The NRA is nothing more than a hunting and pro-police gun club that does nothing to repeal existing gun laws. They also give A ratings to establishment republicans which fools single issue voters into supporting more of the same crappy republicans all the while overlooking the true libertarian republicans and conservatives that actually not only fight upcoming gun control legislation but also seek to repeal much of the current gun laws. Gun groups like Gun Owners of America and The National Association for Gun Rights are the best gun groups there are and they don't fleece their members just to support Bush type republicans.
As things are, people are tired of democrats and their demise into Obama socialism that is making things worse for middle class families all over the country. I do agree that republicans need to steer away from the social conservatives since the country is miles away from anti-gay and anti-abortion fringe nonsense even tho I'm personally against abortion under normal circumstances. The media poses these gotcha type questions like under what circumstances does a candidate give the ok for abortion and then make a shitshow after that. The key is, don't give the media too much outlier talk so they can demagogue and hang one with it. Also, most americans don't want a preacher type in the white house.
Topic: Rex Huppke: Fringe Conservatives a Clinton Asset (Read 346 times)
Will clinton be the only and exclusive de facto candidate for the democrats? It seems the press is already sold to the idea... Risky, as her health may not be top notch.
What are your thoughts on this, does Huppke have a valid point?
Quote from: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/huppke/ct-talk-huppke-hillary-clinton-20150413-story.html
Hillary Clinton will coast if opponents go to Crazy Town
By Rex W. Huppke
Before Hillary Clinton had even made her presidential run official, some unlikely allies began campaigning for her.
At the National Rifle Association's annual convention Friday, Wayne LaPierre, the organization's executive vice president said: "Hillary Rodham Clinton will bring a permanent darkness of deceit and despair, forced upon the American people to endure."
This is the same Wayne LaPierre who spent the past six years warning that President Barack Obama would transform the nation into a gun-less, unrecognizable hell-state rife with rampaging bands of terrorists and "knockout gamers."
Even if you don't like Obama, it's clear that prophecy was a bit off. The gun industry has cleaned up during the Obama years, which is probably why LaPierre so badly wants Clinton to win.
Yes, I realize predicting "a permanent darkness of deceit and despair" is an unorthodox endorsement. But the more craziness Clinton's so-called detractors spout the better her chances of becoming commander-in-chief.
GOP presidential candidate Ted Cruz also spoke at the NRA conference and uttered this gem: "If Hillary Clinton is going to join with Barack Obama and the gun grabbers and come after our guns, then what I say is, 'Come and take it.' "
My first response was: "OK, Ted, how's tomorrow around noon-ish sound?"
My second response was: "Ted, that should technically be, 'Come and take them.' "
Third, and most important, was: Gun grabbers? Nobody has had their guns grabbed. Gun sales have gone through the roof since Obama was first elected, mainly because people like LaPierre have done such a good job making NRA members think the president will be popping by momentarily to grab their guns.
These comments from LaPierre and Cruz, coming before Clinton's Sunday campaign announcement, are emblematic of a swath of the Republican Party that has been locked in crazy mode for so long it may have forgotten what sanity sounds like. That, without question, bodes well for Clinton, but not for our democracy.
The former secretary of state undoubtedly has the qualifications to become president, but she also has the baggage that comes with the Clinton name and an array of issues that Americans should rightfully hear her address. Issues including the highly dodgy disposal of email from her time as secretary of state, her close ties to financial industry executives and the international fundraising conducted by her family's charitable organization, the Clinton Foundation.
My concern is this: If GOP rabble-rousers can't temper their over-the-top rhetoric, Clinton will coast to the presidency without addressing serious questions because she'll seem like the only non-crazy option.
That's likely why she launched her campaign with a mundane video that devoted a minute-and-a-half to "everyday Americans" and about 30 seconds to Clinton saying, "I'm running for president." She's now off to smaller campaign events in Iowa and other states, keeping things low key.
Which may be all she needs to do. Americans have listened to years of far-right rants about Obama destroying the very fabric of the nation and driving us all to ruin, and I'd guess most are more than a little sick of the nonsense.
It's one thing to have differing views on economic or foreign policy. It's another thing to scream "TYRANNY!" at the top of your lungs every time Obama speaks. That makes "everyday Americans" roll their eyes and say, "OK, I'm going to go on about my business here and leave you to your conspiratorial clucking."
Consider this: A recent CNN/ORC International poll found that 51 percent of respondents consider Clinton's use of a personal email address and home-based server while she was secretary of state to be "very serious" or "somewhat serious."
There are, indeed, serious questions to be asked. But on the same day Clinton announced her candidacy, former Republican Sen. Rick Santorum tweeted a link to a video about the email scandal that features clips of ISIS soldiers and the sound of gunshots punctuating a voiceover claiming Clinton has "placed America in even greater peril in an already dangerous world."
Ease up on the drama throttle, Santorum. Clinton wasn't sending e-vites asking ISIS members to attend her Fourth of July barbecue. If you take a serious issue and go full-crazy on it, you make it seem less serious.
The Republican Party has people like former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Sen. Marco Rubio, who declared his candidacy Monday, who have been reluctant to cave to the zany fervor that Obama's presidency has drawn out of the GOP base. If someone sensible can prevail in the primaries and set a tone that's at least a few notches below apocalyptic — and if the Democrats can contain their own crazies — we might have a presidential campaign that's reasoned, and that tests both candidates.
But if Clinton's opponents decide the only path to the White House leads through the Land of Loopy Hyperbole, she'll just sit back and let them repeatedly shoot themselves in the foot until all that remains are angry, legless Republican torsos.
And if the ballot offers "Hillary Clinton" or "angry, legless Republican torso," American voters won't have a difficult decision to make.
By Rex W. Huppke
Before Hillary Clinton had even made her presidential run official, some unlikely allies began campaigning for her.
At the National Rifle Association's annual convention Friday, Wayne LaPierre, the organization's executive vice president said: "Hillary Rodham Clinton will bring a permanent darkness of deceit and despair, forced upon the American people to endure."
This is the same Wayne LaPierre who spent the past six years warning that President Barack Obama would transform the nation into a gun-less, unrecognizable hell-state rife with rampaging bands of terrorists and "knockout gamers."
Even if you don't like Obama, it's clear that prophecy was a bit off. The gun industry has cleaned up during the Obama years, which is probably why LaPierre so badly wants Clinton to win.
Yes, I realize predicting "a permanent darkness of deceit and despair" is an unorthodox endorsement. But the more craziness Clinton's so-called detractors spout the better her chances of becoming commander-in-chief.
GOP presidential candidate Ted Cruz also spoke at the NRA conference and uttered this gem: "If Hillary Clinton is going to join with Barack Obama and the gun grabbers and come after our guns, then what I say is, 'Come and take it.' "
My first response was: "OK, Ted, how's tomorrow around noon-ish sound?"
My second response was: "Ted, that should technically be, 'Come and take them.' "
Third, and most important, was: Gun grabbers? Nobody has had their guns grabbed. Gun sales have gone through the roof since Obama was first elected, mainly because people like LaPierre have done such a good job making NRA members think the president will be popping by momentarily to grab their guns.
These comments from LaPierre and Cruz, coming before Clinton's Sunday campaign announcement, are emblematic of a swath of the Republican Party that has been locked in crazy mode for so long it may have forgotten what sanity sounds like. That, without question, bodes well for Clinton, but not for our democracy.
The former secretary of state undoubtedly has the qualifications to become president, but she also has the baggage that comes with the Clinton name and an array of issues that Americans should rightfully hear her address. Issues including the highly dodgy disposal of email from her time as secretary of state, her close ties to financial industry executives and the international fundraising conducted by her family's charitable organization, the Clinton Foundation.
My concern is this: If GOP rabble-rousers can't temper their over-the-top rhetoric, Clinton will coast to the presidency without addressing serious questions because she'll seem like the only non-crazy option.
That's likely why she launched her campaign with a mundane video that devoted a minute-and-a-half to "everyday Americans" and about 30 seconds to Clinton saying, "I'm running for president." She's now off to smaller campaign events in Iowa and other states, keeping things low key.
Which may be all she needs to do. Americans have listened to years of far-right rants about Obama destroying the very fabric of the nation and driving us all to ruin, and I'd guess most are more than a little sick of the nonsense.
It's one thing to have differing views on economic or foreign policy. It's another thing to scream "TYRANNY!" at the top of your lungs every time Obama speaks. That makes "everyday Americans" roll their eyes and say, "OK, I'm going to go on about my business here and leave you to your conspiratorial clucking."
Consider this: A recent CNN/ORC International poll found that 51 percent of respondents consider Clinton's use of a personal email address and home-based server while she was secretary of state to be "very serious" or "somewhat serious."
There are, indeed, serious questions to be asked. But on the same day Clinton announced her candidacy, former Republican Sen. Rick Santorum tweeted a link to a video about the email scandal that features clips of ISIS soldiers and the sound of gunshots punctuating a voiceover claiming Clinton has "placed America in even greater peril in an already dangerous world."
Ease up on the drama throttle, Santorum. Clinton wasn't sending e-vites asking ISIS members to attend her Fourth of July barbecue. If you take a serious issue and go full-crazy on it, you make it seem less serious.
The Republican Party has people like former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Sen. Marco Rubio, who declared his candidacy Monday, who have been reluctant to cave to the zany fervor that Obama's presidency has drawn out of the GOP base. If someone sensible can prevail in the primaries and set a tone that's at least a few notches below apocalyptic — and if the Democrats can contain their own crazies — we might have a presidential campaign that's reasoned, and that tests both candidates.
But if Clinton's opponents decide the only path to the White House leads through the Land of Loopy Hyperbole, she'll just sit back and let them repeatedly shoot themselves in the foot until all that remains are angry, legless Republican torsos.
And if the ballot offers "Hillary Clinton" or "angry, legless Republican torso," American voters won't have a difficult decision to make.
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