Monday, July 12, 2010

NRA: Make-up artists to the painted mask of tyranny. In the middle of the night, I reget that I rightfully jumped all over an old friend.



"Outside the limit of our sight, feeding off us, perched on top of us, from birth to death, are our owners! Our owners! They have us. They control us! They are our masters! Wake up! They're all about you! All around you!" -- Street Preacher in They Live, 1988.


Folks,

It is almost two in the morning and the dogs are barking outside but that is not why I am awake.

I ran into an old friend at the gun show on Saturday. A long-time libertarian and political activist on behalf of the Second Amendment, I have known him for over fifteen years. We were talking about the NRA, of which he is a Life Member, and he volunteered that he understood the NRA's recent sell-out of the rest of us in cutting their own deal on the DISCLOSE Act.

He also volunteered that if the NRA had not been around we'd have long ago been stripped of the legal right to arms. But, he said, if the NRA endorsed Harry Reid, that was it, that was the end of him and the NRA.

I exploded.

I told him that it would have been better, then, if the NRA had never existed. That it didn't matter what any scrap of paper said, that my liberties are God-given and inalienable and that the sooner the domestic enemies of the Founders' Republic ripped their mask off and declared themselves, the sooner we could get about the business of killing them in earnest and restoring that Republic. The NRA, I said, was like a make-up artist who faithfully retouched the painted mask of the tyrannical monster to lull the peasants out of his own selfish desire to be the last one eaten.

I said all this and more, jumping all over him -- in public, probably humiliating him, yelling, yes, yelling, at him across the table.

He fled.

And now, just now, in the middle of the night a day and and a half later, unable to sleep, I regret the humiliation of an old friend, but not one word of what I said.

There is a very human tendency to hold onto the status quo as long as possible, even if you realize that the status quo cannot continue and at some point there will be a violent breakdown. This is not new in human history.

Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed.


Jefferson was right about that, and even more right about the next breath of the Declaration of Independence.

But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.


The NRA, with all their artful compromise, are nothing but paid handmaidens to tyranny. In the end, history will not deal kindly with them. They will be viewed, as I have said in these pages more than once, as our present-day equivalent of the Judenraten.

And note I said "paid handmaidens." The irony is that WE, the armed citizenry, are the ones paying them to sell us out. Alleged dragonslayers need dragons to convince the peasantry to continue feeding them. It is not in the interest of the professional dragonslayer to actually slay the dragon. And if more than a few villagers are, over the years, eaten by the dragon, it is of little importance to the "dragonslayer."

And such is the inertia of many of our peasant village comfort zones that we are willing to ignore the obvious and excuse the inexcusable, lest we have to get off our dead asses and fight ourselves to retain our liberty and property as the Founders did.



"You see, I take these glasses off, she looks like a regular person, doesn't she? Put 'em back on... (puts them back on) ..formaldehyde-face!" -- Nada, in They Live, 1988.


In truth, the NRA has been protecting the tyrant-wannabes from us, not the other way around.

It is long past time we recognized that fact.

So I do not regret what I said to my old friend. I do regret the way I said it. It was if I had slapped him. It hurt him, I know. I could see it in his face.

But, in truth, it will be as Sam Adams said long ago:

“Contemplate the mangled bodies of your countrymen, and then say 'what should be the reward of such sacrifices?' Bid us and our posterity bow the knee, supplicate the friendship and plough, and sow, and reap, to glut the avarice of the men who have let loose on us the dogs of war to riot in our blood and hunt us from the face of the earth? If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animated contest of freedom, go from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains sit lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen!”


Yet, still and all, it is me who is up in the middle of the night, regretting my part in an old friend's discomfiture, even though I was right.

Mike
III

29 comments:

Happy D said...

I wish I could say something that would bring you some comfort or fix the problem.
But the more I think on it the more this needs to be discussed in the open.
I have been a NRA life member for some time. I have not given money directly since around the 94 ban. I will now not even participate in the round up program.
I can hope anyone lucky enough to be able to call you a friend can also forgive a little shout-down.

Anonymous said...

A thing moderately good is not so good as it ought to be. Moderation in temper is always a virtue; but moderation in principle is always a vice.
Thomas Paine

Justin said...

I understand, Mike. I've been in somewhat similar situations myself. I cannot imagine the anguish felt by many of our ancestors as they parted from and even fired on their countrymen, friends, and family.
Winfield Scott Hancock and Louis Armistead come to mind.

You can bet he is thinking long and hard about this as well. Hopefully he is awakened now to the treachery of the NRA. I've had four or five "NRA conversations" in the past few weeks. People REALLY DO think that the NRA is the great savior and bulwark of our gun rights. I tell them, holding up my trigger finger, "No, this is. This and the willingness to use it."

Keep up the fight Mike, wherever it leads.

Justin
III

Johnny said...

It's even more clear if you examine the UK NRA. Originally chartered to promote rifle ownership and marksmanship for the national defence, now it actively cooperates with the government on imposing more restrictions, including by providing "experts" on government committees formulating restrictions on gun ownership and use.

Dennis308 said...

It´s OK Mike we all have friends that need to Wake Up and just can´t seem to do it. Reality is sometimes a Difficult thing to face. And the reality that we are facing is difficult one at that.

A Restoration, probably after a financial meltdown and civic collapse. Is not a particularly pleasant reality to wake up to after having the illusion that things really arn´t THAT bad yet.

So take easy it on yourself you might just have woke up your friend and maybe saved his life and a Republic.

And if not we all need to come to terms with the loss of familly and friends that many will have to endure in the comming future.

Dennis
III
Texas

Dedicated_Dad said...

Well, Mike...

I wish I had comforting words for you, but I don't.

I fear that - before this is over - the discomfiture of old friends will be nothing compared to the things we'll be required to accept as necessary in the struggle to restore our Republic to her rightful glory.

Still, we must persevere.

No decent man can cause pain to another - even The Enemy - without some measure of regret, what matters is that it be in the service of right.

In this case, you know in your heart of hearts that it was. It is long past time that we stop beating around the bush and start ensuring that anyone with ears to hear understands what is coming - without an open and euphemism-free dialog we've no chance whatsoever at doing what must be done to restore our Republic.

Hopefully our Creator will grant you the opportunity to restore your friendship as well...

So do I pray,

DD

typeay said...

Mike, there must be something in the AL, GA, and FL, water. When I visited the Tallahassee, FL gun show two days ago for my previously posted review, I had a 5 minute "chat" at the NRA sales and information kiosk located near the exit of building 2.
I politely told the nice woman (passing out way too expensively produced glossy brochures) that if the NRA did indeed back Harry Reid, I would cut my NRA lifetime membership card into bits, and carefully leave the small fragments on her desk. I then asked her to PLEASE notify the NRA personally, and tell them that I said this. Her (obviously pre-coached) "talking points response" that "The NRA always carefully chooses the BEST political choice for YOU", followed by a glib, "sometimes we have to pick the lessor of two evils" was simply NOT what I needed or wanted, to hear at this particular time in American history.
And, in rather ashamed retrospect, my terse, ungentlemanly response right back, probably STILL has her wondering why she actually volunteers to work at southern states gun shows.

Pat H. said...

All Southern men and women should know about the founding of the NRA and why it remains an adjunct to government control of our lives as it was founded to do. Among anti-freedom "clubs" only the Union League Clubs of Philadelphia, New York, and Chicago are older. All were founded in order to enhance the ability of the US government to kill Americans who would be free. I am also old enough to remember when the NRA had a loyalty oath and required the endorsement of a member for a new membership application to be processed.

Then, moving on to the 20th century, the NRA endorsed the first national gun control law, the prohibition upon shipping handguns via the US mail, throwing that job into the much more expensive Railway Express. The NRA went on to write the National Firearms Act of 1934, the Gun Control Act of 1968, and the Firearms Owners Protection Act of 1986; all to restrict our rights access and to help the US government control us.

The upshot of this is that the NRA will continue its long history of curbing our rights in aid of the US government via endorsements of thugs like Harry Reid.

Anonymous said...

Keep having these realizations, and eventually you might decide that you should not pay "taxes" to anyone or anything, ever again. Then the current monster will collapse, and the replacement monster will be stillborn.

j said...

Well, not that my comments are solicited, and not that it matters, but in the heat of the moment it can indeed be hard to remember the old military axiom - praise a man publicly, correct him privately.
But in the end, what does it matter.

Toaster 802 said...

Everyone needs a swift kick in the pants to un-ass their brain box every now and then.

And it is fine to feel bad about doing it to a friend, but you would have felt worse later as the defective thinking got worse and then really caused a problem.

If he is a thinking man, he will realize that what you said is truth, and the discomfort of the delivery will be lessened.

John said...

The NRA, with all their artful compromise, are nothing but paid handmaidens to tyranny. In the end, history will not deal kindly with them. They will be viewed, as I have said in these pages more than once, as our present-day equivalent of the Judenraten....
Man ! i LOVE it when you talk dirty. Seriously fine prose " paid handmaidens to tyranny" indeed !

Anonymous said...

I have always had a feeling this day would come with the NRA. The political machine in which it created will become its demise. My first indication was spending over 2 times the $ I contribute towards magazines and "freebies" to new and renewal members. The selection of staff truly is a political agenda of power not ideology. Lets face it they have hit a new low.

Sedition said...

Unfortunately, sometimes it takes a swift kick in the nuts to get someone to learn to protect them.

Sean said...

Well, Mike, sorry you lost sleep over it, but if you had let it pass, and lied, you'd be even more troubled. And I don't think you want anyone even near you in the troubles ahead who doesn't have their head on straight. It wasn't agreement you were looking for, but clarity. Blindness in the face of the monstrosity that confronts us is treason, so we might as well say so. You know where to find me, I'll be around.

Sean said...

Blindness in the face of tyranny is treason, so we may as well say so. You didn't lose a friend, you left baggage you didn't need. In the coming madness, you or me or anyone else who loves liberty will only need people near us who have their heads on straight. Think how you would feel right now if you had lied to him.

suek said...

There are two points to be considered here...

What was the original intent of the NRA? Forgive me - I'm a late comer to this. I've always made the assumption that we have the right to own fire arms, even if I have not personally. I didn't get the impression that the NRA was _originally_ a political movement, but that it became that when that appeared to be necessary to preserve our rights.

Second point is that if you say that they should have taken up arms long ago to preserve our rights - you may be right in one sense, but I doubt they'd have had much success - people just weren't ready for it. They've held the fort while people have become ready.

The activists have infiltrated almost every other politically active organization - why would you not expect them to have infiltrated this one?

You friend is to be congratulated for seeing that whatever the NRA was or was intended to be - it's now something different.

Hollywood said...

Actually it's called guilt, for verbally shooting a friend. He had his opinion and you have yours, but they might both be like a-holes and stink.

We sometime need to keep that passion in check, and understand that even if he was miss guided, he is still a friend of the 2nd AD. and we need to figure out how to, with love, get them to understand that compromise is not such a good thing.

www.nccmwake.org

Anonymous said...

Send the NRA a message by cutting them off at the pocketbook. No more money, ever. If you want to find out what a bunch of smarmy, self-serving poltical whores LaPierre and his bunch are, then read the book RICOCHET by Richard Feldman. It opened my eyes.

Anonymous said...

Life is tough and the truth is often tough to hear. I'm dead sure that it was a tough thing to deal with, when the troops and people heard about Benedict Arnold, and every traitor since then.

The truth is that there are a number of people, who's loyalties are not to American ideals or principles, both in government and surely in the media. In fact, they can't be said to be loyal to anything that has been understood as fact, with respect to the Constitution and Bill of Rights. They do anything they can to diminish, and ultimately destroy them. All the while saying that they aren't.

Sometimes feelings are hurt and some times those feelings, lead to a reexamination which is needed. I personally had to be dragged, to to these realizations. I thought that those who were informing me, were absolute kooks. I apologize to all of them. If anything, they understated the gravity and scope of the situation.

When I started to dig, I didn't like what I found. Maybe this individual will now start digging, and just maybe, start someone else down the path as well. That's not a bad thing.

Defender said...

Mr. V,
I understand your frustration with a long-time friend who nevertheless hasn't done the research and doesn't yet "get it." I feel the same way when obviously intelligent freedom columnists suggest "Join the NRA" instead of the no-compromise but lesser-known organizations. Why are they lesser-known? Because columnists don't MENTION them, just as the NRA doesn't support no-compromise gun rights candidates on the grounds that they are "unelectable."
Advertising principles prove that name recognition is everything. The NRA has the money to promote itself like any national brand; other, better gun rights orgs don't.
You did your friend a service. If he is truly your friend, he will think about it and be grateful, knowing, as we do, that you deal with true enemies of freedom every day and bear the scars.
You reminded him that we are NOT children and should no longer look to "parents" to tell us how to live, be they government or a self-serving non-governmental organization.

neal said...

Take solace in that you were indeed right.

Christ told us:

Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.

For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.

Being right is not always easy, but sometimes people need to get 'slapped on the face' to shake loose the cobwebs that hide their eyes from the truth.

Old Pablo said...

Because of your long-standing effort to communicate your point of view (and the underpinning rationality to said point of view), I have nothing but congratulations for you. Look at all the citizens you have likewise convinced. You've done a good job. We should all be so efficient.

Alvie D. Zane said...

That's a great shot of Wayne LaPierre, bro!

Dear LaPierre, I'm almost out of bubblegum.

Sincerely,
Al
III

Happy D said...

Pat H.
Go here,

http://www.nrahq.org/history.asp

here,

http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/National-Rifle-Association-of-America-Company-History.html

here,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Rifle_Association

and here,

http://adventure.howstuffworks.com/outdoor-activities/hunting/clubs-and-organizations/nra1.htm

To learn about the actual history of the National Rifle Association.

Stop getting your history from the Ku Klux Klan, Michael Moore, Stormfront, and the Violence Policy Center!
I implore you to quit with the progressive style rewrites of history.
I doubt that anyone here is ignorant enough to fall for it.

Except.

Anonymous said...

Anyone who doesn't own a copy of "They Live" should. It's like "Unintended Consequences" for people who can't read, heh, heh.
emdfl

Opsview said...

A thing moderately good is not so good as it ought to be. Moderation in temper is always a virtue; but moderation in principle is always a vice.
Thomas Paine

Sorry, Cope...had to repeat!!

W W Woodward said...

“… Shall not be infringed.” means today exactly what it meant in 1791!

The rightist man who ever lived was hanged on a cross for his trouble. We can’t expect any better treatment.

[W3]

John Bystrom said...

Mike, my bible says that in the end times, friends and even family will part ways over the truth. It hurts when it happens, but sometimes it is necessary to move forward. Bible also suggest that we hadn't look back, or we will be stuck. Ie Lot's wife....

Sure it hurts, but when you have the truth, well it causes distress.