NRA's Graphic Novel Includes "Animal Rights Terrorists," George Soros As A "Gun-Ban Bankroller"

[gatorboy]

They're seriously putting the Nut in nutjob these days.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2006/12/27/nras-graphic-novel-inclu_n_37214.html

While visions of sugarplums and Wiis danced in your head over the holiday, blogs were abuzz over a promotional graphic novel attributed to the National Rifle Association of America (The NRA).

In short: Wonkette posted jpeg scans from a digital copy sent in by an anonymous tipster. Elsewhere, some at Daily Kos and a popular gun law forum (and, for a while, me) expressed doubts over authenticity (c'mon, it was so far-out! lobsterrorists!). Then, Wonkette shared the original doc with BoingBoing (PDF link), a Wonkette commenter determined it appears to have been illustrated by Chris Gall, and everyone agreed -- not a hoax (though we're still awaiting response from the NRA). Here's a link to the updated BoingBoing post with embedded blog-drama, and there are fresh posts at Wonkette (Link), Kos (Link) and the CA-CCW forum (Link). And below -- readers say Adobe Reader reveals what are apparently hidden notes from the NRA assigner to the illustrator.

--------------------------------------------

PDF located here:

http://www.boingboing.net/2006/12/24/fearmongering_graphi.html

[jody]

1. It will be interesting to see whether this is a hoax as suggested by some blogs.

The magazine in question can be seen at http://www.boingboing.net/images/NR-F8_PERILFINAL.pdf

[gatorboy]

2. I seriously doubt it's a hoax just from the illustrations.

The man who did the work, artist Chris Gall, is a pretty popular artist who gets paid quite well for his work. That's an awful lot of effort on his part simply for a prank.

[jody]

5. I agree. Why would anyone spend that much time for a hoax? n/t

[gatorboy]

10. It's too bad, you know?

I've always liked his work but I'll admit that I'm disappointed that he'd take such a job.

[flvegan]

3. Written by idiots, seemingly FOR idiots.

Should be the tagline.

[yewberry]

4. Well, I read the whole thing.

It's a fundraising piece through-and-through.

And wow, the lies are thick and deep in this thing.

[jody]

6. I doubt this is a hoax and given that half the population has an IQ below 100 and 16% has

an IQ below 85, then the publication superbly targets that segment.

I wonder what type publication the gun-ban groups will distribute to that same 50% of voters that would convince them to give up their Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms for self-defense.

By the way, the Democratic Party Platform says,

We will protect Americans' Second Amendment right to own firearms, and we will keep guns out of the hands of criminals and terrorists by fighting gun crime, reauthorizing the assault weapons ban, and closing the gun show loophole, as President Bush proposed and failed to do.

[SanCristobal]

7. Finally! A companion comic for my leather bound Liberality#1!

Yes, it is real. And hilarious.

[Goat or Panic]

14. Don't forget..

Orson Scott Card’s novel, Empire. Evil uppity Liberals start a civil war.

[tinfoil tiaras]

15. Holy shit...does Hannity himself make those up

or does he get someone to do it for him.

I couldn't read half of it (the text was too small), but it seemed like not funny at all. Hannity, imo, should totally feature republicanhottie on his website (shamless plug for my own creation...hehe.) :evilgrin:

[slackmaster]

8. As a licensed gun collector, I get all kinds of pro-gun literature, emails, etc.

This is the first I've heard of it, and frankly I doubt its authenticity.

Yes, I have spent most of the last 30 minutes following the links in the cited piece and on the sites they link to. I'm not a fan of the NRA, but this does look like someone's hyperbolic confabulation of positions on issues one who is biased against guns and gun owners might attribute to a stereotypical NRA member.

BTW the NRA has always been, at least during my memory, scrupulously careful to avoid the appeance of anti-semitism.

[slackmaster]

9. On deeper Web searches and examination I must amplify my opinion

The piece is black propaganda.

[originalpckelly]

19. I think it's time to start a liberal 2nd amendment organization...

I read the whole damn thing, start to finish, and it was solely focused on Democrats. It did show a picture of Bloomberg, but that was it. It didn't actually have any text on him. It is an overtly anti-Democratic piece of propaganda, and I think it's time liberals leave the NRA and form some alternative organization.

[derby378]

20. Way ahead of you here...

Amendment II Democrats
http://www.a2dems.net

Pro-Gun Progressive
http://www.progunprogressive.com

[originalpckelly]

21. Well, thank GOD!

:-)

[aikoaiko]

11. I don't know what to think. Partly seems like a hoax, partly not, and heck I agree with some stuff

:shrug:

[slackmaster]

16. IMO, anti-semitic portrayal of George Soros proves to me it's black propaganda

The NRA is certainly anti-Soros but there is no way they would ever attack him based on his faith.

Soros himself has been openly critical of Israel and US policy, blaming the rise of anti-semitism in Europe on both. The NRA is staunchly pro-Israel.

[originalpckelly]

18. It actually doesn't say anything about George Soros being Jewish...

I know I just read the entire thing. It's over the line, but the Wonkette post is also over the line. No where in that piece did the word "Jew" appear.

[slackmaster]

22. Ah, you are correct - I am having Acrobat problems

Wonkette is engaging in exactly the kind of crap she accuses NRA of.

http://www.wonkette.com/politics/nra/nras-secret-graphic-novel-revealed-223889.php

Not very helpful of her, is it?

[originalpckelly]

25. Very much so, this is why being inaccurate or vague in reporting...

is bad for journalism. This might draw criticism from the right because of the exaggerations. Wonkette specifically inserted Jew into the caption of the George Soros pic, while not specifically mentioning it.

[slackmaster]

34. If it's supposed to be satire, it's bad satire and should have been tagged as such

I'll be writing a reply to Wonkette as time permits today.

[originalpckelly]

38. I don't think it's satire, it what Wonkette thinks the NRA was playing to...

in the images. In other words, it was commentary on the graphic novel, but you are right, it wasn't labeled clearly.

Because there was a mix between the real and the fake, it made the real parts from the novel seem like embellishments, when indeed they were real.

It demonstrates why blogs are not going to be the new newspapers, because they do not have to meet the journalistic standards, which would have either prevented or mandated labeling a writer's comments in a story.

Sadly, Wonkette didn't need to comment at all, just portions of the graphic novel would have been fine.

[alarimer]

12. The NRA is a terrorist organization

or at the very least just liars. I wouldn't put it past them.

[Goat or Panic]

13. lobsterrorists?

I believe the proper "Rove approved" term is "Islobsterfacists."

[slackmaster]

17. Rove may have had something to do with the creation of this comic

It smells like an attempt to create a new Rathergate.

[originalpckelly]

23. Oh no, Wonkette included commentary which has been taken to be actual text...

from the graphic novel. That text is what makes it seem unreal. I encourage you to read the entire novel, you'll see the part about George Soros is there, but he's not described as a "Jew" whatsoever.

What offends me is the racism, the anti-Democratic Party bias, the gross overstatement of animal rights.

[slackmaster]

24. Thanks, I just got it loaded in a working Acrobat reader

I will remember to take Wonkette with a larger dose of salt in the future.

The NRA is outrageous enough without that kind of "embellishment".

[billbuckhead]

27. This is just the animated version of a typical Charlton Heston speech

Here's just an excerpt of a speech David Duke loved so much he put it on his own white power website. This cartoon is not even really that different than the Turner diaries. I'm sure this will sell as well at the gun shows as the Turner Diaries, maybe even make a "Christian" video game out of it. Prussian Blue can sing in the background.

"Mainstream America is depending on you—counting on you—to draw your sword and fight for them. These people have precious little time or resources to battle misguided Cinderella attitudes, the fringe propaganda of the homosexual coalition, the feminists who preach that it's a divine duty for women to hate men, blacks who raise a militant fist with one hand while they seek preference with the other, and all the New-Age apologists for juvenile crime, who see roving gangs as a means of youthful expression, sex as a means of adolescent merchandising, violence as a form of entertainment for impressionable minds, and gun bans as a means to lord-knows-what. We've reached that point in time when our national social policy originates on Oprah. I say it's time to pull the plug.

Americans should not have to go to war every morning for their values. They already go to war for their families. They fight to hold down a job, raise responsible kids, make their payments, keep gas in the car, put food on the table and clothes on their backs, and still save a little for their final days in dignity. They prefer the America they built - where you could pray without feeling naive, love without being kinky, sing without profanity, be white without feeling guilty, own a gun without shame, and raise your hand without apology. They are the critical masses who find themselves under siege and are long for you to get some guts, stand on principle and lead them to victory in this cultural war.

Now all this sounds a little Mosaic, the punch-line of my sermon is as elementary as the Golden Rule. In a cultural war, triumph belongs to those who arm themselves with pride in who they are and then do the right thing. Not the most expedient thing, not the politically correct thing, not what'll sell, but the right thing."
----------snip---------------------------------
<http://www.vpc.org/nrainfo/speech.html>

As an animated cartoon version of the basic tenants of NRA political philosophy, it is undeniably authentic.

[slackmaster]

35. Oh, horsefeathers, billbuckhead

:nuke:

[billbuckhead]

40. As usual you can't defend against the truth, it has a well known liberal bias

This comic is virtually an item by item animation of Charlton Heston's speech. Prove me wrong.

[jody]

26. One link in this thread claims the document in question is the Jan. 2007 cover

for NRA’s magazine, "America's 1st Freedom".

That should be easy to confirm because NRA’s America's 1st Freedom will be published shortly, see NRA site.

[originalpckelly]

28. No, the series of images from the NRA cover are the same ones as in the graphic novel...

this shows that the NRA did really contract the fella "Chris Gall" to do work for them. That means it wasn't a hoax. The summary of the graphic novel on the Wonkette website is an inaccurate piece which leads one to believe the text is excerpted from the graphic novel, but the text is not from the graphic novel but a summary of Wonkette's feelings about the graphics in the novel which are highly suggestive and are very racist in nature (if you look at the images.)

In other words this was not a hoax.

[jody]

29. Please provide a link to prove the NRA images are the ones in the graphic novel.

Many thanks, :hi:

[originalpckelly]

31. Here:

This is the cover, which was posted by a Wonkette reader:



Here is a picture from the graphic novel posted on Wonkette:


As you can see they are the same. They were created by Chris Gall, who I assume is credited in the issue of the magazine.

[jody]

32. I have already seen those and while they may be authentic, they are not direct. I was hoping for

a link to someone who had copied NRA's January 2007 issue and posted it on the Internet

Many thanks. :hi:

[benEzra]

39. I think the question was, did they commission Gall to do the booklet,

I think it's obvious he did that magazine cover.

[billbuckhead]

30. It's Rovian truthiness, the neoCONS can scare people and then deny it

Even smear and discredit those who reported it. The ironic thing is that it immediately creates a nasty new genre of cartoons and videos. Hillary won't like it and she can campaign against it. Just in time for Senator Obama, Congressman Ellison and Governor Patrick. The cover sure looks like the he man woman hater's club as well. Hillarious.

[DarkTirade]

33. They just get nuttier and nuttier...

I'm all for the right to bear arms, but I'm also all for gun control. What's that you say?
Yes, the two are NOT mutually exclusive. I just happen to think that keeping dangerous weapons out of the wrong hands is a good idea. I'm sure I'm not the only person who feels that way.
Both my grandfathers have memberships (or have had at some point... I haven't asked if they still do.). One used to hunt when he was younger, the other collects antique guns. By now they both are pretty fed up with the general craziness of the organization.

[slackmaster]

36. We have some good laws that keep dangerous weapons out of wrong hands

The National Firearms Act of 1934, and the Gun Control Act of 1968. The former has been very successful at preventing criminal misuse of fully automatic weapons, short-barrelled shotguns, etc. The latter was enhanced with background checks in the Brady Act.

I collect firearms, and I support all of the above. I do not support arbitrary restrictions that don't contribute to public safety.

[DarkTirade]

42. Exactly. The problem is that there are nutty people out there who

don't see the difference between gun control and "They're taking away our guns!".
Of course, those are the kinds of people who are unstable enough that they probably shouldn't have guns to begin with. :)

[benEzra]

43. I suppose it depends on whether someone is trying to ban your guns or not...

between the early '90s and '04, some corporatists at the DLC (and the repubs at the Brady Campaign) were indeed trying to push a ban-more agenda. Fortunately, gun-owning Dems and indies seem to have pretty much squashed the "assault weapon" bait-and-switch, and hopefully it will stay that way.


---------
Dems and the Gun Issue - Now What? (written in '04, largely vindicated in '06, IMO)

[DarkTirade]

44. Yeah... it's not a black and white issue.

As with many political issues, there are people in the wrong on both sides. And there is no one single right answer for everyone.

[The Stranger]

37. Thus the association of "terrorism" with Progressives, Democrats, the Left.

Not to be an "I toldya so," but I toldya so.

Meanwhile, posters on DU claim that creating a hoax about fruit juice (in which absolutely no one is in any way even remotely injured and in which no violence of any kind takes place) immediately post and re-post the Right Wing meme that it is "terrorism."

[LeftyMom]

41. Would you believe I am still waiting for PETA to issue my my dynamite carrying owl

:eyes: