The National Rifle Association is suing its former president, Oliver North. Besides claiming North displayed what it called "conduct harmful to the NRA", the suit also accused top NRA official Chris W. Cox of conspiring with North to oust the organization's chief executive, Wayne LaPierre.
If you are unfamiliar with some of the characters in our play, let me catch you up: Ollie, a former Marine and itinerant conservative talking head, was once deputy-director of the National Security Council, was implicated in the Iran-Contra affair and forced to resign. I could spend more time detailing the futility of the Iran-Contra affair, but let's just say that selling weapons to Iran in order to fund the Contras in Nicaragua was a sloppy hypocritical mess that helped set the stage for more Middle East shenanigans in the years to come. Lawyers, guns, and money. You know. Chris W. Cox has spent the last seventeen years working as chief lobbyist and principal political strategist for the Institute for Legislative Action, the lobbying arm of the National Rifle Association of America. Chris convinces people he's right for a living. And then there's Wayne. Mister LaPierre has been the President and Chief Gun Nut for the NRA since 1991. He blamed the Sandy Hook incident, and others like it, on "lack of mental health reform and the prevalence of violent video games and movies." That guy.
So why would this guy who sold guns to bad guys want to conspire with the voice of the NRA to get rid of the man who has been the figurehead of the organization for more almost thirty years? It's a bit murky, but it seems to have something to do with a conspiracy to enable the NRA's longtime advertising agency, Ackerman McQueen Inc., which employed North, to gain control of its largest client. So, if you're left scratching your head wondering why an advertising firm would want to take over the organization that makes everyone want guns, you're in good company.
The good news in all of this is that while they are all busy litigating among themselves, the rest of us are free to go about our business with a few less idiotic voices threatening us with guns. Maybe they will even end up bankrupting themselves. Everyone of these millionaires might have to get regular jobs and the angry assertions about "my cold dead hands" will refer only to the keys to their hybrid cars.
That would be the happy ending.
Stay tuned.
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