GRNC President Paul Valone sends the following:
If the following pisses you off, I can say only that after kicking tail for 23 years – for no money – I figure that I shouldn’t have to suffer fools.
For those unfamiliar with political tactics, here is today’s lesson:
“Guerrilla theatre
Guerrilla (Spanish for ‘little war’), as applied to theatrical events, describes the act of spontaneous, surprise performances in unlikely public spaces to an unsuspecting audience. Typically these performances intend to draw attention to a political/social issue through SATIRE, PROTEST, AND CARNIVALESQUE TECHNIQUES. Many of these performances were a direct result of the radical social movements of the late 1960s through mid-1970s. Guerrilla Theater, also referred to as guerrilla performance, has been sometimes related to the agitprop theater of the 1930s,but it is differentiated from agitprop by the inclusion of Dada performance tactics.”
I have to say that I am surprised that GRNC would continue to push for passage of HB 746, only to be met with derision from within the gun rights community. Maybe this is the product of the usual armchair quarterbacks who never get off their collective butts to actually defend what they whine about. But if the sentiment is widespread, just let us know and we will sit back and let the bill die.
I realize you may not have bothered to take the legislative tactics seminars we hold each year but, if you had, you would know that once politicians are ensconced in power, what they want most is to retain power. The best way to do that is to not piss anybody off. The best way to do *that* is to not actually do anything. Throw in an opportunity to draw their own districts and you have the inertia which now causes the General Assembly to forget about the gun owners who elected them.
Unless you have a few hundred thousand dollars you would care to contribute to our super PAC, that leaves us with the option of trying to sway them with scarce resources, especially since gun owners are not currently threatened as they were during the Obama administration, have largely gone back to sleep, and can’t be bothered to show up.
So what is the best way to sway politicians? To lampoon them. Better yet, to let the *media* lampoon them…free of charge. And how can we get the media (who hate us) to carry the message? Make it outrageous, of course.
And by the way, you will perhaps notice that the street theater we conducted was carefully nuanced to deliver to Phil Berger the message that we aren’t going away and that we are prepared to escalate to actually damaging re-election prospects for selected Republicans, while not pissing off the most powerful Republican in the state. In fact, what the ignorant are whining about is quite probably the most cleverly nuanced political operation we have ever orchestrated.
So if you think you can do better, come on up and give it a shot. Then maybe I can actually get time to shoot for a change.
Otherwise, go back to your Budweiser and your football game and let the volunteers with skill, dedication and motivation continue doing what they’ve done for 23 years: Kicking ass.
Paul Valone
P.S. If you don’t like what GRNC is doing, I suppose you can sign the “petition” and send money to NAGR operative Noel Fritsch and Reilly O’Neal’s rip-off calling itself “North Carolina Gun Owners.” I’m sure they will enjoy your money. Or I guess you could also throw money at the so-called “North Carolina Firearms Coalition,” run by another former NAGR operative, Patrick Parsons out of Georgia, which just sent me a lovely piece of fundraising mail imploring me to “Stop Roy Cooper’s Gun Control Bill!”, and saying that “Urgent Action is Needed” to defeat Rep. Pricey Harrison & Co.'s HB 723. Of course, HB 723 is already deader than a door nail (and was DOA when introduced), but I’m sure he too will be happy to take your money.
Which sounds to me like "Sack the f#[k up and come out to help."