Perhaps before the day is out, in various media availabilities, National Rifle Association spokesmen will have something to say about the concerns that they’re receiving money from Russian oligarchs — money they use for . . . well, what DO they use that money for?
And aren’t the Russians suddenly trying a little too hard to influence what’s happening in America? Two recent stories are worth review:
- On Feb. 24, it was reported that in the aftermath of the Valentine’s Day attack at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., “Russian-linked influence networks on Twitter boosted hashtags on both sides of the U.S. gun-control debate.”
That’s important in once sense because they didn’t just take a side. They took BOTH sides, and in the highly wrought manner that social media disagreements generally play out. In other words, very emotional.
- Then, the day before the NRA convention began in Dallas, former director of the CIA and the FBI, Michael Hayden, spoke on the podcast of MSNBC’s Morning Joe and said that Americans’ fears three years ago over Operation Jade Helm 15 could be chalked up to “Russian bots and the American alt-right media [that] convinced many Texans [Jade Helm] was an Obama plan to round up political dissidents.”
Not incidentally, the NRA overlords — the gun manufacturers — sold a lot of weaponry off that story after stoking the concerns of the most credulous among us.
So as the members of the NRA gather, a few straight answers would seem to be in order. But don’t count on it.
Before the NRA sold itself to the gun manufacturers, it was the voice of Americans for responsible gun ownership. Those days are as obsolete as a pellet gun, and now the organization is beholden to people like Alexander Torshin, a former Russian bank official and friend of Vladimir Putin who has bragged about his relationship with the NRA.
In a story questioning the nature of that relationship, Mother Jones reported on Thursday that the organization has repeatedly sidestepped Congress’ questions about that teamwork.
The magazine related how Congress — specifically, Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon — is asking again, as is the Federal Elections Commission. And maybe even the FBI.
This is important because, believe it or not, the nonprofit NRA organization can pocket foreign contributions, unlike politicians or political parties. The catch is that the money can’t be used for political ends. It reminds of Planned Parenthood, which has long been prohibited from using federal money to perform abortions.
Planned Parenthood was always told to be mindful of that money and to never comingle money for abortions with money for the myriad other health initiatives it performs. Republican Congresses investigated the organization relentlessly, trying to prove it was doing something illegal. When Congress couldn’t prove Planned Parenthood wasn’t comingling the funds, they accused the organization of not providing proof that it didn’t do so. Failure to find Planned Parenthood doing anything illegal never stopped Republicans in Congress from making accusations without proof. Thus the double negative, and Congress still takes aim (so to speak) at Planned Parenthood.
Getting the NRA to clear itself has been impossible to date, but with Republicans in charge, the NRA hasn’t had to prove the double negative.
This is important because? Well, the NRA spent a lot of money trying to take down Hillary Clinton in 2016. Once she had fallen in the election, those of us on her side of the aisle began to wonder just where all that money came from, and more importantly, how it was being spent. Knowing that the NRA had taken money from a Russian banking official with one hand and paid political ad makers with the other made people even more curious.
There are too many coincidences. Now we’re asked to believe that the organization that raked in tons of money from the Russians didn’t misspend any of those funds? Please prove that’s not the case.
I don’t know how we get this set aright. The Russians didn’t fund the NRA out of the goodness of their hearts, and we know that Putin’s animus toward Hillary Clinton was there for all to see.
So did the NRA play bagman? Did it interfere in the presidential campaign with its bots and trolls? Do the people on the Republican side care?
Well, we know they don’t care. But if another country can do to our elections what the Russians appear to have done in 2016, and if we cannot defend ourselves, then we’re in the same room with the switch we need to shut off the lights on our democracy.
Many of us would like some answers.
THE SHINBONE STAR 