In Phoenix this year, NRA (Natl Rifle Association) Executive Vice-President Wayne LaPierre quoted Mark Twain and told us that there were three kinds of lies ("plain old lies... damned lies... and statistics.")*  His set of damned lies that he wanted to tell us about had to do with things that Eric Holder, Dianne Feinstein and Hillary Clinton;  his statistic was when Pres. Barack Obama noted that 90% of guns recovered in Mexico come from the U.S. - it is actually 90% of the guns recovered and then sent to the U.S. for tracing.  FactCheck.org's analysis

Mr. LaPierre did not tell us about the damned lies the NRA has been continuously spreading about secret attempts to take away our guns, and the "statistics" that the NRA is pretending to cook up!

Apparently, the NRA has been using - in order to keep their members/prospective members fired up and sending money - the BS of a secret United Nations effort to take away all of the guns belonging to red-blooded Americans.  This meme has been used since the mid-90's, and as the Congressional Research Service noted in 2005, it has never been true.  Though <gasp> there has been talk about trying to stem the ILLEGAL MANUFACTURE AND TRAFFICKING of small arms.  Former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan tried to shout it from the rooftops in 2006.**  There is zero evidence to back up the same claim today.

Sooooo, I was telemarketed the other day by the NRA and what a call it was.  First, a live person asked if I was willing to take a one-question poll for the NRA.  (Before I could stop myself, I responded "Sure.  Shoot.")  Then, that person hooked me up with a recorded statement from Mark Twain fan LaPierre.  He blathered for several adrenaline-fueled seconds about the evil plans of the evil United Nations.  He beseeched me to stay on the line for the poll and to support the NRA.

A different live person came back on the line with the all-important question, which elicited my best Gretchen Wilson-like*** "Hellllll yeah!"  The question - which they are supposedly compiling to present as proof of the temperature of the American public:  "Do you think 3rd world dictators, along with Hillary Clinton, should dictate our gun rights here in America?"

My enthusiastic answer didn't rattle the telemarketer, who thanked me and hung up as I laughed and checked my caller ID.  I was hoping it was SNL or one of those DJ's prank-calling folks.  But, it did actually say that it was the NRA, and the phone number led to an NRA recording. Here's the number to call them and give your answer to their poll question (although, shoot, that might take away the scientific validity of their statistics): 1-800-672-3888, press "7".

* http://www.nraila.org/News/Read/Speeches.aspx?ID=59

** http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2006/sgsm10537.doc.htm

"Let me also note that this Review Conference is not negotiating a "global gun ban", nor do we wish to deny law-abiding citizens their right to bear arms in accordance with their national laws.

"Mr. President, with your permission, I would want to repeat, because there are people around who either have not heard this, or do not want to hear.  We are not negotiating a global ban, nor do we wish to deny law-abiding citizens their right to bear arms in accordance with their national laws."