A friend of mine had an interesting idea on how to deal with the NRA and other right wing groups. Just get a campaign together to have millions of people who don't think we need assault rifles to join the NRA and then get a vote called to oust the current boards and CEOs. Then pursue the reasonable firearm policies that most sensible countries have. Or at least the eradication of assault rifles and implementation of universal background checks.
I think some organization out there could pull this off over a couple of years. The NRA has only 4.5 million members. If another five million moderate members are added then the days of Wayne la Pierre and his ilk are numbered in those groups.
I think some organization out there could pull this off over a couple of years. The NRA has only 4.5 million members. If another five million moderate members are added then the days of Wayne la Pierre and his ilk are numbered in those groups.
5 comments:
That's a good idea. It would also change the concept of what the NRA means. Instead of conjuring up images of spattered brain mater, Ted Nugent and inbred hillbillies it would be an image more like the Garden Club.
Oh please! Racist? That is hilarious. The NRA keeps bringing out its "minority" members to brag about how diverse it is. As for racism, NM has the worst racism of any state I have been. We have a white neighbor shooting an African American veteran in his garage and no charges filed by APD or our wonderful DA. How about all of the APD shootings and the number of times Ray Schultz used photos of "individuals with a long criminal history" and was sure to point to any tattoos? Racism? I guess that only applies to white guys who belong to the NRA.
Baca called them his "ilk" . We all know what he means.
Ilk originally meant royalty, but has come to have a different meaning. The Oxford Dictionary of the English Language has it: "a type of people or things similar to those already referred to."
We learn the meaning of most words by hearing them used in certain contexts. Ilk is often used to cast a negative connotation and if that's the context in which you've always heard it used, you'll probably make that connotation, but it's not always used that way and that's why the definition doesn't mention negative connotations and includes uses of all kinds.
Context helps us understand meaning. Context: Jim Baca has criticized the NRA in the past. Context: Jim Baca always says what he means to say.
Taking those both into account, he used the word as it's defined, no more, no less.
He has characterized the NRA negatively in the past, but since in that sentence he did not include his personal view of the NRA, ilk literally refers to people who think like Wayne LaPierre on a particular set of issues, without characterizing them.
By contrast, if I were to use "ilk" in that context, it would mean Wayne LaPierre and the associated images of spattered brain matter, Ted Nugent and inbred hillbillies.
"Ilk" means irresponsible gun advocates without concern for the greater good. I would prefer that anyone who wants a gun actually successfully completes a gun safety course before being allowed to purchase a weapon. The Brady law is fine but we obviously need to go deeper, there is too much at risk. Over the last three weeks I have been surprised by the number of times law enforcement has locked down local elementary schools because of swat activity in the area. Let's wake up people.
Post a Comment