NRA blackmailed Republican lawmakers into voting to hold Eric Holder in contempt...(updated)

[ProSense]

Last edited Thu Jun 21, 2012, 09:32 AM - Edit history (1)

NRA blackmailed Republican lawmakers into voting to hold Eric Holder in contempt of Congress

by Rolandz

On the June 20th edition of “The Rachel Maddow Show," the hostess with the mostest featured one of her best segments ever, explaining the events leading up to Darryl Issa’s unprecedented move of charging Attorney General Eric Holder with contempt of Congress for not agreeing to hand over certain documents in the “Fast and Furious” investigation.

Watch the video for yourself. It is packed with jaw-dropping pieces of information, showing how the whole "scandal" began as a loony conspiracy-theory on the fringy right, moved into the halls of Congress and eventually culminated in the events that we saw today. But the one fact that struck me the most comes at the end when she accuses the NRA of threatening the Republican members of Congress with a negative rating if they voted against charging Holder with contempt. The result: all 23 Republican members on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform voted to do just that.

I’m not saying all 23 wouldn’t have voted that way anyway, but it sure is scary realizing just how much power right-wing interest groups - and none more so than the NRA - have over the conservative members of Congress.

Bravo, Rachel, for this eye-opening report. It is a must-see.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/06/21/1101813/-NRA-blackmailed-Republican-lawmakers-to-vote-to-hold-Eric-Holder-in-contempt-of-Congress

Updated to add:

NRA Letter to Congress to Score Holder Vote

by 108

Here it is

Needs to get out

Will surely backfire on Issa and Republicans looking to drum up a non-story

Ends with:

The American people - including millions of NRA members and tens of millions of NRA supporters - deserve the truth about these issues, and we will support any effort that leads us to that truth. This is an issue of utmost seriousness and the NRA will consider this vote in future candidate evaluations.

http://nraila.org/media/7733622/cc-letter-to-issa.pdf

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/06/21/1101858/-NRA-Letter-to-Congress-to-Score-Holder-Vote

[108vcd]

1. here is the actual letter

http://nraila.org/media/7733622/cc-letter-to-issa.pdf

[lunatica]

6. You need to provide a link the letter

[ProSense]

7. Thanks. n/t

[Tsiyu]

2. To zee greatest

[TheCowsCameHome]

3. No surprise there, really.

What a wonderful political football for the righties and the NRA.

I think Maddow is onto something.

[lunatica]

4. I saw her show. It's a thing of beauty

Because Obama hasn't taken away your guns that's proof that he's just lulling you into being duped so he can take your guns away. See the logic? He doesn't eat babies but that's so you get lulled into a false sense of security so he can eat the babies.

[Tennessee Gal]

5. Yes, I think like that.

NOT!

[KharmaTrain]

8. More Like Marching Orders...

I don't see any rushpublicans "blackmailed" here...they willingly voted for the contempt citation. They've been dying for some kind of scandal to tie around the White House (doing it in an election year...so much the better). The hypocrisy of the GOTB has no bounds...and this is yet another example of their inability to govern. Surely many heard the alleged NRA "siren call" here but I don't think there was any arm twisting to encourage these shit-for-brains to whip up some poutrage and play politics...

[clang1]

10. re More Like Marching Orders...

They are pigs that will obviously do WHATEVER it takes to stay in power. Simple. Until the Dems learn to deal with that and counter it, we have problems.

[ohgeewhiz]

9. Looks like political blackmail to me! n/t

[ProfessionalLeftist]

11. Don't they have drugs for paranoid schizophrenia?

No insult to those who suffer such things. But honestly, the GOP and the NRA that controls them seem to have a bad case of it. Seriously.

[allan01]

12. re:NRA blackmailed Republican lawmakers into voting to hold Eric Holder in contempt of Congress

gee. here we go again . wasting taxpayer dollars . when will the republicans ever solve our deficit , pave our roads . truly make our borders secure . and chase after a single issue and the only talk about it on faux noi$e? for all of my adult life , i have seen nothing but obstructionism. loved FDR's words during the great depression 1.0 " you either are for me or against me ". have a nice day every one

[ieoeja]

13. The NRA is supporting action predicated on the theory that the availability of guns causes crime?

I don't think they have really thought this through.



Okay, that's a lie. I know damn well they thought it through. I dropped my NRA membership precisely because of their rightwing stances on non-firearms related issues, their bias against Democrats, and the weird conspiracy theories in their publications.

[valerief]

14. Congress are agents for the wealthy. They get their 2% in return for favors. nt

[MADem]

15. Shout it from the rooftops--triangulate the issue. The NRA is trying to bully Congress into

unethical behavior. "You fuckers better tell that AG to break the law, or I'm a gonna GITCHA!" That's their message, in essence.

[1monster]

16. So this guy advocated "Break their windows"... Does that remind anyone of anything?

How 'bout "The Night of Broken Glass" AKA "Kristallnacht?"

Do we assume that this is some kind of convergence (74 years later) or that fascists will use the same tactics as previous fascists? Does the first one who mentions that previous group still lose?

[TBF]

17. The NRA is acting like a terrorist organization.

Holder ought to be investigating that as well.

[libodem]

19. Best idea yet

I vote yes.

[Major Hogwash]

18. Is this all they've got? Getting "good boy" badges from the NRA? Who do they think they're fooling?

The rightwing political environment has gone from humorous to pathetic to lame.

[karynnj]

20. Democrats need to blame the NRA for the program - it actually makes more sense than Hokder

The NRA and the Senators controlled by them have prevented not just Obama, but Bush from confirming ANYONE as the head of AFT. Bush's choice was still there when this became an issue - even though he never was approved - which gave him less authority than he would have. Obama nominated a person who had worked for AFT, who should not have been controversial - and Bush's guy was from law enforcement in Boston.)

For the NRA to now complain that the headless organization did something dysfunctional takes enormous chutzpah and they need to be called on it. I don't think all of this is common knowledge - I found it because I was looking to see if Obama's nomination was the head at that point or if it was still the Bush nominee - and found the NRA hobbled BOTH nominations.

[marmar]

21. I openly and enthusiastically root for the demise of the NRA.

nt