America’s right-wing hate machine moved into high gear at the Conservative Political Action Conference yesterday when a series of speakers, fueled by NRA chief Wayne LaPierre, dropped their list of the most vilified groups, people, and movements in the U.S., who all stand in the way of allowing them to achieve their pure society.
Among those vilified by the conservatives were Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, California Democratic Sens. Kamala Harris and Elizabeth Warren, Sen. Nancy Pelosi, Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, people backing “European style socialism,” leaks in the intelligence community, bias in the media, universities that are spearheading a socialist revolution by emphasizing the teachings of Karl Marx, the “growing socialist state,” Hollywood elites, “the privileged,” “the powerful,” the town hall meeting in Parkland, Florida on gun violence that was called a “Trotskyite show trial,” and the city of Washington D.C.
LaPierre did not say whether the NRA was considering
changing its name to the “Russian Rifle Association.”
As expected, LaPierre and the other conservative speakers who railed to the crowd did not provide any details about their charges of national subversion, treason, and accepting money to promote their views. Yet by the intensity, frequency, and tone of the presentations, it now looks like the NRA, with its 3.5 million members, has now become the nation’s largest hate group.
In his speech, LaPierre did not mention that the NRA is under investigation for accepting money from Russians to contribute to Donald Trump’s presidential campaign. He also did not say that the NRA contributed $30 million to Trump.
He also did not say whether the NRA was considering changing its name to the “Russian Rifle Association” in exchange for a large contribution from the former Soviet Union.
But money is at the heart of this organization, not its conservative political philosophy. This is why LaPierre gets paid a lot to hate people and ideas. He is paid over $5 million in salary and bonuses annually, and that money can generate a lot of hate.
For his part, Trump praised LaPierre and NRA staff as “Great People and Great American Patriots” on Twitter. He did the same for the neo-Nazis in Charlottesville, Va.
The NRA’s Enemies List
Like the Nixon White House, the NRA and its conservative allies have an enemies list. But unlike the Nixon White House’s list, the NRA’s list is much broader. Basically, it includes anyone except white male conservative gun owners who tote the official NRA line. Their enemies list includes anyone who disagrees with them or has the power to challenge them on the streets, in court, in the media, at the polling booth, or in houses of worship.
We already know that many extreme conservatives and white nationalists are not fond of Muslims, Afro-Americans, Jews, and people who attended universities and can dissect an argument. To the NRA, separating facts from propaganda lands you on their enemies list.
So, it looks like the NRA hates a lot of people, many more than they have on their membership role of 3.5 million. This makes the NRA the leading above-ground hate group in the U.S., while the less visible white supremacist groups occupy the basement level.
So, where does that leave the U.S. in light of the ongoing and substantive federal investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election?
What About the NRA’s Russian Comrades?
To top matters off, it also looks like the NRA is now spearheading the disinformation campaign and citizen divisiveness on its own, possibly assisting with the assistance of some Russian money.
One reason the NRA hates the FBI is that the FBI is investigating them to determine if Russians illegally funneled money through the NRA to help the Trump campaign. A Feb. 15, 2018 news story said this investigation is separate from the Robert Mueller Russian investigation. As expected, the NRA has not said anything about this investigation. It also remains to be seen whether the NRA’s all-American membership will even be phased by the charges of the NRA’s cooperation with the old Cold Warriors.
In any case, the “compassionate conservatives” of the George W. Bush era (circa 2000) and later the evangelical Christians are now gone. They have dropped any pretense of tolerance, understanding, and charity.
It seems they now are all eagerly following the trail of the NRA’s blood money from the gun manufacturing industry.
