Originally Posted by
jester_s1
HydroJunkie- Posting something in all caps doesn't make it any more true. NPO's sell things all the time. They are allowed to do that. I've already explained in a previous post why this new insurance deal is no threat at all to the AMA's NPO status.
I'm disappointed at how hard it is to have a productive conversation when the AMA is concerned. I'm impressed that everyone waiting until page 2 to make a reference to Nazis, as this is usually the go to for someone who gets frustrated about having their points refuted. But other than that little bit of restraint, I see the same old stuff. The wholesale condemnation of the leadership, having a tiny issue become the entire AMA's direction, paranoid suspicion of unknown dealings, it's all here. How about weighing this tiny maneuver with all the other stuff the AMA is doing well? Why do these conversations have to go straight to black and white absolutism and degenerate into name calling when we are capable of so much better?
It's the optics of it. You know as well as I do from watching the news that something can be perfectly legal but just look bad in front of the public, regulators, or legislators. The optics of this AMA commercial drone thing is bad. As several have pointed out, on one hand they're saying they advocate for model aviation, but on the other it's very easy to see commercial drone and AMA in copy. Most staffers on the hill aren't that sophisticated, and when they look at this they see blurring the line. It hurts AMA credibility because it dilutes the purity of what they're doing.