The only no-compromise gun lobby in Washington.
RON PAUL on GOA
Third parties are like bees: once they have stung, they die.
RICHARD HOFSTADTER
I think the desire to abandon the established thing and start a new thing comes from Protestantism. In Catholicism, if you don't like the way the Church is going, you pray and preach for the change you want. You can't become a schismatic. That is not an option. With Protestantism, schism is totally an option resulting in the thousands of denominations catering to whatever floats your boat. Many of the Catholic sects like the SSPX are Protestant in spirit. The irony is that those Lefebvrists split with each other after they have split with the institutional church. The point with all of that craziness is that you never have to endure things that you don't like. You don't have to compromise or settle. Finally, there is the ultimate break which is to go completely alone and eschew organized religion in all its forms. I did that once which resulted in my decade long existence as an atheist.
All of this came to mind as I recently considered ending my support for the NRA and lending it to the GOA. The NRA is the established group that defends the Second Amendment and the natural right to self-defense. The problem with the NRA is that they haven't always done the right thing while also enduring the corrupt leadership of Wayne LaPierre. LaPierre is gone now, and the new leadership has been cleaning house. What the NRA has gotten right is that they have been the most effective group defending our rights through lobbying and litigation.
The GOA has a similar mission to the NRA. The GOA is smaller and younger. They are totally non-compromising in their positions and work. They don't spend any resources on gun training and safety programs. They are purely political and legal. The FPC is even more hardcore than the GOA. It is even smaller than the GOA.
Now, I don't believe in belonging to an organization merely because it is big. What I get tired of is the idea of lessening effectiveness for the sake of being less compromising. The NRA is more effective in pursuit of more modest goals. Those within the NRA that got tired of the things they didn't like have remained in the organization and worked on changing the NRA. Why do this? The answer should be obvious. Given enough time, the GOA will fall prey to the same issues that have plagued the NRA. This is the natural result of any group or organization that contains human beings. It is inescapable.
In Protestantism, the liberal elements get their hands on the real estate while the more conservative elements forfeit their investment and start building new churches. In time, the new denomination falls to the liberal elements all over again. It is easier to quit than to stay and fight. There is an element of pride in this endless cycle. What matters to the people who do not compromise is not so much being effective or loyal so much as maintaining their identity as people who do not compromise. They care less about winning than they do about being on the right team with the cool looking uniforms.
I experienced this sort of thing when I was a libertarian. I was a conservative and a Republican in my teens and twenties. I loved Ronald Reagan and Rush Limbaugh. I didn't always agree with them, but I thought the country was a better place because of those two people. When I lost my religion and became an atheist, I wanted something that was hipper, cooler, and more radical than being a tired old Republican. So, I became a no-compromise libertarian.
There aren't enough libertarians in the country to win an election. There aren't enough to even spoil an election like Ross Perot did in the nineties. Being irrelevant, libertarians mostly choose not to vote which is the ultimate no-compromise strategy. Some work with the Libertarian Party which is always fighting with itself like a herd of angry cats. Once in awhile, they get a prominent candidate they run for president who is less than libertarian but which they support for the sake of gaining some kind of relevance. Then, there is the Republican Liberty Caucus which works within the GOP and has proven to be more effective with elected leaders like Ron Paul, Rand Paul, and Thomas Massie.
I am not a libertarian today and no longer support that nonsense position. I am a paleoconservative and agree more with Pat Buchanan than the libertarians on the issues. Pat Buchanan made the serious blunder of running as a third party candidate instead of remaining with the Republicans. That is just another data point in my argument that you are better off staying and fighting than splitting and spitting. What I like about folks like Buchanan, Massie, and the Pauls is that you don't have to compromise as a Republican. You can work to change the Republic, or you can work to change the party. The aim is still the same.
When you split and spit, you make yourself irrelevant. They can safely ignore you with no consequences. The people who leave because they refuse to "compromise" are actually quitters. They show their asses as hard as they can to overcome the cognitive dissonance that comes with retreating from the field of battle.
My own mindset change against third party nonsense happened when Mitt Romney lost to Barack Obama. My vote could never change that outcome, but I couldn't bring myself to cast my vote for the lesser of the two evils. I voted for the LP guy. I would spend the next four years wishing that the lesser evil had won. Now, I vote for the best candidate I can in the primaries, but I pull my lever for the party in the general election. I have learned to not allow the perfect to be the enemy of the good.
Politicians betray you. They don't always do this, but it should surprise no one when they do. When these betrayals happen, you can get mad and call them out. They hate when you do this. Or, you can quit which is what they really want. When you leave for the sake of not compromising, you cement the victory of the betrayers. You hand them the keys to the house and just walk away. This is dumb as wherever you go the same thing will happen again. Sooner or later, you stop running and start fighting.
I think about these issues when I contemplate the Knights of Columbus. If the Knights returned to my parish, I would work with them and support them again. I didn't quit the Knights so much as they quit me. I have done nothing with the men's club that replaced the Knights, and I don't see it lasting long without some kind of organized structure. I believe that the men of the parish should have remained knights and fought for the council and the organization. If it wasn't for my TBI, I would have done this.
As a conservative, I am of the opinion that the mission is about CONSERVING. It isn't about revolution. Once you build something, you need to fight and keep it. Burning it to the ground feels good for a season, but arson just leaves you homeless in the end.
As I write this, Tucker Carlson and other MAGA Republicans are discussing some sort of third party effort. Tucker says he is done with the GOP. That guy is an idiot. He is older than me and should remember the history of third party failures in his own lifetime. The only thing Tucker and Company can do is help elect Democrats the same way Ross Perot gave the White House to the Clintons. The real hero of the nineties was Newt Gingrich who remained a loyal Republican and fought for conservative principles. After Limbaugh and Reagan, Gingrich was the best and most effective leader in the conservative movement.
I am sticking with the NRA. The GOA is just one of those third party type of things that make libertarians happy in their irrelevancy. Likewise, I will remain a Republican and keep voting GOP in the primaries and general elections. I will also remain a Roman Catholic. Technically, I am still a Knight of Columbus and would like to see them make a comeback. When they do, I am on board.
When can you quit a thing? That is a hard question to answer. I am no longer a Protestant or an atheist. I have never been a Democrat, and I am no longer a libertarian. I was interested in Opus Dei until I concluded they were just a money-grubbing cult. I think it all comes to the founding principles. Organizations that begin badly aren't worth saving. You don't get good fruit from bad seed. The NRA began with a good seed. Likewise, the Republican Party began with a good seed just like the USA. And we know where the Roman Catholic Church came from. Likewise, the Knights of Columbus began with the good seed of Father McGivney.
Organizations that begin in rebellion to the established organization tend to be no good over the long haul. They live for a season before vanishing. While they live, they do more harm than good. Richard Hofstadter got it right with that bee quotation. These rebels live to destroy and die, and they don't even know it.
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