Shall Not Be Questioned

“Millions Mourn As Rocker/Activist Ted Nugent, Age 68, Found Alive“

Not that I’m complaining, but I feel like I’m not really seeing Ted Nugent’s name in the news lately. Not that I want to jinx it. Maybe it’s like Beetlejuice: don’t say his name three times.

Miguel:

And make no mistake: there is a snitch or working enemy operative inside the NRA.  There is no way that all the records would suddenly go from the NRA HQ in Virginia, somehow bypass the Washington Post which is basically next door, and land in the desk of  Bloomberg’s The Trace/NYT.  I am almost willing to bet that two decades from now, we will see in Bloomberg’s bio that he managed to buy/insert somebody inside the NRA and create its downfall from the inside and the same time to pay or convince other organizations to badmouth the NRA to create dissension within the ranks and proving that Fifth Column works every time.  

I disagree with the last part. You don’t have to pay most of those orgs to badmouth NRA. They were willing to do that long before this shit started up. But I’m starting to seriously consider that the possibility that Bloomberg has a plant in Wayne’s inner circle. What would look different if he did?

A reader commented a few days ago, I and I think it’s very true, that when things go this sideways, the CEO has to go even if it’s just to restore confidence. This is the case here.

If you managed to travel back in time to 2015:

Time Traveler: “In just a year, Chris will announce NRA’s endorsement a well-known Manhattan socialite.”

Me: “I’m sorry sir, but do I need to have you fitted for a straight jacket? I’m happy to testify at your commitment hearing.”

Time Traveler: “It gets better.”

Me: “How can you possible top this tall tale?”

Time Traveler: “Well, Sebastian, you see, in 2019, Ack-Mac will be gone. Wayne will kick Ack-Mac to the curb after Chris Cox is accused of conspiring with Ack-Mac to oust Wayne.”

Me: “Well, now I know you’re nuts. There’s no way Wayne would ever kick Ack-Mac to the curb. And it’s no real secret that Cox isn’t a big fan of that relationship.”

Time Traveler: “The Board will back Wayne. Chris will be out, accused of being an Ack-Mac stooge.”

Me: “I think you need to take your meds.”

Time Traveler: “NRA will further consolidate their Public Relations. ILA will no longer have a separate PR outfit.”

Me: “Well, I’ve always thought they should do that, really. Once Ack-Mac is out of the picture.”

Time Traveler: “No, you won’t think it’s a good thing in 2019”

Me: “OK Buddy, I’ve had just about enough of you and your psychotic delusions.”

Time Traveler: “Whatevs, I speak the truth from 2019. You can believe me or not believe me.”

Seriously, I’m starting to wonder if I’m checking out from reality. Because this one is frankly too bizarre for me to believe.

Angus McQueen has died, Angus’s death really is the end of an era for NRA. I’ve always been of the opinion that NRA’s relationship with Ack-Mac had become an unhealthy one, but it’s hard to argue they didn’t have a huge impact on the organization and the direction. This is the end of an era, for sure. And should be a caution to Wayne’s apparent sense of indispensability: the cemeteries are filled with indispensable men, and Angus wasn’t much older than Wayne. The Board needs to be thinking about the future now. Not allowing it to be sacrificed so Wayne can bitterly cling on for a few more years.

I expected that ILA would have a brain drain when Chris was pushed out, so I wasn’t surprised to learn that Jennifer Baker has left NRA. Keeping in mind I haven’t really been talking to NRA people for several years now, so my first-hand experience is dated, but people who worked under Chris always seemed happier than people in other NRA divisions. I usually will take that to mean the boss is well-liked if I see it in an organization. No organization is perfect, but ILA always seemed to me to be pretty well run.

Miguel asks a poignant question: “Can LaPierre be removed without destrying the NRA from the inside? Apparently nobody cares.”

For me pushing out Chris Cox and the committee purges that seem to be reaching well beyond the supposed Ack-Mac lead conspiracy is were where I part ways with the Wayne supporting crowd. But I do not think Wayne is a dictator, and I think change is possible from within if enough people can be convinced. I also do back Wayne to the extent that he’s really committed to righting the ship and not just covering up past misdeeds. But I do not view the late actions to be of righting the ship but instead vengeance.

We were told Ack-Mac lead an attempt to take over NRA. But how many of the Board members being removed from key committees have ties to Ack-Mac? Why is Julie Golob, who apparently does have ties to Ack-Mac, still retaining her committee assignments? We’ve also heard in Ollie North’s response to NRA’s lawsuit the allegation that Wayne not only knew about North’s contract with Ack-Mac, but helped arrange it.

LaPierre helped negotiate that contract and signed off on the contract in May 2018. Indeed, it was LaPierre who encouraged and authorized North to be hired by Ackerman McQueen to work on the NRATV show “American Heroes,” and it was LaPierre who at the same time urged North to accept the role as President of the NRA. LaPierre urged and convinced North to leave his job at Fox News to take on these assignments for the NRA.

Also denied is that there was ever any ultimatum. That’s a bombshell if true. This is going to be the lawsuit to keep an eye on for NRA watchers. It’s where all the dirty laundry is going to come out.

I get being on a non-profit Board because I’ve done it a few times. I get having to deal with keeping a ship sailing in a productive direction while everyone is at each other’s throats. But to me, retaliating against other Board members in the way Wayne is doing has to have a pretty dire justification. Preserving your own hide is not one of them. In my view, a board has several overriding priorities, but I would argue two are of top importance:

• Keep thieves away from money.
• Compliance with the rules and regulations that govern the industry in which you operate. I’m not talking about the arcane stuff here like installing the wrong kind of light bulb, or redoing a cafeteria without the right permit, but the major stuff where everyone knows and understands violations can cost the organization gravely and risk its mission.

So show me that the Board members being retaliated against are OK with robbing the Association or flagrantly ignoring the law. Maybe you can justify some. But maybe it’s also that they just didn’t pass the test of being sufficiently loyal to the regime.

And what pisses me off is we’re just getting fluff from Wayne boosters. As I’ve said numerous times, no matter what you think about Wayne, he is 70 years old. He is not the future of the NRA, because generously, he has maybe a 5-10 of working life left in him before he’s either spent from old age or kicks it. This looks to me like something struggling to hold on to power and destroying the future to accomplish that. And for what? That’s the question I can’t seem to find answers for.

I always figured the NY and now DC Attorney General’s fishing expedition was partly to get a list of big NRA donors and accidentally leak them to the press so they could be hunted down and shamed by online mobs. That shoe has seemingly begun to drop, with a New York Times article outing big donors.

They name several people, not just the dead guy. I believe this is intended to intimidate people out of donating large sums to the NRA. The article notes that grassroots support for NRA is waning. I’d note that my support for NRA is not waning. My support for Wayne is. There’s a substantial difference between those two things.

This just might be the sensible reform movement I’ve been looking for. It’s not tremendously ambitious, but that’s probably smart. I also don’t see they are rallying around a cult of personality, which is also a good thing. Stick to the issues, and don’t mix it with hardline bullshit a lot of people aren’t going to agree with.