should give up three-fourths of his salary to help out.
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