First a couple of links…
GFZ has THIS. No Lawyers, Only Guns and Money has THIS. A number of folks that I talked to, not for attribution, are saying this Ack-Mc kerfluffel is just the tip of the iceberg, and there is the real possibility of criminal prosecution and jail time for individuals in various positions with the NRA.
Additionally, there are a number of folks we are used to seeing at the NRAAM that aren’t here. Various ‘reasons’ have been given including ‘work responsibilities’, etc., but others are saying it’s because they are trying to save money. Needless to say, nobody with NRA is commenting. Very little is being said officially by anyone with NRA, but this morning it was announced that Oliver North would NOT be accepting a second term…
On a more positive note, I’ve seen a number of friends, including one guy I flew with in the Navy over 25 years ago! 🙂 Met a couple of my readers for the first time, and had a great dinner last night hosted by Rob Reed! The usual suspects are wandering the show, finding things of interest. I’m headed back to the floor, trying to find stuff that folks had questions about…
That mention of a Dan Boren is extremely interesting.
Could this man be a relation of former Senator for Oklahoma David Boren?
David Boren is no friend of freedom. His recent tenure as president of the University of Oklahoma shows a strong affiliation with extreme leftism, and an ability to play deep organizational manipulation games.
IIRC, David had a son named Dan, who had been a Democrat representative for Oklahoma, before Obama and David’s alignment with Obama made it too difficult for Dan to toe the line.
I would suggest that if this is the same Dan Boren, his close involvement in this matter is suspicious. I would further suggest that you not take my word on the state of OU, and David Boren’s recent influence there, and check via your own contacts.
Bob- Good point… I will check it out.
Same Dan son of David – and neither is a friend of rights, let alone gun rights.
Jay- Thanks!
Extensive comment on Oklahoma political history, and implications for David Boren’s character, hence perhaps Dan’s and the credibility of Dan’s claims made at GFZ.
One thing I forgot in that. Past few years, shortly before he left, he paid out a lot of money encouraging staff to retire. Hearsay was that it had something to do with Bloomberg. OU finances are also a bit weird. Some reason to think that the board essentially forced him to retire.
NFO,
You should have contacts who can tell you something about Boren’s history at OU. I would not at all mind if you obtained independent verification of my claims about that, or about Oklahoma’s political history.
I am most uncomfortable, and am seriously wondering if I am too paranoid. No matter how much crap I know went down historically, experiencing this possibility as current events feels like an escalation and frightens me.
So why was Boren on the board of the NRA?
Dan was running to the right, in order to hold onto his seat, when he lost. Once he lost, he was out of work, and at loose ends. Running to the left would not have been credible.
Twenty years ago in Oklahoma, it was understand that Oklahoma Democrats were not like national Democrats, and particularly unlike New York and California Democrats. (In particular, Southeast Oklahoma was still Southeast Oklahoma. It may still be Southeast Oklahoma for all I know.)
It may have seemed plausible to them that an Oklahoma Democrat could be pro Second Amendment, the NRA isn’t a partisan organization*, and Dan may well have sincere convictions in that direction, somewhat overridden at the moment by his father having more free time to influence him.
Still a counterintelligence fail, but having to put people under a strict microscope, including study of parents, would not be a great routine practice to have in America. Plus, if the NRA leadership is crooked, they may have cared more about hiring fellow crooks than about hiring Republicans. If Dan is crooked, and sees political office as the best con, this may be opportunism seeing a plausible path towards running to the left, and believing that the Democrats are the strong horse.
David has brought in a lot of out of state Democrats and internationals, and the Democrats won the OKC federal legislative district this past election. (Plus the voters have ‘legalized’ weed.) Norman and the OU campus are pretty firmly left. Dan is probably used to viewing Oklahoma politics through a lens focusing on OU. In that light, even an honest relatively pro second amendment Dan might be scared enough of leftist tumbrels to want to be the last man on the chopping block.
*The Democrats are convinced it is, and convinced that NRA manipulation of public influence is the sole reason for widespread support of the second amendment.