NRA and DISCLOSE

This is going to be a long post, since this will be my first try at fisking. It is my humble opinion that the NRA's stand on the DISLOSE act and subsequent statement deserves it.

For those who have limited time, it is my opinion that the NRA's position, boiled down to brass tacks, is that our members' free speech rights are sacrosanct and are to be protected at all costs (even by way of an under-handed exemption from the terms of the law), but the rest of you proles can fuck off.

If you've got a bit more time, stick around ..... this won't take too long.

At issue is the DISCLOSE Act, designed to make campaign advertising more 'transparent', but the reality is much different. DISCLOSE would require those producing campaign ads to disclose the names of the five largest contributors of the producing group. The effect would be for either groups to think twice about putting such information out, or causing top donors to donate less.

The NRA, to their credit, initially opposed this act, since it would probably be struck down by SCOTUS (though that's hardly foolproof); they even threatened to 'grade' the vote, potentially downgrading certain pols ratings.

So the Democrats in the House, understanding that they can't be held accountable for a vote, decided to carve out a curious exemption that has to apply to everyone, but was constructed to 'fit' the NRA's conditions.

Miraculously, the NRA dropped its opposition to the bill; liberals were outraged. So were some conservatives.

Sebastian, being the NRA's cheif apologist, has had the most to say about the situation (here, here, here, and here). Check these links out, and read the comments.

That being said, let the fisking begin!

STATEMENT FROM THE NATIONAL RIFLE ASSOCIATION ON H.R. 5175, THE DISCLOSE ACT

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

The National Rifle Association believes that any restrictions on the political speech of Americans are unconstitutional.

That's what any fine, upstanding and patriotic organization would say, and I applaud the sentiment.

In the past, through the courts and in Congress, the NRA has opposed any effort to restrict the rights of its four million members to speak and have their voices heard on behalf of gun owners nationwide.

Ah, so now we come to ..... it's not Americans' rights they're concerned with, its their members' rights.

The NRA’s opposition to restrictions on political speech includes its May 26, 2010 letter to Members of Congress expressing strong concerns about H.R. 5175, the DISCLOSE Act. As it stood at the time of that letter, the measure would have undermined or obliterated virtually all of the NRA’s right to free political speech and, therefore, jeopardized the Second Amendment rights of every law-abiding American.

Watch out! Like Obama, the NRA are writing strong letters! And it's not just the NRA's political speech that would be undermined or obliterated, it would be everyone's (except for unions, don't ya know)

The most potent defense of the Second Amendment requires the most adamant exercise of the First Amendment. The NRA stands absolutely obligated to its members to ensure maximum access to the First Amendment, in order to protect and preserve the freedom of the Second Amendment.

But I thought that the NRA was a single issue group, and not concerned with freedom of speech? Do you mean to tell me that unfettered exercise of the First amendment is crucial for the protection of the Second?

The NRA must preserve its ability to speak. It cannot risk a strategy that would deny its rights, for the Second Amendment cannot be defended without them.

Thus, the NRA’s first obligation must be to its members and to its most ardent defense of firearms freedom for America’s lawful gun owners.

So now we're back to the NRA's sacred duty to protect the rights of their members, and we'll do that even if it means we have to stand on principal.

On June 14, 2010, Democratic leadership in the U.S. House of Representatives pledged that H.R. 5175 would be amended to exempt groups like the NRA, that meet certain criteria, from its onerous restrictions on political speech. As a result, and as long as that remains the case, the NRA will not be involved in final consideration of the House bill.

On second thought, now we don't have to stand on principal (and we all know how uncomfortable that can be). Hey it's not our fault the Dems offered us this exemption in return for us not grading the vote. What, you didn't think there wasn't going to be some quid pro quo here, did ya?! And as long as we're going to be exempted, we might as well stop talking about how bad this bill is (for the rest of you poor fuckers, anyway!).

The NRA cannot defend the Second Amendment from the attacks we face in the local, state, federal, international and judicial arenas without the ability to speak. We will not allow ourselves to be silenced while the national news media, politicians and others are allowed to attack us freely.

Damn it, there's that right-that's-not-our-single-issue right again. Fuck, you'd think the First Amendment means something, or, something. Well, good thing we don't have to worry about all that peon shit now, huh?!

The NRA will continue to fight for its right to speak out in defense of the Second Amendment. Any efforts to silence the political speech of NRA members will, as has been the case in the past, be met with strong opposition.

Yeah, we'll continue to fight for us and ours, but the rest of you?

Go fuck yourselves.

Hey NRA ...... right back attcha!

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