"To his base, NRA’s LaPierre is ‘a guy who will never fold’" by Sheryl Gay Stolberg and Jodi Kantor | New York Times, April 14, 2013
WASHINGTON — Wayne LaPierre, the chief executive of the National Rifle Association, who had called for armed guards in every school — was pilloried as a ‘‘gun nut’’ on the cover of The New York Post....
And then the gun legislation introduced put $40 million behind putting armed guards in schools, and it was applauded. Isn't that Rupe Murdoch's paper?
Though LaPierre has long been on the public stage, today he provokes perhaps more debate than ever about who exactly he is. Supporters see him as a steadfast Second Amendment purist; critics cast him as a paranoid figure who believes, as he said last year, in ‘‘a massive Obama conspiracy’’ to seize the nation’s firearms or as a cynical mouthpiece who is paid nearly $1 million a year to warn of crackdowns and crises he knows will never come.
Actually, they really are coming to get your guns.
Also see:
Six Zionist Companies Own 96% of the World's Media
Declassified: Massive Israeli manipulation of US media exposed
Operation Mockingbird
Why Am I No Longer Reading the Newspaper?
Any wonder why I'm cynical about my mouthpiece?
‘‘Wayne reminds me of the clowns at the circus,’’ one of his most vocal detractors, Governor Dannel P. Malloy of Connecticut, said after his state passed new gun control laws this month. ‘‘They get the most attention. That’s what he’s paid to do.’’
He must read newspapers, too.
Once so bookish that he was known for his copious note-taking and so clumsy with a gun that colleagues laughed at his shooting, LaPierre, 64, helped invent the modern NRA and transformed himself along with it into a right-wing folk hero....
Please stop it with the false left-right, conservative-liberal, false paradigm. You are either for freedom or fascism now -- no matter what the letter after your name.
Liberals search for explanations as to how a man who is no one’s idea of a highly polished spokesman can be so effective, and they accuse LaPierre of buying influence with campaign cash and intimidating lawmakers by ‘‘scoring,’’ or issuing public report cards, on how they vote. But what his critics often overlook is the iron relationship LaPierre has forged with many NRA members.
AIPAC doesn't do that. They just send a rep to visit the offices and see where they stand.
Week after week, year after year, he is on the road, traveling to gun shows and hotel ballroom fund-raisers, where he dispenses affirmation and absolution, telling firearms enthusiasts that their NRA ties have nothing to do with violence and everything to do with freedom.
It's true. An armed populace is a hell of a lot harder to oppress than an unarmed one. Three cases in point are Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union, and China under Mao.
NRA members admire LaPierre, who declined to be interviewed for this article, as ‘‘a guy who will never fold,’’ said Grover Norquist, the antitax crusader who is another board member....
I saw him somewhere else in my Globe today.
LaPierre volunteered for the 1972 presidential campaign of Democrat George McGovern; earned a master’s degree in government and politics from Boston College; essentially fell into his job at the NRA, and began working as a state lobbyist covering New York and New England.
Well, he can't be all bad then.
Also see: The McGovern MacGuffin
He earned a reputation as being more shy and studious than ideological....
The association’s skilled lobbying arm, the direct-mail hailstorms that help influence elections, the women’s council, the television network, the sports stars and celebrities (including the rock musician Ted Nugent and the actor Tom Selleck) who sit on its board are all, to some degree, the handiwork of LaPierre.
Except those stars are denigrated by the agenda-pushing ma$$ media because they are on the "wrong" side of this issue.
Outreach to minorities has also been a LaPierre priority, said Roy Innis, the national chairman of the Congress of Racial Equality, who serves on the NRA board.
I guess you can call him a lot of things, but racist isn't one of them.
--more--"
I'm glad he's out there.
Related:
"Ex-official in Texas charged with making threat
KAUFMAN — A former justice of the peace who has been questioned in the killings of two prosecutors here was arrested early Saturday on charges of making a threat and other alleged offenses, officials said. The charges against the former official, Eric. L. Williams, are not believed to be connected to the killings. Williams, 46, was in custody at the Kaufman County jail in lieu of $3 million bond after being booked just after 12:30 a.m. Saturday. On March 30, the Kaufman County district attorney, Mike McLelland and his wife, Cynthia, were found shot to death. In January, an assistant district attorney, Mark E. Hasse, was gunned down (New York Times)."
And the official cover story gets curiouser and curiouser:
"Former justice of the peace linked to case of slain Texas DA, wife" Associated Press, April 15, 2013
KAUFMAN, Texas — Authorities investigating the deaths of a North Texas district attorney and his wife appear to be focusing on a former justice of the peace who was prosecuted last year by the official for theft.
Eric Lyle Williams, 46, was arrested Saturday on a charge of making a terroristic threat and is being held on $3 million bond.
His arrest came after federal and local agents investigating the March 28 deaths of Kaufman County District Attorney Mike McLelland and his wife, Cynthia, searched Williams’s home on Friday.
Authorities have said little about their investigation into the McLellands’ deaths and have not named any suspects. Suspicion previously has included a white supremacist prison gang known as the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas, which had been targeted by a task force that included McLelland’s office.
Translation: That pos cover story has collapsed.
Two others have been arrested for making terroristic threats during the investigation into the slayings, but authorities said they had no connection to the deaths.
Why the anonymity?
Justin Lewis, a Kaufman County sheriff’s office spokesman, declined to discuss the developments. ‘‘Mr. Williams has not been charged with murder,’’ Lewis said Sunday.
A spokeswoman for the FBI would not comment on Sunday on the ongoing investigation....
What's with the tight lips?
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What, now it is supposed to be some sort of personal feud?
NEXT DAY UPDATE: Texas builds case in slaying of DA
Meanwhile, back in Washington:
"Senator Susan Collins supporting gun control bill" by Dina Cappiello | Associated Press, April 15, 2013
WASHINGTON — A bipartisan Senate proposal to expand background checks for gun buyers gained the backing of one Republican and the potential support of a second on Sunday, along with the support of a prominent gun rights organization. Sponsors said the vote expected this week on the bill was too close to call....
Somehow I suspect it will slide through.
It will take 60 votes to pass, meaning more Republicans will have to come on board, because some Democrats from gun-friendly states are expected to oppose the measure....
--more--"
Also see: Mother of Newtown victim pleas for gun control
Activists hold rally to call for gun-control laws
NEXT DAY UPDATES:
Chances for gun background checks unclear
Debate starts today, just after the Boston Marathon bombing. Looking like that false flag will now be hanged around the heads of "domestic terrorists" judging by the "coincidence."
3 dead in apparent double murder-suicide by NYC officer
The solution is clear: disarm the police, like in Britain.
Supreme Court won’t hear N.Y. gun case
Where everything will end up when the shooting is done.
