Let’s Talk About George Mason and the NRA

Dana Loesch, a spokesperson for the National Rifle Association and alleged aspiring “hot sitcom mom” attended the CNN Town Hall — although that sentence may be misleading, as her participation in the two hour town hall Wednesday night lasted only thirty-four minutes, divided between her and Broward county Sheriff Scott Israel.

And during the second of only four questions she fielded, when asked to define the term “well-regulated militia” and use supporting detail by Diana Wolf Rogers, a World History teacher and survivor of the recent (sadly very measurable) human tragedy at Stoneman Douglas High School, she opted, first, to ignore a portion of the question and define the word “militia” using a quote from George Mason — a standard NRA talking point.

“The militia of the whole of the people.”

If you don’t remember much about George Mason, that isn’t your fault. The abridged narrative of the American revolution taught in history classes (at least, taught at my high school) tend not to have much to say about him. I imagine the reasons for that may become clear soon.

As described (in mostly forgiving terms) by Jeff Broadwater in his book George Mason, Forgotten Founder, Mason spent the majority of the the revolutionary war “distracted by poor health, business interests” in Virginia.