They’ve tried it and failed
Laura Washington thinks that, since we’re winning, anti-gunners should get active on the internet since begging isn’t working. She says:
To defeat the gun lobby, gun-control activists need to get out of late-night local cable and embrace the Internet
They’ve tried. And they can’t stand the heat (google up reasoned discoursetm or search my archives). Laura, they try. And we keep knocking them down. You see, anti-gunners simply don’t have the base pro-gunners do. There are millions of us. And the million mom march, at last count, had about 24 people. And the anti-gunners simply cannot keep up when there is a forum for which we can refute their claims.
See, the Brady Campaign couldn’t stand the heat when people can refute their misleading claims. So, they just parrot. No comments, limited updates and yawn. And, of course, there was no better source for pro-gun information than the Brady Blog itself.
Bryan Miller went poof too. After four posts, no updates in over a month. And his condescending tone in comments there and his refusal to address rebuttals in a rational manner only reinforced the notion that he was in over his head.
Gonzo is a joke with no readers.
Robyn Ringler tried too. But she soon was frantically deleting comments that didn’t support her view and eventually shut them off because, like the others, she can’t hang.
See, when your entire viewpoint relies upon misleading people or, well, flat-out lying, you simply cannot have an audience point that out. Laura continues:
The People of the Gun are beating their drums on websites from Keepandbeararms.com in Washington State, to alphecca.com in Vermont. Every time a plea for gun restrictions surfaces on the Internet, the gun stalwarts furiously post hundreds of missives in homage to the Second Amendment.
Through organizing, the Internet, and plunking down plenty of cold hard cash, the gun lobby has proven it is ready for primetime. Meanwhile, its opponents are languishing in the wee-hours of late-night local cable.
And who plunked down cash? These are just websites set up by people and not a lobby. No one paid them. You’re just lying. Your side can’t say the same thing because the Joyce Foundation has bought and paid for the anti-gun side’s blogs to the tune of $60K$650K. Strangely, no one has to pay me or Jeff at Alphecca. Why, Laura, do you suppose that is? More:
After last spring’s massacre at Virginia Tech, ABC News polled adults nationwide and asked: “Do you favor or oppose stricter gun control laws in this country?” Sixty-one percent favored them, 36 percent were opposed and 3 percent were “unsure.”
But what about those polls last month? More:
That majority is represented by well-meaning citizen groups, like the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, and graying civil rights stalwarts like the Rev. Jesse L. Jackson and his Rainbow/PUSH. Their tactic is to organize anti-gun marches and rallies to push for stricter gun laws and penalties. But here’s a news flash: No one is listening.
Because gun control is what you do instead of something.
The majority’s collective voice is being ignored. The anti-gun movement must mount a strong response.
Now, I see the problem. You think you’re the majority. Well, sparky, you’re not. Period.
Gun control activists: start playing the other side’s game by embracing technology. Progressives: harness the Internet and aim it at Democratic and independent voters.
They’ve tried. And failed. Read above.
The NRA has built a juggernaut of a website that networks gun advocates from hither to yon. A modest investment and some digital ingenuity could pave the way for digital networks in black churches, sororities and other civic groups in black urban America to fight back.
I dunno about juggernaut. I mean, they’ve linked me before and I didn’t quite notice a huge uptick in traffic.
Fact is, we’re winning because the facts and reason are on our side. And we outnumber you. Whenever these folks get active on the internet, I’ll be there to send readers their way to address their misrepresentations. And if I don’t, someone else will. And we’re not bought and paid for by anybody. I know it’s convenient to think we are or to think there’s some conspiracy but there is not. We are many. We are passionate. We are right. We are active. And we are smarter.
We’ll be here to shut the next one down too. And I won’t be getting a fat check from the Evil Gun Lobby.
Update: Ayup: I wonder why gun control advocates presume that the pro-gun blogosphere is a big conspiracy bankrolled by the NRA, instead of what it really is, a true grassroots effort by smart people who are passionate about liberty.
Even more: You’re doing it wrong.
Still more: Bigoted much: On us being almost exclusively of white men from suburban and rural areas:
I think Bitter, Tam, Denise, ZendoDeb, and Squeaky would be interested to know that the “gun army” was made up exclusively of males. Pro-Gun Progressive, a resident of the Pigtown section of Baltimore, MD, might be surprised to find out that we’re exclusively suburban and rural. Kenn Blanchard might be surprised to learn we’re exclusively white. Jeff Soyer, who Washington’s article mentioned, is, in fact, a rural white male from Vermont, but he’s also a gay rural white male; not your stereotypical Bubba.
At least she’s right about our rapid response.
September 25th, 2007 at 9:03 am
Well said my friend, well said.
September 25th, 2007 at 9:17 am
FYI, that Culturologist guy accepts comments now, though he disavows responding to “nutcase” arguments.
September 25th, 2007 at 9:18 am
I remember back in ’95 during the first online debates between Tayna Metaska representing NRA and Sarah Brady. The first was on Compuserve the second was on AOL. Sarah lasted about 10 minutes on Compuserve. She was pelted by pro-gunners and signed off without so much as a goodbye. Pretty much the same thing happened on AOL.
September 25th, 2007 at 9:19 am
[…] RTWT […]
September 25th, 2007 at 9:29 am
[…] Uncle directs me to (another) editorial written by Laura Washington about gun control. You might recall Ms. Washington from previous entries, where she was complaining that the “gun-lobby” was kicking tail six ways from Sunday. Her new editorial really isn’t much different from the old one, except this time she is entreating the “progressives” to get out there and take over the internet or something. The national news polls suggest that the majority of Americans support more gun control. […]
September 25th, 2007 at 9:48 am
by his standards, that’d be any argument made by somebody other than himself. he’s one of the few people who make me truly happy to know they have no guns.
September 25th, 2007 at 9:52 am
[…] does a great fisking of an editorial by Laura Washington. I have some comment myself on this part: The rabid response […]
September 25th, 2007 at 10:12 am
I wonder why gun control advocates presume that the pro-gun blogosphere is a big conspiracy bankrolled by the NRA, instead of what it really is, a true grassroots effort by smart people who are passionate about liberty.
Because if the “majority” can’t create a community without paying it’s members to lobby for their issues, the “minority” obviously can’t do it without paying theirs?
I mean, doesn’t it help if your “Reality-Based Community” is actually based in, you know, Reality?
September 25th, 2007 at 10:35 am
Outta the park, Unc!
September 25th, 2007 at 10:38 am
To “Yu-Ain Gonnano”:
Why did you post a response to my post over here on SayUncle’s blog instead of on mine? Don’t you love me?
To Uncle:
I apologize for any confusion. LJ doesn’t do trackbacks.
September 25th, 2007 at 10:46 am
[…] That’s how one anti-Bill of Rights advocate terms the likes of me and other gun bloggers. Say Uncle stomps her like a narc at a biker rally. […]
September 25th, 2007 at 10:46 am
Hey, if the Evil Big Gun Lobby wants to pay me to write pro-Second-Amendment or -firearm posts, I sure as hell am not going to turn them down. Every man has his price – mine just happens to be lower than most.
At any rate, the article was nothing more than a classic case of “If I repeat this enough times, people are going to start believing it is true.” It worked for the Clinton administration, it worked for “assault weapons” (and may be gaining steam again), and I am sure they are hoping it will work for the minority/majority debate, along with the rest.
I have to admit, though, there certainly has been an upswing of desperation-style articles from the hoplophobe side of the fence… Maybe they realize just how much ground they are losing recently?
Oh, and “Culturologist” still only accepts comments that he likes. I left two about five days ago, and have not seen hide nor hair (could have something to do with me raking him over the coals for his pathetic use of misguiding statistics, but you know how that goes…).
September 25th, 2007 at 11:17 am
[…] Washington doesn’t survive much scrutiny over at Uncle’s. Bigotry indeed; she really thinks that the key to their success is organizing in black churches, […]
September 25th, 2007 at 11:29 am
“No one is listening.”
That about sums it up.
September 25th, 2007 at 12:00 pm
[…] the war and how the bigots don’t stand a chance when the truth comes out. Say Uncle is all over this, but seeing as he blogs from the comforts of Knoxville, Tennessee I just thought the brothers in […]
September 25th, 2007 at 12:03 pm
[…] the NOT-funded-by-the-NRA gun nut bloggers are swarming all around, basking in the impending defeat of the bigots and storming and blogging (literally) from the steps […]
September 25th, 2007 at 12:20 pm
Hey, if someone is paying pro-rights bloggers, I’m being robbed–I’m getting nothing. Somebody owes me!
Just kidding.
September 25th, 2007 at 12:26 pm
I watched the _Nightline_ debate over CCW reform in Florida in the late ’80s. The anti side kept interrupting so often that Ted Koppel threatened to turn their mikes off if they didn’t play nice.
September 25th, 2007 at 12:47 pm
I’m a Gun People!
I wonder why I’m not getting paid by the gun lobby… in fact, I’m paying them. What gives?
September 25th, 2007 at 12:48 pm
Sorry Prester.
I was going to respond over at your place but when I went over to read the rest of your post, I saw that you had already made the same comment I had.
Call me Polly and ask me if I want a cracker.
September 25th, 2007 at 1:03 pm
It’s ironic that most of these anti morons are running on pure emotion, yet when we answer them and show a little emotion of our own, they recoil in horror. They must truly believe their emotions are logic.
And the NRA isn’t paying we arm-chair commenters a thin dime. Last I noticed, they keep begging me for money.
September 25th, 2007 at 1:54 pm
I just realized that I have never actually been on the NRA website, and can’t think of a reason that I would want to.
September 25th, 2007 at 2:20 pm
“The NRA has built a juggernaut of a website that networks gun advocates from hither to yon.”
Coulda fooled me. The NRA website is like the newsweeklies. Everything you see in Time or Newsweek or the NRA site you already saw a week ago somewhere else.
September 25th, 2007 at 2:22 pm
You know, I actually like “People of the Gun”, it makes us sound like a bunch of wandering mystics, doing eldritch magics with our strange devices.
September 25th, 2007 at 2:34 pm
Oh good. I wasn’t the only one thinking that.
September 25th, 2007 at 2:38 pm
Jeesh, what a bunch of nerds we be. Who’s up for “People of the Gun” tshirts? Hmmm, maybe not tshirts, maybe hooded cloaks.
September 25th, 2007 at 2:44 pm
Instead of organizing in black churches, perhaps Ms. Washington would do more for her people by demanding black families squash the thuggish tendencies out of their murdering children.
49% of murder victims are black, ok, I’ll accept that! What is the percentage of murderers of that 49% being black?
As a man I used to read often and whom I admire, in comments at another site noted, he was shouted down and vilified for pointing out that his congregation was blaming “whitey” for the murder of a young black man in their neighborhood when the only white persons involved were the police who showed up to investigate the murder. Oh, I should mention, he is black just in case someone doesn’t get it.
Obviously he wasn’t black enough to suit those people who refuse to live in reality.
September 25th, 2007 at 2:46 pm
The NRA website really needs to get rid of that front page with the heavy Flash content.
September 25th, 2007 at 2:51 pm
All I want to know is “Where’s my Triangle of Death payola?” Cheap bastiges.
September 25th, 2007 at 3:00 pm
Remember, this is the same Laura Washington who was freaking out a month ago (the infamous “shove it down their throats” article), as the first link in Uncle’s post notes. This latest wasrte of monitor space seems so akin to the last that I have to wonder if she is merely looking for traffic. Same surveys mentioned, same accusations of some bottomless money well supplying bloggers, legislators, or whoever is to blame this week. Despite the voluminous scoldings and corrections she received, she still has nothing new to offer. No new evidence, no revelations, no, if you will, smoking gun.
BTW, I would agree that the “People of the Gun” t-shirt/hoodie set sounds pretty cool, but then if Uncle has some printed up and I don’t buy them he’ll make me feel guilty!
September 25th, 2007 at 3:24 pm
Hell, I would be willing to make up that kind of design for CafePress, but something tells me someone will beat me to it…
September 25th, 2007 at 4:07 pm
“I wonder why gun control advocates presume that the pro-gun blogosphere is a big conspiracy bankrolled by the NRA, instead of what it really is, a true grassroots effort by smart people who are passionate about liberty.”
That’s because the antis get bankrolled (bribed) to do their thing and cant comprehend people standing up for their rights without being payed off for doing so. FYI antis, It’s called DEDICATION.
September 25th, 2007 at 4:15 pm
the “people of the gun” hoodie needs a hood large enough to accommodate earmuffs. i’ll have one in dark grey, men’s size L.
September 25th, 2007 at 4:24 pm
I tried shirts before and you folks didn’t buy them.
September 25th, 2007 at 4:48 pm
I’m a native Texan and I hereby annoit Soyer as “Bubba Jeff”. It may just be a ceremonial title with no pickup attached, but still worth a lot.
September 25th, 2007 at 5:03 pm
Hey Uncle thanks for the link, but your off by a zero on the funding by Joyce Foundation of blogs. The FSA, which seems to be most of Joyce’s internet only funding (no physical group, just websites… including Gonzo’s), is not $60K, it is $650K. Big difference.
Also not only do I not make a dime off my website, nor does anyone pay me money to run it. So every month when it is time to pay the hosting bill, it is my own cold hard cash that is plunked down.
September 25th, 2007 at 8:42 pm
The anti’s did well in the days before the Internet. They owned the media. It was just like Pravda in the Soviet Union. They could put the anti-gun spin on everything because there were only 3 TV networks and PBS, and newspapers. They allowed only such dissent as they could laugh at.
Now there’s the Internet and they can only get away with their nonsense when they can’t get called on it.
There are still too many one-way, Pravdaesque communications. The New York Times, and too many other newspapers’ editorials and opinion pieces, still don’t allow comments. Yet.
September 25th, 2007 at 9:28 pm
Alrighty gentlemen and ladies, what make you of this: http://www.wallsofthecity.net/images/peopleofthegun.gif The primary image is, of course, large enough for CafePress applications.
September 25th, 2007 at 10:54 pm
I make it out to be a sheet of black. I don’t see anything.
September 25th, 2007 at 10:55 pm
Yeah, that was me screwing up transparencies. Sorry about that, but please try again.
September 25th, 2007 at 10:55 pm
Oh… now I see it.. weird. A reload seems to have fixed it. It looks good, but to be honest, I’m not buying one. I like “People of the Gun”, but most people won’t get it, and I already have way too much pro-gun stuff I can’t wear to work.
September 25th, 2007 at 11:13 pm
The Culturologist has published every one of my comments. It usually takes about a day, but they do get posted.
Just keep them short, on topic, and don’t bring too many citations to the table. Typical blog software will flag anything with more than 3 links in it as SPAM. Keep that in mind.
September 26th, 2007 at 12:32 am
I have left four comments with “The Culturologist” over the past few months, and while none of them have had links contained within them, none of them were displayed. Little matter… he is hardly worth the time, and the one instance where I cared, I simply wrote the comment as a post on my weblog. That much he cannot control.
No worries about not buying it, Sebastian. If one person does, that is sufficient. Might wait a day or so to see if anyone has any suggestions.
September 26th, 2007 at 8:12 am
She has no idea what she’s asking for here. Those black churches and black sororities and fraternities could set up such networks, but the thing about setting up a network as opposed to sending out a newsletter is that the “leadership” doesn’t really control a network. The people out there on the network will use it for their own ends, and there’s nothing you can do about it.
In short, if a black sorority forms a network like the pro-gun message boards, then we’ll see what the members of that sorority REALLY think. Her assumption that they’ll automatically work for gun control because they’re black will only lead her to heartbreak. Being black doesn’t make you anti-gun.
September 26th, 2007 at 5:06 pm
Gunowners defined by SayUncle:
“We are many.
We are passionate.
We are right.
We are active.
And we are smarter.”
🙂
LOVE IT!!!!
September 26th, 2007 at 7:08 pm
Cash?? They’re gonna give me cash?? Cold hard cash???
There was a time when Black churches, like the one where Condi’s father preached, organized with guns to protect themselves from night-riders and the KKK. Sheesh, get some History babe.
September 27th, 2007 at 8:22 am
[…] Joyce Foundation Astroturf. And remember, I’m the one who’s supposedly getting cash plunked down in my lap from the evil gun lobby. Or is it gun manufacturers? I keep forgetting who I shill […]
September 27th, 2007 at 10:07 pm
[…] Gun collection, over at People of the Gun. It’s a reference to yet another gun-fearing-wussie coming up with a label which is, I guess, supposed to be […]
September 28th, 2007 at 8:33 am
[…] And those attendees are, of course, coming to plunk down a ton of cash in my lap. Just ask Laura Washington. […]
September 29th, 2007 at 10:22 am
Heh, Yeah, I went down the guilt path this AM. Just bought a couple.
Not work friendly, but I’ll wear them on weekends.