NRA CEO Wayne LaPierre is a frightened man. Not politically, but frightened in his soul. It’s that base, primal fear that motivates everything he does in life. The NRA “press conference” on Friday, December 21st, 2012 brought that fear out of the NRA-media-back-channels and it into the national spotlight.
In one of the more bizarre press conferences of 2012 (and in this political environment, that’s saying a lot) NRA CEO and EVP, Wayne LaPierre, blamed the media, video games, movies and music for what happened at Sandy Hook in Newtown. (How old and tired is the “main stream media” blame game getting for the right-wing extremist? – about as old and tired as their politics, I think.)
And the solution from the National Rifle Association’s top man: The “meaningful contribution” to the situation: put guns in schools.
The first 5-10 minutes of what was basically a reflection of right-wing paranoia that the world is out to get them: focused on trying to scare people and parents – that everyone has a target on their back. That there are thousands of “monsters” and “people haunted by demons” who are out to kill your children; that the next massacre is just a news cycle away. (It was a thing to watch – my mouth was literally agape while it was happening). What is normally reserved for the NRA online radio and video web-casts was seen – in many ways for the first time – on national television. Not unlike watching Karl Rove’s republican facts bubble burst on Fox News the night of the 2012 general election.
Once again we all should ask the question: what sort of country do we want to be, and what kind of person do you want to be? Do you want to be like Wayne LaPierre who wakes up every morning thinking monsters are under his bed, and that he and his beliefs are more important than the country as a whole – or are you a person who believes we can do better than the fear-mongering and selfishness that LaPierre and the right-wing fear brigade are selling?
National Rifle Associations Answer To Mass Murder: Guns In Schools. (If anything, that proves we are definitely not spending enough on basic education.)
Do we want to be the kind of country that turns by default to killing another person as the ONLY solution to solving anti-social behavior, or a kind of country that is smarter and more advanced than that? Do you want to be a person who wakes up every morning thinking that behind every corner someone is out to hurt you, or do you want to be a person who wakes up and lives your life without being haunted by fear mongering designed to sell products? Killing someone is NOT the ultimate protection, it’s the ultimate act of the worst possible reaction to any and all situations.
It’s up to you. It’s your choice: be scared, paranoid, and buying the snake oil that other scared people are selling, or rise above something as barbaric and archaic as killing another human being because of ghost-threats sold wholesale by the gun lobby and its clients. There are literally millions of ways to protect yourself, your family, and your community – killing someone with a gun is not the only and final answer.
The blame game was one of the most desperate acts I’ve ever seen on TV – (besides Karl Rove denying the results in Ohio, of course). Going far as showing an obscure online video game that no one has ever heard of to say that video games and “the media covering it up” are at fault for mass killings with guns…. that was about as thoughtful as an elementary school kid justifying why he kicked “the nerdy kid” in the class by saying it was because another kid in class did it first. The logic and the internal reasoning involved by the CEO of the NRA was pathetic – sad, detached, and removed from reason – I’ve seen higher reasoning skills and moral integrity from 4-year olds. You could see in his eyes the same fear that he’s been trying to instill in other people. I’ve seen puppies in kennels who look less afraid. So scared. So paranoid. It must be very, very difficult to live one’s life in that constant state of fear.
NRA CEO Wayne LaPierre is probably scared every moment of his life. We should feel sorry for him, but we should also be angry that he has spent his career trying to implant his own fear into as many people as he can so that they buy the products sold by the NRA board members.
In a way I’m glad it happened. Many NRA members will see that the organization of which they are members does not actually represent what they necessarily believe. Facts over fervor. Facts over fear mongering. We have to start somewhere.
The NRA wants to create a fully accessible database of mentally ill, while it refuses universal background checks… no logic whatsoever. It there’s no facts and no logic: throw it out the window.
If what the NRA really wanted was safety, they would not hesitate to support bans on assault weapons (as did Ronald Reagan); they would not hesitate to eliminate gun show loop holes. They would not hesitate to support longer waiting periods and more stringent regulations that every single responsible gun owner could pass – but it’s NOT about safety and rights… it’s about fear and money.
He is so scared. Guns might make him feel like he can fight against what he fears, but they will never stop his fear. I feel sorry for him.
Published: by | Updated: 03-16-2013 10:31:06
