"Axis of Evil" # II: The NRA/Republican Complex

Wed. Dec. 26, 2012:


Eisenhower left the White House too early for his 1960 Farewell Address to foresee the USA's
2nd most dangerous "complex" -- not the Military/Industrial complex,
but the NRA/Republican complex.  And George W. Bush should have applied his phrase
"Axis of Evil" to it, too -- not just Iran, Iraq, and North Korea.

If you're too busy, just read the first two of the following four articles:

1.  http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-12-20/why-does-the-nra-fear-the-truth-about-gun-violence-.html?alcmpid=view

2.  http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/12/23/n-r-a-leaders-defiant-in-television-appearances/

Wayne LaPierre, VP of the NRA:  The 1994-2004 Assault Weapons Ban "is a phony piece of legislation . . . it's all built on lies that have been found out."

Senator Charles E. Schumer, Democrat of New York:  LaPierre "blames everything but guns . . .
Trying to prevent shootings in schools without talking about guns is like trying to prevent lung cancer without talking about cigarettes."

If you're an old duffer, trying to get out of grandparenting, then also read the following, and weep:

3.  http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/25/business/real-and-virtual-firearms-nurture-marketing-link.html

4.  http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/24/nyregion/gun-makers-based-in-connecticut-form-a-potent-lobby.html



But once again, Dear Readers, it's the Auzzies who hold the key to gun control --
Nixon to China, Revisited.

                                          FORMER PRIME MINISTER OF AUSTRALIA

If Barack Obama has any intention of pushing serious gun control he will face enormous political resistance, because that is just the direction to which his opponents are already attuned. Nixon could go to China; Bill Clinton could "end welfare as we know it"; Obama, even, could escalate drone warfare. All those moves brought political gains, but confirming people's fears carries only risk.


This is why the comparison with John Howard after Port Arthur is so inapt. Howard was taking on his natural supporters with the support of his usual opponents -- for Obama it would be the reverse. Almost nothing excites the paranoia of the American Right so much as the idea of a black man taking away their guns.

It was not always thus; once upon a time, gun control was promoted by the white establishment to keep guns out of the hands of vengeful blacks (there was a fascinating account in The Atlantic). But now that gun ownership is widespread, the priority in the heartland -- fuelled by such well-funded lobby groups as the National Rifle Association and the even more extreme Gun Owners of America -- is to hold onto their own weapons to fight off the black/Muslim/communist hordes.