the non-power of one
So, The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Ownership Blog did a bit linking to Sebastian and David and it was crossposted at HuffPo. And, well, I’ll let David tell it:
“Neat,” I thought. I’d wondered why “Handgun Control” was lurking here yesterday morning. But having this appear on both the Brady Blog and especially The Huffington Post ought to really drive some traffic my way, and that never hurts.
And then a funny thing happened. Nothing.
Sebastian says he got exactly one hit from Brady and five from HuffPo.
Astroturf, indeed. Is there anyone who thinks about (or even cares about) gun control who isn’t on the clock?
That was one of the things discussed at NRA Con. And a theme discussed here before: the anti-gunners simply cannot penetrate on the internet. There just aren’t that many people passionate about gun control. The internet is the grassiest of grass roots and the gun controllers have none on the internet. They have to pay bloggers. People are passionate about rights. People have to be bought and paid for to be passionate about being anti-gun.
We’re winning on the internet too. Where everyone has a say. And that is huge!
May 22nd, 2008 at 10:32 am
It’s not huge. The antis don’t care about public opinion. Public opinion is not necessary to advance a legislative agenda.
May 22nd, 2008 at 10:34 am
Legislative agenda is a slave to public opinion. And the public seems to be pretty soundly on our side. Or, rather, not on theirs.
May 22nd, 2008 at 11:14 am
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! That’s a good one. If it were true we wouldn’t be paying $4/gallon for gas.
May 22nd, 2008 at 11:36 am
officials can’t control economy, despite what they tell you. they can control gun laws.
May 22nd, 2008 at 12:18 pm
They control taxes and environmental law. Do you see any of them falling all over themselves to lower taxes on gas or allow exploration in the US or to build new refineries? Nope.
Professional politicians work long and hard to get to where they are, especially those higher up the food chain. They know jolly good and well what their own views on the issues are and are not about to govern based upon a temporary public whim. They run for office to advance their agenda, not someone else’s. They are elected with the monetary and manpower support of various special interests who determine in advance where the candidate stands on their pet issue. They aren’t going to pay much attention to someone else’s opinion unless that person or organization is able to translate their ideas into political power at election time.
May 22nd, 2008 at 1:42 pm
I’m not trying to minimize your point, btw. I think we’re just arguing over the definition of huge. I tend to think that a popular position can motivate politicos. But, then, I’m not in NY.
May 22nd, 2008 at 2:54 pm
I’m not just describing NY. This goes on in every state and Congress too. The only thing that changes is the matter of degrees on particular issues. You might not see as much of it on gun issues in TN, but I guarantee it is going on for other ones.
May 23rd, 2008 at 8:19 am
Oh please. If it weren’t true we’d have been paying euro prices for decades.
May 23rd, 2008 at 9:16 am
Those on the right believe the 2nd amendment as a plain language right, they do not want an abridgement of that freedom, Those on the left want to protect themselves from the evil they believe will come from the right. So no huge outcry for gun control beyond symbolism, like the banning of “assault weapons”. Everyone knows being shot and killed by a Weatherby is totally different from an AK-47 or M-16.
May 23rd, 2008 at 11:17 am
As a possible alternative, those who actually support gun control are so close minded that they have no interest at all in hearing the other side of the story.
Jacob, your attempt to hijack the thread is rather transparent, and your political leanings are obvious from the tone of your post. Eric Hoffer mentioned that true believers tend to sound childish, and that describes you very well.
May 23rd, 2008 at 11:23 am
Yeah, if it is your average large bore Weatherby magnum, you’ll be deader quicker and from further away than from those “high-powered” assault weapons.(sic)
May 23rd, 2008 at 11:24 am
Jacob writes for and is active in the NY state rifle and pistol association. He’s pretty solidly on our team.
May 23rd, 2008 at 2:42 pm
I have also been doing serious internet-enabled activism for much, much longer than probably anyone else who reads this. See the 12/94 Guns & Ammo.
I was at the very first online debate between Sarah Brady & Tayna Metaska on Compuserve back in ’95. Sarah lasted about 10 minutes and signed off without a word. This scenario was basically repeated during their second debate on AOL and they canceled the third proposed debate because there weren’t any antis showing up. That was 13 years ago. The antis have never had a serious online presence and never will. It hasn’t slowed them down one bit.
May 23rd, 2008 at 9:03 pm
“The antis don’t care about public opinion. Public opinion is not necessary to advance a legislative agenda.”
If you look at leftist websites, you’ll see that the left, in general, doesn’t debate facts. Rather, most sites are principally concerned with political tactics. In some cases, the issue demands a popular mobilizing, which they are quite efficient at, in others it is based on finding sympathetic legislators and judges. There aren’t really any facts, as far as leftists are concerned, only talking points an rhetorical structures to be manipulated to achieve a political end.
In the case of guns, the left is well aware that the US culture is fundamentally pro-gun and will remain so for the foreseeable future. Every effort at gun control has thus centered around swaying ignorant pols and judges. Most gun control debates are merely designed to throw uncertainty and doubt about the trustworthiness of your neighbors, and to exaggerate the destructive power of weapons.
The fundamental problem the pro-gun movement faces is that once the state takes away the RTKBA, it won’t give it back, as every nation that has banned it has learned. The anti-gun movement obviously also realizes this and is quite patient and deliberate. Patience simply doesn’t require a great deal of debate, and I’m sure that if a suitable climate of fear and suspicion arose you would see many gun control websites materialize.