There is absolutely no way in hell that this is not a deliberate troll job to generate annoyance/outrage on the left.
Say what you will about Charlton Heston, there was more to him than “NRA/conservative figurehead.” He was a beloved actor, he was part of the Civil Rights movement, and as far as I know he didn’t have any shady shit in his background.
Oliver North, on the other hand…he is just a lightning rod for controversy! And that’s obviously what the NRA wants.
I don’t follow the NRA all that closely. But FWIW, the impression I get is that the actual power and leadership are in the hands of LaPierre, and whoever is “president” is a figurehead. Something like the British royalty. So they prefer a celebrity, for PR purposes.
If you were to post this in a place where the general expectation was that one provide verifiable evidence to support their claims, and someone were to ask you for said evidence, how would you respond?
He’s been hosting War Stories on Fox for years, so it kind of makes sense. Right wing guy with good name recognition and military background. Not seeing the joke value.
I for one don’t know much of anything about this Oliver North person, but I would say that you can’t use horribleness as a justification for believing that the NRA wouldn’t honestly believe that a person represented them. I don’t believe that satan himself would be too awful a person for the NRA to say “Hey, that guy looks like he’ll represent our interests! We like him!”
So no, I don’t leap to trolling as an explanation. I’m perfectly willing to believe that the NRA is really that bad.
What an idiotic post. Truly, truly stupid. It’s bad enough the context was deliberately erased from the sentence isolated for quotation, but to think that no one else would notice is what elevates this post above other dumb posts.
Okay, what would you say are North’s qualifications?
As far as I know, North has never led a lobbying group before.
He’s a veteran but there are thousands of other veterans who could have been chosen.
He has some background in politics. But his political record is greatly tainted by the fact that he committed crimes and took bribes while holding that position.
He’s an author but there are plenty of other authors with better writing credentials.
He’s a minor celebrity but there are other celebrities (Heston for example) who have more credibility. If they’re just looking for somebody famous, why not chose an actor, athlete, or singer who doesn’t have a criminal past?
As I said in another thread, I feel it would have made more sense to go with a celebrity who doesn’t have North’s baggage. Pick somebody like Kurt Russell or Tom Selleck or Nolan Ryan.
Lets see - well known name, popular on TV as a commentator, successful author, military veteran, and his convictions were all vacated. His time in the spotlight during he hearings made him a hero to many, and those that hate him probably don’t like the right to keep an bear arms anyway - so no great loss there.
Ted Nugent, man! He’s the intellectual leader of the gun rights movement. After all his years of quality service on the board, he’s earned a turn at the top.
It’s virtue signaling: The NRA is signaling to the right wing that it doesn’t care what Liberals think about Iran-Contra or the rule of law and so will do the virtuous thing by putting a traitor in a very public position.
