Sneetches

In today’s (10-30-07) Washington Post, K street columnist Jeffrey Birnbaum discusses former NRA lobbyist Richard Feldman’s new book, Ricochet: Confessions of a Gun Lobbyist. The gist of Ricochet is that the guys who run the NRA care more about bringing in cash than protecting gun owner rights. Oh, what a surprise!!

The NRA is no different from NARAL or any other interest group that works issues where opinions are strong and polarized. There is nothing like an ad horrorem "emergency" newsletter to whip up its true believers and get them scratching checks.

Special interest groups perform services similar to the character McBean in the Dr. Seuss story "Sneetches." In the story, McBean fleeces all the Sneetches by charging them to get stars put on their bellies, or removed, and repeats the process until all the Sneetches are broke.

Similarly, we are being bankrupted by special interest groups that push for a state of permanent war and a health care system that itself appears to have been designed by Dr. Seuss.

Groups like the NRA, NARAL, and the rest are peripheral characters forming alliances with special interest groups that milk the biggest issues facing the country: the consequences of military intervention and a fundamentally flawed health care system.

The Sneetches finally wised up when all their money was gone. Based upon how the presidential race is going to this point, I doubt the U.S. populace in general will show any more foresight than the Sneetches.

W.J. Malan
Author, The Audacity of Truth
www.anarcorp.com