Episode 55: Wayne LaPierre Part II - The NRA (re)Evolution and Mind Melds with the Supreme Court
Is the Second Amendment, a fraud? For this episode, we discuss how the Second Amendment has been distorted throughout the years. Also, we go through the NRA’s evolution and recall some of Wayne LaPierre's most memorable fraudster moves! Our guest is none other than writer, host and co-creator of Studio 360, and super New Yorker, Kurt Andersen, who shares with us how his book, Fantasyland: How America Went Haywire, became a reality. Tune in as we address how America got armed, how it happened, and when exactly did we lose control.
TIMESTAMPS
(3:30) - What is the NRA? How did it go from a training program for young men at the wake of the civil war to having legislative affairs?
(9:07) - The 60’s, a decade where pivotal events for gun regulation occur.
(16:07) - People are afraid of armed people! So, what do they do? Buy more guns.
(18:22) - The beginnings of Wayne LaPierre.
(20:51) - The Cincinnati Revolt of 1977 at the NRA convention.
(26:17) - Kurt Andersen shares with us how his book Fantasyland came to be and how the NRA and guns are like a religion or a death cult.
(33:05) - The evolution of the NRA according to Kurt Andersen.
(38:54) - Take a look at Wayne LaPierre as head of the NRA and a fundraising letter he wrote when the Brady Bill got passed.
(58:04) - What did the Chief Justice appointed by Nixon mean when he complained that the Second Amendment “has been the subject of one of the greatest pieces of fraud”?
(1:04:28) - Stephen Halbrook and other examples of the type of writing that permeated the entire gun rights community.
(1:16:13) - The distortion of the Second Amendment and melding with the Supreme Court.
RESOURCES
Jason Bellini on Linkedin
Fantasyland: How America Went Haywire: A 500-Year History by Kurt Andersen
Kurt Andersen on Twitter
Kurt Andersen on Facebook
Allow Me To Retort by Elie Mystal
Elie Mystal on Twitter
Elie Mystal on LinkedIn
Frank Smyth, The NRA: An Unauthorized History
- Kurt Anderson