Not content with having abetted the massacre of 20 first graders and their teachers last month, the extremist fringe group NRA doubled down on its campaign to sell more guns yesterday with a video attacking the children of our popular president, elected in November by 65 million Americans.
Interestingly, the commercial echoes themes of “elitism” and “hypocrisy” that were an important element of Romney’s botched presidential campaign and are a key part of the GOP’s continuing, unsuccessful efforts to regain power. They speak to a shrinking, angry, fearful segment of the population.
This radicalism comes from a group that has seen its support evaporate in the face of massive nationwide majorities that have no patience for a corporate sales pitch disguised as delusional ranting (even their head Wayne Lapierre has described himself as “crazy”). Strikingly, Republican-skewed Gallup reports 58 percent of the country wants tighter gun laws, a 2-1 margin over those who don’t.
Australia got rid of its military-grade weaponry after a massacre and hasn’t had one since. We could keep our children safer, improve national security, and save enormous amounts of tax money, if we limited private gun ownership to registered single-shot manual-reload hunting rifles. Thank goodness Scott Brown, who opposed gun safety while a Senator, was voted out. No guns, no mass murder of first graders.
That’s simple national security. What kind of crisis does this country spin into if, God forbid, one or both of his children are kidnapped?
Wikipedia lists the following presidents as assassinated
1.1 Abraham Lincoln
1.2 James A. Garfield
1.3 William McKinley
1.4 John F. Kennedy
and the following as failed attempts [I’ve removed duplicates]
2.1 Andrew Jackson
2.3 Theodore Roosevelt
2.4 Herbert Hoover
2.5 Franklin D. Roosevelt
2.6 Harry S. Truman
2.8 Richard Nixon
2.9 Gerald Ford
2.10 Jimmy Carter
2.11 Ronald Reagan
2.12 George H. W. Bush
2.13 Bill Clinton
2.14 George W. Bush
2.15 Barack Obama
Now some are weaker than others — and a few occurred either before or after the man was serving as POTUS. Still, that’s 17 out of 44: 39%. Sure, at attempt on the president is not the same thing as an attempt on a family member, but it’s simply not too far a stretch of imagination.
P.S. Any political video which uses black and white, fast segments, and quick-pans is almost always crap. This one included.
the NRA knows all of that. They’re not in this for a serious debate. They’re in it to rile up their extremist base. But this ad strikes me as a bridge too far, even for some of the more conservative NRA members. Nobody sane thinks that going after the President’s kids – in any context – is a good idea. Would be nice if we started seeing some dropped memberships as a result.
You ask “What kind of crisis does this country spin into if, God forbid, one or both of his children are kidnapped?” The West Wing version made for riveting television and had a happy outcome (as I recall). It was an auspicious debut for the episode’s director, Christopher Misiano.
All kidding aside, I think this demonstrates that significant portions of the right wing really are domestic terrorists who remain absolutely serious about taking down Barack Obama and the “liberal” culture he represents — using whatever means they deem appropriate.