CPAC Journal, Part IV

Wayne LaPierre has an extremely important job, as head of the NRA. He is de facto the No. 1 spokesman for gun rights in the country. And gun rights are widely misunderstood. They have to be defended, or explained. The Second Amendment has to be explained.

There are lots of people irreconcilably hostile to gun rights, that’s true. But plenty of people, believe me, are confused, or simply ignorant. They are reachable. Pro-gunners should not write them off.

Here at CPAC, when LaPierre speaks of gun rights, he is on very solid ground. He knows the subject, definitely. (He’d better!)

Let me single out a line I like: “Your First Amendment right is not a license to kill the Second Amendment with lies.” I believe these words are directed to the media, primarily.

I also like the name of an NRA program that LaPierre mentions: Refuse to Be a Victim. When I was in high school or college, someone explained to me that gun rights and feminism ought to be connected: A gun gives a small woman a fighting chance against a physically overpowering aggressor.

In the course of his remarks, LaPierre says something about what the Obama administration has done with the IRS. The administration, he says, has “weaponized the IRS.”

I wonder if he’s aware of the current radioactivity of the word “weaponize” in British politics. Ed Miliband, the Labour leader, was caught saying that he and his party were going to “weaponize the NHS” in the coming political campaign.

The NHS is the National Health Service. What Miliband meant, of course, was that Labour was going to turn the service into a weapon against the Conservative party.

Editor’s Note: CPAC, the Conservative Political Action Conference, took place last week, at a Greater D.C. resort. Jay Nordlinger’s journal concludes today. For the first three installments, go here, here, and here.

Last installment (earlier links above) of NRO's Jay Nordlinger's CPAC 2015 journal. It is mostly a chronicle of the speakers and his first impressions of the speakers and their remarks. Certainly several opinions that will be disagreed with here. It is NRO after all.

Mostly a balanced and interesting analysis of CPAC. Jay Nordlinger could be a great help to his very good friend Ted Cruz' 2016 POTUS ambitions imho.

Here’s my take: Nordlinger gives a pretty accurate - but not totally on point - analysis, and he failed to mention how awful of a speaker LaPierre is. What a root canal. He does quote LaPeirre’s one and only good line.

Jeb did well. Okay, compared to what I thought he would do. Low expectations from my standpoint.

Obviously I’m no Bush fan and HATE the idea of Jeb as nominee. But Jeb’s point on the static pie versus the growing pie is correct. The idea that every job taken by an illegal is a job some hard working American is dying to have is just not true. I know that from 23 years as a contractor. And the point about requiring them to learn english is a good one.

But of course, the general establishment take on immigration is horrible. Jeb is not quite as bad as McCain or Graham for example - but by God, him as nominee would be a disaster. But some conservatives who want to punish businesses for government caused problems - and those who think of our economy as a static pie - are falling into a liberal mindset trap and just don’t see it. The issue is far more complicated.

I think the left is evil in their immigration plans. I think the establishment is clueless and self serving. But I think a lot of conservatives don’t fully understand it - and are acting out of anger and emotion instead of reality. Having said that, I’ll throw in with those conservatives over the other two idea groups fo shizzle.

There are lots of people irreconcilably hostile to gun rights, that’s true. But plenty of people, believe me, are confused, or simply ignorant. They are reachable.

Just drop them off in South Side Chicago, South Central Los Angeles or the Mexican Border in Nogales unarmed to walk home, they will be believers if they survive.

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