Part of my job as Founder is to extend invitations for people to speak at these events. Recently, I invited a famous Second Amendment activist. I asked him to spend five minutes on stage. He said he would be very happy and honored to attend the Second Amendment March ... but only if we paid him $40,000. [More]Not that I consider myself to be in the exalted rank of important bigshot 2A luminaries, but I feel like I'm pushing things asking people to share GRE links...
I've got nothing against people making a living. It's why I encourage you to buy books from guys like Matthew Bracken and David E. Young, or purchase videos from JPFO...
But $40K, two first-class tickets, luxury hotel accommodations...I guess this cat figures his pearls of wisdom and ability to inspire us, the little people, are enough of a contribution.
I'm really curious as to who it is. I have a suspicion, based on a certain NRA director who has been reported as charging that precise amount to attend board meetings, but it would be unfair to consider that conclusive without facts. I'm going to email Grand Rapids GRE Skip Coryell and if he reveals it later, I'll be able to tell you if I was right.
I wonder how much Patrick Henry charged for his "Give Me Liberty" speech...?
9 comments:
I'd gladly give a speech for that amount. I'd ask for a ride to the event in a private car, though, as airplane travel -as long as TSA is in charge and guns on my body are forbidden- is obviously out of the question.
Hell...I'll talk all day long about gun rights, and never ask for one red cent!
This really proves that certain gun organizations' goals have become perpetuation of the issue, rather than resolution of that issue. Sort of like race hucksters of the Jesse Jackson ilk.
It is worse than that. Not only will companies not support these events with donations, they will take your tax dollars and cheerfully underwrite the opposition agenda.
George W. (the vote freedom first President) was great for that.
Remember the Childsafe Program?
Imagine what JPFO could do with 5 Million Dollars.
http://johnjacobh.wordpress.com/2008/06/26/ersatz-rkba-comments-on-the-nssf-kerfuffle/
In Liberty,
JohnJacobH
You seen the price of ammo lately? I can't quite decide if I can blame him, with the ever present threat of the Obomber's holocaust ta hand making sure I had enough to take care of me and mine, with maybe a little more for those not quite as fortunate seems like a very wise move.
The flip side is being seen as an opportunistic whore, and giving the much divided community another reason to further split as well as the anti rights crowd another bullet of the "astroturf" nature.
If he wants to set terms, fine, it's his time/life and he has every right to do so. There is just as much right to say "get fucked!" to him. While an argument could possibly be presented that one man can make a difference, that money spent in other ways could make more of a difference.
This was the reply I left there to someone who made a "more power to him" comment:
[I]f he profits off of gun owners who admire and patronize him because they think he stands with them, they deserve to know this, so they can question how much of his public stance is principled vs self-serving.
Nobody is talking about stealing and redistributing what's his as the government does, so your analogy doesn't work and was never suggested. He can get $40K per appearance all he wants--from anyone willing to pay it--and no one will stop him. But we reserve the right to not want to deal with him as volunteers and contributors under those circumstances. And if he's that prominent, it's worth knowing who he is so we can allocate our more modest resources accordingly, and where WE perceive they're most needed, which now may not be for the efforts he promotes, especially if we now have reason to believe he has a huge financial interest in doing so.
If you gain anything off of anything it's self serving.
Just for standing up for your rights is self serving. The only folks in the gun rights movement who aren't self serving are those who don't own a gun or have a bodyguard and choose not to but respect your rights to do so if you wish. I can't say I've met many of them.
As for having a right to know, or it being worth knowing there is nothing stopping anyone from contacting the "big names" in the movement and asking questions. That gets close to the "reveal your sources or go to jail until you do" kind of thing in my mind. I know that's not what you're saying, but now that the word is out anyone is free to start digging up dirt, or as the article implies, shaming them into admitting it and moving on.
I don't necessarily think 5 minutes of someones time to speak on behalf of something they supposedly believe in is worth what amounts to the same kind of treatment congress creatures demand, but I'm also broke and work on barter quite a bit.
Someone do the legwork and get the name. Frankly I'm not sure I care, as all the big blow hard prag, and some of the threepers bloggers have already declared this event a "FAIL!" moments after hearing about it. It's a bit of self abuse, constantly telling yourself things like this have no impact deters folks from getting involved and it becomes a self fulfilling prophesy. Or maybe a more appropriate comparison is a spoiled child, always giving them what they want develops a self centered world view.
I lose focus so that's all.
Ted Nugent? Hopefully not. He does give constant high praise to the "heroes of law enforcement" and goes on drug raids with said heroes. I still like him though. I hope you find out for us, David.
Yeah, I'm hoping it's not Ted.
As far as being self-serving, I'm with Tom. I talk to others about politics and rights because I want my children, and the children of others, to grow up in a liberty-minded country. My reward is educating and enlightening others. I'm not saying I'd never take a job doing it, but not all rewards are tangible.
Dixie
Never choose your heroes from among the living, whilst they still have the ability to disappoint, or God forbid, betray.
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