USA – -(AmmoLand.com)- This NRA garbage reads like a COPS episode. We’ve all seen it when the cop rifles through the suspects pants pockets and find a bunch of money and drugs.
Don’t you just love it when the perp says, “It ain’t mine, man. These ain’t my pants, man.” The cop asks, “These aren’t your pants?” “Nah man, I don’t know whos pants they are, man. They ain’t my pants, man,” the loser says. Of course, to anyone who isn’t on the drugs that the cops found in the suspect’s pockets, of course, they’re his pants, and that excuse just isn’t going to fly, either to the police, the judge or the jury.
Queue up the NRA list of excuses. In the latest twist to an already sordid tale, the NRA has sued Ackerman McQueen, AGAIN, this time with what I’m calling the “These aren’t my pants” excuse. Seriously, you can’t make this stuff up. From the Daily Beast, the headline reads, NRA Sues Advertising Firm For Alleged Media Leaks, Coup Attempt, but its the subhead that got me: The gun rights group claims Ackerman McQueen leaked confidential info to tarnish and ultimately destroy the public image of the NRA and its senior leadership.
By now, you know what the NRA is referring to in this latest suit against its longtime business partner – excessive and embarrassing expenditures. Wayne and company are upset that his extravagant spending on clothing and travel, have been exposed. But wait, they’re not disputing the amounts, only the fact that it’s been revealed? Apparently. Seems the top brass on Waples Mill Road has a, well, lotta brass. Why? I’m guessing that none of this would be going on if it weren’t true. Take this from the Daily Beast:
The suit also says the NRA has been receiving media inquiries about LaPierre’s “travel, wardrobe, and other expenses incurred in connection with AMc projects, based on AMc’s advice, or on trips with itineraries crafted by AMc.” And it blames the firm for those leaks. The suit says the firm “directly or indirectly” leaked to The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Rolling Stone, and The Daily Beast.
LaPierre’s wardrobe has become a flashpoint. Earlier this month, The Wall Street Journal reported–citing leaked documents–that LaPierre billed Ackerman McQueen over $500,000 for clothes, travel, and other expenses. The lawsuit, meanwhile, says LaPierre made these purchases “[b]ased on AMC’s advice” and over fifteen years. Once the NRA started asking the firm about expenses that appeared questionable, the firm became “evasive and hostile,” the suit alleges.
So let me get this straight, in simpleton terms, mind you. According to this, AMc advises Wayne to make substantial expenditures on clothing and travel. Wayne makes large expenditures on clothes and travel. No problem, until the spending is leaked. Now it’s a problem, but it apparently wasn’t a problem until it was leaked? “They told me to do it,” isn’t going to fly with membership. How do I know? Because I’m a member and this isn’t flying with me.
The whole thing stinks of getting away with your hands in the cookie jar for fifteen years and once caught, blaming the cookie jar for being there. People know better unless they’ve lost sight of reality. Top management of a large organization that now blames the company they hired to do the things they did and never questioned the things they did over all the years they did them until after they got caught doing them? Huh?
Here’s the deal – America needs a strong NRA, and our rights need a strong NRA. I want to and plan on remaining an NRA member, but some things must change at the top.
The mess we’re in now came from the top and this second lawsuit seems to me to be a diversion, a sort of “they made me do it,” excuse. No, not anymore. At the very least, the top dogs are incompetent for getting the NRA here, to begin with, and, well, need to go.
There, I repeated it. OH, and here are some words of wisdom for Lapierre –If you had shopped at Jos. A. Banks, you wouldn’t be in this position, and hey dumb ass, if you did it on Tuesday’s, you would have gotten two for the price of one. Just saying.
Think next time!
About Mark Walters
Mark Walters is the host of two nationally syndicated radio broadcasts, Armed American Radio and Armed American Radio’s Daily Defense with Mark Walters. He is the Second Amendment Foundations 2015 Gun Rights Defender of the Year award recipient and co-author of two books, Lessons from Armed America with Kathy Jackson (Whitefeather Press) and Lessons from UnArmed America with Rob Pincus (Whitefeather Press)
Mark Walters, that was a clever article which I also heard on your 5/23 edition of Armed American Radio Daily Defense. So, the issue of the shiny suits and private jets has been aired out but where are the photos of Wayne and his able-bodied intern? Inquiring minds want to know what our membership dues are actually paying for.
I tried to contact the NRA through normal channels and my message just stayed there after hitting the submit key, I guess Wayne is tired of being criticized and shut down that avenue of communication. The fluff letter I was emailed enraged me the most. I guess to them I’m stupid. The NRA will get no more of my money until the rot at the top is cut off.
The NRA asks for small $25 dollar donations from its members all the time. That is how they get the money to protect our rights. I cant get past how many of those donations they need to add up to an amount they can do something with. It really bothers me that they ask me to dig in my pocket and give till it hurts for the fight all the while it’s going to pay their multi million dollar salaries and millions in expenses. I cant help but wonder how much help those millions would have been in the fight… Read more »
So….LaPierre got caught wasting members’ money. That’s bad. He also got caught pushing anti-gun laws and rules (Fix NICS, bump stock ban, and Red Flag law). I could look past a bit of profligate spending if the organization appeared to be doing anything that benefited me. NRA seems, however, to have reneged on its mission of fighting for my gun rights so that its officers can rub elbows with senators and other bigwigs.
Why did the NRA send out the latest fund raising campaign about “The NRA will be forced to shut down”? Talk about a dumb campaign fund raising timing in the aftermath of the annual INDY Convention. Who is going to send money into a sinking ship after all the media controversy? Clearly, the leadership has lost the ability to manage the NRA’s continuity of information. A direct mail subcontractor started the latest fund raising campaign without any upper NRA management buy off? I think not. There is an undercurrent of conflicting philosophies within the NRA. The NRA HAS LOST ITS… Read more »
I have noticed that Ammoland has jumped onto the NRA bashing bandwagon. Sure the NRA has problems that need to be addressed but is it in the best interest of gun owners to join the antigun community in attempting destroy the most powerful gun lobby in the country? Sure we have a number of wannabe gun groups with big egos and minimal effectiveness that think they could do a better job but that has yet to be proven. Sounds like some of us are willing to cut off our nose to spite our face.
Fighting elites by using self aggrandizing entitled parasitic elites is BS.
I hope Mr. Prinz has time to reply. I hate the fact that NRA seems to have lost its way. Even worse, it isn’t doing a good job communicating with its members. In virtually every corporation or non-profit in America, if you have a series of PR stumbles that cause share owners or customers to get angry, heads roll. May not always be right, but the BOD or appropriate corporate officer listens to the complaints, and takes action. I’ve heard it explained that the $5M retirement catch up and over $1M salary paid to Mr. LaPierre and other top NRA… Read more »
I agree, Mark!
The NRA suing Ack-Mac is roughly equivalent to the criminal mastermind fingering the getaway driver.
Who buys this nonsense?
I dont agree with everything the NRA does or says. I dont agree with anybody 100% and if you do you are an idiot with your head up thier ass. NRA is still the best bet. Im old so i wont live to see the end of the 2A but if the infighting keeps up some of you will. The best way to destroy is from the inside.