The reason corporatist lobbying groups like ALEC and the NRA push for seemingly irrational so-called "gun rights" is because their ultimate goal is to normalize the use of organized violence and intimidation as a way to further destabilize our government institutions, bypass the democratic process, and take control of the levers of power on behalf of a small group of megalomaniacal billionaires.
That is why you see people like the Koch brothers and "American business magnate" Sheldon Adelson (who's being currently investigated for alleged violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act), so involved in the funding of causes that are designed to destabilize our government and our democratic institutions. These unimaginable rich people, who also include Walmart owners (currently being investigated for bribery allegations: "The Bribery Aisle: How Walmart Got Its Way in Mexico"), are indeed as dangerous as any would-be brutal tyrant in history.
I think that one of the main problems we have in today's political landscape is that people of goodwill fail to understand the level of threat and danger these individuals, their agendas, and the causes they fund, represent.
There are many policy areas that to some may seem unrelated, but that in reality are part of a grand plan and agenda to usurp democracy.
By now many readers are familiar with cookie-cutter legislation drafted by ALEC, which focuses on voter suppression, passage of "emergency manager laws," concealed carry laws, privatization of prisons and criminalization of an increasing number of infractions, the militarization (and radicalization) of police forces, etc.
These things are meant to establish the structural framework they need to move their vision forward.
Other structural changes include the defunding of government with ultimate intention of rendering it ineffective and unresponsive to the democratic process. This of course, is a decades-old process, and the current debate about the "fiscal cliff" is just part of it.
Another piece of this puzzle of tyranny is the level of control this moneyed elite has been able to exert over much of the politicians, both, at states, and national levels. This is also true of the military industrial complex, manifested by the insidious and incestuous revolving door of greed, where top generals move right into very lucrative positions with lobbying firms and military contractors.
Those things are pretty much done: the influence peddling and total corruption of our political class. After all, that's what has allowed the passage of legislation tearing down the proper regulatory oversight, and the proper funding and functioning of government institutions--across the board.
The Last Threshold: Normalizing Organized Violence And Intimidation
In this space you have people like Fox News president Roger Ailes, Rush Limbaugh, media conglomerates like Clear Channel, and thousands of media outlets across the country. You also have the religious right wing. All of them feeding millions and millions of dumbed-down hate-filled individuals with a daily dose of fear, hate, propaganda, religious end-of-days apocalyptic fundamentalism, and all matter of ultranationalist extremism.
We already live in one of the most violent societies in the world when it comes to gun violence. This situation has been tolerated by the general public mainly because of the perception that most of the gun deaths were taking place in urban areas populated mainly by minorities.
But behind this reality, there is an insidious (organized) agenda focused on creating an environment where violence and intimidation is used against those resisting the takeover by the corporatist cabal.
Again, from previous interactions I've had with readers, I have the perception that it is hard for people to imagine that something like that could happen here.
My position is that it not only can happen here, but that there is a concerted (and organized) effort to make it happen.
You already have millions and millions of gun nuts armed to the hilt, chomping at the bit to find an excuse, any excuse, to use their guns against a perceived great threat to "liberty."
All they need is an excuse; a narrative of a clear and present danger; a danger so ominous and so great that it warrants the use of "arms" in order to defend against it.
Here's the danger: Those excuses are being "manufactured" with corporate-like planning, efficiency, and exactitude.
The narrative includes something like this: A impostor who may even be a secret Muslim is occupying the White House. He seeks to undermine "American values" and traditions by furthering a secular agenda, by bringing about socialism, by taking money from hard-working Americans and transferring it to lazy people, to minorities, to illegal immigrants.
It continues... He also wants to take away people's arms (guns) so they would be defenseless against the eminent rise of a secular, socialist tyranny. And of course, you have the lunatic right wing religious fundamentalists, with their nonsense about the end of days, and Israel, and Armageddon, whom make up the self-identify Army of God (Dominionists, etc.).
That segment of the population is primed, at the ready, and armed to the teeth! All they need is an excuse, a narrative.
They of course are the useful idiots of the billionaires funding the "narrative" for the eventual tripwire.
Folks, this could happen here. Actually, I argue that the conditions have already been met for it to happen at any time.
Here's why: As certain government functions are defunded as the result of a decade-old looting (in plain sight) of the country's treasury (the thievery that lead to the Great Recession), tens of thousands of police officers have been fired by cash-strapped municipalities across the country. As a result, in some cities (like Oakland) crime has spiked up significantly.
As the social safety net is also dismantled, this adds downward pressure on the lower economic classes, which increases the incidence of crime and violence. As this happens, corporate-funded "grassroots" groups push for laws, like stand-your-ground, which actually opens the door for the normalization of organized violence.
This is where certain neighborhood watch groups and citizens' militias become radicalized and start to see the use of guns as a normal way of defending their neighborhoods, their property, their families.
As I write this I'm aware that statistically speaking, it is very unlikely for wholesale organized gun violence and intimidation by right wing groups will happen any time soon.
But at the same time I think that there could be certain "triggers" (pardon the pun), that could bring about this scenario.
And once people start shooting and getting away with it (stand-your-ground, etc.), then the next step is to start intimidating politicians, and liberals, and social activists, etc., if they are seen as a menace to the "American way" in the eyes of these people.
Again, I'm aware that many readers will disagree with my views regarding the potential for this scenario to become a reality. But I argue that it explains a lot of seemingly unrelated agendas and actions, financed by groups like ALEC and the NRA.
In order to avoid inflating the discussion more than necessary, I have avoided comparing this situation with the rise of other violent regimes, but as I've seen in the past, some readers usually draw those conclusions.