Tuesday was a big win by the NRA (National
Rifle Association) in
their recall election of two Colorado State Democrats who voted for minor gun
regulations. With bullying and crying like little babies because they didn’t
get their way on one issue, voters caved in and gave them what they wanted. And
it was a big victory for Republicans who can now gain an edge in their
right-wing agenda in that state.
The NRA may be supporting gun rights,
which alone is nothing bad, but they are run by right-wing whack jobs that have
become the equivalent of Adolf Hitler’s brown shirts for the Republican Tea
Party. The two Democrats recalled were Senate President John Morse (Colorado
Springs) and state Sen. Angela Giron (Pueblo). The new laws they helped pass
required background checks for all firearm purchases and bans ammunition
magazines over 15 rounds. Those are not extreme bans on guns. The NRA originally
tried to recall two other Democrats but couldn’t get enough signatures.
The NRA relied on the usual Republican
tactics of low voter turnout and in this election people couldn’t vote by mail.
According to the Huff Post:
“While
voter turnout is typically low in recall elections, Democrats accused
pro-recall activists of engaging in voter suppression tactics. A big blow to Morse and Giron
was a ruling that prohibited voting by mail in the election, even though Colorado voters have
overwhelmingly relied on mail-in ballots in the past. The decision ignored a
state law passed earlier this year that guaranteed a ballot by mail to every
registered voter in Colorado, including in a recall election.”
And worst of all, the NRA used their
usual tactics of voter intimidation and bullying. Again in the Huff Post;
A
get-out-the-vote canvasser for Giron, who requested anonymity out of safety concerns,
said gun rights activists also engaged in "extreme voter
intimidation" at polling centers in Pueblo on Tuesday.
"We
had to call the police on a van of four huge guys staking out our staging
location," the canvasser told Huff Post. "Volunteers are being
followed, threatened, having their pictures taken and yelled at. We're now
being told that it's bad enough to call 911 immediately."
The Koch brothers got involved using
their advocacy group Americans For Prosperity. There is little doubt that such
conservative groups saw this recall as an opportunity to increase their
anti-worker—pro-business agenda now that two Republicans will take the place of
these recalled politicians. The NRA is one of those one-issue-groups that allow
organizations with a much broader agenda to push their views. Many people voted
strictly over gun issues without worrying about other repercussions, such as
abortion restrictions, union suppression, restricting health care access to the
poor and attacks on the public school system.
Markos Moulitsas, Founder and Publisher
of the Daily Kos sees this as just
the beginning of a fight against the NRA;
“The
NRA might have won last night, but it won’t last long. They know that public
opinion is against them in a huge way. They know that demographics are moving
against them in a huge way. They know that their victories will be fewer and
farther between moving forward. And they know now that we have the people power
to fight them every inch of the way until we win.”
The NRA has become part of the new
right-wing oppressive wave that is sweeping across this country and there is
nothing progressive about them. I don’t support suppressing guns but I don’t
want or need the help of the NRA to support my gun rights. It’s not criminals
they want to shoot, it’s minorities and liberals.
-សតិវ អតុ
From www.bartcop.com.
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