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Cliff Schecter

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The NRA: They Apologize for the School Shooting...You Know, That One...

Posted: 08/23/11 05:48 PM ET

This would be funny if it weren't so pathetic. Listen as the NRA calls someone, tells them Hillary Clinton, Cuba and perhaps Mars is coming to get their guns--and then tries to offer condolences for "the school shooting" to their mark (a too-smart-for-the-NRA guy who recorded the pitch). When speaking to this Denverite, the NRA-paid caller of course doesn't even know which school shooting they're offering condolences for when asked--you know the one in the paper that "recently" happened--or occurred back in 1999.

No shame--not during LaPierre's tenure. They'll use a fake compassion over a school shooting and a manufactured galactic conspiracy if it will get cash to arms dealers and help pay LaPierre's $1.27 million salary per year.

 

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OdinsEye
Korean-Latino cop and combat vet
08:11 PM on 08/26/2011
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GfPJeDssBOM

Let me know how this works for you, Cliff. When you get tired of that, I'll show one one which shows a guy who can change a traffic light by pressing 911 on a home theater universal remote control.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
hagagaga
My comments are funnier than yours.
02:14 PM on 08/26/2011
The NRA has no reason to apologize for any shooting. They're not responsible for such events. Responsibility lies solely on those who did it.
11:07 AM on 08/30/2011
I agree. However the NRA was not apologizing, they are "expressing their condolences." If anyone took the time to actually listen to the conversation they would know that the Huffington Post has stretched the truth a bit by calling saying the NRA is "apologizing". For those who wish to listen to that specific part of the video check out 4:17 to 5:39.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
SouPro
Southern. Progressive.
10:25 AM on 08/25/2011
Why not address the issue instead of grasping at the lowest hanging fruit? Yes, the NRAs claim is ridiculous. Can you tell us why? What's the evidence against it? Why should I not believe a more competent phone banker over internet pundit Cliff Schecter?

"NRA-paid caller"

How do you know this isn't a volunteer? I've done my share of paid and volunteer phone banking, and this sounds like a nervous volunteer's first call of the day with terrible training and script.

"arms dealers"

This is the second pundit piece I have read by you where you have used this term. What is an arms dealer? Clearly it's a bad thing as you seem to think it's as heinous as LaPierre's salary. At its a face, I would assume it means "One who deals arms". FFLs legally deal arms across the country, some gang members also do so illegally. Are you insinuating that the NRAs membership directly funds illegal gun sales? Or that legal sales are on par with illegal ones?

Going through your past commentary you asserted in NRA: It's Good to Live Like a King that the NRA has become corrupted by "very special interest politics". How is the phrase "arms dealers" not "very special interest politics" as you use the phrase? Is it okay if you use "very special interest politics" in your rhetoric when criticizing the NRA for their rhetorical nonsense?
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Patriot 70
08:34 AM on 08/25/2011
I know, Post, that you dislike the NRA, but don't you verify that a story is true before you write an aricle about it?
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
David Carson
02:06 PM on 08/25/2011
do you really expect a a snarky civilian disarmament advocate to worry about facts?
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Patriot 70
04:53 PM on 08/25/2011
Not really, but I do expect them to be honest.
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
HisXLNC
No.
12:00 AM on 08/25/2011
Not nearly as bad as the Brady Camp asking for $32 donations after VTech.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
hagagaga
My comments are funnier than yours.
10:31 PM on 08/26/2011
That is so wonderfully tasteful.
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OdinsEye
Korean-Latino cop and combat vet
08:08 PM on 08/24/2011
You know, I have seen lots of things on youtube. There is even some guy who soaks an onion in gatorade and then plugs a USB cable into the onion and uses it to charge his ipod, something which anyone who took basic high school science classes would know will not work. All I see on this vid is a phone. We can't even tell if the voices are coming from the phone. There is no evidence as to who is talking. I can't even see any information displayed on the phone's screen. The vid was put up by someone called "theonion7" and we all know that "The Onion" is a famous parody website.

Bottom line, the veracity of this vid leaves a lot to be desired.
This user has chosen to opt out of the Badges program
10:50 AM on 08/27/2011
Onions don't have 5v universal serial bus female connectors inside?
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
LC Scotty
05:51 PM on 08/24/2011
"They'll use a fake compassion over a school shooting"

That sounds suspiciously like something from the Brady playbook...
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Patriot 70
06:18 PM on 08/24/2011
I agree. This is not how the NRA operates, but it IS how the Brady Campaign operates.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
hagagaga
My comments are funnier than yours.
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OdinsEye
Korean-Latino cop and combat vet
01:00 PM on 08/24/2011
I once saw a clip on youtube where a guy soaked an onion in Gatorade and then plugged in a USB cable and used it to charge an iPod. IIRC Mythbusters has made several "viral video" episodes debunking youtube videos.

Just saying -- the veracity of what you see on youtube is highly questionable.
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
David Carson
12:30 PM on 08/24/2011
Cliff--civilian disarmament is not in the cards--and Hillary is pushing the UN gun control issue
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Lisa Shields
Poet & Advocate For Special Needs Children
11:19 AM on 08/24/2011
I ran into their "they will take your guns" nonsense 30 years ago.

Then there was the great "ammo scare" when Obama was elected.
He's going to take your BULLETS!

We have more guns than ever, and people stockpiled ammunition.
Wow...so I feel safer.
Not.
Berettasskeeter
For what we are about to receive, may we be truly
02:08 PM on 08/24/2011
What was nonsense about it? Please be specific as to legislation submitted in both Houses of Congress, and by the President of the US.
Semper fi
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OdinsEye
Korean-Latino cop and combat vet
06:02 PM on 08/24/2011
The ammo shortage was already underway long before the election. As far back as 2005, ammo shortages were being reported.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Lisa Shields
Poet & Advocate For Special Needs Children
08:15 AM on 08/25/2011
Yes, but there was a rash of emails that flooded the net, stating that "Obama is after your bullets...", and it persists. I used to support the NRA, but their constant paranoia, their insistence on supporting fringe groups, and yes, the outright non-truths turned me off.
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Jim Pasterczyk
Banned!
05:16 AM on 08/26/2011
Could that be because of two GOP wars?
11:10 AM on 08/24/2011
With employee's like that, it's no wonder that the NRA has almost no influence in Washington. /sarcasm
11:01 AM on 08/24/2011
As a violence policy advocate, it’s important to note that none of what I write is personal conjecture but instead comes from the study of statistics, polls, and opinion found through research of web sites on the Internet. It’s come to my attention that gun owners belong to the NRA and are Tea Party Insurrectionists Extremist Gunophile Fetishists. It’s also notable that they will often give up their families, careers, and even their life to have “Wild West†type shootouts over minor disputes such as parking spots or to compensate for some other shortcoming. Again, this is not personal conjecture but consensus among the public as verified in the Comments sections of several web sites. That’s not to say that they don’t favor common sense civilian disarmament polices such as the prohibition of AK-47 Assault Weapons since they can now safely be considered Weapons of Mass Destruction, and have no civilian use, or the reasonable ban of Glock brand machine pistols since they have no militia use and therefore, are not protected by the Second Amendment. Of course we shouldn’t overlook high power, armor penetrating , 9mm ammunition as well. I would like to join my peers and urge legislators at every level to Dis the Deadly Myths and Reclaim the Constitution, by proposing sensible and reasonable policies that register and eventually disarm the public though no one is talking about handgun bans.

http://tinyurl.com/4k346he
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Patriot 70
06:34 PM on 08/24/2011
How many victims have you dsiarmed today?
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Patriot 70
07:25 PM on 08/24/2011
Laughing, sorry, I read the entire post after I posted that.
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
David Carson
02:11 PM on 08/25/2011
he actually gets fanned by civilian disarmament advocates
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hagagaga
My comments are funnier than yours.
02:29 PM on 08/26/2011
He's not really that funny anymore. What IS funny is that a lot of people love him because they think he's serious.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Amazonia26
Whistling past the graveyard
08:39 AM on 08/24/2011
Drastic impact on civilian gun ownership! Sure. The U.S. government as currently constituted probably couldn't agree on the wording of a National Be Nice to Kittens and Puppies Resolution, and they're all going to get together to repeal one-tenth of the Bill of Rights!

Amazing the outrageous things some organizations will say to raise money so they can keep on saying outrageous things to raise money to pay for saying outrageous things to raise money so they can say outrageous things ...

The NRA, like many national advocacy groups, is obsessed with watching the numbers light up on the fund-raising treadmill. Core beliefs are compromised. Rationalizations are made. Public relations becomes more important than relations with the public. Celebrity endorsers and slick ad agencies are hired, and the organization begins to believe the malarkey these professional b.s. artists pump out for pay. Before long, perpetuating the organization for the sake of perpetuating the organization becomes the most important thing.

No matter what your beliefs, if you want to donate to something, make it a local charity with no advertising budget. You'll be able to get to know the people you're giving to and keep an eye on how they're spending your money.
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Patriot 70
06:30 PM on 08/24/2011
The NRA wasn't the caller, it was someone pretending to be NRA.
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From my cold dead hands
pro-gun/anti-criminal
11:00 AM on 08/27/2011
One of the reasons the NRA exists is because there ARE those who would disarm the law-abiding. Feinstein, Shumer, Bloomberg, Daley, and others seem to believe that America would be a better place if potential victims were disarmed. The gun-grabbers did some damage in the early days and "awoke a sleeping giant". The NRA and law-abiding gun-owners have been fighting to regain our rights and we have been having some success lately. Even though Obama would love to take away our gun rights, he has not tried to do much precisely because he has seen what that has done to others who have tried in the recent past. The NRA is no longer just trying to keep our rights from being eroded further, they are now trying to get more of our rights back.
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
jabbaciv
So it goes.
08:38 AM on 08/24/2011
I got a free membership with the NRA when I was Active-Duty military. It wasn't worth the money I paid for it.
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Patriot 70
06:31 PM on 08/24/2011
I'm also military and it wasn't until I moved to a gun control state that I found the NRA membership helpful.
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
jabbaciv
So it goes.
07:12 PM on 08/24/2011
They have a track record of backing pro-gun-control Republicans over anti-gun-control Democrats. They're an organization to get Republicans elected, not to protect 2A rights. They're always looking for another way to hoodwink gullible, ignorant, fear-motivated right-wing gunowners.