Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

I didn’t have alien invasion on my 2023 BINGO card.

“And when the Committee says to “report your income,” that could mean anything!

Is it negotiation when the other party actually wants to shoot the hostage?

Joe Lieberman disappointingly reemerged to remind us that he’s still alive.

The party of Reagan has become the party of Putin.

Come on, media. you have one job. start doing it.

Some judge needs to shut this circus down soon.

I’ve spoken to my cat about this, but it doesn’t seem to do any good.

Republicans: slavery is when you own me. freedom is when I own you.

Hot air and ill-informed banter

The arc of history bends toward the same old fuckery.

If senate republicans had any shame, they’d die of it.

Battle won, war still ongoing.

I’m sure you banged some questionable people yourself.

“Jesus paying for the sins of everyone is an insult to those who paid for their own sins.”

Putin dreamed of ending NATO, and now it’s Finnish-ed.

The truth is, these are not very bright guys, and things got out of hand.

Within six months Twitter will be fully self-driving.

… pundit janitors mopping up after the GOP

Whatever happens next week, the fight doesn’t end.

You cannot shame the shameless.

It may be funny to you motherfucker, but it’s not funny to me.

Since when do we limit our critiques to things we could do better ourselves?

I wonder if trump will be tried as an adult.

You are here: Home / Gun Issues / Gun nuts / NRA in the Crossfire

NRA in the Crossfire

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In perhaps the first non-sarcastic use of the following question in the history of Balloon Juice, I ask you: What could possibly go wrong?

Glenn Beck says he may drop his membership in the National Rifle Association amid (baseless) fears that the organization has been infiltrated by radical Islamists — a conspiracy theory that centers on anti-tax activist and NRA board member Grover Norquist, who is currently seeking re-election to the board.

[snip]

“I mean, I just — I am that concerned that he is a very bad influence and a very bad man, that if this is who the NRA decides to put on their board of directors, I don’t think I can be associated with them,” Beck continued.

Also, this happened on Friday:

Glenn Beck claimed on his radio show today that he spoke to National Rifle Association executive vice president and CEO Wayne LaPierre and was told that the NRA is “opening up an ethics investigation” to determine “once and for all” if Grover Norquist is an agent of the Muslim Brotherhood. Beck also definitively said he would leave the NRA if Norquist is reelected to the NRA’s board of directors in April.

Norquist is a shadowy, bearded figure who is trying to destroy America, but then again, so is Beck. They should settle this thing with a duel.

Reader Interactions

165Comments

  1. 1.

    Roger Moore

    This is what happens when you start to believe your own bullshit. Or maybe when you’ve sniffed way too much glue. Either way, it’s a sign of irreversible brain damage.

  3. 3.

    beth

    It’s very simple. If Grover wants to stay on the NRA’s board, all he has to do is oh, I don’t know, sign a pledge vowing that Islam is wrong and dangerous. I’m sure he won’t mind.

  4. 4.

    ed

    you bet its about Norquist’s wife. Can I pick the dueling weapons? How about bombs at 10 paces?

  5. 5.

    Germy Shoemangler

    From wikipedia:

    Republican South Carolina U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham criticized Beck as a “cynic” whose show was antithetical to “American values” at The Atlantic’s 2009 First Draft of History conference, remarking “Only in America can you make that much money crying.”

  8. 8.

    Tree With Water

    If it takes an alliance with Glenn Beck to diminish the political power of the despicable NRA, so be it. An enemy of my enemy is my friend.

  9. 9.

    dedc79

    This is despicable, but there’s at least some justice to a guy whose claim to fame is forcing politicians to sign a no-tax purity test now being subject to a different kind of purity test.

  10. 10.

    Corner Stone

    “The back seat of my Subaru…is where she grew up.”
    .
    .
    .
    Subaru may want to consider rethinking that tagline.

  12. 12.

    RepubAnon

    My worry is that Glen Beck would then promote one of the groups who think the National Rifle Association isn’t radical enough, such as the Gun Owners of America:

    This group was founded in the late ’70s by H.L. Richardson, who was also a member of the NRA board of directors. Since then, GOA has built up a membership of more than 300,000 and its leadership routinely lambastes the NRA for being cowards who cave too much to the Democrats.
    Source: Mother Jones, Jan 19, 2013, 7 Gun Groups That Make the NRA Look Reasonable

  14. 14.

    debbie

    @Germy Shoemangler:

    Yep. Beck started this on Thursday, when he announced he had disturbing evidence that Grover Norquist was an “agent of influence for the Muslim Brotherhood.” Sounded very Joseph McCarthy to me at the time.

    He asked his listeners, after telling them to do their own research (yeah, right), if they agreed with him, they should call the NRA to protest. The next day was when he said he’d spoken to Wayne LaPierre.

    Between this and Obama’s Gridiron appearance, I think Monday’s show will be a real hoot.

  16. 16.

    SRW1

    Beck also definitively said he would leave the NRA if Norquist is reelected to the NRA’s board of directors in April.

    If those NRA guys were serious about their professed love of guns, they wouldn’t decide the composition of their board via the lame act of casting votes. They would have shoot outs at high noon.

  17. 17.

    Corner Stone

    “Applauding madly, hooting and hollering, standing up.”
    I think that could pretty much sum up just about any gathering of 3 or more RWNJs. Of course the word “barking” should probably be in there somewhere as well, for posterity’s sake.

  18. 18.

    Betty Cracker

    @Tree With Water: I’m not so sure the NRA will come down on Beck’s side in the end. Beck has more pull with the slack-jawed yokels, but Norquist is likely dialed in more firmly with the plutocrats. The NRA pretends to be a sportsmen’s organization, but it’s really a gun manufacturer lobbying group, so its natural affinity would lie with Norquist’s crowd. The best outcome is a high-profile, prolonged, damaging fight that harms the interests and reputations of all three constituents.

  19. 19.

    Germy Shoemangler

    I remember once a few years ago during a long car trip I decided to give Beck’s radio show a listen. I think this was in ’08. After spending 15 minutes telling his listeners they were freedom loving INDIVIDUALISTS, he directed them to an online letter they could print out, sign and mail to their representative. Nothing says rugged individualism like millions of listeners mailing the same letter.

  21. 21.

    AnderJ

    @RepubAnon: on the other hand, maybe the US “center right” (i.e. the Village) will push back against an gun right group loonier, than the NRA…

    And then I woke up.

  22. 22.

    Roger Moore

    @Corner Stone:

    Of course the word “barking” should probably be in there somewhere as well, for posterity’s sake.

    I would think “braying” would be the correct word to describe a bunch of jackasses.

  23. 23.

    trollhattan

    They’ll never stop recruiting.

    They are majoring in biological engineering, brain and cognitive sciences, aeronautics, mechanical engineering, computer science and nuclear science. Before arriving at MIT, nearly all of them had never touched a gun or even seen one that wasn’t on TV.

    “Which is strange because I’m from Texas,” said Nick McCoy, wearing a ­T-shirt advertising his dorm and getting ready to shoot.

    McCoy is one of the brainiacs on MIT’s pistol and rifle teams, which, like other college shooting teams, have benefited from the largesse of gun industry money and become so popular that they often turn students away. Teams are thriving at a diverse range of schools: Yale, Harvard, the University of Maryland, George ­Mason University, and even smaller schools such as Slippery Rock University in Pennsylvania and Connors State College in Oklahoma.

    “We literally have way more students interested than we can handle,” said Steve Goldstein, one of MIT’s pistol coaches.

  25. 25.

    Big ole hound

    All this reminds me of that image of a snake eating it’s own tail. May all the reptiles start eating themselves. Asshole first.

  26. 26.

    Villago Delenda Est

    These people are all certifiable.

    Deport them all, every last one, to South Carolina.

  27. 27.

    Roger Moore

    @Corner Stone:

    Expound on this a little, if you please.

    I think this is about trying to become more important within the conservative movement. There are always going to be disputes about priorities and who gets to set them, and Norquist is clearly an important setter of priorities within the movement. The belief is that taking him down will both advance the career of whomever gets credit for doing so and advance their priorities at the expense of his.

  28. 28.

    WereBear

    On a Crowdsource note, I’ve got somebody who needs to work at home, and I’m thinking with their typing speed they can do legal or medical transcription. Are there any decent places that train and handle that?

  31. 31.

    MattF

    I think there should be some concern about what the voices in Frank Gaffney’s head might tell him next. There are so many Islamic ‘agents of influence’ around that anyone could be under suspicion. Specifically, I’d like to hear that Gaffney’s got a list. That would comfort me.

  33. 33.

    Amir Khalid

    @debbie:
    Did Glenn Beck say what the evidence was? I mean, it’s always been widely known that Norquist’s wife and her family are Muslim. Beck has got to have something more than that. A few months ago, BiP claimed to me that Anwar Ibrahim’s participation in an international group of Muslim intellectuals meant Anwar had to be a fundamentalist and part of the Muslim Brotherhood too and thus somehow involved in the disappearance of MH370. If it’s as flimsy as that, it’s about what you’d expect from Beck.

  36. 36.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Villago Delenda Est: Does Lindsey cry in public? I remember during the impeachment folderol I was struck by how he could turn on the maudlin cornpone (Ah know in mah hawrt, the president…”), and his increasingly hysterical dramatics are well-documented (they’re gonna come here and kill us ALL!”) but I don’t know if I’ve ever seen tears. Still, a comment on cynicism from teh Benghazi town crier is pretty rich. At least Beck has the excuse of being addle-pated, Graham is one of the most cynical political operators on the scene.

  37. 37.

    karen marie

    @WereBear: Hahaha. I have been typing legal transcripts for more than 30 years, at home. she doesn’t need training if she can type fast. Anyone who says they will train you to do transcripts if you give them money is ripping you off. There are what I call transcription houses all over the country. Unfortunately, the pay is shitty. Rates are the same now as they were in 1984, and it’s all independent contractor status. Best if you get paid per page rather than a flat rate per recorded time. Good luck to her.

  43. 43.

    Tree With Water

    Digby writes: “If I had to guess, when the Republicans are all shooting the shit late at night over brandy and cigars (or beer and pretzels…) and they really let their hair down, what they want is for the US to occupy the Middle East. (As John McCain said, “for a hundred years.”…)”.

    Or until the oil runs dry. And I don’t think there’s any doubt about it. That’s why those democrats that have played ball with the bastards in unleashing war are worse than useless. And yeah, I am looking straight at Hillary when I say that, and there’s nothing gratuitous about it, either.

  45. 45.

    Germy Shoemangler

    @Emma: It’s like watching a bed bug do battle with a tape worm. There are no good guys in this fight.

  46. 46.

    raven

    An arrest has been made in connection with the shooting of two police officers in Ferguson, Missouri, officials said Sunday afternoon.

  48. 48.

    NCSteve

    And not some pansy eurofag duel with single shot pistols at thirty paces, either. No, they should settle it like Umerikins with Umerikin-made fully auto assault rifles or combat shotguns at a range of five or six feet, the way God intended.

  51. 51.

    GregB

    For anyone who has watched the Jinx documentary on HBO. Looks like Durst has been arrested.

    As for the NRA…lets hope for collateral damage from friendly fire.

  52. 52.

    Cervantes

    @trollhattan:

    The least misleading thing in the article is the description of MIT’s shooting range as “Paleolithic” — which it is. From the beginning and through the decades after the Civil War, there was an Institute requirement that all students be trained in “Military Tactics” and educated in the use of small arms. When the NRA was founded, it, too, appeared on campus — more than a hundred years ago.

  53. 53.

    Germy Shoemangler

    @MattF: This reminded me of George C. Scott in “Doctor Strangelove” talking about us getting our hair mussed:

    “Nonetheless, we might absorb some strikes. Wrenchingly, that might be the price of averting the heavier losses that we and others would suffer in the larger Middle Eastern conflagration that is the likely outcome of Iran’s drive to the bomb.”

  54. 54.

    trollhattan

    @MattF:
    Jesus.

    Students should be picketing this asshole’s classes, presuming he’s allowed anywhere near them.

  55. 55.

    stinger

    @WereBear: Mostly what karen marie said @36. My sister did medical transcriptions for 7 or 8 years. She was already a super fast and super accurate typist, but had to learn a ton of drug names for the job. Then she got laid off because the technology is moving on. Humans need not apply.

  56. 56.

    srv

    Face the Nation today:

    SCHIEFFER: Well, Senator, are you planning to contact any other of our adversaries around the country? For example, do you plan to check with the North Koreans to make sure that they know that any deal has to be approved by the Congress?

    COTTON: No regrets at all.

    And if the president and the secretary of state were intent on driving a hard bargain, they would be able to point to this letter and say, they’re right. As Secretary Kerry said on Wednesday in his Senate testimony, any lasting deal needs to be approved by Congress.

    When past senators like Joe Biden or Jesse Helms communicated directly with foreign leaders, past presidents, like Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton, did just that. The fact that President Obama doesn’t see this letter as a way to get more leverage at the negotiating table just underscores that he is not negotiating for the hardest deal possible. He’s negotiating a deal that is going to put Iran on the path to a bomb, if not today or tomorrow, then 10 years from now.

  59. 59.

    Hob

    @Amir Khalid: I don’t know what Beck said, but the Gaffneyites have had a pretty detailed (not in the academically rigorous sense, more like Bircher cranks and sovereign citizens who are trying to write legalese with numbered outlines) bill of particulars against Norquist and it’s mostly not about his wife, not directly anyway. Grover has tried to convince the GOP to do more outreach to Muslims, because they’re “naturally conservative” etc. So he’s been involved with various groups along the lines of “Islamic Free Market Awesomeness Foundation” and, surprise surprise, some of the people who have also been involved with them may have ties with someone who has ties with someone who had ties with the Muslim Brotherhood.

  60. 60.

    Germy Shoemangler

    @Amir Khalid: Did Glenn Beck say what the evidence was? I mean, it’s always been widely known that Norquist’s wife and her family are Muslim. Beck has got to have something more than that.

    I think that’s all he needs.

  64. 64.

    ruemara

    I will gladly provide them with bullets and a dueling area far, far away from everyone.

  66. 66.

    Amir Khalid

    @MattF:
    The international community, including the US, is trying to avert war in the Middle East. That’s the whole point of trying to stop nuclear proliferation, by Iran or by anyone else. Starting a war in order to avert war is kind of, you know, dumb.

    I’m sure Joshua Muravchik is a jolly good fellow at his Foreign Policy Institute, but this piece doesn’t offer evidence of it. What makes him so sure Iran doesn’t want to accept a deal? It has recently resolved a nuclear threat from Iraq without force of arms. If it is to give up nukes, it will want something to deter a threat from Israel, the closest hostile nuclear power, that works better than nukes. The threat of war from America is plainly not it.

  67. 67.

    trollhattan

    @srv:
    No chance we’re that lucky.

    BTW, BIP changed nyms yet again–lack of memory prevents me from dredging up the new one.

  73. 73.

    catclub

    @Germy Shoemangler: Also the reference to barking mad elsewhere in the thread applies to that guy.

    That bit:

    Wrenchingly, that might be the price of averting the heavier losses that we and others would suffer in the larger Middle Eastern conflagration that is the likely outcome of Iran’s drive

    Is where he is saying that even though we are thousands of miles away, and Israel is not actually the 51st state, we need to do this to protect Israel.

    One more time: Israel’s and Saudi Arabia’s favorite Military anthem is “Onward Christian Soldiers”

  76. 76.

    Roger Moore

    @Amir Khalid:

    The international community, including the US, is trying to avert war in the Middle East.

    Which is what has the wingnuts flipping out about the situation. Why, oh why, won’t Obama just give war a chance?

  77. 77.

    DTGstl314

    @ed:

    It’s about RWNJ Islamaphobe (redundant, I know) Frank Gaffney, who has had an ongoing feud with Norquist for years, because reasons.

    I love wingnut infighting.

  79. 79.

    Another Holocene Human

    This just proves Glenn Beck is a lazy, shiftless taker. He’s supposed to be finding new conspiracies we’ve never heard of (because they’re batshit) not repeating old libel off of Drudge Report. This garbage about Norquist’s wife dates to at least last year’s CPAC if not earlier. Bo-ring.

  80. 80.

    Another Holocene Human

    @Hob: Imagine if the Bush administration had indicted every American politician and academic with ties to Sinn Fein.

  81. 81.

    Another Holocene Human

    @srv:

    The fact that President Obama doesn’t see this letter as a way to get more leverage at the negotiating table just underscores that he is not negotiating for the hardest deal possible.

    Teach grandma how to suck eggs some more, Republican Senator Tom Cotton. It’s gone so well for you so far.

    Nothing sadder than a man who can’t admit he’s licked.

  82. 82.

    SFAW

    @Cervantes:

    Not to mention that MIT had (and perhaps still has) a fairly proficient pistol team in the 1970s, well before the NRA went fucking nuts.

  83. 83.

    Another Holocene Human

    @karen marie:

    Rates are the same now as they were in 1984, and it’s all independent contractor status.

    Ha. There is this place down the street that transcribes psychiatrists’ sessions with patients and they pay worse than that.

    They pay piecework and they make their employees-not-employees partners in the business but with an infinitesimal share. The owners still have 99% votes. So yeah, you get a Schedule K instead of a 1099. That is some fucked up bullshit. Thanks George W. Bush.

  84. 84.

    Hob

    @Another Holocene Human: No kidding. It also occurred to me that if the GOP was actually serious about the “outreach to African-American social conservatives” idea that they pay lip service to now and then, they would inevitably find themselves within six degrees of separation of Louis Farrakhan.

  85. 85.

    EconWatcher

    @catclub:

    Thaat Muravchik article is the most bat$#!t insane thing I’ve seen in a long time, but what most struck me was this little tidbit:

    Ideology is the raison d’etre of Iran’s regime, legitimating its rule and inspiring its leaders and their supporters. In this sense, it is akin to communist, fascist and Nazi regimes that set out to transform the world. Iran aims to carry its Islamic revolution across the Middle East and beyond.

    The Iranian revolution was in 1979. What evidence is there that in the last 35 years, they’ve tried to carry their revolution anywhere? True, they now have huge influence in Iraq that they didn’t have before, but that’s because of boy George’s excellent adventure, not anything they did.

    Did the WP actually intend that op-ed to be read straight, or was it more of a demonstration of the lunacy out there?

  86. 86.

    SFAW

    @Another Holocene Human:

    Nothing sadder than a man who can’t admit he’s licked.

    You’re kidding, right? He’ll only be “licked” when he loses his next election by 15 points. (And even then …)

    He doesn’t think he’s licked, and considering a number of his idiotic brethren continue to double-down on their idiocy, I’d guess he could throw his hat into the ring for 2016, and the other mental midgets would start shifting their positions to align more closely with his.

    Even if he were to get indicted by present-and-future AG Holder (Thanks, Mitch!) for a Logan Act violation, it would only enhance his stature in the eyes to the 37 percenters. [Note: not a typo. I’m a-thinkin’ that their numbers have only increased in recent years.]

  88. 88.

    Another Holocene Human

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    At least Beck has the excuse of being addle-pated, Graham is one of the most cynical political operators on the scene.

    Exactly. It’s an act. Several years ago when my in-laws were still alive (-_-) the liberals in Charleston (for some values of “liberal”) used to vote for Graham because he wasn’t crazy and they didn’t like the alternatives. I think he’s a lot like Lieberman in his political appeal and the sad truth is that the American center likes warmongering. It’s the more ideologically committed who oppose it (for different reasons on left and right, and there’s a whole chunk of tighty righties who love them some bombs).

    eta: wish I could upfist your delightful use of “addle-pated” :)

  90. 90.

    Another Holocene Human

    @SFAW: Well, that’s exactly my point. Everything he “knows” is about winning an election. He then Dunning-Kruger fails into thinking he’s a Geenius at Wrok and proceeds to GOP-splain negotiation to the GOP-killer-in-chief. The irony here is palpable.

    Cotton is a Senate Republican. As they have fought for the hardest bargain possible they have repeatedly face-planted and handed victory after victory to the president. It’s like these ninnies are incapable of learning.

    They think they’re shoring up their re-election campaigns but in truth they’re providing aid and comfort to Democratic rank and file. If the GOP were smart enough to actually cut deals with Obama it would somewhat disgust and demoralize Democrats and Americans with BSDI-itis. Instead we see the GOP acting like bozos and Obama taking them to school. That’s all a low info voter sees. If this keeps up to next year it’s not going to translate well for the GOP at the polls.

    Cotton isn’t up for re-election so he can clown it up all he wants but some of his GOP Senate colleges are up in blue or purple states and will have some serious explaining to do for their electorate. Good work, Cotton. Hope you enjoy being in the minority party.

  92. 92.

    Corner Stone

    @Another Holocene Human:

    Cotton is a Senate Republican. As they have fought for the hardest bargain possible they have repeatedly face-planted and handed victory after victory to the president.

    As examples?

  93. 93.

    Another Holocene Human

    Shorter: Cotton is as stupid as Rubio, but without the shifty furriner angle weighing him down with the rabble.

    GOP likes to send these deeply stupid puppets to DC these days. They used to send shady grifters (Santorum) but now they send these graduates of the bottom of the class. Can’t see that ending well for them.

  96. 96.

    Another Holocene Human

    @Corner Stone: The DHS bill? The blowup over the human trafficking bill? I’m still enjoying the sounds of total capitulation echoing in my head.

    They’re going to do it again, too. And they kind of blew their wad on food stamps last year so there’s no demoralizing juice left in that one. So good luck with that!!

  97. 97.

    Peale

    @MattF: wait. Is that from this year? Jesus Christ.

    We bomb Iran and who knows? Maybe tge people will rise up and overthrow the regime. It’s win win win.

  98. 98.

    Mnemosyne (tablet)

    @WereBear:

    Random thought: it might be worth calling around to large hospitals and/or law practices in your area or state and asking who they use. That’s also the best way to get temp work when there’s a specific company you’d like to work for.

  99. 99.

    Baud

    the NRA is “opening up an ethics investigation” to determine “once and for all” if Grover Norquist is an agent of the Muslim Brotherhood

    Anyone else kind of hoping their investigation finds a connection?

  102. 102.

    MattF

    @Baud: I’m thinking someone should slip an ‘I’m One of Them’ card into Norquist’s wallet. Conclusive proof.

  103. 103.

    Amir Khalid

    @Baud:
    When crazy people conduct an investigation, they’ll find whatever the voices in their heads say is there.

  105. 105.

    Corner Stone

    @Another Holocene Human: The funding for DHS is only going to empower the crazies even further. They didn’t lose on that issue, it caused their constituents to spit gobs more of money into their coffers.
    The trafficking bill could more closely be read as a policing bill. I, for one, am not much of a fan.

  106. 106.

    SFAW

    @Another Holocene Human:

    They think they’re shoring up their re-election campaigns but in truth they’re providing aid and comfort to Democratic rank and file.

    Cotton isn’t up for re-election so he can clown it up all he wants but some of his GOP Senate colleges are up in blue or purple states and will have some serious explaining to do for their electorate. Good work, Cotton. Hope you enjoy being in the minority party.

    Didn’t learn much from November, eh? Because the winners in any number of elections spouted the same shit, and they don’t appear to have paid a price for it.

    Or have I been in dream-state for the last four-plus months, and Harry Reid has a 57-vote caucus?

  108. 108.

    SFAW

    @Mnemosyne (tablet):

    I’m not so sure about that. I got a PM from BiP last week saying he’d been banhammered.

    Perhaps BiP sent Cole (or another FPer) a snarky message about banh mi (re: the food discussion of a few days ago) and it was misread/misinterpreted?

  109. 109.

    EconWatcher

    @RepubAnon:

    I assume you’re referring to Chalabi being an Iranian agent, which apparently he was. Disturbing as hell, but I don’t think he caused the war. They would have found their pretext one way or another.

  115. 115.

    PaulW

    the extremist factions of the Far Right have pretty much purged out whatever moderate powers among their ranks they had. They are now turning on each other as their need to install PURE PURITY kicks it up another notch.

    Before, it was fidelity to the conservative ideals of hating blacks defending individual and states rights. Now it’s fidelity to the ONE TRUE WHITE PROTESTANT GOD (John C. Calhoun).

  118. 118.

    Gin & Tonic

    @Baud: I expressed, um, surprise when she mentioned that a couple of days ago. While it’s possible stranger things may have happened, I can’t think of one right now.

  119. 119.

    Cervantes

    @Rathskeller:

    Jesus, someone from Johns Hopkins wrote that?

    Muravchik is a run-of-the-mill “neo-con” who is affiliated with a number of DC-area institutions, including SAIS. He has been calling for your children to be sent to invade Iran since at least 1727. (I exaggerate, but only slightly.)

    SAIS is where Francis Fukuyama is based. Paul Wolfowitz — remember him? — used to be the Dean of the school.

    As for Johns Hopkins, two words: Ben Carson. (And I’m sure we could come up with two similar words for any major university we care to name.)

  122. 122.

    mai naem mobile

    I just don’t see Grover Norquist handling a gun. He looks like the kind who would have a bodyguard doing peasant things like handling a gun. He would look douchey handling a gun. Kind of like imagining Mitch or even Jeb! handling a gun.

  129. 129.

    Ruckus

    @mai naem mobile:
    In the military everyone handles a gun, at least during training. It may have changed in the last 40 yrs but I doubt it seriously. And there were some kids that you really didn’t want handling guns. Of course (almost!) none of the neocons would ever be/have been in the military.

  133. 133.

    Tree With Water

    @Ruckus:

    “But I’m a typist”.

    “Did you have basic training?

    Yes.

    Did you fire a rifle in basic training”?

    “Yes”.

    “Then let’s go”.

    A bit of dialogue remembered from Saving Private Ryan.

  136. 136.

    Ruckus

    @raven:
    Of some sort, yes.
    In training (or even at any duty station) I never was shown how to fire a pistol. When stationed on the ship, that is of course what I had to carry while on in port duty. I did have to qualify with the weapon though. A story for another time.
    Interesting how many had never handled any kind of weapon until the military and had no idea of how or how not to do so.

  137. 137.

    raven

    @Ruckus: I always liked it that the Shore Patrol came from the crew.

    I can look up on the wall and the 2 rifles I learned to shoot with are in the rack.

  138. 138.

    trollhattan

    @Mnemosyne (tablet):
    98% sure it was him; that “style” is quite unique. Don’t recall the thread but it was redolent of HODOR! Probably posting the new nym from the I [heart] Stalin People’s Library.

  139. 139.

    Ruckus

    @Tree With Water:
    A very good friend was in the Marines during Vietnam. When he landed in country everyone was asked if they could type. He was the only one. So he became the company clerk for 13 months. Carried a loaded M16 everywhere, never fired it at anyone.

  141. 141.

    Ruckus

    @raven:
    The navy personal mostly were from ships but people did get assigned to the SP. Me for example, spent several weeks in the SP while waiting for a second ship. Interesting stories there as well. A fun time had by all. BTW my side career is bridge salesman.

  142. 142.

    Anne Laurie

    @g:

    The whole notion of the NRA opening up an “ethics investigation” boggles the mind.

    If any are discovered, they will be terminated with extreme prejudice!

  143. 143.

    Ruckus

    @g:
    Thank You!
    Something was bothering me, couldn’t quite put my finger on it. Of course who better to know/understand a lack of ethics?

  144. 144.

    raven

    @Ruckus: I guess I was thinking about the stories my old man told me about liberty in WW2. He told me about Jack Dempsey being SP and cleaning out bar fights.

    eta And then I google it an he was an officer!

  148. 148.

    gene108

    @srv:

    When past senators like Joe Biden or Jesse Helms

    When Jesse Helms became head of the Senate Foreign Relations committee, he set about blocking the U.S. from its required funding of the U.N.

    When Bush, Jr. became President, there was a big call on the Right to “get us out of the U.N.” because the U.N. was some sort of Euro-weenie entity that hurt America.

    Cotton, and most GOP politicians, are basically copying both the tactics and appealing to the same people Jesse used to appeal to. The only really disturbing thing is many of them are winning by large margins.

    Helms may have had a long career in the Senate, but without Reagan’s coattails he’d have more than likely lost to Gov. Hunt, in 1984, and he had a close contest with Mayor Harvey Gantt, in 1990, thanks to a last minute appeal to white resentment of Affirmative Action putting Helms over the top. Helms was a master of making sure he could get 50%+1 of the vote; he pulled out some close races.

    Guys like Cotton aren’t even coming close to sweating it out for being right-wing radicals.

    I think they way things are going, it’ll be safe, in another ten years, for GOP politicians to talk about “legitimate rape”, because they’ll be the “sane ‘Establishment'” candidate versus the far-right alternative.

  149. 149.

    Ruckus

    @raven:
    The vast majority of sailors working SP were from ships in that port, it was their in port duty. The size of the port and the size of the ship determined how many had to report. In a major port like Long Beach, there would be 50 or so every night. They were mostly kept in reserve in case of a spot of trouble. I think they were mostly kept in reserve to avoid a spot of trouble but that’s a different story, of which I also know a few.

  150. 150.

    Mnemosyne (tablet)

    @gene108:

    Gerrymandering + voter suppression gives the results you’re seeing. If you can change one or both of those things, you change the results. Remember, 2014 was one of the lowest-turnout elections in modern history, and the craziest voters are the ones who show up in low-turnout elections.

  151. 151.

    Germy Shoemangler

    @gene108: Didn’t John Mitchell say “this country is swinging so far to the right you won’t even recognize it” to a reporter while climbing into a limo? He was right!

  153. 153.

    AnotherBruce

    @trollhattan: At the very least, they should be asking him about whether or not he should volunteer to fight the Iranians. Perhaps he is not of fighting age, but I’m reasonably sure that he has some sons or daughters, or nieces and nephews that he is going to insist should join up for this totally necessary battle, right?

  154. 154.

    Mike in NC

    @gene108: I used to think a Jesse Helms type couldn’t get elected in this day and age. Clearly I was naive. In fact my new Tea Party congressman was mentored by old Jesse!

  157. 157.

    Roger Moore

    @g:

    The whole notion of the NRA opening up an “ethics investigation” boggles the mind.

    I don’t see why. How can they expect to exclude anyone with ethics if they never investigate them?

  158. 158.

    catclub

    @gene108: Does anyone know what similar thing it was that Joe Biden did?
    All I know of is that he wrote letters to the US Sec. of State saying that nuclear agreements with Russia are not the same as treaties. Is there something else?

  159. 159.

    J R in WV

    WVU, of which I am NOT a grad, has the best rifle team over the past 60 or 70 years, for NCAA rifle teams. Not all big college have rifle teams, just not all colleges have hockey teams. But WVU has always been a crack shot!

  161. 161.

    Betty Cracker

    @Baud: Hahahaha! We keep boxers and hens scrupulously segregated because we’re worried about the boxers damaging the chickens. Could be our fears are misplaced! Thank you!

  162. 162.

    Matt McIrvin

    @EconWatcher: It’s projection. Who is really driven by ideology, wants to transform the world and export revolution across the Middle East? Sounds like American neoconservatives to me.

  163. 163.

    karen marie

    @Germy Shoemangler: Yes, it isn’t possible without a foot pedal. They’re relatively cheap at $50. The software is free, unless you’re doing scoping, and in many situations the court reporter will pay for the licensing of scoping software. FTR and CaseViewer are my two preferred transcription software.

  164. 164.

    Chris

    @Tree With Water:

    If it takes an alliance with Glenn Beck to diminish the political power of the despicable NRA, so be it. An enemy of my enemy is my friend.

    I can’t but agree.

    From my understanding, the Ku Klux Klan went a long way towards destroying itself in the sixties onwards simply based on paranoia that the guy next to them was an FBI plant. Be nice if the NRA could do something similar.

  165. 165.

    Chris

    @Roger Moore:

    Well, yes, but… the wife is the reason this particular attack was made. As opposed, to, you know, “he’s a secret socialist,” “he’s not tough enough on Obama,” or God knows what.

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