Live from Florida – the sun rises and sets only on the U.S.A. The White House drama outperforms even House of Cards for entertainment value. The president’s decision to impose punitive import duties on steel and aluminum is being looked at locally by its effect on domestic car prices.
Its impact on the U.S.A.’s relationship with the World Trade Organization let alone NAFTA is of minor interest. Putin’s claim that he can launch a successful nuclear attack on Florida at any time is just being digested. But the most profound potential change in daily living in America may well be the dampening of the need for everyone to carry concealed weapons or military armaments to feel safe in their streets and public places.
Guns and money are the primary preoccupation.
This last matter has arisen from the massacre of 17 people at a junior high school, its impact on the most powerful political lobbying group in recent times, and the reaction of free enterprise corporate America.
The National Rifle Association of America (NRA) has substantially influenced the American constitution, its legal system and elections processes – far more than the present hysteria over Russian cyberattacks.
The NRA interpretation of the second amendment and its lobbying efforts, which began in 1934, led to the Supreme Court ruling that all citizens had the inalienable right to bear arms. Registered as a "civil rights organization" the NRA is the most powerful Political Action Committee in the nation.
It was not always thus. The NRA was formed in 1874 when an army general and colonel in the Union Army were concerned about the poor marksmanship of its soldiers during the Civil War and developed this organization to "promote and encourage rifle shooting on a scientific basis."
In 1906, the NRA targeted university, college and military academy students and organized shooting contests. Its youth membership is presently claimed to be one million (20 per cent of its total membership). In 1960 it expanded to offer certification courses to law enforcement and military instructors and reports that it has registered 55,000 American and Canadian instructors.
Its power however comes from its political interpretation of the 2nd amendment of the U.S. constitution, starting in 1934 and formalized in 1975 with the formation of their Institute for Legislative Action. Registered now as a Civil Rights Organization, it has immersed itself in financing those who support the unfettered purchase of guns by all U.S. citizens, and viciously opposing those who want restrictions.
And then came the human slaughter at a school in Parkland, Fla. The reaction of politicians had been self-preservative, especially if they were recipients of NRA donations. For a while it was Sandy Hook all over again. Then corporate America stepped up: Dick’s Sporting Goods, a Fortune 500 company, and then Walmart decided to raise the age limit for gun purchases and to stop selling assault style weapons. Delta Airlines and Hertz dropped their discounts for NRA members. The White House and Congress are falling in line. The NRA is in panic mode.
Makes one feel warm all over about the American way of life – and the miracle of Walmart. Now about our standing with TPP partners and with India – I can hardly wait for Trudeau’s next visit to China. Will he take his own tailor and chopsticks?
- reprinted from the St. Albert Gazette, a Great West newspaper
