Ex-official now regrets bowing to National Rifle Association

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press


Julie Carr Smyth, Associated Press
Updated 3:39 pm, Monday, March 5, 2018

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A Democrat who helped overturn local assault weapons bans as a state lawmaker and before being ousted as Ohio's attorney general said in a column published Sunday that he "was in the pocket of the National Rifle Association" to protect his political career and now regrets it.

Marc Dann used his blunt admission on Cleveland.com to urge elected officials to live by their principles as the country debates gun control following the Florida school shooting Feb. 14 that killed 17 people.

"The NRA's finely tuned propaganda operation, funded by the manufacturers of assault weapons used in mass shooting after mass shooting, convinced me and hundreds of officeholders and candidates that even talking about gun safety would end their political careers as quickly as a legally acquired AR-15 snuffed out lives last Valentine's Day," Dann wrote. "The threat worked."

NRA spokeswoman Jennifer Baker dismissed Dann's statements as "a desperate attention-seeking ploy by a has-been politician."

Read more: https://www.chron.com/news/crime/article/Democrat-ex-official-regrets-bowing-to-NRA-12728490.php

[Skittles]

1. I'll give him points for being honest

but he still has blood on his hands

[Stuart G]

2. k and r....someone finally admits the truth...late..yes..but this is important.

An amazing paragraph:


"The NRA's finely tuned propaganda operation, funded by the manufacturers of assault weapons used in mass shooting after mass shooting, convinced me and hundreds of officeholders and candidates that even talking about gun safety would end their political careers as quickly as a legally acquired AR-15 snuffed out lives last Valentine's Day," Dann wrote. "The threat worked."

That means he is saying that the NRA helped to end this person's career. I know little about him. I wonder what the particulars are. How, When, and What are the facts on his statement?

[subterranean]

6. What he means is the threat convinced him to play ball with the NRA.

His resigned as attorney general was due to pressure following a sexual harassment scandal involving his aides and his own extramarital affair with a member of his staff.

I don't know why he is coming out with this statement now, 10 years after he left office. I guess he saw that the tide of public opinion on gun control is shifting, so he decided it was now safe to say he regrets carrying water for the NRA.

[True Blue American]

11. Marc Dann

Last edited Fri Mar 9, 2018, 06:11 AM - Edit history (2)

Whole career was engulfed in scandal. Now,like Kasich, Dann is now a good boy.

http://www.dispatch.com/news/20170814/marc-dann-i-was-jerk-as-ohio-attorney-general

[dsc]

14. No they didn't he did that all by himself

He was incompetent (he literally had a client convicted of a law that no longer existed and had no idea) and then he had a sexual harassment scandal. He richly deserved to go.

[regnaD kciN]

3. Of course, he's an "ex-official"...

...because no one with an ongoing career in politics would dare make such an admission.

[Akoto]

4. I think admissions like these are important. I'll take them where we can get them.

He admits straight up that he was in the pocket of the NRA, and it was because he felt that he and others were effectively being coerced to either comply or face the end of their careers.

The more politicians we get to make an admission like that, ex or otherwise, the less dominance the NRA has over the echo chamber.

[flibbitygiblets]

5. Was it his complicity in murdered kids?

And why do congresscritters only grow a spine and a conscience once they don't have to worry about re-election?

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

7. Gosh, just like all the Trump voters who

are regretting when they realize he doesn't give a flying fuck about them. Unfortunately, we *all* have to live with this poor judgement. Only in the case of Marc Dann, some people get to die from his poor judgement.

[Leith]

8. So He Admits That His Political Career Was Worth More Than People's Lives

Huh. Nice to know.

[raccoon]

9. Only difference between him and many others, he admitted it. nt

[True Blue American]

13. He did not lose his office

Because he backed the NRA. Dann lost his office because he was involved in many scandals.

Reminds me of the Moderate Republican, John Kasich. John won his first election by 2% because voters blamed Strickland for the Bush recesssion.

John then tried to kill Public Unions, voters reacted, bit his head off with petitions,then at the ballot box.

Now Kasich is that wonderful Moderate, good Christian you see on the TV! Spare me, John

[hotrod0808]

10. I remember this asshole

Total betrayal of what Ohioans wanted, and he did it in a naked attempt to win Taft/Boehner/Kascich voters. He's a horrible human being.

[True Blue American]

12. Thumbs up.👍

[ehrnst]

15. If only more who had the endorsement of the NRA would come clean and rebuke it.

Especially sitting politicians...

[Paladin]

16. Take your NRA regrets and shove them up your ass, Marc Dann.

Trying to act courageous and principled, now that the gun lobby can't impact your political career? Go fuck yourself.