A change in tactics?

The Brady Campaign Blog has a post up about a gun rights activist and concealed carry permit holder. Basically it outlines what a slimy guy he is.

This is new territory for the Brady Campaign.

With so many of us and so few of them simply by the sheer number of people in the “tails of the bell curve” that we don’t to be our “poster children” this could be somewhat painful for us. It turns out they have a few “skeletons in the closet” as well but there isn’t going to be nearly as many of them.

I don’t think that is an appropriate way to play the game. The political battle should be fought over ideas and data rather than the criminal convictions and/or drinking problems of the messengers. But politics is almost never a clean fight.

For us the lesson to be learned is to make sure people that are going to be getting the attention of the press and/or police are people that can stand up to public scrutiny because the Brady people may now have a policy of making sure our activists get more attention than they expected in manner that is less than endearing to the public.

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10 thoughts on “A change in tactics?

  1. Yes, indeed, the folks in the “tail of the bell curve” could be very harmful to you, especially since they make up at least 10% of you. I didn’t link to it this time because you’ve read it before and you know where it is if you want another look.

  2. But politics is almost never a clean fight.

    That, and the Brady Campaign is probably keenly aware that they would lose (and have been losing) any clean fights they come across… So what is next? Why, attack the messenger, of course. Unfortunately, this particular event will give them all manner of ammunition… despite the information still being unconfirmed, they can paint all firearm-owners/carriers with the same broad brush based off this individual (one of MikeB’s favorite logical fallacies), they can attack a state’s concealed carry permitting process (though they do not specify which, if any, of those are felonies), and so forth.

    Thankfully, discrediting/defending against each of those attacks is not difficult, it is simply time-consuming to keep up with them all…

  3. There’s that completely unproven 10% that mike likes to trot out. Having seen his “evidence” for that number, the only thing I was able to conclude was that mike failed statistics. Note: not a personal shot, just an observation about a flawed methodology.

    Anyway, are we surprised that Brady Campaign is lowering the discourse to personal attacks and character assassination? If you can’t win on the merits of your ideas, clearly the solution is to attack the other side’s personal habits.

  4. People in Glass houses shouldn’t throw rocks:
    http://www.saysuncle.com/index.php?s=why+gun+activists+so+violent

    And of course many of us know about MikeB’s personal problems as well.

    Of course in the end we aren’t in a game of throwing rocks, we’re in an information war, so while they may pick our more sordid supporters to drag out and scrutinize, I’ll be taking more people to the range, and helping people get their conceal carry permit, and working to push back ineffective and unconstitutional law.

    Let’s see who gets more done!

  5. I recall several instances of blog reportage about anti-gun activists (not necessarily Brady campaigners) who had legal problems regarding their own improper use of firearms. These people were criticized not just for their illegal actions, but for their hypocrisy about guns.

  6. Let me guess, mikey thinks the “tail of the bell curve” is 10%, “by definition”?

  7. What’s that? Still no comments allowed on the Brady ‘blog’? Maybe it’s because they’ve been called out for untruthful information so many times they can’t allow any dissenting opinions. That’s the reason the deleted all previous comments.

  8. The gun rights activists are far from being above reproach here. How many “Ted Kennedy’s car has killed more people than my gun” bumper stickers are extant. How us gunny types love to poke fun at goofy looking images of Hillary or Pellosi. Although the debate *should* be limited to facts and statistics (or maybe not – as a constitutionally secured right, RKBA should actually be beyond that, as well) people in general don’t behave that way.

    Sure, we’re gonna cringe when some nutball misbehaves with a gun – but that’s part of the territory we inherit with any right. So what? Nobody cares, except for the far-less-than 10% (by definition) part of the population that’s so hopolophobic that they’ve given up entirely on facts.

  9. How many “Ted Kennedy’s car has killed more people than my gun” bumper stickers are extant.

    It’s not below reproach if it’s the truth.

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