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“And when [Obama is] finished, he intends to go out with a coronation of Hillary Rodham Clinton. Yeah … I have to tell ya, eight years of one demographically symbolic president is enough.” – NRA Vice President Wayne LaPierre [via ibtimes.com] Click here for the entire speech.

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157 COMMENTS

    • Exactly. ^^^^^ And whether or not he’s “right” has nothing to do with the stupidity of it. Besides, I voted for Alan Keyes (didn’t know he was a bit off his rocker until later) and would have liked to have had the opportunity to vote for Herman Cain. “Demographics” apparently doesn’t matter much to the traditionally democrat-voting base if the politics isn’t right.

    • No, his point is that a large part of Clinton’s “platform” will be “it’s time for a woman President. I’m a woman. I should be President”. And we need to refute that, because it’s NOT a good reason to vote for someone. And GOP candidates can’t make the point because they will get killed by the MFM, so it’s up to old curmudgeons to make the point.

      So thank you Wayne for taking one for the team.

      • That will definitely be a reason people [potentially] vote Hilary but I bet I’m not alone in saying ol’ Wayne could’ve worded that a lot better. The way he said it absolutely sounds like “it’s time for a white guy to be president again.”

        • It can certainly be twisted that way but everything Republicans say gets twisted. Look at how many people actually believe that Sarah Palin actually said that she could see Russia from her house…
          It’s time we stop beating around the bush and speak up.
          To anyone with common sense it should be obvious that he meant that we shouldn’t be voting for a type of person over the best person to lead our country back to its former glory.
          If someone can’t figure out for themselves what he actually meant then I doubt they were voting intelligently in the first place.

      • Now you have me wondering just how many years Wayne has been NRA president. It’s certainly been longer than the 8 years he is complaining about for Obama. Might be time for some new ideas at the helm of the NRA?

        • He is not the NRA president. His title is Executive Director, I believe, and as such he doesn’t get “elected”.

        • You PC perhaps haven’t been keeping up with the history of the gunbanners and the FUDD appeasers. Perhaps before your birth yesterday.

          The NRA had a longish history “working” demtard progressives of the 20th Century. Same period where the RINOs were “working” with the demtard progressive political party. Didn’t work for shit. Bend over and drop em.

          Finally the NRA majority thru the FUDDs out and took control and thru considerable weight behind preserving gun rights and the Constitution. The demtards are still pissed and obviously still on their hobbyhorse issue of banning firearms. Same period of time when Reagan extend the middle finger of friendship to the Russian Commies. He won. The demtards are still pissed that the US survived the Cold War.

          If you want to back to appeasing the demtard progressive, go over to Mediaunderground and talk to them about “responsible and reasonable” Then FOD.as you are the enemy.

          LaPierre and the NRA was/is part of the solution.

  1. Considering that Obama got so, so many free passes from the media thanks to The Narrative, is he wrong?

  2. ….. I’m not sure what the problem is. I absolutely agree with him, Obama was elected *because* he was black, and for no other reason. Electing someone for demographic symbolism was a bad idea then, and doing it again is a really bad idea.

      • No, it’s bullshit, but you guys keep telling yourselves that if it makes you feel better about the fact that the Republicans put up a terrible candidate. Twice. And are likely to do so again.

        Speaking of simplistic and weak Narratives…

        • Wrong.

          Exit polling showed that Romney beat Obama on practically every category of domestic, economic, and defense issues EXCEPT one …and that was “likability” which just so happens to be what low-information voters considered most important….as if the idiots were going to have him as a roommate. It goes without saying that the media has a big lever of control about that “likability” quotient.

        • Gore or Kerry? Are you kidding? Did you pay ANY attention to Gore and Kerry? Bush was born with more charisma than both of those trust fund brats put together. And in case you don’t recall, his political start came from his statement that if the TX legislature put a CCL bill on his desk, he would sign it. His incumbent opponent promised to veto anything and everything on the subject, even a bill to study the pros and cons. BOOM!

      • Concur that it total BS. There are not enough black votes in this country to get someone elected for only that reason. He got elected because a lot of people of all colors and creeds voted for him. I hate his politics, but I have to say he is charismatic and acts like a leader. However he should have lost because of his inexperience. He won because McCain and Romney ran lame campaigns. We darn well better up our game next time or we’ll think the Obama years were the good old days.

        • There are more than enough people saddled with “white guilt” for daring to be born with a lighter skin color. Obama had zero qualifications to be president. It’s SJWBS at its finest.

        • Acts like a leader? Every time he doesn’t get his way, he cries like a baby and enacts an Executive Order or has some agency re-interpret the law, he’s been embarrassed on the national stage by every real leader out there, he’s a joke, elected because he was somewhat hip to people who don’t know any better and because people wanted to prove to themselves they aren’t racist. If Hitlery wins it will because “it’s time for a woman president”, not because she’s a leader.

      • Seriously, some of you guys believe the only people who voted for Obama primarily because he is black were black people? Seriously? That’s where people keep making mistakes on the homosexual stuff. Sure, homosexuals are a really small percentage of the population. But the people who will support their agenda because it is the “right thing to do” are legion. Likewise there are tons of Dem white folks out there who favored Obama over the rest of the Dem field because he is black, and tons of clueless white “independents” who voted for nothing more than to have the “first black President”.

        • While that is true, blacks are around 14% of the population. They voted over 95% for Obama, no doubt because they were convinced he had the best policy chops (I am so sure!) If other votes were evenly distributed, he would have won with a 14% margin, like 57-43. Not even close. Obama was elected (twice) by racists. Without racists, he would have lost. Both times.

        • Both times Obama won republican voters were so excited about their candidate they stayed home. I am tired of voting for the lessor of two evils. How about the republican party supporting a candidate who excites voters? Just by the lay of the land the democrats only have to play a good game. We have to play an excellent game to win. Supporting the candidate with the largest war chest is not going to get Republican voters excited enough to go out and vote.

    • No, that’s not the problem. ONE president. One. 8 years. United States. 22nd amendment to the Constitution thereof. You can only get 8 years of 1 president due to term limits. Its almost as bad as 52 states.

      Sheesh, the lizard people are just screwing with us now, aren’t they? :p

      • Wow! You really don’t get it, do you? He is saying that Hillary would be more of the same, i. e. “Vote for me because I am female”. And the quote from dear leader is 57 states.

        • This.^ According to what’s been leaked by her strategists, and facts on the ground, that’s exactly the angle she’s going to play (big picture).

          She learned last time that she can’t go at it straightforward, nor can she ‘do Iowa’ the wrong way again. She’s playing the feminist card – all in. She has the MSM in her pocket, scandals, any one of which would bring down better men are being buried or poo-poo’d. I have no idea if the powers-that-be will let her take the ticket this time, or if they’ll swoop in with a new wunderkind puppet at the last minute again. Only time will tell.

        • Well, at least it would be a bit of a change to be called a sexist instead of a racist when I criticize failed leftist policies.

    • I agree with him, too, but it was quite an imprudent thing to say.

      On the other hand, there’s no need for us to get our knickers in a twist just yet. If it was so outrageous it would have been on the front page of the NY Times this morning. But it wasn’t. So I think we can all relax a little.

    • Its been nothing but race since he announced. He has interjected himself into every race baiting controversy since he took office. Won the peace prize for what? Being black? “If I had a son he would look like” “Police acted stupidly” Sharpton visits the white house weekly, and on and on. Its been nothing but about race with this guy. Criticize him, your a raciest. Question policy, your a raciest.
      The new word now that Cankels has announced will be sexisim. Don’t agree with her your sexist. Won’t vote for her, its because you don’t think a woman can do the job. I believe this is what Wayne LaPierre is saying. Are we going to get another campaign based on this time its a woman? Or are we going to talk real issues?

  3. Did he misread the prompter and meant to say “Democratically symbolic”, meaning the President has been acting more tyrannical than governing “of the people”?

    • Considering what he said right before it (a comment about Obama ushering in the coronation of Clinton) I doubt it.

  4. It’s always good to make sure that the Anti’s have enough ammo to use against us… every time they start to run out Wayne says something dumb or the Chipotle Militia shows up.

      • So it’s pandering to simply not give them ready-made sound bites that seem to reinforce the (false) narrative that all gun owners are just paranoid racist rednecks? I guess I’m a panderer then, because I don’t go around saying stupid shit that only distracts from the message I’m trying to convey.

        • I’m glad at least some other folks here understand the problem with what he said. It disturbs me that too many folks don’t.

          Reinforcing the stereotype – that the NRA is only a place for conservative-leaning possibly-racist-or-sexist white males – is amazingly stupid. And yet that is what LaPierre did with his statement.

        • You’re saying you review everything you might say to be sure it does not offend those trying to repeal the Bill of Rights? Is that really what you mean? Don’t twist the words, now, you criticize those who are out there demanding the rights guaranteed them, and you somehow feel YOU are the hero? Good grief.

      • Yup. The current generation of gun owners are composed of delicate flowers that need to get along with everyone. Heaven forefend someone speaks the truth and hurts feelings. Whaaaaa whaaaa….can you imagine how much longer Uncle Ted will be accepted? Or hells bells, Jeff Cooper must be spinning in his grave.

  5. I’m pretty sure he was talking about an urbanite (black, white or whatever)… however, I’m sure you are right about how it will be represented to the public.

    • Ha ha ha. Sure. Okay.

      Wayne LaPierre is a terrible representative for the gun community.

      He is continually trying to dog whistle back through time to members who existed in 1952.

  6. The point isn’t being right, it’s winning. I should join the NRA just to try and get someone who is less of an ass hat in. The NRA needs to be about guns, and gun rights (self defense, hunting, etc). The farthest off topic they should go is conservation (gota have something to hunt). Instead, they seem to be very pro police, and pro Republican. They should back pro gun people, with little regard for party (at present, I would expect a person with a given stance to be more likely to stay pro gun if they are a Repub than a Demo, but especially after being tested (ie, voting our way despite being under serious pressure to do otherwise), anyone should get an A rating.

    Could we get someone less likely to offend the middle? We will never convince the hard core, but the people in the middle are in play, and looking like a racist ass hat (and making the rest of us look that way by association) is no way to win. It doesn’t matter if he’s right. It’s an ugly quote, and will win us no friends.

    • If you haven’t noticed, pro-gun Democrates have become far and few between over the past 20 years. They do back them when they actually exist.

    • Speaking of racists, where’d you get your avatar?;-) Just hassling you – I named the boat I Iived on for five years (and still own) “Miskatonic”. The coast guard even excepted Arkham MA as the home port. If I could get my avatar to work on this site you might recognize it from an HPL movie.

    • Unfortunately, 3rd party candidates will lose, so you have either the Democrat Party or the GOP. If the Democrat Party wins the White House in 2016, we will lose the 2nd amendment. The next president will be appointing at least one new Justice for the Supreme Court, if not two. A Democrat president will appoint justices who will intentionally apply a different interpretation of the 2nd amendment than those who wrote it. In other words, if the GOP loses in 2016, the 2nd amendment is gone, then the 1st, and it will take a revolution to get those rights back. So, you are either onboard for a GOP victory, smelly as they may be, or you are with the Democrat Party. It is just the way it is. In WWII, we knew how bad Stalin was, but we needed him on our side to win. We need to ally with the GOP to win. We can fight our cold war later.

      • That’s funny, my father says the same thing except that it is the Republicans I will be with if I don’t vote or vote 3rd party. Is he less right than you? I suspect it is reasoning like this is why we end up with such shitty politicians.

        • That’s why you have party primaries. Third parties in the general election are political suicide.

        • This is just my opinion, but, when you vote for someone you are condoning everything you can reasonably guess that they will do. I’ll not have some of these things on my conscience. I generally have a bit more sympathy for Republicans but I am not at all certain that they are more ethical than the Dems. Like the Dems they usually blame their own misdeeds on expediency in the face of a worse opponent. I don’t believe that one can do net good by doing wrong. The ends don’t justify the means. I realize that there is a reasonable counter argument to this though.

        • Don’t be a spoiled brat. There is room for Libertarians and other parties in the primary (example Ron Paul and others). Work for your guy. If wins great, if he loses to another republican candidate than vote for him. A non-vote at general election time is just childish.

        • pwrserge – That could be true if one’s judgement were infallible. There is a lot we don’t and can’t know. There are good reasons that humility is considered a virtue.

        • doesky2 – It would indeed be childish if I did so out of spite. I am pretty sure that I made it clear that that was not the case. Adherence to principles is not childish.

      • Agree, without a Republican elected to the office in 2016. 2nd.Amendment is in jeopardy. Would not put it past the old biddy who sits on the bench now to resign if a conservative is elected so Obama could try to appoint another of his choosing. I know how distasteful it is to vote for less than a true conservative candidate, but if the voters who sat out voting for Romney, had voted we would have had 4 to 8 years of 2nd. amendment rights security.

      • As has happened several times before, if neither the Democrat nor the Republican candidate earns my vote, I will still vote, just to demonstrate that fact. Which leaves me voting for a third party or a nutcake “rent is too DAMN high” candidate. Pretending it is supposed to be a joke is insulting, the intent is clear. If you want MY vote, you are going to have to earn it. Tell me I am handing the election to this piece of shit, I don’t care. My alternate choice is the other piece of shit. Either earn my vote, or do not expect it.

        Freedom. It’s pretty easy. Concoct a platform which does not profess to force anyone to conform to someone else’s wishes, if it is not your business, STFU. Problem is, Demobrats push several liberties and wish to ignore others, and Republicrats take a precisely opposing view. That is not possible naturally, somebody would advocate freedom in all things. So, we have a conspiracy? I don’t think so. Eventually we will get normal people so pissed off that they will actually pay attention for more than a week. It is entirely possible that this effect could come to pass peaceably.

  7. If he actually said that, he needs to resign, and the NRA needs to find someone who won’t say things that do nothing but help the enemies of gun rights.

    EVEN IF you believe what he said is “accurate” … it is NOT something the spokesperson for the NRA should say. EVER. It gains us NOTHING and only gives our enemies ammunition (figuratively speaking) to use against us.

    In the world of politics, you DO NOT WIN by saying stupid sh!t.

    • Is it just cause its early that no one seems to be getting that you can’t have more than 8 years of a single president due to the term limits amendment?

      • Holy crap, it is early. I read it as demagogue. Good grief, he had to have misread the teleprompter or something. Well, this is going to be an interesting news cycle.

    • “in the world of politics, you do not win by openly speaking the truth.”
      There, fixed it for you…

    • Agree. Stick to guns only. Needlessly offending the easily offended causes them to reject the more important 2A issue.

        • Like ’em or not, anyone’s vote to elect a candidate counts just as much as yours. Right now, with the way things are, they can vote to put someone in office who will vote to take your rights away.

          The legislators shouldn’t be able to do that, but they can and many of them do, every chance they get.

      • On the whole, those “easily offended” (the professionally aggrieved) generally aren’t too big on the 2A anyway.

  8. I assume there is more to that quote to actually give context. Was he saying vote Hillary if you like her policies not just because she is female? Vote Ted Cruz if you think he has done something other than talk not because he is Cuban/Canadian?

    If it is that then fair play but someone needs to look for the sound bites that can be taken out of context.I am sure none of the right wing commentators would take liberals comments out of context though.

  9. He’s not wrong no matter how poorly the comment was phrased.

    The thing to do now is ignore the anti’s when they try and make political hay from it.

    • I’m not sure what the fuss is. I understood what he was saying instantly, and think many others would, as well. I HOPE the media decides to spread that sentiment around, and, yes, it applies to Cruz, Rubio, and Fiorina as well as Hillary. But it was Hillary who jumped right out telling people to vote for her because she’s a woman. She has no (positive) accomplishments, is generally rude, arrogant and abrasive, and gives no hint of any platform, just “Look at me! I’m HILLARY! I’m so great I don’t even have to to obey the law! Once I’m prez, you are REALLY going to see something!”

  10. Too many of ya’ll who are pointing out he’s “right” would apparently rather be right than successful. If you didn’t care about looks in a mate and married someone you’re perfectly happy with but was unattractive, would you TELL her she was unattractive? You’d be right, but I doubt you’d be “successful”. In politics, you ought to avoid lying, but you darned sure better not always tell all the truth that you know, unless you want to be an accurate and correct loser. It’s time the crypt-keeper LaPierre gave way to Chris Cox, at least as the public face of the organization. He can be the puppet master, as he’s earned the right, but he needs to stop demanding that he make all the speeches and major appearances. He just can’t keep his political foot out of his gaunt, elderly-appearing mouth.

    • “…Too many of ya’ll who are pointing out he’s “right” would apparently rather be right than successful”

      True.

      But!

      We are dealing with something that has *already* been said. The deed has been done so now it is up to us to do something with it.

  11. While it may not have been a comment to win the hearts and minds of those opposing us, he does speak the truth. Obama was elected based on feel good talks and because he used emotional appeals on his demographic base (i.e. African Americans and other minorities). His politics are asinine and he can’t lead the country by any means other than throwing temper tantrums and ramming his views down everyone’s throats until he wins. He’s nothing more than a symbol, a pole turtle. Enough is enough. If we’re going to have an African American president or a female president, let them be qualified based on their ability to lead and unite the country, not because of their race or gender.

  12. He is accurate on the facts, but politically incorrect. The NRA will be labeled racist. We elected a President whose biggest claim to fame was being a community organizer and whom the DNC believed would make history as a black man versus having a women president.

    The democrats are big on symbolism which is why Hillary is already the anointed next president. The qualifications of the person does not matter but the idea of a first women president is more important to their largest base which is women. They believe that making history is better than sound pro growth policy. Many in the DNC believe that they “owe” Hillary the presidency.

    Hell the democrats have voted in dead candidates, candidates who are locked in jail and those committed to psychiatric treatment and that is just in CT. The party is all about emotion over substance and have lemmings of urban voters to back them up. It does not help that the Republican side is often too weak or can say stupid sh!t which the democratic media will be quick to exploit.

  13. It is a sad day in America when a person who points out that a President was elected (twice) for no real reason other than his demographic profile said to have ‘spoken poorly’ for having stated so.

    I guess the republicans need to field a candidate that is a half-asian, half-black female in order to win the election, since apparently THAT is the only thing that matters these days.

    I weep for this country, I truly do.

    • The truth of what he said doesn’t matter. His job is communicating publicly to garner support and strengthen the Second Amendment. With this comment he helps the other side in their campaign to paint the NRA and gun owners in general as racist old white guys. What matters in the public relations ability and communication ability. Anyway the truth is that gun owners are NOT only old fat racist white guys, obviously. As long as you support gun rights frankly I don’t give a shit about anybody’s race or whatever else. This stupid comment just helps the other side. The NRA should worry less about whipping up life members to get more donations and more about expanding gun rights and their appeal.

  14. Eight years of one politician from the most corrupt of political machines, Chicago. A politician who never worked a job where he had to sit in the big chair and make the big decisions. A politician whose only concern was the image of his legacy. A politician the media fawned all over because he would be a demographically symbolic president but not a qualified president.

  15. Frankly, I think he’s right. Our president should be elected for the quality of his character rather than the color of his skin. Or gender.

    I’m on of the best dozen or so in the whole effin world at what I do and I’ve busted my ass getting there. Going back to the days of the “token XXX,” as we are, is repulsive.

    You white folk need to get over your guilt. Both Walter Williams and I officially forgive you. And my wife forgives all you men, so don’t feel a need to vote for Hillary.

  16. Stupid, stupid, stupid. LaPierre sucks. The NRA needs to get some vision and see the bigger picture. There are a multitude of factors, women taking an interest in guns, (justifiably) declining faith in central authority in the US doing the right thing, and old media dying all of which mean that with some communications ability and real strategy the NRA could help fix the damage that a generation of “leaders” raised in the 1960’s did to gun rights in this country. But no. We have NRA leadership saying dumb crap like this. In past years you saw LaPierre go off chattering about Obamacare. Obamacare is shitty legislation (clearly) but they do a disservice to all of us when they go off spouting about things that only (perhaps tangentially if at all) involve the Second Amendment.

  17. Well, it is certainly true that Barry is a joker who only got elected based on his ethnicity and his familial connections, but I feel like Uncle Wayne has missed the big picture.

    I get uncomfortable when people say he only got elected because he was black, because that was just one factor… his mother was a spook who worked at the Ford Foundation, a well known intel front.

    Barry is a made man, just like every other potential candidate for that office. The fact he is black was just convenient.

  18. In 2008 Barak Obama was “demographically” significant, but he also had a message that resonated powerfully with the American People, many of whom had realized the U.S. Invasion of Iraq was a terrible mistake, the economy was in freefall and John McCain was only promising more, even expanded, War in the Middle East. La Pierre’s mis-speak was to focus on only one factor of the equation, and possibly the least relevant given what we have learned about Obama since.
    La Pierre seems to think his primary audience is still a lot of OFWG’s with money to give to the NRA. That misconception makes and has made for many years La Pierre irrelevant, himself. Sadly, the NRA is stuck in its own version of “the good ol’ boys” syndrome and cannot see this major failure.
    I had some hope when the NRA hired Colion Noir as a spokesperson and turned him loose, but they still field the tired old man Wayne La Pierre for major position statements, and he still says silly things that miss the mark and create opportunities for the anti’s to ridicule the NRA. Now, those silly things annoy and alienate those who should belong to and support the NRA.
    No, Mr. La Pierre, it has nothing to do with Barak Obama as a “demographic symbol” and everything to do with you and your speech writers being terribly out of step with contemporary American Gun Owners. You are doing more damage than good and those OFWG’s with money you pander to are dying-out. Thank-you for your many years of service, but your time is over.

  19. I think there’s a lot of meat on the bone here for everybody. First and foremost, really dumb thing to say on LaPierre’s part. For a supposedly experienced head honcho, he sure does act like it’s his first day sometimes. Second, while he may be technically correct (I think a fair number of people voted for Obama simply because they wanted to see a black president), like others have already stated, the Republicans have repeatedly put up sorry excuses for candidates as well. I’m hoping they learn their lesson and don’t put up the same dregs against Hilary. Third, if you wanted to improve the image of the NRA with a wider swath of America, you’re sure not helping yourself, because the optics of this are terrible. Find a decent speechwriter, please, and stay on script.

  20. Some of you people really, really need to think about what he said.

    These are his words (at 9:24 here: https://youtu.be/8KzrZnfvq1Y?t=9m24s ):

    “And when [Obama is] finished, he intends to go out with a coronation of Hillary Rodham Clinton. Yeah … I have to tell ya, eight years of one demographically symbolic president is enough.”

    This is some what people are going to hear:

    “Well, we had a non-white male as president. He was horrible. Now they want us to have a female president. That would suck. We should to go back to only having white males as presidents.”

    Why shouldn’t anyone interpret it that way? And HOW DOES THAT HELP?

    If you instead choose to believe that he meant that too many blacks voted for Obama because he’s black, and too many women will vote for Clinton because she’s female … that may be true in some cases – certainly not all. But then, what you’re effectively suggesting is that blacks and/or women are too stupid to vote properly. How does proclaiming that help?

    EVEN IF you believe any of the above, you need to realize that it – in no way – helps either the NRA, the gun rights movement, or ANY political candidate affiliated with the NRA. It only hurts.

    If Thomas Sowell or Larry Elder or Nikki Haley or Mia Love became president, would that be bad because none of them are white males?

    The problem isn’t the gender or the race of any particular candidate. It’s their views. And straying from that and focusing on race and gender is politically dumb. Calling voters too stupid to vote in their own best interests is also politically dumb.

    Many on the left have accused Republicans of hating Obama only because he’s black. HIS STATEMENT CONTRIBUTES TO THEIR ARGUMENT.

    As spokesperson for the NRA, he should do a lot better than making statements that – at best – can be wildly misinterpreted, and can be presumed to be bigoted and bring scorn and derision upon both the organization and the gun rights movement.

    He needs to either resign or be fired. He’s made dumb statements before. Apparently he’s going to continue to make them.

  21. He might as well have said…

    “I have a dream, that one day the president of the United States will be chosen not only by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.”

    It might have gone over better than this.

  22. Oh noes now everyone will think the nra is full of racist whitefolk even though it isn’t! What a shocking development whatsoever should we do????

    • @LofL, well..if one were to read and believe the majority of the chicken little posts here, we should panic, run around like chickens with our heads cut off, scream, pander, cry, kiss Leftist ass, panic some more, beg forgiveness, stop sending money to NRA and instead send money to the Amerikan Soviet Party and the NCCRAP, panic a bit more, fire Wayne, wring our hands and gnash our teeth, beg and plead, sacrifice our first born on the altar of PCism, and wave the white flag.

      Yeah. Brilliant.

  23. Wow. Did everyone wake up on the thin skinned side of the bed today. Wayne didn’t say anything wrong actually the campaign played up the race card as much if not more than anything else. The president didn’t run on experience or accomplishments. Of course he was awarded the Nobel peace price for the appearance that he would bring peace to the world. Lay off Wayne. I am tired of every keyboard commando so insulted every time someone speaks their mind, especially if they are calling out a person who is skating by one a smile and his minority status in his job.

    One more thing. Quite being worried about what the other side will do with a phrase here and there. If they have to they will just make stuff up. Go and be the good second amendment representatives to your neighbors and when it comes time to defend the rights they will know you more than they will know the memes on the web.

    • Day-aam, I’m agreeing with El Mac on something!

      Well said, Cyrano. I once had an iconic conversation with an Obama voter. The guy was an accomplished businessman, pretty well off, an east coaster recently relocated to Texas. He admitted that he’s twice voted for Obama because he felt obligated to vote for the first black president. Although he is now appalled by Obama’s policies, he defended his vote because, as a white guy, he wanted to make a symbolic gesture by voting for America’s first black president.

      This is exactly the kind of demographic symbolism that Wayne is talking about. In this he was figuratively and literally correct. Many Americans voted for a minimally qualified presidential candidate because he was black. Period. Had he not been black, anybody with his scant experience in actual governing wouldn’t have come close to being president, much less getting elected to the Senate or, really, having much of a political career at all. There’s a reason Obama has refused to release his college transcripts.

      In the black community, there’s a traditional folkloric social role called “the trickster”. The trickster is a well-spoken con-artist who excels at getting The Man to give him free stuff. While he’s charming to the white folks who’s good stuff he wants, he’s also sending sly signals to black-folk that tells them what he’s really up to. That’s Obama. He’s America’s first affirmative action, anti-American president. Wayne speaks truth to power. In this he is absolutely fearless . . . and in this case absolutely accurate.

  24. The NRA really needs a president who will stay on message. Regardless of whether Wayne LaPierre’s statement is right or wrong, he has just handed the antis everything they need to call its membership racists and sexists for the next election cycle. The antis say so many stupid things about guns, gun owners, crime, crime statistics, policing, and so many other topics. The NRA should be making hay on those things instead of handing the antis statements to make hay on. Put another way, the NRA should stick to talking about gun rights and closely related issues. All other political matters should be left for other groups. The NRA membership isn’t paying dues to have somebody talk about the selection process for the Democrat Party’s presidential candidate.

  25. First thing I saw this morning was this story posted by one of my liberal Facefart friends that I trade political jabs with from time to time. And yeah he took what LaPierre said just the way you would expect antis to take it. From the comments that followed seconding his point of view, it became obvious to me that the NRA is hated not just because of guns. To many on the left, whether by accident or design, the NRA has become the face of the non-self loathing OFWG demographic they just love to hate. And while that image may be true to some extent, if the NRA is going to play politics,(and I agree we need to and do a good job at it) we need to be aware that others are watching when preaching to the choir at these pep rallys. I understand and agree with the point he was making, but it could have been said smarter.

    • Let’s face it, nobody on the liberal/progressive left is ever going to agree with anything coming from the NRA! Wayne understands this quite well, as does the leadership of the NRA. As a former leftest, I must admit that I find the NRA’s establishment style maneuvers a little off-putting, I give ’em full support because they’re been playing this game for decades. And winning. Everytime, they win. And when the NRA wins WE win.

      • I don’t expect the NRA to ever be friends with the progs, but we need to win the hearts of the middle not push them away. Most people aren’t very discerning about politics and take everything at face value. If the NRA believes a GOP win is in the best interest of gun ownership, we need some of those people that voted for the demographically symbolic president to switch sides.

        • @Wiregrass, and how do you propose we do that? Give ’em mo free shit? Sorry, but the Soviet Progs got that angle all locked up….

        • Or not vote at all, which is probably more likely. Still, I understand your point. That said, with the exception of places with solid liberal/progressive demographics, America’s body politic is rapidly moving away from alignment with gun-control ideology. Politically and socially the gun-control movement is failing. A big reason for that failure is the NRA.

        • No need to pander, just don’t say stupid shit. I give basic instruction to first time gun owners fairly regularly, of a wide range in age and many of them women. Most of these people are open minded, they have their own reasons for owning a gun. They aren’t there for the politics, or to learn how to be a bad ass operator, they just want to learn how to use their gun safely. Most of them aren’t that fervent about gun rights, at least not yet. There have to be many others leaning toward but not yet taking that step toward gun ownership. At least until they get turned off by some ignorant remark. I represent the NRA as a welcoming and thoughtful organization to dispel the hostile stereotypes not reinforce them. That can be done without changing the message or pandering.

  26. So he tries to spit on Hillary’s qualifications and he ends up crapping on women in general. Brilliant! What a marooon! He either needs a different speech writer, or he should just keep his mouth shut in public.

  27. I am not a huge fan of LaPierre and I would prefer they had a different person in that position. The thing is the opposition already labels the NRA as racist child killers. There might be something they could say that would please them but not likely anything that will ever actually come from the NRA. So the real issue is if this statement hurts the cause of gun rights or defeating HRC in the eyes of the undecided.

    Oh the delicate undecided. I have a very hard time wanting to go out of my way to please someone that is willing to trash a right based on a disagreeable comment from another regardless of who it is. “The mean old guy from NRA said something I don’t like so we need to further infringe the 2A” is not the thought process of a person that can be reasoned with, at least on scary gun rights. Protection of rights should not depend on the silence or agreeable statements of those I don’t like.

    Also if this kind of statement from a gun rights org is the tipping point for someone deciding to vote for HRC I am going to suggest they really are not undecided.

    • ““The mean old guy from NRA said something I don’t like so we need to further infringe the 2A” is not the thought process of a person that can be reasoned with, at least on scary gun rights. . .”

      Sorry, but the “delicate undecided” (good choice of words) are never going to support 2nd amendment constitutional rights. At best they’ll support the “reasonable” gun-control measures that, while not outright confiscation, nonetheless lead to exactly that. They are not our friends.

    • The “delicate undecided” are often deciding to become new gun owners. Sales statistics, enrollment in gun safety and CCW classes, and our own experience at the gun store and on the range all prove that. We should not just write them off. We are gaining ground with them and we can continue to gain unless we say or do something stupid to reverse the course. Gun owners engaged in grass roots politics are the mainstay against the erosion of our rights. We should be doing everything possible to make gun ownership attractive and fight the stereotypes the Left tries to paint on us.

      The problem I have with Mr. LaPierre’s statement is that it plays right into those stereotypes. It doesn’t matter if his statement was true, and it doesn’t matter whether he really meant it to be racist or sexist or not. Even the greenest spin doctor on the Left could use it very effectively to say “See, we told you gun owners are a bunch of racist, misogynist hicks.” Of course we can deny the charge, but the leader of our own movement said it. Again, it doesn’t matter if it’s true or not, because it’s politics. Sound bytes reign supreme and the truth is a distant afterthought. Every politician understands the danger in handing a damaging sound byte to an opponent, and the NRA needs to understand it too.

      • @DetroitMan, negative Ghost Rider. TRUTH is what matters. Politics and half truths are what landed your namesake city in the crapper it is in and has been in for the last 40-50 years. No thanks. TRUTH or nothing.

        • El Mac: The antis don’t share your convictions. They will twist and pervert the truth until it serves their cause. They will lie if it serves their cause. Politics is a game of message, not of truth. It helps if the truth is on your side, but a clever opponent can still beat you with a lie. The way you say something is as important, if not more important, than what you say. That is the lesson that Wayne LaPierre and the NRA need to learn. Careless statements help your opponent, whether there is truth in them or not.

          What landed my namesake city in the crapper were corrupt politicians and their lies. When somebody told the truth, they resorted to race baiting to discredit it. It worked for 40 or 50 years and you have seen the result. What Mr. LaPierre said has just handed the antis a huge tool they can use for race baiting to discredit our message.

        • @DetroitMan, whatever man. If lying works for you, knock yourself out. If people require being lied to before they can vote, well eff ’em, they get what they deserve.

        • El Mac: I am not advocating lying. I fully support telling the truth. The distinction I am making is that not all truths are helpful in political speech.

          If Democrats believe there is good in choosing symbolic presidential candidates, so what? How does it help us to point that out? In my opinion, it does more harm than good. Presidential elections are decided by the independent voters, unless one side’s base stays home. The progressives will use Mr. LaPierre’s statement to paint us as racists, which will help them sway those independent voters. When making political speech, you have to think about how the other side will use or spin what you say. If you don’t, you hand your opponent weapons to use against you that they wouldn’t possess otherwise. Unless you come up with a logical reason for how Mr. LaPierre’s statement helps us, you can’t convince me that it was a good thing to say.

  28. For all of my above comments that may lead to a different impression, I have to say that when I first read the quote I was not happy that it came out that way. It’s not like the antis won’t make up “ammo” when there isn’t any, but sometimes when they do they get caught at it. When we give them real stuff to work with, it is not helpful. I would also note that there is a lot of ground between “kissing their arses” and shooting yourself in the foot on their behalf.

  29. Obama was elected because he is “black” and Clinton will run on being a woman… If you can’t see that you have blinders on.

    • 1) Wayne is not officially linked to the GOP and he doesn’t have to run for office, so he can afford to say uncomfortable truths and draw some fire off of the GOP.

      2) Clinton and Obama began this fight by essentially declaring war on the NRA and the 2nd Amendment. Well, now the NRA is just learning from Alinsky too.

      • The NRA is a gun rights organization, not a Super PAC for the GOP. It’s not their job to say uncomfortable things that the GOP can’t say, nor should it be. Let Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity attack the Democrats for their desire to elect symbolic presidents. The NRA should be attacking the stupid and untruthful things the antis say to further their cause.

        • Like it or not the gun right movement is now part of the larger conservative political coalition – it was not always that way, but since the Dem/Left/Progs have now become amost completely anti-gun, it was innevitable.

        • Just because we are part of the coalition doesn’t mean we have to do their dirty work for them. We should be especially careful about making statements that could be construed as racist. Black people have long been anti gun and pro Democrat. Their community is starting to realize that anti gun ideology isn’t making them safe, and they are starting to arm themselves. The NRA should be welcoming them into the fold, not making statements that could push them away. Beyond that, racism is a huge turn off for the younger generation, another group that is starting to arm themselves and also becoming a significant voting block.

          I’m fine with the NRA supporting conservatives since they have been the best friends of gun rights. I just want them to be careful about alienating people unnecessarily. We need more shooters, more NRA members, and more support at the poles if we want to preserve our rights in the long term. Statements that push people away from our cause are counterproductive.

    • No kidding Rock On…and my pretty black wife has been mightily annoyed at people congratulating her for Barry Soetoro. I see NOTHING wrong on what Wayne said(if a bit inartfully). Neither Barry or the hildebeast have any business being POTUS…

      • The truth being Obama was elected because he’s black? 1)[Citation needed] 2) How is that any LESS racist than any other “… because he’s black” exploitation by race-baiters? This is just straight pandering to the OFWG crowd, just as Sharpton & co pander to exploit black communities. It’s tone-deaf, narrow-minded, and only serves to hurt the cause. It may be music to your ears, but it’s not like you’re going to run out and vote for Hillary if LaPierre DIDN’T say it. Pandering to people who are already going to vote your way does not help us one bit.

        • Neither read nor addressed any points in my post. Seems you’d rather stick your fingers in your ears and just repeat the same thing over and over.

        • Prove that he was elected because he was black? Challenge Accepted.

          In 2008, white bread presidential canidate Barak Obama runs against Hillary Clinton for the nomination of his party with almost no qualifications and an absolute minimum of track record. His platform is little more than ambiguous, feel good campaign promises… So basically the same guy except he’s white. You’re honestly going to sit there and tell everybody here that he would have won the nomination against a more or less fresh Hillary Clinton?

          Sorry, no, Nice try.

        • You just mashed together a whole lot of generalizations while ignoring everything else. He ran primarily as the anti-Bush. His campaign focused in on everything people didn’t like about Bush and went with that. Just look at the original campaign promises that his voters ate up. That was the whole premise behind the “Change” slogan. Hillary ran on being a Clinton. But, sure, inject race into everything. That’s totally NOT racist.

  30. Wow, judging by all the NRA/LaPierre hate on here, TTAG sure has a lot of young, MTV-raised mocha-chino swillers who keep their pleated Dockers very clean and probably never deployed. Don’t worry, once The Queen is crowned you won’t have to worry about the Horrible NRA anymore. And then we can stop worrying about offending the Anti-Freedom Progressives and focus on not offending the Jihadi Muslims.

    Nobody on the Left gives a shite about how politically correct and non-offensive you are. Hearts and Minds, my arse.

  31. You clowns are ridiculous for criticising LaPierre. He wasn’t talking about the female demographic. He was clearly addressing the geriatric set.

    “Vote for Hillary. She’s Old! And a Grandma!”

  32. You know, if he’d said …

    “People should not vote for someone based on a person’s gender or on the color of their skin. People should vote for someone based on how they will uphold their oath to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. And that includes all of its amendments, including the 2nd.”

    … then many of us wouldn’t be upset. We’d have supported him. It would have been anti-racist, anti-sexist and only the most delusional of folks could say otherwise.

    But that’s not what he said. That’s not close to what he said. He made a snarky comment that can easily be interpreted as prejudiced against racial minorities and/or women.

  33. With everybody complaining about how they want a conservative presidential canidate to tell it like it is and to stop pandering, there sure seems to be a whole lot of whining when sombody actually does.

    • A presidential candidate who said word for word what Mr. LaPierre said would be dead in the polls within 24 hours. Even hinting at what he said could be politically damaging. Whether we like it or not, political correctness does play a role in elections. Absolutely no good comes from saying that Obama was elected because of his race. Even if it were true, the backlash isn’t worth saying it. That statement only plays well with the Republican base, and there aren’t enough of them to carry an election.

      There are many truths to tell that will help a candidate instead of hurting them. A smart candidate knows which ones to tell and which ones to leave unspoken. That’s the candidate I want, and I wouldn’t mind having someone like that speaking for the NRA either. A candidate who always speaks his mind and loses the election because of it doesn’t help us one bit.

  34. The PR firm he has in control of the NRA probably decided he should say that because they know the Republicans don’t have any candidates worth crap.

    Nobody has any candidates worth crap. And that’s because no one with a backbone and a love of individual rights can get past the unofficial primary in this country, the one run by the money men who decide which candidates are worth backing/buying.

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