XPost: alt.politics.usa.constitution, alt.politics.guns, alt.california   
   XPost: sac.general   
   From: gp@dont-email.me   
      
   Albany, N.Y.   
      
   Andrew Cuomo versus the NRA? You know the governor is loving   
   this.   
      
   The public brawl with the group Democrats hate most is just what   
   Cuomo needs to carry him through next month's primary and to   
   elevate his standing for the coming presidential race. It's a   
   wonderful way to change the subject and brush aside those   
   unpleasant corruption headlines.   
      
   But there's something to consider if you are among those   
   cheering the governor during this particular fight: His attack   
   on the National Rifle Association is more harmful to the First   
   Amendment than the Second.   
      
   Cuomo, you see, has essentially weaponized the state's   
   regulatory authorities to go after a political organization with   
   which he disagrees. It is also an organization that will stand   
   in his way if he really does run for president.   
      
   Specifically, the fight involves an insurance policy that is   
   promoted by the NRA for those who carry concealed weapons. The   
   governor says the program is illegal in New York because it   
   could cover acts of "intentional wrongdoing."   
      
   If it is true that the insurance is illegal — I won't pretend to   
   be an expert in insurance law — the state is within its rights   
   to target it.   
      
   But the effort is much broader than that. Cuomo, as the NRA   
   notes in a recently filed lawsuit, is using the power of state   
   government to pressure banks and insurance companies to stop   
   doing business with the gun rights group.   
      
   "We must push further to ensure that gun safety is a top   
   priority for every individual, company, and organization that   
   does business across the state," Cuomo said in an April press   
   release. "I am directing the Department of Financial Services to   
   urge insurers and bankers statewide to determine whether any   
   relationship they may have with the NRA or similar organizations   
   sends the wrong message."   
      
   The DFS, which regulates the banking and insurance industries,   
   followed up with letters urging companies to reconsider doing   
   business with the NRA and other gun-rights groups. Consider the   
   potential for "reputational risk," the letters say.   
      
   "Simply put, the defendants made it clear to banks and insurers   
   that it is bad business in New York to do business with the   
   NRA," the group says in its lawsuit. It adds that the   
   "blacklisting campaign" is a violation of speech and association   
   rights guaranteed by the Constitution.   
      
   The NRA is wrong about much, but they have that right. What   
   Cuomo is doing — using the power of the state to target a   
   political enemy — is tyrannical.   
      
   If you're willing to excuse the danger this time because you   
   believe the NRA is uniquely awful, at least consider the   
   precedent being set. What if conservative governors decide to   
   similarly target progressive causes or companies that do   
   business with liberal advocacy groups?   
      
   To get a sense of what that might look like, we don't have to   
   travel far. We have an example from right here in Albany,   
   implemented by ... you guessed it! ... Andrew Cuomo.   
      
   Two years ago, the governor issued an executive order requiring   
   state agencies to stop doing business with companies and   
   organizations that support boycotts, divestment or sanctions   
   against Israel for its alleged mistreatment of Palestinians —   
   otherwise known as the BDS movement, a popular cause on the left.   
      
   Cuomo's order even required that the state Office of General   
   Services create a blacklist of companies involved in the BDS   
   movement and make that list available to everyone online — a   
   nice little bit of public shaming for anyone daring to diverge   
   from the governor's point of view.   
      
   The move was outrageously antagonistic toward free speech, but   
   that has long been the pattern with Cuomo. He doesn't want to   
   debate those who disagree with him. He calls his opponents   
   enemies and tries to intimidate them. He tries to shut them up.   
      
   (Yes, it is quite Trumpian.)   
      
   On Monday, Cuomo was still enjoying the attention provided by   
   his battle with the NRA. Appearing on MSNBC's "Morning Joe," he   
   said, "If they went away, I would offer my thoughts and prayers,   
   Joe, just like they do every time we have another situation of   
   innocents losing their lives."   
      
   It's an effective line among Democrats, and Cuomo has repeated   
   it in recent days. It's also an effective line for the NRA,   
   given how it will induce a flood of donations.   
      
   Cuomo versus the NRA? In the short term, both sides win.   
      
   https://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Churchill-Cuomo-targets-   
   the-NRA-mdash-and-free-13136475.php   
       
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)