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"Bittergate" and the NRA: An Observation
Much comment was made when Barack Obama made his now famous comments about bitter citizens clinging to guns and religion as they become disillusioned with politics, politicians and the US in general. In today's LA Times there is a story about how the NRA is losing some of it's influence (mostly because they've accomplished almost all their goals) and here is a quote from Wayne LaPierre, the NRA's erstwhile leader:
"Voters have proven election after election that this issue is one of their first freedoms," NRA Executive Vice President and Chief Executive Wayne LaPierre said in a recent interview. "When people feel uncertain, when people feel unsafe, they run right back to the 2nd Amendment."
Isn't what he is saying here about the same as what Senator Obama said? Does that make LaPierre and the NRA an elitist group or do they just get a pass on this?
Here is a link to the full article:
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-guns14-2008jun14,0,2968796.story
Comments (4)
Bitter fuckers.
June 14, 2008 10:44 AM | Reply | Permalink
The NRA isn't the only group to have made the same "admission." Mainstream commentators and news analysts and opinion shapers said much the same BEFORE and AFTER Obama's comments. Sadly they were suffering amnesia when Obama said it and acted as if they had never heard nor said the same things themselves.
Perhaps if he had called them "values voters" or "working, hardworking Americans" they might not have reacted so bitterly and clung to their guns, religion and myopia. Oh well.
But if Mr. LaPierre says it is so, it must be. Perhaps it rings truer and is okay for him to say because -- well, I must say it -- he's white and Obama isn't.
June 14, 2008 11:05 AM | Reply | Permalink
I think the difference is the connotation:
Obama's statement suggests:
People don't really care about gun rights or social issues. These things are stupid little things that people worry about when their real issues (government guaranteeing them an income, etc.) are not addressed.
LaPierre's statement is interpreted more as:
When people feel uncertain and unsafe, they remember how important the 2nd amendment really is.
The difference being that LaPierre actually sees the 2nd amendment as a legitimate issue in its own right.
June 14, 2008 2:10 PM | Reply | Permalink
I saw the same quotation, and had the same thought. Came here to post and found you'd already done so. I'm glad to see that I wasn't the only one who read it this way!
As for differences in interpretation / connotation - well, no. Obama wasn't saying that gun rights or any of the other wedge issues to which voters "cling" are illegitimate issues in and of themselves. They are "real issues." But they become the only issues when nothing else is offered, or when there's no reason to think that a politician or party can deliver on anything but those issues.
There's a big difference between saying "wedge issues don't matter" and saying "wedge issues dominate politics because our political system is broken." Obama has been saying the latter for a long time. He's never, ever said the former.
June 14, 2008 2:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
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