Turn on the lights, watch the cockroaches scatter. It’s the perfect metaphor for NRA devotees’ craven response to the tragic gun massacre in Uvalde, Texas, as the group’s annual convention commences in Houston on Friday.
Of course, we shouldn’t be naive about this. It’s unlikely any of these ghouls has had a real change of heart—unless you’re talking about Dick Cheney, who changes hearts nearly as often as Mitch McConnell molts his exoskeleton. No, as in the immediate aftermath of the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection, we’re seeing a lot of performative (and temporary) revulsion in response to another shocking, high-profile event.
But hey, we’ll take whatever we can get at this point—including, you know, legislation that might actually prevent these kinds of tragedies in the future.
On Wednesday, a day after the shooting in Uvalde, legendary singer-songwriter Don McLean announced he was pulling out of his Saturday performance at the NRA’s convention, and he soon became a sort of American Pied Piper leading the rest of the organization’s most celebrated rats off the ship.
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The Washington Post:
McLean is among a few performers who have announced they will no longer perform at this weekend’s convention. Country singers Lee Greenwood and Larry Gatlin and Larry Stewart of the country band Restless Heart also said Thursday they were dropping out in response to the shooting at Robb Elementary.
McLean’s exit comes as gunmaker Daniel Defense, which manufactured the rifle used by Ramos in Tuesday’s massacre, appears to have also pulled out of the NRA convention. The NRA’s exhibitor list no longer includes Daniel Defense among the hundreds of gunmakers, firearm parts manufacturers, and taxidermists appearing at the convention hall. The booth once claimed by Daniel Defense is now listed only as “the NRA.”
Okay, so McLean, a few country stars, and the Uvalde killer’s chosen gun supplier have pulled out. Notably, Daniel Defense also locked down its Twitter account after a recent tweet from just before the shooting caught some deservedly negative attention.
But what about all those pro-gun Republicans? Well …
Following McLean’s announcement, representatives for Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R), who was scheduled to speak in person at the convention, said he was skipping the event and will instead record video remarks for NRA members. The governor is scheduled to make a return trip to Uvalde, Texas, on Friday, according to the Dallas Morning News.
Read that carefully. Abbott isn’t backing out exactly. He’s sort of lingering by the window watching the cool kids play in the yard, while he’s forced to stay inside and practice his violin. But he’ll wave at them! He can do that much, anyway! “Hey, guys, I’m still with you. Yoo-hoo! Guys? Hey guys!”
As of this writing, it looks like the convention’s Saturday night concert is on the cusp of cancelation, with just one artist—the little-known Jacob Bryant—still on board. But while losing a night of entertainment may be a minor psychological blow to the guns-for-everyone movement, it’s what Texas’—and the rest of the country’s—politicians do and say that really matters. And they tend to say and do as little as they can get away with.
While Abbott has sort of half-assed his way out of the convention—and Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has now removed his whole ass—other GOP ghouls, including the inimitable Sen. Cruz, are going ahead with their antediluvian blather. Cruz, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, and top NRA officials Wayne LaPierre and Jason Ouimet are still scheduled to speak.
Meanwhile, some speakers are coming up with “creative” reasons for missing the big show as they straddle that blurry, ever-shifting line between common decency and utter disgrace. Texas Sen. John Cornyn supposedly pulled out because he had to be in Washington for “personal reasons,” and Texas Rep. Dan Crenshaw told Fox News he wouldn’t be back from a trip to Ukraine in time.
But what about profile-in-courage Donald John Trump? Well, of course that guy isn’t canceling. He held superspreader rallies in the middle of a raging pandemic, FFS. Why would he have second thoughts about the fates of murdered children? Yes, what we really need now is a president brave enough to pretend he’d run into an active shooter situation unarmed. Enough of this consoler-in-chief nonsense. We need feral, ignorant, barely lucid tweets about the Second Amendment!
On his effervescently Orwellian social media platform Truth Social, Trump assured his fans that he’d attend the blood bacchanal as scheduled: “America needs real solutions and real leadership in this moment, not politicians and partisanship. That’s why I will keep my longtime commitment to speak in Texas at the NRA Convention and deliver an important address to America. In the meantime, we all continue to pray for the victims, their families, and for our entire nation—we are all in this together!”
Is complaining endlessly about the 2020 election and low-flow toilets really that “important”? Well, in the absence of real entertainers, Trump’s comedy stylings will have to do, it seems.
Though he will probably be too busy checking his face paint as he arrives at the venue, some Americans are already outside the convention, telling attendees what they actually need.
Yes, the cockroaches are scattering, but you know they’ll be back as soon as those klieg lights dim. So it’s up to us to keep them on. Let’s do just that, folks, by ensuring we keep the House in November.
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