I know the Cadillac Service Garage is a wedding and event venue. However, for the 9th richest person in America to hold a campaign event at something that has “Cadillac” in its name, shows a degree of tone deafness that is hard to comprehend. I know Cadillac has lost a bit of its allure but it is still fairly synonymous with wealthy.
As to why the venue keeps changing, perhaps they have become aware that a warm North Carolina welcome is planned for Mini Mike by Grass Roots North Carolina and they are trying to confuse those planning to attend the protest.
As if!
So if you plan to “welcome” Mini Mike to the Gate City, remember it is at 304 East Market Street.
Also, his 7:30am Winston-Salem location has been changed from Campus Gas to Footnote Coffee & Cocktails at 634 W. 4th St, Ste 120 for those who can’t make the Greensboro “welcome”.
If you said anyone other than Mike Bloomberg you would be wrong.
Bloomberg is planning campaign stops in Winston-Salem, Greensboro, and Raleigh in conjunction with the start of early voting in the North Carolina primary.
In Winston-Salem, he will be at Campus Gas, 1231 Polo Rd from 7:00am–8:30am. He continues on to his campaign HQ at 300 S. Elm Street in Greensboro and will be there at 9:30am. Doors open to the public at 9am. Finally, he will be in Raleigh at Union Station ( 510 W Martin St) from 11:45am until 1:15pm.
Volunteers from Grass Roots North Carolina plan to give him a warm North Carolina welcome when he arrives at his Greensboro downtown HQ. This is the main event! Try to be there by 9am.
If you can’t be in Greensboro or you need to get to work earlier, a few people plan to welcome his arrival in Winston-Salem at 7am. I’d suggest being there around 6:30am at Campus Gas.
Bloomberg’s money has bought him a lot of things. It bought him many houses, a well-armed security team, and most recently a compliant legislature in Virginia. It has also bought him silence when it comes to comments he made in a 2015 appearance at the Aspen Institute. He requested video not be made available and the Aspen Institute complied.
However, things have a way of leaking out.
Audio of @MikeBloomberg’s 2015 @AspenInstitute speech where he explains that “you can just Xerox (copy)” the description of male, minorities 16-25 and hand to cops.
“Ninety-five percent of your murders, murderers and murder victims, fit one M.O. You can just take the description, Xerox it, and pass it out to all the cops,” Bloomberg said. “They are male, minorities, 16 to 25. That’s true in New York, that’s true in virtually every city. And that’s where the real crime is. You’ve got to get the guns out of the hands of people that are getting killed.”
“So one of the unintended consequences is people say, ‘Oh my God, you are arresting kids for marijuana that are all minorities.’ Yes, that’s true. Why? Because we put all the cops in minority neighborhoods. Yes, that’s true. Why do we do it? Because that’s where all the crime is,” he continued.
This was a continuation of comments he made in defense of “stop and frisk” back in 2013. You can hear part of his comments to WOR-NY below where he says too many whites are being stopped and not enough minorities.
Mike Bloomberg defending Stop-and-Frisk in 2013: “I think we disproportionately stop whites too much and minorities too little.” pic.twitter.com/KpdKgUALsL
I am reading an excellent book right now on the rise of white supremacy in North Carolina in the post-Civil War days. The book, Wilmington’s Lie: The Murderous Coup of 1898 and the Rise of White Supremacy, details how disarmament of blacks was one goal of the white supremacists. It started with the Black Codes, began again after Reconstruction ended, and continued on into the 20th Century. Armed freedmen and black Union veterans stood up to the Klan which allowed blacks to vote up through the end of the century. It made Wilmington a successful mixed-race community with many black office holders up until the coup of 1898.
Bloomberg’s comments would have found hearty agreement from former Confederate Colonel Roger Moore who headed the KKK in Wilmington and later from the Democrat architect of white supremacy Sen. Furnifold Simmons. The state’s pistol purchase permit is a remnant of laws put in place by the white supremacists. That we still have it is due in part to ad campaigns funded by Bloomberg and his Everytown organization against discarding the system.
So when Mike comes to town, let’s give him the warm North Carolina welcome he so richly deserves.
The ballots for the 2020 NRA Board of Directors Election were included in the February issues of the official magazines. Those who get the magazines electronically should have received their ballots separately in the mail. If you haven’t received your ballot and you think you are eligible to vote, contact NRA Membership Services at 1- 703-267-1000. Ask for membership. (Correction courtesy of Dave V.)
Completed ballots must be received back by March 29th. Late ballots will not be counted.
The first published endorsements that I saw were from Lt. Col. Robert Brown of Soldier of Fortune Magazine. Col. Brown has been a member of the Board of Directors for a number of years and has been a somewhat independent voice on the board. He endorsed six people for the Board. He notes elsewhere he is NOT voting for Charles Cotton, the current 1st VP.
Steve Schreiner
Tom Arvas
William Carter
John Cushman
Curtis Jenkins
Robert Mansell
Ammoland News is endorsing only two candidates this year: Anthony Colandro and Graham Hill. They go on to say:
Based on the last years’ controversy at the NRA AmmoLand News is very cautious in who we are endorsing as we wait and see how the NRA’s legal challenges work out. Graham Hill is one of those Directors that we know very well and have much respect for his work and trust his leadership skills can help guide the NRA in the year to come. Please Bullet Vote only for Graham Hill and Anthony Colandro when you return your NRA ballot.
Anthony’s DECADES of Second Amendment activism experience, fighting for all of us, with a target on his back, is the thing legends are made of! Leading rallies, testifying for gun owners at hearings held at our state capitol, hosting Tony Simon’s Diversity Shoot and the Second Amendment Women Shooting Club–SAW at his range. He never stops fighting! His in-your-face weekly radio broadcast reaches millions of gun owners nationwide.
The Trigger Pressers Union (a training organization) has endorsed Frank Tait and Jim Wallace. Klint Macro, the head and founder, is also endorsing Todd Ellis and Anthony Colandro according to their Facebook post.
Next up is Save the Second. The organization itself has not endorsed any candidates. They have, however, provided a valuable service by creating a guide to all candidates which can be found here. It has many links to candidates’ social media sites, endorsements, and biographical information.
They also have produced a 2 1/2 hour YouTube where they discuss the candidates. It is worth watching.
The individual directors of Save the Second have made their own recommendations independent of the organization.
Jeff is blunt on what the NRA faces and the assortment of candidates on this ballot.
The NRA is in deep trouble. I honestly expect indictments and financial sanctions to be coming down very soon from investigations being conducted by the New York and DC attorneys general and other agencies. All of these troubles tie directly back to Wayne LaPierre and the NRA Directors who allowed him to abuse his power so egregiously. If the Association can be saved, it’s going to require Directors willing to make hard decisions and stand firmly on principles. This ballot doesn’t offer a lot of hope for that, but we must do what we can with what we’ve got.
Jeff has made both endorsements and non-endorsements. The non-endorsements are those who should not get your vote under any circumstances. These include Charles Cotton, Ron Schmeitz, and Alan Cors. Rejecting these three would, in Jeff’s words, send a “loud message to the Board and the powers that be.” He also mentions John Cushman who is running by petition. Cushman has been on the Board off and on for 20 years. Jeff considers him part of the problem and not part of the solution.
In years gone past, Jeff has endorsed bullet voting. This year he has broadened the number of candidates he supports. They include:
Frank Tait
Phillip Journey
Niger Innis
Jim Wallace
Anthony Colandro
Mark Vaughn
Mark Robinson
Robert Mansell
Kevin Hogan
Paul Babaz
Finally, as a reminder, I am endorsing both Frank Tait and Graham Hill. I think both are excellent candidates and worthy of your support. I am also suggesting bullet voting. The NRA Board election is what is termed in political science an “approval election“. This means there are multiple candidates running for multiple seats and you can vote for as many candidates as there are seats. Social scientists have written extensively on approval elections and on voting strategically in these elections.
Since you cannot rank order your preferences, if you vote for as many candidates as there are open seats, then your most favored candidate is equal to your least favored candidate. One merely needs to look to the presidential election of 1800 to see the consequences. Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr both got the same number of electoral votes even though one was running for president and the other for vice-president. This became known as the Burr Dilemma. That election was ultimately decided in the House of Representatives.
If you see other endorsements for the Board that you think should be highlighted, please comment and include a link to the endorsement with your comments.
By contrast, Grass Roots North Carolina is an all volunteer organization that depends upon donations of both time and money to advance the message of freedom and gun rights.
So when Mini Mike as Trump calls him comes to town, who gets the headlines?
It was Andy Stevens, Grass Roots North Carolina, and a handful of others protesting outside the new Bloomberg 2020 headquarters in Winston-Salem.
Photo courtesy of Andy Stevens
In this case, Mini Mike himself was scarce but his campaign bus appeared in his stead. It looks like he also sent along some of his armed security staff to keep the non-elite at bay.
Protesters unhappy with Mike Bloomberg’s stance on gun laws greeted the Democratic presidential candidate’s campaign bus in downtown Winston-Salem, as the bus made its way on a gun-violence prevention tour across the state on Friday.
The small group of protesters gathered at the corner of Liberty and Fifth streets, right beside the Bloomberg campaign headquarters there. The protesters held up signs in support of gun rights and shouted slogans as the bus parked in front of the campaign headquarters and discharged its passengers.
“Forsyth County just passed a Second Amendment resolution, so we are in the right place at the right time,” said protest organizer Andy Stevens. Stevens went on to say that the state would “not be bought by New York money.”
Only three paragraphs in the whole article were devoted to Bloomberg’s campaign.
For a business mogul like Mini Mike, that wasn’t a great return on investment.
GRNC, by contrast, did get a great return from their few home printed signs. If you’d like to help out, you could always send a few bucks their way. I don’t think they would turn your money down!
The New York State Department of Financial Services has charged the National Rifle Association with violating the state’s insurance laws. The NRA is accused of acting as an unlicensed insurance broker. DFS is seeking civil penalties as well as injunctions against the NRA.
The Department of Financial Services (DFS) today announced that it has served a statement of charges against the National Rifle Association (NRA). The Department alleges that the NRA, which does not have a license to conduct insurance business in New York, violated various New York State Insurance Laws, among other things by acting as an insurance producer without a license in endorsing and marketing insurance programs, including “Carry Guard.” DFS also alleges that the NRA engaged in misleading marketing practices, deceiving its members. The Department is seeking civil monetary penalties, as well as injunctive and other appropriate relief.
In the statement of charges announced today, DFS alleges that, since 2000, the NRA has worked with the Kansas City Series of Lockton Companies LLC (Lockton) to offer a variety of insurance products to NRA members, their families and affiliated businesses. According to the statement of charges, the NRA endorsed the programs as well as marketed them to its members through NRA-affiliated websites and email marketing, despite the fact that the NRA does not hold an insurance producer license from DFS. In return, the NRA received substantial compensation, including royalties based on a percentage of the insurance premiums paid by its members. An entity is required to be licensed by DFS to engage in these activities related to the sale and marketing of insurance products in New York State.
DFS alleges that not only did the NRA act as an “unlicensed insurance broker” with regard to its Carry Guard product, the insurance itself was unlawful. According to the DFS, since a self-defense shooting is an intentional act, it cannot be covered under the state’s insurance laws.
The complaint does not limit itself to Carry Guard. It goes on to include other insurance offerings such as liability insurance for ranges and instructors and theft insurance for gun collectors.
The charges are not confined to the Carry Guard program. DFS alleges that the NRA participated in soliciting its members with respect to many other insurance products, going back to approximately 2000. For example, the charges allege that the NRA participated in offering its members insurance products involving coverage for firearms instructors, gun collectors, gun clubs, gun shows, federal firearms dealers, and other aspects involving firearms, as well as life, health, and property offerings for their members. The charges allege that the NRA participated in the generation of more than 28,000 such policies for New York consumers and allege that the NRA unlawfully received royalties of about $1.8 million between 2000 and 2018 from Lockton on such policies in New York.
In addition, DFS alleges that the NRA misrepresented that the insurance offerings to its members was at the lowest cost possible, when in fact the NRA was taking for itself substantial royalties, sometimes more than 20 percent of the premiums paid.
The Department of Financial Services is seeking up to a $500 penalty for each of the 28,000 policies issued to New York residents.
A hearing is set for April 6th in Manhattan on these charges.
“Today’s announcement is about politics, not protecting consumers,” William Brewer, a lawyer for the NRA, said in a statement. “The NRA acted appropriately at all times.”
Brewer goes on to say:
Brewer said the NRA did not underwrite, sell or administer insurance programs, and “like countless other affinity groups … relied on insurance-industry experts to oversee and market products tailored for its members.”
You know I love my infographics. I found this one today on Facebook. It was produced by the Proactive Response Group which is a training company out of Chapin, South Carolina. Thanks to North American Rescue for reposting it which is how I found it.
This infographic goes over what is the best method to stop the bleeding by area of the body. What you do for an extremity is not what you would do for the abdomen.
Paul, who is president of GRNC, made the point that North Carolina is ground zero in the fight for gun rights. Everything you have seen in Virginia could happen here.
Lawsuits by Eric Holder and Democrats over redistricting. Check.
Money from Michael Bloomberg. Check.
Growth in sanctuary counties. A good thing but still check.
Paul made the point to me in Las Vegas that Virginia had to resort to the Second Amendment Sanctuary movement. They had lost their other options. We in North Carolina are not at that point. Yet.
Everyone who attends a county sanctuary meeting needs to be registered to vote. Even more importantly, they need to recruit 10 likeminded friends and make sure they are registered to vote. Then all 11 need to vote for pro-gun candidates in both the March primaries and November general election.
Buncombe County is one of the most liberal counties in the state. It is the sea of blue in an ocean of red here in western North Carolina. Cars are still covered with bumper stickers for Bernie from 2016 and for Obama from 2008. Of course, you see the Resist! bumper sticker everywhere.
It is against this background that I was a bit surprised when I heard at the January gun show that there was a move to ask Buncombe County Commissioners to make it a Second Amendment Sanctuary. I figured a few people would show up and the oh, so liberal commissioners would just roll their eyes.
I was right on the second part but extremely wrong on the first part.
People for and against making Buncombe a Second Amendment Sanctuary spoke for two hours. Given you are only allowed three minutes to speak, this was a lot of folks. From what I can gather, with few exceptions, most were in favor of making it a sanctuary county.
Amy Benedict of the Demanding Moms spoke against it. The clip above, unfortunately, doesn’t give her full comments. The on-air report noted her saying they weren’t “against guns but gun violence”. Right.
In the end, as I would have expected, the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners did nothing. Nonetheless, it does let the Board and the public know that there is strong support for gun rights in my oh, so liberal county.
However, according to an internal email obtained by Newsweek, Powell has departed the NRA entirely.
It was not clear whether Powell was fired or if he resigned. The NRA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The email clarifying the nature of Powell’s departure was sent to the board of directors Saturday evening by the NRA’s general counsel John Frazer.
“Several directors have reported receiving media queries regarding Josh Powell and his employment status with the Association,” he wrote. “For the sake of clarity, we note that Josh is no longer employed by the NRA.”
In noting the sensitivity of discussing personnel matters, Frazer made reference to “the assortment of pending and threatened litigation” facing the gun-rights group.
The Newsweek article also raised a question that someone asked me on Twitter this evening: how did Ackerman McQueen know or find out that Powell had been placed on leave?
Save the Second raised some interesting questions regarding the termination of Powell’s employment with the NRA.
2. Was this a move against Wayne’s wishes/protection?
3. Was there an insultingly generous severance package to add insult to injury after his disastrous tenure as an overpaid executive that didn’t seem to do anything right?
4. Will the problems he and his decisions/appointments caused in the NRA’s Education & Training Division be undone ?
Given that it will be classified as a personnel matter, I think the whys and wherefores of his termination may never be fully known. Moreover, unless either Wayne or one of his inner circle talks, we won’t know the answer to number 2.
We may have to wait until the Meeting of Members at the Annual Meeting in Nashville to find out if any severance package has been paid. If then.
Only time will tell if the problems Powell caused in Education and Training will be solved.
Below is the Memorandum of Law in Support of Defendant’s Motion to Compel Plaintiff to Provide Meaningful and Supplemental Answers to Interrogatories. This was filed on January 23rd by attorneys for Ackerman McQueen in their legal battle with the National Rifle Association. It covers both the first and second lawsuit filed by the NRA against AckMac in City of Alexandria Circuit Court.
This is where we first learned the Wayne LaPierre’s Chief of Staff Josh Powell was on Administrative Leave. As far as I know, it had not been public knowledge before that.
There is a lot of legalese in these pages but a scan through them does give the reader a sense of the battle between the two former allies.
There is also the amusing line of Q&A indicating that Wayne was upset that someone at AckMac told the Wall Street Journal his grandniece had drawn on the walls of The Four Seasons with crayons.
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