by Stephen Gutowski’s The Reload has an excellent summation of the conclusion of the NRA’s trial in New York. It includes Judge Cohen’s ruling, some of the history of the case, the reaction to the ruling by the various parties, and a bit on the closing arguments.
What caught my eye was attorney Sarah Rogers’ closing arguments on behalf of the NRA. After accusing the New York Attorney General’s Office of interfering with NRA operations, she went on to say this.
“The NRA is a democracy,” she said in her closing. “Like American democracy, it sometimes errs. It contains imperfections, factions, century-old habits, and traditions. The NRA has done more- for its members, mission, stakeholders, its governance, its controls, its future – than any lawyer could cover in an hour. It can do more, and it will, on its own.
My first response to this nonsensical statement that the NRA is a democracy.
My second response is that Ms. Rogers ought to know better the difference between a democracy and an oligarchy. She does after all have a degree in International Relations from Dartmouth College according to her firm biography. Her first introductory course in IR or PoliSci would have covered it.
I can’t speak for how the NRA was governed in its distant past but it has always been an oligarchy since I’ve been a member. Power in the NRA has never rested with the members but rather with a small group of influential insiders. I and others would not write about the Old Guard or the Cabal if this was not the case.
It was moreover this same insulated group that ignored the problems that led to the lawsuit against the NRA in the first place. If they had called Wayne to task early on, if they had done their fiduciary duties with diligence, and if they hadn’t ignored the grifting, self-dealing, and other corruption, Tish James would have had no grounds to sue the NRA. So while Barr, Cotton, Coy, Brewer, and the rest of the Cabal would like to blame the downturn in both revenues and membership on the NY Attorney General, the reality is that they themselves are to blame and most of us know it.
Agree totally.
However, I’ve come to learn that all govt devolves to Oligarchy. There is always a (usually) secret cabal of insiders even in a dictatorship.
I agree with you. Sigh…
To be fair, the NRA is indeed a democracy like the US government. In other words, an oligarchy.
A democracy is two wolves and a lamb discussing lunch plans.
The NRA is not that. Nor is the US.
When the Executive Director of the NRA has near unfettered power to rule, it’s a totalitarian oligarchy.
In theory the old USSR and now Russia were/are democracies, but saying so does not make it true.
Even in the olden days probably more accurate to say that the NRA was a representative republic. We voted for representatives. Not a democracy in any sense of the word.
As far as Tish James having “no grounds to sue the NRA” have you been following what has happened to VDare? She’s never even charged them with a crime but has driven them out of business by “investigating” for two years. James did what she did for political reasons, not because there were any grounds. The difference is that the NRA has a very large bucket of money to play with.