I’ll tell you, just when you think the NRA can’t get any shriller, more unhinged and detached from reality, they do! Check out the video above, courtesy of Media Matters, including the following transcript of what Chris Matthews had to say regarding this insane speech by National Raving Lunatics Rifle Association executive vice-president Wayne LaPierre.
MATTHEWS: Well here’s something that another strain of the crazy far right. Here’s the National Rifle Association’s Wayne LaPierre, and I’ve know this guy a long time, I’m astounded by this new accusation that the President is leading some conspiracy.
[….]
The language, “lie,” “conspiracy,” it’s almost like, I don’t know Lincoln talking about what was going on in civil war below the Mason Dixon line. I mean, this is civil war talk about a President of the United States.
Yes, and it’s also completely crazy talk. In fact, as Crooks and Liars points out, “Gun control advocates have criticized the president for not pushing for new gun control legislation in the wake of a January shooting that left Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) in serious condition and six others dead.” And, as Gerry Connolly explained the other day in great detail, Democrats are absolutely terrified of crossing the gun lobby, despite strong public support for reasonable, common sense gun safety measures in this country, and have absolutely no plans whatsoever to take any action on this issue. To the contrary, the further they can run from this issue, the better from their perspective. So what’s Wayne LaPierre ranting about? Either he really believes what he’s saying, in which case he’s bonkers. Or, more likely, it’s just smart marketing: rev up the fear among his “base,” keep the membership numbers high, and fend off any competitors from his organization’s “right.” But it’s still crazy talk, and it’s a frightening thought that there might actually be people out there who believe this lunacy.
This post is written as part of the Media Matters Gun Facts fellowship. The purpose of the fellowship is to further Media Matters’ mission to comprehensively monitor, analyze, and correct conservative misinformation in the U.S. media. Some of the worst misinformation occurs around the issue of guns, gun violence, and extremism, the fellowship program is designed to fight this misinformation with facts.
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