This is kind of just a rant/confessional post. Im not sure if anyone is interested or if I’ll be absolutely flamed (which I deserve- my journey left has been embarrassingly recent). For the last 3 years I was first a summer intern and then a full time employee at NRA ILA working under the lobbyists, mostly bc my dad is involved and got me in. Once I realized my dad wasn’t right about everything and stopped trying to make him happy I had a big political shift to the left. Working here and running in the DC young republican circles while secretly protesting also really radicalized me. I still believe in gun rights but obviously the NRA is a deeply corrupt right wing organization that licks cops boots and should in no way be considered a non profit. I don’t really know why I’m typing this, except that I’ve felt like such a spineless fraud working here and it feels good to finally be able to say fuck Wayne LaPierre, albeit anonymously, without fear of recourse. I have absolutely no plan for the future now and my family is pissed at me but I don’t care. Still working on understanding my experiences on the inside but if anyone’s interested I’m happy to answer questions.
Its amazing to have someone here who was also working at the NRA. You have gone across the whole spectrum it seems! Welcome and congratulations on your transition.
Now, for my question. The propaganda op-eds interest me. How frequently does the NRA get these out there? Where do they show up? And can you teach us to spot them? Or even better, how to prove they're astroturf?
Idk how often they’re doing them now but the “author” will be a real person who volunteered and likely not old white straight man. NRA uses a lot of key phrases over and over which are I described in another comment. If you read the alerts on the NRAILA website you’ll easily see what I mean and be able to identify NRA employee written stuff including some politicians press releases and official quotes