Here are today's important headlines and my takes on them.
From the Sun-Sentinel, Metal detector plan scrapped for Stoneman Douglas.
Well, that was a surprise. After announcing the piolet program for Stoneman Douglas, the Broward School District is scrapping it for the start of the school year due to “privacy concerns” and the size of the student body. Both of which have been known all along. This leads you to wonder if they just didn’t get it together. Instead, it’s scheduled to be discussed again in an upcoming August 14th board meeting.
The next one is also from the Sun-Sentinel, Goodbye, NRA? Pro-gun lobby says it's going broke.
So, what’s the deal here? Didn’t we recently hear about record fundraising by the NRA on back of the efforts to target them in the wake of the Stoneman Douglas shooting? Yes, but yes, they’re really in trouble. Here’s the deal.
Several months ago, New York’s Governor, Andrew Cuomo, ordered the state to withhold insurance coverage for the NRA. What’s more is that the liability insurance provider has been fined $7 million by the state. This is all being litigated, and the outcome is unclear but here’s the thing. Without liability insurance, they can’t conduct most of their operations. Without those operations, fundraising is significantly lower and thus the NRA’s current problems. Additionally, there is no shortage of groups that have attempted to sue the NRA to create additional costs to defend and place additional burdens to operate as usual.
Here’s New York State’s argument from their activist AG: “New York state law prohibits insurance coverage to defense costs arising out of a crime.”
Anyone else alarmed here? Whatever your thoughts are of the NRA, and despite activists that have attempted to blame them for what happened in Parkland, the NRA hasn’t even been charged with a crime. Yet, the state of New York has taken action to attempt to take out the organization for political reasons as though they were found guilty. This is a literally dictatorship in action. No due process. A conviction without charges or trial in essence.
This also shows the incredible hypocrisy of organizations like the ACLU that couldn’t give a rip about defending liberty or free speech by virtue of their actions and inaction. Also, I’ll say again for those who simply want to play the game of politics with me rather than having an intellectual discussion of the implications of what’s happening here, I’m not a member of the NRA. I’ve never given them a dollar. I don’t agree with their entire agenda. I do, however, believe in free speech and a system of government designed around the principle that one’s innocent until proven guilty. If those thoughts and positions are even remotely controversial we’re all screwed and we just haven’t figured it out yet.
The state of New York no longer believes in those principals by virtue of their actions. The bigger concern here is if more politicians are elected that reflect those values.
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