Of Course Oliver North is Going to be the New NRA President

Oliver North and the NRA are the perfect match so his election as president of the organization should surprise no one. Retired Marine Lt. Col. Oliver North became a national figure during the Reagan administration during the Iran-Contra scandal and was convicted on three felony counts [later overturned on appeal] leading from his role in illegally selling arms to Iran and using the proceeds to fund the Contra rebels in Nicaragua.

For reasons that defy easy explanation, he was later able to convince conservatives that selling arms to Iran who had just years before held American hostages, and was under an arms embargo, was a patriotic act. He then went on to a career spreading conspiracy theories on Fox news, the Hannity show, and other right-wing media outlets.

So, why is he the perfect choice to lead the NRA during the Trump years? North was an anti-government conspiracy theorist long before it was fashionable, while Trump was still bankrupting casinos and airlines. He will bridge the gap between Trump's distrust of the "Deep State" and the NRA's aversion to regulation. He has always known how to stir up the right-wing and with the NRA under attack after the recent string of mass-shootings, gun rights advocates need a voice who can firmly connect their interests to Trump's.

Jennifer Rubin of the Washington Post said it perfectly yesterday:

"North is the ideal person to be the public face of the NRA. Loopy conspiracies, victimization and extreme anti-government rhetoric are now becoming commonplace for NRA figures (including spokeswoman Dana Loesch, who accused the media of loving mass shootings) and among the right-wing universe that thrills to the Conservative Political Action Conference, absorbs hours of Fox News and hangs on the words of right-wing talk shows. Ranging far beyond gun rights, it has become a hotbed of anti-government conspiracy theories: Wayne LaPierre, the group’s chief executive, earlier this year declared of the Democrats, “If they seize power, if the so-called European socialists take over the House and the Senate and, God forbid, they get the White House again, our American freedoms could be lost and our country will be changed forever.” In the venom-soaked, anti-fact world in which these people operate, North is a truth-teller and a hero."

And North will finally have the big stage to speak from that he has always sought. A marriage made in heaven, or....well, you know.

#North #politics