Gun owners vs. NRA leadership

Tue, 24 Jul 2012 14:42:00 +0000

Wayne LaPierre, the executive vice-president of the National Rifle Association, is a con man. He has spent decades enriching himself, his fellow NRA executives and the organization’s board members by doing what he does best: shamelessly mainstreaming conspiracy theories that lead an increasingly paranoid subset of Americans (the percent of households owing guns has declined dramatically over the past generation) to arm themselves to the teeth, while ensuring any laws that might prevent the horrifying tragedy that occurred in Aurora, Colorado Friday morning are unable to make it through Congress.

Sweetheart deal

Tue, 05 Oct 2004 19:09:00 +0000

This month Washingtonian magazine released the results of its annual poll of Capitol Hill staff members, who were asked to rank their top three picks among the 535 U.S. senators and representatives in categories ranging from "Best Dressed" to "Gutsiest." Rep. Steven LaTourette, R-Ohio, achieved distinction as "No Altar Boy." The magazine offered no explanation.

LaTourette, a member of the Republican class of 1994, a cadre in Newt Gingrich's "revolution," is now running for a sixth term in Congress in Ohio's 14th District, a suburban, mostly working-class area outside Cleveland. A former prosecutor, LaTourette has used conservative social issues to turn the once Democratic district into a marginally Republican one. He is a favorite of the National Rifle Association. Now, unexpectedly, he finds himself trying to beat back a surprisingly strong challenge from a political newcomer, 26-year-old Capri Cafaro, who won the Democratic Party primary in a wide field and has family wealth (a string of shopping malls) to sustain her campaign.

LaTourette's district, like much of Ohio, has been particularly hard hit by job losses during the Bush presidency. And Ohio is an all-important swing state where Democrats have invested copious amounts of money in support of John Kerry's presidential bid.

Salon.com > Cliff Schecter

Gun owners vs. NRA leadership

Sweetheart deal