The NRA, as of January 16, has moved from a single-minded lobbying organization into a completely new and dangerous entity. Their advertisement calls President Obama, "... just another elitist hypocrite." With this ad, the organization has decided to shed any semblance of civilized, democratic debate or advocacy, and to become an openly irresponsible, ignorant, subversive influence. I cannot recall ever seeing such a blatant ad hominem attack on a President of the United States from a "lobbying organization". It is equally an insult to every citizen and to the United States of America.

The thesis of the advertisement is that the President is being hypocritical in permitting armed protection for his children while not supporting similar protection for every child in America. This is absurd. Anybody, after a moment’s reflection, should realize that the President’s children are in a uniquely vulnerable position. The President and his family are targets for reasons that do not apply to most Americans, and it is in response to this obvious risk that the government provides exceptional security measures.

If you consider yourself a patriotic citizen, this would be a good time to cancel your NRA membership. If you choose to remain an NRA member, you might think about getting your organization back on a legitimate track-- very quickly.

An immediate and full apology to President Obama and the American People is not enough to overcome a gaffe of this size. Not that I have heard any apology whatsoever.

One final note. Prior versions of this iReport have disappeared almost immediately after posting, with the notice that the community finds the report outside the terms of use. It is conceivable that I have used words here that trigger automatic rejection (does iReport do this?). On the other hand, it is tempting to suspect that it is OK for the NRA to criticize the President, but it is not OK for a citizen to criticize the NRA. Does the NRA and/or its supporters operate a (formal or informal) First Amendment “bully squad”? Just wondering how far their anti-American tactics might extend.