Democrats Flex Political Muscle to Shut Down NRA Event

In the United States, politicians are not supposed to be able to prevent the opposition from meeting or speaking.

When Progressives dominated the mass media, the left celebrated the First Amendment.  In 1963, the Harvard-Radcliff Democratic Club invited George Wallace to speak, and there were no protests or threats of violence.  Leftists were all for free speech and rights of assembly when they had little opposition in organs of mass media.

Times have changed. The Progressives no longer have an effective monopoly in the media. Now, heavier handed tactics are resorted to. Democrat politicians in New York pressured a Staten Island business, the Vanderbilt, to cancel a Friends of the NRA event. When their heavy handed tactics worked, they celebrated.  From silive.com:

"As a community, we have worked hard to address gun violence in this neighborhood, and an event like this was not in the best interests of the community. The Vanderbilt has been an important partner of the community, and the decision to cancel this event shows that they are accessible and hear concerns of our community," Savino (D-North Shore) said.

Councilwoman Debi Rose (D-North Shore) and Assemblyman Matthew Titone (D-North Shore) said they were "appalled" to learn about the fundraiser prior to its cancellation and "refuse to cooperate with evil."

Upon learning about the fundraiser's cancellation, Rose said: "I thank all those who joined us in raising their voices, as well as The Vanderbilt for listening to our collective voices, and I look forward to continuing to work together in the pursuit of commonsense solutions to keep our students safe."

Max Rose, a democratic congressional candidate and combat veteran, said he's glad to see the event cancelled and is tired of Congress standing idle while weapons are used to "mow down innocent Americans"

"Let's be clear: the NRA is only concerned about protecting the profit margin of the gun industry, not the safety of our children or the brave men and women in law enforcement. This is the time for comprehensive gun reform in this country, and an end to the NRAs influence on our politics," Max Rose said.

These Democrats are all for intimidation and shutting down debate, when they are losing the argument. We see many similar situations at public universities, where conservatives are prevented from speaking. Simply applying a label of "Racist" or "Fascist" or "Hate Speech" is sufficient to prevent an alternative view from being heard at many universities. The irony of labeling speakers "Fascist" while using fascist tactics is lost on the practitioners.

"Liberal Fascism" has a long history.  President Franklin Roosevelt used the FCC to shape American mass media into a Progressive propaganda machine. From reason.com:

It did not take long for broadcasters to get the message. NBC, for example, announced that it was limiting broadcasts "contrary to the policies of the United States government." CBS Vice President Henry A. Bellows said that "no broadcast would be permitted over the Columbia Broadcasting System that in any way was critical of any policy of the Administration." He elaborated "that the Columbia system was at the disposal of President Roosevelt and his administration and they would permit no broadcast that did not have his approval." Local station owners and network executives alike took it for granted, as Editor and Publisher observed, that each station had "to dance to Government tunes because it is under Government license." Some dissident radio commentators, such as Father Charles Coughlin and Boake Carter, gained wide audiences. But radio as a whole was firmly pro-Roosevelt—and both Coughlin and Carter were eventually forced off the air for pushing the envelope too far.

Many of the people on the left openly proclaim their antipathy to freedom of assembly and freedom of speech, and of course, to the right to keep and bear arms. It is not hard to understand why people who believe that violence is the correct way to stifle their opponents arguments, would not want those opponents to be armed.  President Franklin Roosevelt used the FCC to shape American mass media into a Progressive propaganda machine. Roosevelt also pushed through the first serious federal gun control act.

The Friends of the NRA dinner events on Staten Island have been conducted for 23 years without problems. Until now.  A Republican, Councilman Joe Borelli, raised his voice against the political intimidation. From silive.com:

"I think we are setting a new precedent when we applaud the use of intimidation and bullying to coerce a business owner to turn away service to any group. Those seeking limitations on the Second Amendment should at least respect the First Amendment concepts of free speech and free association," Borelli said.

The Friends of the NRA dinner this year was scheduled for September of 2018. It will be interesting to see if the intimidation and bullying by Democrats are sufficient to prevent another venue from making a contract with the Friends of the NRA of Staten Island.

When intimidation and violence are used to stifle opposing views, it is usually because those views are winning the political and intellectual argument.

©2018 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.

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