Why We Can't Have Nice Things

(Editorial cartoon by Lee Judge / The Kansas City Star (April 26, 2013)and featured at McClatchy DC. Click on image to enlarge and then be good enough to return.)

The NRA held its annual convention this weekend, and the speakers all pretty much fell into the wackaloon category.  You know:  Wayne LaPierre, Sarah Palin, Glenn Beck, those kinds of folks.  Here's how the Los Angeles Times lead off its coverage of the freak show:

Vowing that “we will never surrender,” the leader of the National Rifle Assn. claimed victory over recently defeated gun control legislation and denounced “political and media” elites for vilifying gun owners and supporting laws that would limit their rights rather than stop criminals.

“We will never give up or compromise our constitutional freedom — not one single inch,” NRA Chief Executive Wayne LaPierre told hundreds of supporters at the group’s annual meeting here. “This is our time to stand and fight, now and in the next election.”   [Emphasis added]

It's a long article, one well worth reading in its entirety and I urge you to do so.  Go ahead.  I'll wait.  You see, there's more going on here than just the NRA organization.   The clown show has a very serious and very arrogant group behind it, as Judge's cartoon suggests.  From Open Secrets:

The latest lobbying reports show that despite decades of dominance on the issue of gun rights, the National Rifle Association was shoved aside by a newcomer -- and it wasn't a new gun control advocacy group.

The National Association for Gun Rights, a "no-compromise" gun rights group with close ties to Ron and Rand Paul, spent more than $1.8 million in the first quarter of 2013 -- almost $1 million more than the $830,000 spent by the NRA. It's the first time the group has lobbied at the federal level.

When it comes to shelling out for lobbyists, the NRA has regularly outspent all other groups that count guns as their primary issue. But even though the NRA spent more in the first quarter of this year than in the final quarter of 2012, it was swamped by the NAGR, which regards the NRA as too soft on gun rights.    [Emphasis added]

This is another article you should read all of.  NAGR included more information than it needed to in its report, signalling that the payees should pay attention, close attention.  And who are the recipients of the money from the NRA and NAGR?  Open Secrets will help you find that info as well:  folks across the political spectrum have nibbled the lettuce.

And that's why we can't have nice things.