Posted on 03/18/2016 2:11:01 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
His newest foreign policy advisor, Frank Gaffney, is a key player in the effort to remove Grover Norquist from the organization's board.
Ted Cruz named Frank Gaffney his foreign policy advisor on Thursday, a move that threatens to involve the Republican presidential contender in a contentious fight to get the party's most prominent anti-tax advocate kicked off the National Rifle Association's board.
Gaffney once worked for President Ronald Reagan's Department of Defense and now runs the Center for Security Policy, a hyper-conservative think tank that promulgates theories about a Muslim Brotherhood conspiracy to infiltrate the U.S. government. The Southern Poverty Law Center has deemed Gaffney "one of America's most notorious Islamophobes." For years, he has also worked to take down an unlikely target: Republican superstar and founder of Americans for Tax Reform, Grover Norquist.
Norquist is best known for browbeating GOP lawmakers into signing "The Taxpayer Protection Pledge," which contractually requires them to resist tax increases of almost any sort. But as The Trace reported in February, he also serves on the board of the NRA, and at the moment he is the subject of a recall effort spearheaded by Tea Party icon Glenn Beck. To make his case to his followers, many of whom are affiliated with the NRA, Beck has primarily relied on distorted evidence gathered by Gaffney.
The gist of Beck and Gaffney's beef with Norquist is an assertion that the latter has ties to Islamist extremists, which is a considerable distortion of reality. In the 1990s, Norquist started an organization called the Islamic Free Market Institute (IFMI), with the goal of spreading free market ideas to the Middle East. At times, he crossed paths with some people later identified as extremists -- evidence, according to Beck and Gaffney, that Norquist has conspired with people who want to harm America.
Beck's feud with Norquist dates to at least 2013, and he has advocated since then to boot the anti-tax advocate from the NRA's board. A recall effort, led by Beck, is well underway, and a heated debate has broken out among the organization's members. On the popular firearms enthusiast website Ammoland, there have been posts defending Norquist, and others calling for his dismissal. In February, one commenter wrote, "The NRA better press the issue ... or it will lose tons of members, myself included!"
Whether Gaffney's involvement in the internecine NRA battle has implications for Cruz remains to be seen, but at minimum it promises to make potential conversations with senior NRA members -- and Norquist himself -- more complicated.
Cruz has sought to position himself as the most pro-gun candidate in the election. Yet by hiring Gaffney, Cruz may anger a number of long-serving NRA board members, including David Keene, the organization's president from 2011 to 2013, who have made public statements against the effort to recall Norquist.
Cruz could also lose the support of a man who is a natural ally. In April, on his campaign site, the Republican candidate announced that he had signed Norquist's pledge. As president, the press release read, "he will oppose and veto any all efforts to increase taxes." The release quoted Norquist, who referred to Cruz as a "strong and consistent advocate for taxpayers."
Nope, haven’t even heard of it. You know a title?
One thing you can be damned sure of with the Trump brigade. they are ALWAYS unfamiliar with the landscape in which they tread.
FDR was from New York.
Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin.
OHMYGOSH...you have to get out more!!!
Anything from The Trace is suspect. This is Bloomberg’s antigun ‘news’ source.
Just a guess here, you didn’t know anything about Norquist before reading the article?
Sounds more like Cruz made a good choice.
Did you see Jim’s comments after the title?
Is it? I’d never heard of it before today.
Is there any reason to consider Norquist anti-gun rights? The NRA is a single-issue group, and that means you don’t get involved in issues that don’t relate to gun rights, unless that issue directly interferes with the NRA carrying out their mission, such as McCain-Feingold. If they have evidence that Norquist is somehow undermining the mission of the NRA, let NRA members know and we can vote him out. I haven’t seen it yet myself.
MaNY people besides Beck think there is issue with Norquist’s ties.
I think it was A Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin. Really good book and it points out all the jealousy and rivalries that Lincoln had with his cabinet members including William Seward and Salmon Chase. You’re right. Things never change. We may disagree on who’s better for the GOP and the country in this race between Ted Cruz and Donald Trump, but we can all agree our public servants serve to help themselves more than the people they were elected to serve.
What that is suppose to change my mind? I read what ‘Natural Born Citizen’ is and means...I suggest you do the same...
And here I was thinking I was America’s most notorious Islamophobe. Sheesh! What a gyp.
I lean towards Trump, but good on Cruz on this one. Grover Norquist needs to find a real job outside of government - anything positive he once brought through work for lower taxes has been wiped out by his other actions.
Divide members? Ditching the Islamist Morquist would SEEM to be a no-brainer. But it isn’t. And that is why I haven’t given to the NRA for years... instead funding the GOA.
I loathe this Texas jingoism. It never stops here at FR.
That said, Norquist is the Kim Philby of Islam. He needs to be kicked to the curb and then banished to the American equivalent of Siberia with a tiny tv set equipped with rabbit ears and his favorite tobacco. And I salute anyone who does it. And if he needs feminine comfort, send him Huma.
Pure propaganda. Hiring Gaffney as a foreign policy adviser threatens no such thing.
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