because we all think wayne lapierrre is crazy. salon makes a good point in this piece.re if he looks crazy. it shifts the debate to the right so the compromise position is farther to the right. that's what i get disturbed about as well. blake writes in salon in the immediate aftermath of newtown the country seemed serious about gun safety reform. we're going to get something done. what we get done, because we keep saying who does the nra speak for? people that sell guns, that's it. not even their own members. they've succeeded at least for now in moving the debate to the right. after a week of silence, after the tragedy, remember the crazy press conference that wayne lapierrre gave that inspired laughter and ridicule by sponsoring zero reforms to guns. history may show it to be a political maneuver by shifting the conversation far to the right. he shifted right word, what constituted compromise in the gun discussion. ultimately against all odds, his organization would emerge. once it had won publicly proposed itself. we played that audio of back in whenever wayne lapier

he's chosen to get in bed with wayne lapierrre. on one point. spinels would connote he has the principle and he does not stand up for it. >> caller: yes, you're right. >> marcus did not cave on single payer. max baucus ran blocker against single pair. >> caller: that's true. >> all of the people who say obama should have held out for single payer need to know that max baucus and the other blue dogs fighting against it said if it's in there the rest of the bill dies. so the idea the mythology that obama caved on it was based around the idea that somehow he could have talked max baucus and the rest of them into it. that's not what happened at all. in this vote, he's not caving. max baucus does not believe in background checks for everybody. max baucus is stopping that from happening on purpose. >> that's the downside of the 50 state strategy. >> that's the issue. you that get these guys and they have this idea that somehow because they're in a red state or in a red area, they have to behave like a red in that regard. they do not. esp

supporting background checks gave them a chance to appear reasonable like wayne lapierrre did back in late '90s when he supported background checks but that was back when the nra had a tenuous tether to being an organization for gun safety that actually repped gun owners. now, they just rep the money guys. but not letting terrorists and. >> announcer: and deranged people easily buy weapons at gun shows hurts the profits of gun manufacturers. that's all the nra leadership cares about. i respect that shooting stuff on weekends is fun but you know what else is fun? being part of helping kids not get shot. of course, if the criminals can't go on and easily buy guns on the open market, gun junkies can't justify their need for all of those arsenals. so keep this in mind. some of the right wing guys opposed to background checks are the same ones who want to deny minorities seniors and college kids the right to vote if they don't pass an i.d. background check. and i can understand that logic on behalf the gun junkies because guns only kill team but letting people vote can lead to something mo

if you were an nra executive like wayne lapierrre you might think you're having a pretty good start to the week. "the washington post" is reporting that congress is struggling to produce a plan to expand background checks on gun buyers despite 90% support for universal background checks in recent polls. forget about an assault weapons ban or curbs on high capacity ammo clips all popular with the american people. but at the white house press secretary jay carney, insisted the president would keep on pressuring congress to do something. >> it is essential to the memory of the victims of newtown that all of the measures get a vote, that they are not filibustered and it is essential that action be taken. >> john: meanwhile an nra-funded task force released its own response to the newtown shootings today. the so-called national school shield plan would create a model law to let teachers and school employees carry guns. establish a training program for armed school resources officers. place at least one resource officer in every american school. require schools to have safety and security pl

. >> stephanie: you think wayne lapierrre will seem unbalanced in some ways? really?ver and over again, why can't we get something done like they did in connecticut on a bipartisan basis. here's senator blumenthal yesterday. >> the congress of the united states listening to its conscience and to its constituents. it will pass gun safety measures this week. >> wayne lapierrre must have choked on his concrete. >> stephanie: senator mike lee, republican of utah yesterday. >> these proposals would do far more to restrict the rights of law-abiding american citizens than they would to deter or prevent violent crime. >> stephanie: nobody agrees with that. 92% approval rating. >> people have spoken! we don't like it. >> it is a shame the corporations elect members of congress because the people is behind this. it is sad. we get such mass movement behind something that would be so important and they're hmming and hawing. >> stephanie: i know we haven't been -- harry reid lately but i don't know if you saw him yesterday. he actually -- he made a personal plea for gun control. h

the governor compared wayne lapierrre to clowns. t the most attention and that's what he's paid to do. he said what this is about, the ability of the gun industry is to sell as many guns to as many people as possible. even if they're derange and have criminal backgrounds they don't care. they want to sell guns. speaking of clowns, senator ted cruz threatening to filibuster any kind of meaningful gun legislation at all because he's a tea bagger. ♪ i thought we should go to war on fairy tales ♪ ♪ financed by someone but not by me ♪ ♪ that's the way it seems ♪ ♪ but then i saw his race ♪ ♪ now i'm a tea bagger ♪ ♪ without a trace ♪ ♪ of fun in my mind ♪ ♪ i'm a tea bagger, i couldn't see straight if i tried ♪ ♪ without a trace ♪ ♪ now i'm a tea bagger ♪ >> stephanie: woo-hoo, thank you, rocky mountain mike! mable in kingwood, texas. hey, mable welcome. >> caller: thank you. on the gun control i think that we are overrun with a bunch of woozy people, mostly men that are so terrified of life that they can't leave the house without a gun o

but not a whole lot -- >> bill: in the case of texas these were good guys with guns as wayne lapierrrer is to give the good guys guns. >> every 12-year-old -- good guys and bad guys? >> that's how we're qualifying the gun discussion in america? >> bill: along these lines the town of nelson, georgia they've got the answer. nelson georgia they said we want to be sure our town is safe. so they have passed 1300 residents -- just about the size of delaware city, delaware where i grew up. they passed an ordinance that requires everybody in nelson, georgia, to buy a gun. you have to buy a gun. here, member of their city council, duane kronic says this is what it's all about. >> an ordinance to tell potential criminals you might want to go on down the road a little bit before you come kicking down a door with a family in nelson. >> bill: you don't want to do that in nelson. >> wyatt earp. again, i don't understand this. >> bill: idiotic thing to say. >> it is one thing to have gun education. but requiring everybody to buy a gun, you can just see the obviously capitalistic nature. the nra does

funding figure out who their market is and put it all together and so you've got somebody like wayne lapierrrethe nra who is saying i'm -- i've got $1 million for your state. i'm going to spend it for you or against you. which one do you want? i think people make some tough decisions. so what we've got to do is figure out -- >> bill: so what happens to the american people? >> they get screwed. >> we've got to find some leverage points in the congress. we got rid of earmarks on behalf of good government. what getting rid of earmarks did is it meant president of the united states or minority leader couldn't say you know what, bill press, you're not voting along with the way things need to go. no more bridges in your district. no more post offices for your constituents. and we've taken the power away from the leadership and i think you know, it is one of the biggest mistakes on behalf of good government is erasing the power of the majority to be able to hand out a few little favors and take them away from people because they're losing leverage. >> bill: i want to focus -- let's not lose focus rig

wayne lapierrre and 46 craven senators they have created millions of zealots and as furious as i am, be stronger in washington than on the day of this vote. it is a time when the gun control lobby grew. it is a blunt ininstrument used to bully democrats. it will start to turn to vote for modest measures. the nra won this one but as president obama said, this is just round one. more rounds are coming and the balance of power is going to change. michael goes on to say what we've been saying. you cannot oppose the will of 90% of the public and expect no consequences. you can't introduce amendments then encourage more interstate transfer of weapons to give it the way beyond name safe communities act and think that karma will never come back around on you. and you can't sneer at the parents of dead 6-year-olds and expect that god isn't watching and taking note. sickening, the poor cowardly democrats do. >> stephanie: that's where i got my inspiration for this. i'm going to torture them with bette midler music until they grow a conscience. ♪ god is watching us ♪ >> this bill is a clear ove