My goal as president of the NRA is very simple, all I want to do is double the membership.
Oliver North
June 29, 2018
North aims to double gun lobby’s members
[That sounds like a good start.—Joe]
The View From North Central Idaho
Ramblings on explosives, guns, politics, and sex by a redneck Idaho farm boy who became a software engineer living near Seattle.
I wonder if his chances of doubling membership are better or worse if people are reminded of 1. his support for the Clinton “Assault Weapons Ban” of 1994-2004, 2. his repeated comment that “if you want to shoot an assault weapon [AR-15] you should join the military”, and 3. the ATF, then FBI raid on the Branch Davidians in Waco was justified because the Davidians “shot first” [he doesn’t cite the evidence that supports this claim]?
Hmm, so you’re saying that he’s a great choice because he appeals equally to both sides? So he’s the syntheses to the pro-liberty thesis and the communist antithesis?
So everyone will hate hate him then.
Nice words, but what recommends Oliver North above and beyond his recent predecessors? What has ever come out of his mouth that hasn’t been heard a thousand times before? What has he ever done that hasn’t smacked of rehearsed marching orders from his overseers?
Other than “it’s his turn” or “he’ll say whatever we tell him to say” what ever recommended him for anything?
Like every Republican, I expect he’ll appeal to some low single-digit percentage (or less) of the fence-sitters, and be oblivious to the high double-digit percentages of those who’ve gotten disgusted with the likes of him who seem to worm their way into every institution left and right, and have gone on to seek truth elsewhere.
But hey!! A free knife, with Oliver North’s own signature! Made in China of course. I bet he comes up with something like that, and will push it as though no one else ever thought of it before.
So, Mr, North; you’re shouting at my back, from ten miles away. I’ve heard it all before. What have you to say that could remotely get my attention? More importantly, what have you do DO that I haven’t seen tried a thousand times before by other flabby, weak-kneed, white-haired Republicans who speak oh so carefully lest they never offend anyone or do anything to risk their pensions or put off one big donor? Never mind. Forget I said all that because if you take it seriously you’ll only come out to appeal to ignorant, racist, bigoted, misogynist pigs because that’s what you think of us. You’d end up like a John Kerry making the photo-op in the country gun store; “Kin ah get me uh huuntin’ license hee-uh?”
Really? So, say, the immediate and total repeal of every firearms law in the US isn’t your primary mission? Surprise, surprise, surprise.
To give a lot of benefit of the doubt, I don’t think any of the past presidents have been that directly engaged in judicial, legislative or electoral action. That’s what Wayne LaPierre and the permanent staff are for, assuming that the board doesn’t fire them for screwing something up or going so far afield of the gun-rights-only charter that they close the flaps on the big tent.
The power of the NRA is from its membership and member numbers, so Ollie’s goal of doubling the NRA isn’t a bad way to increase the punching power. He’d need to do something to convince a lot of gun-owning non-members that NRA membership is in their personal interest (instead of free-riding). Throwing their weight behind another Gorsuch wouldn’t hurt. Convincing Trump to direct the DOJ to start arresting elected officials and bureaucrats for conspiracy to deprive rights under color of law would work.
He might not have to do anything. Pelosi is a great NRA recruiter by herself.
I know Clinton was the catalyst for me. I joined a couple of weeks after January 21, 1993 and haven’t quit.
To double the membership North has to fight the media-created perception that the NRA is first cousin to the Nazis and only a few resolutions away from the KKK.
I doubt that this is a “perception” except among left wing true believers. Those who are potential NRA members recognize it as the malicious slander it has always been.
Is no one else irritated by the article calling the members a lobby? They seem unwilling to accept that NRA is a true grassroots movement.
Of course one proven way to increase membership is to have Democrats in power, passing more infringements.
Just maybe then, increasing membership shouldn’t necessarily be the primary focus of an organization. Well, not for an organization with principle.
Rendering that organization utterly unnecessary is a better goal.
That’s the age-old conflict in any organization; true success means you lose your job, your title, your money, your fame and your power. That’s why mission drift is guaranteed, and even mission reversal becomes a real prospect.