The NRA's $3.5 Million-Dollar Man

Scott Walker at 2012 NRA Convention

Last week, another 17 high school kids were murdered by a crazy person with a gun. Rather than act to end this all-too-common slaughter of innocents, America will do nothing.

The NRA is way too powerful for any meaningful and common-sense regulation of weapons of mass destruction. We will see no restrictions on the purchase of efficient human-killing machines. No increased waiting periods. No universal background checks. No banning of military-type weapons. No restrictions on bump-stocks or trigger cranks. No limits on high capacity magazines. 

Despite all of the new youthful optimism and zeal to address the problem, nothing will be done. Despite all of the marches and listening session and interviews, we will have more massacres. The NRA owns too many politicians for things to change.

With our current leadership, there will be nothing done at a national level to stop the killing. Only in a few progressive regions will anything be done at the state level. We have no hope of a common-sense legislative response in Wisconsin, so long as the NRA-owned Scott Walker and his batshit-crazy GOP legislature are in power.

After the latest tragedy, Governor Walker issued a predictable statement. He spoke of prayers for the victims. He ordered flags to be lowered. But in his 124-word statement, he did not once mention the words "gun", "weapon", or "shooting".

Like many politicians who are fully-owned NRA vassals, Walker blames everything for the mass-murders except the actual problem -the easy availability of rapid-fire guns. In his statement, he spoke of mental health. He gave vague promises of action that will never come, saying, "Here in Wisconsin we will continue to work with legislators and law enforcement on how to best keep our communities safe." 

Walker and the NRA go back a long way. He has been a proud member for years. As Milwaukee County Executive, Walker gave the welcoming speech at the 2006 National Convention held here. In a later interview, Walker gushed about meeting the off-his-rocker rocker and renowned pants-pooper, Ted Nugent at the Convention.

By any measure, Scott Walker is in the pocket of the NRA. He was endorsed by the group during both the 2010 and 2014 gubernatorial elections. The group has propped-up their boy with contributions of over $3.5 million dollars for his elections in 2010, 2012, and 2014.

In their 2014 endorsement, an NRA spokesman expressed their over-the-top love for Walker, "Scott Walker is a battle-tested leader in the fight to preserve Second Amendment rights in Wisconsin. He's never wavered, never backed down and never stood still in the fight to protect our freedoms."

Walker spoke at the national NRA Leadership meeting in 2012 in St. Louis. At that session, he was awarded the gun lobbying-group's highest honor, the Harlan B. Carter Award. Walker was given this dubious award after he signed Wisconsin's Concealed Paranoid-Carry Bill into law.

With the stroke of his pen, Walker had turned our state into the wild West. He made all Wisconsin citizens less safe from stray bullets. During his acceptance speech, Walker bellowed, "It's all about freedom and that's what the NRA is all about ! "

Also adding to Walker's NRA luster was Wisconsin's Castle Doctrine Law "I can Murder a Drunk Kid on my Porch" Law that our governor signed in December 2011.

Walker at 2015 NRA Convention

Walker was unable to attend the 2013 National meeting, but sent a short video to his favorite lobbyist and contributor. He atoned by speaking again at the 2015 convention. In a warm-up for his 2016 presidential run, Walker strutted the stage, crowing about his perfect A+ NRA Score as Governor, "I'm proud of my A+ ranking as governor. I'm proud of that, even though some on the left might say it's a scarlet letter. ....I consider it a badge of honor."

Walker has a long history as a favorite NRA asset. He has consistently defended them, no matter how extreme their position. In turn, the NRA has consistently endorsed and funded Walker. 

We cannot expect Scott Walker to buck his controllers at the NRA. Wisconsin will not get common sense gun laws as long as the NRA's $3.5 Million-dollar Man is our Governor.

Ineffective Gun Controls, But Highly Effective Border Wall ?

Righties are often inconsistent in their opinions. The latest manifestation of that inconsistency is the MAGAtts' insistence that no gun control steps could possibly be effective in slowing the epidemic of gun violence. They tell us that there is nothing that we can do to lessen the odds that innocent men, women, and children will be gunned-down in our streets.

At the same time, many of these same folks insist that Trump's wall will be extraordinarily effective in stopping determined economic refugees from entering our country. They believe that once the dotard's Great Wall is erected, we will finally be safe from those darn illegals, their drugs, and their violence.

In just about any discussion with pro-death gun nuts, we are informed that there is nothing that will end the nearly daily American mass murders. They believe that there is no reason to ban weapon enhancements such as silencers, bump stocks, micro-penis compensators, high capacity clips, gat cranks, flash suppressors, etc. After all, once these devices are made illegal, psycho killers could still easily obtain them (assuming that they have access to a metal machine shop, an industrial-grade 3-D printer, or an outlaw arms merchant).

We are weary of hearing how inventive, resourceful, or handy crazy mass-murderers are. In reality, most of these sickos have neither the patience or engineering ability to boost the lethality of their guns on their own. Experts agree that making it illegal to produce, sell, or own lethality-enhancement devices such as these will go a long way toward cutting America's death count.

We are nauseated by the pro-death crowd telling us that we shouldn't have universal background checks. That there is no reason to ban gun sales to watch-list terrorists, the mentally ill, the senile, or domestic abusers. After all, these people will find someone who will sell them a murder weapon, no questions asked. Pro-deathers believe that nobody will ever report sketchy purchasers to the authorities. They think that no responsible citizens will gladly speak-up to head-off the next Sandy Hook massacre.

We are fed-up with pro-deathers who get into a semantics morass when the topic of banning semi-automatics and assault rifles comes up. (What do you mean by an assault rifle? What really is a semi-automatic?) They get into the circular argument that we shouldn't ban the carrying of weapons of war at the local mall. After all, there are already so many of these human-killing machines on our streets that it won't do any good to outlaw their carry, manufacture, or sale. They really believe that a halt to making new rapid-fire guns and aggressive buy-back programs will do nothing to lessen the chance that one will be discharged in your direction.

Despite all of the contrary evidence from other industrial democracies, pro-deathers keep telling us that common sense weapons laws will do nothing to stop the endless violence in American schools, nightclubs, concerts, and theaters. We are told that we must simply live (or die) with the consequences of America's all-guns, all-the-time, everywhere culture.

At the same time that the MAGAtts are claiming that common sense gun control would not be effective, they are touting Trump's wall as being the solution to all of America's problems. It will end the illegal drug problem. It will stop people from entering the country illegally. It will end thousands of terrorists from swarming our streets. They think that the Wall will be extraordinarily effective.

But Trump's folly, a wall that will cost taxpayers tens of billions of dollars, will simply not keep people out. Smart people determined to enter the US will easily find ways to fly over the wall, tunnel under it, go around it, or burrow through it. According to the Government's specs, a successful design should resist attempts to bore through for just thirty minutes. Last Wednesday, our own Jim Sensenbrenner stated that "...the Border Patrol says that the wall will slow-down people who are attempting to enter our country illegally by anywhere from 20 to 30 minutes...". So, our mighty Wall will be able to be breached in as little as twenty minutes. After that, people could stream through the created gap.

Many MAGAtts believe that common sense gun regulations-of the kind that have been effective in other industrial democracies-will simply have no effect in curbing gun violence in America. They believe that we should do absolutely nothing to protect our children and families from being gunned-down by madmen. Many of these same people have convinced themselves that a Great Wall, costing tens of billions of dollars, will keep people from entering the United States in search of economic opportunity. 

Many on the right believe that insane potential murderers could easily find ways around strong gun laws, but sane and determined migrants will not find ways through a stationary wall. They are convinced that gun laws are totally ineffective, but Trump's Wall will be extraordinarily effective. They are wrong on both counts.