As many of you have seen, the NRA posted this video June 7th, which went viral on June 28th. It is actually the second such video they’ve posted, seeming to call for a civil war against anyone not a male Evangelical-Christian white Republican (despite having RW newsbobblehead Dana Loesch (above) narrate it).
Go ahead, be outraged.
As DeRay McKesson tweeted: “If I made a video like this, I’d be in jail.”
But I think this video represents a plan far more cynical than just stirring the pot of white Right Wing anger (that seems to be ever at the ready). I hope you will read this and tell me if my happy little mental trolley has finally flown off the rails, or I might have something.
Fact One—and it is the most important thing to keep in mind: The National Rifle Association claims it is “America’s oldest civil rights organization.” But in point of fact, they are a gun manufacturers lobby organization that sells itself as a “rights” group. Their aim (pun intended) is to make sure people buy guns from their clients. Their focus is to drive sales and make sure that no one in government places any blocks to making money from selling all the weapons the manufacturers can produce.
Fact Two: Studies show that most of the guns sold in the last 10 years are to white Republican men. From the Pew study:
Roughly three-quarters (74%) of gun owners are men, and 82% are white. Taken together, 61% of adults who own guns are white men. Nationwide, white men make up only 32% of the U.S. adult population…. While 37% of all adults identify with or lean toward the Republican Party, that proportion jumps to 51% among gun owners.
Fact Three: Gun sales dropped off once President Obama left office. Since the Giant Orange Toddler was inaugurated, year-over-year background checks for new guns have fallen by 500,000, according to the FBI.
The reason cited is that Democrats repeatedly tried to get some common-sense gun laws into place after the Sandy Hook massacre, and this panicked the NRA, who urged their members to buy a lot of guns before the government “made them illegal.” Once the Republicans seized both Houses and the Presidency, the first thing they did was to vote to put guns in the hands of everyone, including the mentally ill (while stripping health care from them), and vow to “defend the Second Amendment” (which does not actually say what they keep saying it says, but I digress). With nothing to fear from the government, it appears the gun freaks don’t feel pressured to “buy now before the gubmint takes ‘em!”
Now, if you are a gun manufacturers lobby organization, that number is going to freak you the hell out. How will you, Mister Gun Manufacturer, buy your third wife her dream 50,000 sq. ft. mansion in the Hamptons if gun sales slump?
Fact Four (and here’s where you’ll say I’m reaching): The most lucrative business in the world is arms sales in a war—because the arms sellers always sell to BOTH SIDES.
If the NRA can stir up a civil war—or the perception one is imminent—then they can sell more guns to the Right. They also know what the Right does not—that many people on the Left already own or can buy guns to defend themselves.
QED: This video is about ginning up a war (or the fear one may be coming) to make money for the gun manufacturers.
Cynical AF, hm?