GAYLE TROTTER EXPOSED

Last night on his show the Last Word, Lawrence O’Donnell exposed Gayle Trotter for what she is: irrational. She represents an organization named Independent Women’s Forum, which contrary to O’Donnell’s declarations that she is its only member, is only one of a number of radial right wing organizations funded and supported by Richard Mellon Schaife. Organizations, such as this one, are fronts for big money. It was equivalent to having Schaife setting in the witness chair.

She used all the skills of a trial lawyer to make her point. He used emotions and not logic by painting a heart-rending picture of a poor defenseless woman with babies in her arm fighting all alone at night against not one but multiple big ugly thugs—in her scenario, they were drug addicts trying to obtain her recently poor dead father’s drugs. The punch line was that she pulled out an “ugly weapon” and shot one of them; the other fled.  Thus, in her mind, Trotter made a convincing case against an assault weapon ban. She and her organization did not stop there. If one goes to the internet and searches for critique of her testimony, they will find rave reviews; probably pre-prepared. The point made by O’Donnell was that none of the Trotter story ever happened. Further, only a very rare case of defense with a handgun can be found anywhere.

She was setting next to Wayne LaPierre of the NRA at the hearing. He declared the background checks would not work because criminals would not follow the background check laws. Oh my God! In his mind, this is stellar logic.

My question is why Congressional leaders allow such false and irrational testimony on capital hill. Once allowed, it should not convince anyone to vote against assault weapon and large clip bans. My contention is that it doesn’t, which begs the question, if logic does not convince anyone to vote the way they do, what does. The answer is simpler than one might suppose; just because it is simple does not make it right. If you are a follower of this blog, you will know the answer. Political racketeers! These are street gangs, led by people like Schaife, Grover Norquist, Karl Rove, and Wayne LaPierre working the protection racket. If you do not vote as we want you to vote we will primary you—use the money of organizations with patriotic sounding names, to force you out of office. This is not democracy where one goes into a community to convince people to vote one-way or the other, which is the way democracy works. It is a direct threat made on the politician; the exchange your vote or your job. It is not different that a street gang’s threat: your money or we will trash your store.

To recapitulate, irrational testimony made by a false face, backed up by an implied threat hanging over the heads of the Congressional Representatives, causes them to vote a certain way, which is clearly opposite to popular opinion. They ignore what their constituents and go back to their district citing the testimony of Gayle Trotter and Wayne LaPierre as the reason they voted the way they did—knowing they are protected by “big” money.