NRA Members Meeting Aftermath

I may skip dinner, this will spoil anyone’s appetite.

From NRA’s Twitter:

New NRA president Charles Cotton: “The proceedings in Charlotte were an amazing celebration of NRA fellowship and freedom. Under the direction of Wayne LaPierre, the NRA is strong and secure – well-positioned to chart its course for the future.” An. Amazing. Celebration. of. NRA. Fellowship. A whole 126 people were able to attend, thanks to NRA leadership having taken care to keep everyone away! And a third of the board stayed away — at an annual meeting session! Neither has occurred in NRA’s recent history.

Here’s that “amazing celebration,” and look at all the empty chairs, despite the reservations webpage telling members that every seat had been taken:

If that weren’t enough, the tweet goes on to guote LaPierre saying “The NRA is focused and energized” — when the roof of headquarters is failing, membership is down by over a million, and NRA recently filed for bankruptcy, and lost, and that “I am honored by the trust placed in me by the NRA board of directors.” Yes, no dinner for me.

The board vote was 44-2 to re-elect LaPierre, and the vote was by secret ballot. I can only explain it as a mass delusion. Those do occur, particularly within tight groups where ostracism is a painful penalty. They believe, in mass, in something because they want to believe it. The punishment for not believing is too painful, so they convince themselves. We are winning, the accusations are all lies, NRA is doing well, we will prevail against the New York AG. Don’t look at the data, just believe and you’ll be happier.

Update: The New York AG will of course use this in her lawsuit to dissolve the NRA, as even more proof that the board cannot be expected to deal with the corruption, it has endorsed it, and the members cannot save NRA because the board and leadership have found ways to strip the members of power. She just issued a statement: “”The NRA’s decision to re-elect Wayne LaPierre and other top leaders yesterday despite the detailed evidence of repeated fraud and self-dealing we have laid out in our lawsuit and during the bankruptcy trial underscores that board governance is broken and that the rot runs deep at the NRA.”

Some good new, though. Frank Tait is running for the board, by petition. He needs 477 signatures, by voting members, to get on the ballot. Here is his posting, with a link to a printable petition.