In a world where fake outrage is ginned up every single day to promote one’s brand and raise money, the National Rifle Association is excelling.
On Sunday going into the 90th Annual Academy Awards, this video of NRA spokeswoman Dana Loesch was posted criticizing Hollywood.
“They use their movie stars and singers and comedy shows and awards shows to repeat their narrative over and over again….All to make them march. Make them protest. Make them scream 'racism' and 'sexism' and 'xenophobia' and 'homophobia.'” @DLoesch #Oscars pic.twitter.com/fjgdiQg4nN— NRATV (@NRATV) March 5, 2018
In the ad, Loesch says, “They use their media to assassinate real news. They use school to teach children that their president is another Hitler. They use their movie stars and singers and comedy shows and awards shows to repeat their narrative over and over again. And then they use their ex-president to endorse ‘The Resistance.’ All to make them march. Make them protest. Make them scream ‘racism’ and ‘sexism’ and ‘xenophobia’ and ‘homophobia.'”
Loesch continues on to say that in order to stop all the “rioting,” they need to stand up and fight with a “clenched fist of truth.”
What does any of this have to do with protecting gun rights?
At this point, who knows. Loesch, like NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre, is attempting to paint an image that law-abiding gun owners should be scared of the so-called boogeymen in Hollywood trying to take their guns when they really have no power to do so whatsoever.
Under eight years of President Barack Obama, the NRA could say they had a legitimate concern that Obama was trying to come for their guns, given his “cling to guns or religion” line during the 2008 campaign. He implemented a rule that barred law-abiding Social Security recipients from purchasing firearms, which even the ACLU and disability groups opposed. That Obama-era regulation was overturned by President Trump and the GOP in February 2017.
But, just this past week, Trump said that he’s willing to circumvent due process in order to prevent another mass shooting, saying, “Take the firearms first and then go to court because that’s another system — a lot of times by the time you go to court, it takes so long to go to court, to get the due process procedures.”
Trump’s comments are actually concerning, and, if anything, shows his love/hate relationship with the Constitution. Of course, Trump backed off of those remarks and needed a meeting with the NRA to remind him where he’s supposed to stand on gun rights.
But that barely got any mention from the NRA. Why? Fundraising.
The NRA endorsed then-candidate Donald Trump after he all but secured the Republican nomination heading into the convention in May 2016. Why would they go after Trump now? It doesn’t do them any favors with their members and supporters.
As much as Hollywood has tried to put forward some comprehensive solution on guns to Congress, they haven’t succeeded. They, like the creeping socialism LaPierre is apparently apprehensive over, are not the issue anymore.
It’s time to stop being mad at everything all the time and actually promote a message of unity. Isn’t that something both sides can agree on?
Siraj Hashmi is a commentary video editor and writer for the Washington Examiner.
