The NRA throws a drowning Republican Party an anvil

This story about the NRA makes a very good point. The NRA is a radical lobbying group that has no interest in compromise, consensus-building, or reform. As the article says, they're there to say NO, and say it as loudly as possible. It's not interested in politics, other than to make sure that no political solutions are found to the problems created by guns.

Oh, that's a good fit for where the GOP is these days.

Look at it this way: the GOP has lost the battle on gay marriage. It's lost the struggle to oppose Obamacare (A/K/A ACA). It's suffered a historic setback over immigration, to the point where many analysts question whether the GOP has much of a future as a national party, after alienating such large groups of voters. And of course it continues to have problems with women voters.

So does it really need another divisive, controversial issue to further drive away moderate voters? Does it need be seen as MORE intolerant and resistant to change?

What the Republican Party needs is, of course, not the point. The NRA doesn't care about the Republican Party any more than it cares about finding political consensus on the problem of gun violence or the lives of the the 30,000 Americans lost to gun violence every year.

Guns are all that matter to the NRA and its most devoted followers. Guns are more important than public health, more important than the welfare of their fellow Americans, more important than the Constitution itself, really, since all they can focus on is their bastardized version of the 2nd Amendment.

I will note here that I know several NRA fans who will strenuously object to this line of argument. They will say I am unfairly judging them. "We're not extremists," they will argue. But when I ask them if there's anything, ANYTHING that they will compromise on when it comes to this debate, they say no. They won't even support universal background checks--they hem and haw and ramble on about their reasons, but when it comes down to it, they will not compromise. At all. On any point.

So what other conclusion can we draw? Their actions and words make it clear: it's guns that they care about. That's it.

And since the GOP and the NRA are now tied together so closely, I suspect both groups will continue to be marginalized. The American public has seen enough of radical, uncompromising approaches to political issues. This country has problems it needs to address. Since the NRA and GOP refuse to be part of the solution... well.

Time will tell if I'm right. But I think most of us have had about enough of the NRA.