Listen to the NRA. They’re telling it like it is at the organization’s annual convention in Houston. And the rest of us should pay attention.

First Vice President James Porter, an Alabama attorney who will assume the organization’s presidency Monday, called on NRA members Friday to get ready for a “culture war” that goes far beyond gun control.

Opening-day speakers trained their sights on the president and the media. Their underlying theme:  Obama and the media don’t understand “real”Americans.

“The lamestream media just doesn’t get you,” said former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, who was wearing a black-and-pink “women hunt” T-shirt.

Defeated presidential hopeful Rick Santorum told the delegates: “This is a critical time in American history. Something big is happening in America. Stand for America. Fight for America.”

It’s a fight that a segment of American society is just spoiling for.

The way I see it, the nationwide gun control conflict is a symptom of a much deeper malady.

The arms manufacturers who fund the NRA’s battles against any legislation to shield the public from unregulated gun ownership want more than “the freedom to bear arms.” They want an America in which they are free to do whatever they please and in which we common folks know our place.

They want “their America” back.

In “their America,” women and minorities are submissive and compliant – or else. White males rule supreme, and rich white males walk the earth like demigods.

To borrow a line from an old song, if you see them comin’, better step aside. A lot of men didn’t; a lot of men died.

I am not kidding.

These deluded megalomaniacs will stop at nothing to retain their dominance of a society that is evolving beyond their reach. They could not keep that black man and his family out of the White House, but by God and the Confederate flag, they won’t let him tell them what to do!

I don’t think some of them would stop at physical violence. I fear that they’re prepared to use those guns they’re battling so fiercely to keep. A recent poll showed nearly one-third of Americans think armed revolution might be necessary in the next few years. Not surprisingly, Republicans are a lot more likely to share this view than Democrats. The poll showed 44 percent of Republicans see violent insurrection as a possibility, compared with 27 percent of Independents and only 18 percent of Democrats.

So when the far-right demagogs issue a war cry to gun owners, the rest of us should take heed. Political violence is a fact of life in many other countries. We can’t say for sure it could never happen here.

While the rest of us put our faith in the ballot box, there’s a slice of American society that’s armed and dangerous. Very dangerous.

Photos show wall poster at the NRA convention (top left), First Vice President James Porter speaking at the convention (top right) and Tea Party demonstrators in Arizona holding up an ominous sign (bottom).

Click here for a report on the convention.

Click here for the survey on armed revolution.