And There Was War in Heaven

US DIS TXND 3 19cv2074 Ackerman McQueen s ANSWER to 1 Complaint With Jury [More]

Facinating reading.

Obviously, Ack-Mac is being self-serving, but what they say about Wayne just fits with every impression the guy has ever made on me.

And There Was War in Heaven

 Not that Ack-Mac has clean hands:

 

Those fingers must be dug in around the spine by now.

[Via Laocoön]

And If You Act Now...

As of January 1, 2016, NRA dues will increase at all membership levels - our first dues increase in more than 20 years. [More]

Yep.  Executive compensation and Infocision/Ack-Mac sweetheart deals aren't getting any cheaper.

No worries:

And There was War in Heaven

NRA Sues Ackerman McQueen, Mercury Group [More]

I have not verified but have heard that many of NRA's spokespeople are actually Ack-Mac employees -- Anybody have insights on that? If so, I wonder what this will do to their presence at the upcoming Indy group grope.

This could get ugly, with accusations and counter-accusations, and pulled threads unraveling Wayne-knows-what.

And me out of microwave popcorn.

The Elephants in the Room

 

Looks like I need to find a photo of a 4WD all-terrain Weinermobile.

Here's the story, an unabashed enemy hit piece, of course, but who gave them the ammo?

More to the point, who gave them the footage? I'd heard a while back that one of the insiders was making a Judas deal with the NY AG to save his own skin but could never get that confirmed. Or did it come from Ack-Mac as an act of F*** Y**! spite?

My other thought is if it can be proven it came from the NY AG leaking it to the media, that could have some exploitable implications.

[Via Laocoön]

Apportioning the Blame

To NRA or Not to NRA [More]

If the house of cards collapses, it will be because of top-down rot and also because of the apathy and inaction that allowed the Lairds to run unchecked.

UPDATE: Bear says pull the plug.

As an aside, I wish family matters didn't preclude me going to Indy this weekend.  I'm really curious to see if Wayne and Chris will be challenged when they're trying to read their speeches. I wonder if anyone trying to do so will be shut down and ejected, and who any boos or cheers will be directed at. I also wonder if all the Ack-Mac flacks will be there due to the lawsuit.

Till Tomorrow, Come What May

Let's hope he does a good job --he's generally so stiff and unlikeable to the general public, and they're the ones who need to be convinced if the polls for near-universal support are to be believed.

The unfortunate but inescapable truth is, people are swayed by superficialities, and facts, unless presented as visceral sound bites, often lose out to emotional appeals. With all of its resources, and the vaunted Ack-Mac media prowess, you'd think they could groom some true believer media reps who test well with focus groups, and put them through intensive training to where responding powerfully and persuasively to anything the antis throw at them becomes reflexive. 

Options

Option 1. A majority of the Board circles the wagons in defense of Wayne LaPierre and his pals and tries to weather the storm. (They’ll fail, and the whole ship will sink.)

or

Option 2. A majority of the Board fires LaPierre and other executives (or accepts their resignations) and nullifies their contracts, suspends all vendor contracts pending thorough review and renegotiation, and purges culpable members of their own body – demonstrating a commitment to safeguarding NRA assets on behalf of the membership. (Plugging the holes and possibly saving the ship.) [More]

While my vote would be for #2, my money would be on #1.

I'd also bet on lawsuits being in the future.

[Via Neil W]

UPDATE- Option 3:

NRA’s Wayne LaPierre Says He Is Being Extorted, Pressured to Resign - Group’s longtime leader says Oliver North, president of the NRA, wants him out

North is a creature of Ack-Mac, so I'm not looking at this as a development where the prime concern is serving the right to keep and bear arms.

UPDATE- Option 1 it is:

Taking the stage later Saturday, LaPierre got two standing ovations from the crowd of more than 1,000 NRA members...

I just hope Patrick didn't hurt his hands.

And There Was War in Heaven

NRA Issues Subpoenas To 3 Board Members In Ack-Mac Lawsuit (Updated) [More]

So they want to expel whistleblowers against management but not actual enemies of the association's members?

You know all those increasingly strident fundraising emailers we've been getting? I'd like to see the standard response as "Tell me about the intern."