The left’s thuggish attempt to silence the National Rifle Association in the wake of the Sandy Hook Elementary massacre continued this weekend as groups began targeting hotel chains that give NRA discounts. The disproportionate focus on the NRA in the wake of Sandy Hook smacks of politics: Connecticut is one of the most heavily gun controlled states in the nation and the Sandy Hook shooter violated multiple gun laws in perpetrating his crimes. Obviously, the NRA is also an interest group that receives no government money. If the left really wants gun control, they ought to be lobbying the government, not targeting opposing groups. Despite the fact that people on both sides of the aisle see violent video games as a possible contributor to Sandy Hook, nobody on either side of the aisle has targeted the American Civil Liberties Union.
But that’s not stopping leftist advocacy site Avvaz.com to log on to Facebook to target Best Western International and Wyndham Hotel Group for giving discounts to NRA members. Wyndham owns chains including Ramada and Travelodge. “It’s time for mainstream companies like Wyndham Hotels to get out of bed with the extremist NRA,” said Joseph Huff-Hannon of Avvaz.com.
This is how the left operates: they seize on a singular event, then use it as a club to wield against a group they dislike. If they cannot trash the group directly, they target its sponsors and affiliates. The left did this with the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) in the aftermath of the George Zimmerman killing of Trayvon Martin, initiating boycotts of companies associated with ALEC. They did this with Komen for the Cure after Komen cut ties with Planned Parenthood. Now they’re doing it with the NRA. They’re bullies, pure and simple.
Ben Shapiro is Editor-At-Large of Breitbart News, and author of the upcoming book “Bullies: How the Left’s Culture of Fear and Intimidation Silences America” (Threshold Editions, January 8, 2013).
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