Multnomah Country Republicans recognize the incredible time of year we are in. In successive months to start the year, we celebrate the legacy of two great Republicans who demonstrated leadership and courage that all of us still lean on today: Martin Luther King, Jr and Abraham Lincoln. In celebrating these two men, and the denial of the rights they fought so hard against, the Multnomah County Republican Party announces that we have started our third raffle for an AR-15 rifle (or handgun of the winner’s choice). The drawing will be held at our Lincoln Day Dinner on February 15th, 2014. Tickets are once again $10 apiece, or 12 for $100, and there is a hard cap of 500 tickets in the raffle. TO PURCHASE YOUR TICKETS: CALL ANNE MARIE GURNEY AT 503.901.5635 OR OUR OFFICE AT 503.956.0919…. Multnomah County GOP Chairman Jeff Reynolds said, “We are here to reaffirm our strong defense of the Second Amendment and the right to personal protection. The Bill of Rights is inviolable, despite what the gun-grabbers in Salem might try.”
What better way to honor the memory and legacy of Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King, Jr. than by raffling off an AR-15, eh? The fact that both Lincoln and King died at the hands of assassins using firearms seems to be lost on the intellectual and moral black holes that pass the the leadership of the Multnomah County GOP. Either that, or they just don’t care about the symbolism attached to their raffle.
Silly me; I’d been hoping that maybe, just maybe, Republicans in the Portland area would be a little more…oh, I don’t know…firmly grounded in the reality-based world? That they wouldn’t engage in cheap propaganda peddling and fear mongering? Then they went and invited Rafael Cruz to be the keynote speaker at their annual Lincoln Day dinner…and I realized Republicans here are every bit as unbalanced, detached from reality, and ideologically bereft as anywhere else.
There goes what little faith in humanity I’d managed to retain….
You’d think that someone in the county GOP leadership would have recognized that utter tastelessness and astonishing inappropriateness of raffling off a semi-automatic weapon on a day dedicated to two men murdered by firearms. But, hey…it’s all about keeping those gun-grabbing Liberals at bay, knowhutimean?? Sure, Lincoln and MLK were killed by madmen with guns, but guns don’t kill people, amiright? Besides, freedom ain’t free, knowhutimean?
That said, I might have been willing to give these moral midgets a break…until they invited Rafael Cruz to speak to them. Cruz, whose son Ted recently won Right Wing Watch’s Equine Posterior Achievement Award, is about as bat$#!& crazy as you can find on the Radical Religious Right. The term “American Taliban” was invented for arrogant, intolerant zealots like Rafael Cruz, and yet he suffers from no lack of speaking engagements. The next time you begin to think that Republicans might finally be mellowing…wake up and smell the cat litter, willya??
Reynolds went on to say, “We’ve recently caught wind that the Democrats in Salem, led once again by Ginny Burdick, will attempt to take away our personal right to bear arms. The Multnomah County Republican Party remains steadfast in its dedication to defeating such efforts.”
Multnomah County Republican Vice Chair Anne Marie Gurney echoed these sentiments, saying, “Those who would erode our 2nd Amendment rights in Salem fail to recognize that Oregonians, no matter their party registration, are opposed to their efforts. Voters will make this known in the upcoming legislative session, but more importantly, on November 4, 2014. One right you just don’t try to take away is the right of an Oregonian to own guns.”
I don’t know how Multnomah County Republicans can claim MLK and Abraham Lincoln as there very own, as if “celebrating these two men, and the denial of the rights they fought so hard against” isn’t as offensive as it is historically inaccurate. Then again, when you’ve convinced yourself (despite all facts to the contrary) that “Liberal gun grabbers” are coming to take your God-given 2nd Amendment rights from you, facts and historical appropriateness don’t much matter.
Thankfully, Republicans stand as much chance of electoral success in Portland and Multnomah County as a snow fort on in Key West. Most rational people in Portland will see the AR-15 raffle for the cheap, tasteless stunt it is. Throw in Rafael Cruz, and…well, it’s not as if they’re going to have any credible claim to being the party of mainstream America.
THIS is the party that thinks they were to the manor born, that they and only they deserve to rule. Who know; perhaps with enough lies, propaganda, and talking points they will be someday. I can only hope that days is a long way down the road, because ignorant and tasteless should haven’t have access to the levers of power.
