Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsNRA TV Is No Joke
From The Nation Magazine: NRA TV Is No Joke:
"Laugh all you want, but the channel is dangerously effective in radicalizing a right-wing base."
On the February 25 edition of MSNBCs AM Joy, host Joy Reid moderated a segment about the NRA, digging into the callous attacks the NRA has made against the Parkland students who are demanding gun control. Reid and her panel had a merry time belittling the NRAs most visible spokesperson of late, political soldier of fortune Dana Loesch. To put a period on the point that the NRA is behind the times, Reid shared an ad featuring Loesch pitching her new show on NRA TV as a program that will challenge media giants. The panel called the NRA format so 90s and rightfully pointed out that NRA TV isnt likely to make a big splash on social media.
I wasnt laughing. Yes, NRA TVpresented on NRATV.com, Roku, and Youtube, among other outletsis nonetheless watched by almost no one. And, yes, NRA TV is far from representative of mainstream views about guns. NRA TVs mix of live talk and short videos, which feature sensational attacks on the media, speeches by NRA bigwigs like Wayne LaPierre and Chris W. Cox (the principal political strategist for Institute for Legislative Action, NRAs lobbying arm), scare videos, and cable-news style punditry, makes arguments very few people in the United States would support. Take, for example, a recent segment featuring former Secret Service agent and failed Florida congressional candidate Dan Bongino, in which he argues that for a good number of people, the AR-15 is a fantastic self-defense weapon.
.................//snip
But theres something very important missing from this analysis. NRA TV isnt targeting the mainstream. No, NRA TV is directly speaking to the group Donald Trump referred to as Second Amendment people in a campaign speech many read as an incitement to violent action from gun advocates if the election were rigged and Hillary Clinton won.
Trumps Second Amendment people include the Patriot Movement, a network made up of groups like the Bundy bunch that famously staged a 41-day armed occupation of the Malheur County Wildlife Refuge in Burns, Oregon, in January 2016. The animating, radicalizing core ideology of that movement is violent white nationalism. NRA TV ideologically trains these front-line troops, which many believe will only grow more dangerous as the Trump presidency continues, particularly if he is perceived to be under attack, scandalized, and humiliated. Thats no joke.
InfoView thread info, including edit history
TrashPut this thread in your Trash Can (My DU » Trash Can)
BookmarkAdd this thread to your Bookmarks (My DU » Bookmarks)
1 replies, 660 views
ShareGet links to this post and/or share on social media
AlertAlert this post for a rule violation
PowersThere are no powers you can use on this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
ReplyReply to this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
Rec (0)
ReplyReply to this post
1 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight:
NoneDon't highlight anything
5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
NRA TV Is No Joke (Original Post)
LongTomH
Mar 2018
OP
LongTomH
(8,636 posts)1. The 'Overton Window'
From the same article:
Trump is like a fetish object for far right, whose rage is not really animated by corrupt banks, failing government, the rise of the 1 percent, and globalization. These forces may create the underlying conditions for the rise of radical movements, but what animates movements on the rightthe demons that drive them to action and keep them tucked into Trumpist foolishnessis their hatred of people like us. We are the targets of their rage specifically because theyre losing cultural currency as we grow in cultural influence. We have become proxies for all of the ills of society. For these radical elements of the white-identity movement, the stockpiling of guns is one way of signaling in-group belonging, their commitment to the past in a world where they are losing the future, and, of course, their possession of the ultimate tools of the bully.
But dont underestimate the right. Yeah, the NRA may well be out of touch with the mainstream. But what the far right generally, and the NRA in particular, is very good at is manipulating the Overton Window. By organizing and training the most active and extreme elements of the right, the NRA capitalizes on the radicalizing effect of the arguments made by that part of the movement.
The Overton Window is what public-policy advocates often use to frame the viable range of ideas in political discourse, while excluding what is considered too extreme. But the window isnt static. Extremists can stretch the limits of what is acceptable and push political debates to the right when the political climate is ripe for change, as is the case right now.