Moms demanding action outnumber empty chairs---by one (courtesy cbsdenver.com)

According to Wikipedia,”Astroturfing is the practice of masking the sponsors of a message (e.g. political, advertising, or public relations) to give the appearance of it coming from a disinterested, grassroots participant. Astroturfing is intended to give the statements the credibility of an independent entity by withholding information about the source’s financial connection. The term astroturfing is a derivation of AstroTurf, a brand of synthetic carpeting designed to look like natural grass.” Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America is Astroturf. While MDA receives [undisclosed] financial contributions from its membership, if they didn’t receive direct [undisclosed] funding from New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg (of Mayors Against Illegal Guns) they wouldn’t exist. But that’s not the worst of it . . .

The worst thing about Moms Demand Action is that they receive millions of dollars of free, entirely positive publicity from the news media—another source of support without which MDA could not exist. And the really, really horrible part of that equation is that MDA can’t muster more than two dozen participants for any of their publicity stunts (masquerading as political protest).

Nick and I saw it in Austin. MDA held a counter rally to the Come and Take It open carry demonstration at the Alamo. MDA attracted less than twenty adult participants. Less than that if you discount the organizers themselves. At least 500 people attended the open carry demo. Did the media give MDA equal time? You know they did.

You can see it in the picture above. MDA held a Domestic Violence Awareness Month-themed rally in Colorado, attended by Representative Hudak, who’s facing recall for voting to disarm Rocky Mountain state residents. Also in attendance, ten other women. Ten. A number that just barely outnumbers the empty chairs representing “nine women who die every week form domestic gun violence.”

That’s denver.cbslocal.com‘s typo, not mine. Speaking of attention to detail, click on that link to see how the local CBS affiliate does what every news station does when “reporting” on MDA: editing the video to hide the fact that no one’s there. Other than ignoring the MDA’s anti-gun agit prop—which isn’t a bad idea—the least that new reporters could do is show the truth about their level of support.

Truth be told, the progressive press couldn’t be any more in the tank for MDA if they were Shamu the killer whale. Unfortunately, traditional media [still] has more influence than independent bloggers. Fortunately, gun owners are a motivated lot. This kind of blatant BS keeps them angry. Active. Focused. And determined. So go ahead MDA, make my day. The bigger the mainstream media circle jerk the faster you’re going down. So to speak.

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

75 COMMENTS

  2. Counting the empty chairs and the obligatory little kid, they mustered 20 supporters. I wonder how many chairs represent recreational drug users who were killed in mortal combat over the last pack of ramen noodles.

  3. Too bad the nine unfortunates were not trained and armed. “Nine abusers were shot dead last week” sounds like a fine action to demand.

  4. 9 women are murdered by gun-toting criminals every week. (unsurprising)

    9 women are killed every week in domestic gun violence. (eyebrow-raising)

    And yet the facts behind each sentence are exactly the same.

    So weird.

    Really, someone should tell the Moms that they’re misrepresenting the truth of the matter…

    • Someone should tell MDA that slag Hudak is cool with women just laying there while being sexually assaulted. Its kind of hard to have a message stating you’re there for the safety of women when your VIP guest tells rape victims to screw off.

  5. We are motivated, educated, and not willing to let a group of sheeple funded and promoted by those who would shred the constitution, take our god given rights and freedoms. Those ignorant, head in the sand “moms” can expect their numbers to continue to dwindle.

    • Isn’t Milfs Demand (Hot) Action a “non profit”. Then don’t they have to file form 990’s? Can’t their be a FOIA request? Just saying.

      Of course, if someone can get Shannon Watts(TM) actual clothing size, too, I’d be much obliged. Christmas shopping coming up.

  8. I’m putting a chair just like that on my porch for Halloween. I was thinking of putting picture of Hudak on it, but then it would scare the neighbors away and I might have an angry mob with pitchforks in my yard. I think I will just go with the scary skull mask to be safe.

    I’m sure if these Moms Demanding Absurdity had their way, they would curtail a lot more than just gun rights. I am sure they attract the helicopter soccer mom crowd who think their little snowflake needs to be protected from everything in life. No skinned knees for my children!

    The world is dangerous, get over it! Freedom can be dangerous but the alternative is more dangerous.

  9. Soooo…when they say they have hundreds show up at a rally, are they counting the seats dressed up as people?

  10. Astroturf = Popular Front.

    The idea is to generate the impression that a vast array of people support your position when it is only a handful. Front groups are usually made of all the same people. Popular Front tactics are force multipliers for radicals.

    • REG: Listen. If you wanted to join the P.F.J., you’d have to really hate the Romans.

      BRIAN: I do!

      REG: Oh, yeah? How much?

      BRIAN: A lot!

      REG: Right. You’re in. Listen. The only people we hate more than the Romans are the Judean People’s Front.

      P.F.J.: Yeah…

      JUDITH: Splitters.

      P.F.J.: Splitters…

      FRANCIS: And the Judean Popular People’s Front.

      P.F.J.: Yeah. Oh, yeah. Splitters. Splitters…

      LORETTA: And the People’s Front of Judea.

      P.F.J.: Yeah. Splitters. Splitters…

      REG: What?

      LORETTA: The People’s Front of Judea. Splitters.

      REG: We’re the People’s Front of Judea!

      LORETTA: Oh. I thought we were the Popular Front.

      REG: People’s Front!

      FRANCIS: Whatever happened to the Popular Front, Reg?

      REG: He’s over there.

      http://montypython.50webs.com/scripts/Life_of_Brian/8.htm

  11. I need shoe size too. Envision Shannon Watts(TM) in pure white stockings, white stripper heels and a garter belt, shooting an ak47

  12. Groups like MDA don’t concern me much at this point. Their tactics convert few.

    Real problems for our side will begin when more and more insurance companies will raise the rates of businesses that do not prohibit guns on their properties. That is coming sooner than later.

    • Insurance rates are driven by actuarial tables and statistics. Essentially you are playing against the house that something will happen to cause you to collect money. But the house is playing with a stacked deck; they have the numbers that run the odds that something will probably happen, so they keep you just this side of the event.

      Because real numbers don’t lie, insurance rates should rise for businesses that prohibit guns, because the odds of a casualty that causes a payout happening (say, a successful armed robbery) are greater if the thief is the only one with a gun.

      • And elected officials should be standing up for our rights.

        According to a GM of a local shopping center, guns are not allowed on premises due to insurance costs based on potential litigation. A patron injured from another patron’s gun resulting in a lawsuit against the owners was his example. I don’t know enough to call BS or not.

        Since rational thought and logic does not seem to enter the anti gun mind, the scenario seems plausible to me.

  13. “nine women who die every week form domestic gun violence.”

    And if those nine women who die every week were to live and join the Demanding Moms, its membership would still be smaller than an average-size gun club in Sedalia or Poughkeepsie.

  14. The “Astrotruf” label also applies to anyone and everyone who says “I support the Second Amendment but..” Or, Hell, ANY of the Bill of Rights for that matter!

    So, BUT NOTHING.

    Either you are pro-rights or you are anti-rights. There is no in between. There is no grey area. There is no middle ground.

    If you are the latter, and this is especially applicable to ALL 535 SCUMBAGS on Capitol Hill, then please do us all a favor and FOAD. Thanks.

  16. Your talk of Shannon Watts in erotic attire makes me want to vomit copiously. This is a woman who would have joined the Nazi SS or the Soviet NKVD had she been born in a different era. It was her group that took down one of my Twitter accounts because they cant stand dissenting opinions.

  17. Yep, they are the very definition of a Potemkin Village. If the media is to be believed, this is a massive organization with 100,000 totally pissed off women (and growing exponentially by the day) all of whom are pouring their time, money and effort to enact “common sense gun safety legislation” (the new buzzwords to ban most guns and make what remains difficult, expensive and time-consuming to acquire). But, when you peel back the top layer of the MDA onion, it’s really only perhaps a few dozen active members per state (so a few hundred active members tops nationwide), with an exceptionally media-savvy leader, and an all too willing traditional print and television press tripping over each other to lap up everything they have to say right from their hands. As for their “100,000 members”, sure, it’s easy to swell membership numbers for an organization when the only freaking requirement for membership is that you put your e-mail address into their website.

  18. Good work Robert. Like Glenn Reynolds at Instapundit says- punch back twice as hard with the facts.

    The easiest way to expose the propagandizing and hypocrisy of the local media outlet reporters and their producers who are bowing to the national ABC/CBS/MSNBC/PBS narrative,

    is to encourage locals to take a picture from a distance,
    and simply post to a truth in media type website or special interest site, like TTAG.
    An Army of Davids, grass-roots, simply reporting from the field. You dont have to protest, just stop by and take a picture and pass it along. Content is king, and the right-wing blogosphere will self-republish and spread the word if its relevant and accurate.

    I’ve seen some of these citizen reports on DC events like the Million Muslim March, which were exposed for the hoax they were, and the outrage over the NPS closing the Veterans Memorial is a recent proof.

    The effect is not obvious, but its cumulative, and the drop in subscriptions and ad revenue for outlets like NYT, LA Slimes, the WAPO, and the now defunct Newsweak and Time Mag are the proof it works. People dont like being lied to, and the people with money are those who figure it out first, and go somewhere else.

    Just keep shining the sunlight on the roaches and they will eventually scurry away.

  20. If I wanted to read about random guys’ fantasies about Ms Watts I’m sure there is some pervy message board for that purpose.

    I come here to read the truth about GUNS.

    Sexualizing Ms Watts distracts from her untenable positions on guns and diminishes the power of the counter arguments to those positions.

    If you must express your carnal desire for Ms Watts it would be better all around if you did it elsewhere, preferably in private.

    Thanks.

  22. Is one of the nine women an avid snowshoe-er? Because I didn’t think one in nine women (nationwide or in Colorado) regularly go snowshoeing.

  23. Can we stop with the P.C. ( political correctness) bullshit. Let’s really be brutally honest Shannon Watts is a prostitute for the anti cause. I’m relatively certain she pays herself one hell of a salary from the donations to her organization plus charges speaking fees. So what some of us call her names and make comments in jest about screwing her? She is after all attempting to screw each and every one of us out of a God given Right. This has nothing to do with sinking to their level trust me we got a very long way to go before we reach that level. If you don’t like the comments ignore em. You come to read about guns, then why are you reading this article and its comments? RF & company do a good job hinting at what articles talk about a gun and what articles are talkin politics.
    Oh and if she expected us to not make comments like that she shouldve stayed home… seriously how many of yall have called young hollyweird stars sluts or worse???

    • I agree, if it was talking rape or criminal activity, racism, or hating due to religion or personal preference its one thing. She put herself out there in public against our rights, so she kinda opened herself up to public criticism.

      • Yes, she opened herself up to public criticism of her position on GUN RIGHTS. And there is PLENTY of fodder for criticism there. So criticize her position on gun rights. Use logic and facts and expose the hypocrisy of her positions, and how weak her positions are.

        Don’t talk about how hot she’d look in white stockings and stripper heels. That doesn’t diminish the power of her argument, it diminishes the power of our argument. Frankly, given what’s happened in NY, Colorado, California and the U.S. Senate in the last twelve months we need every advantage we can get.

        So please, don’t piss it away just so you can make some lewd comment about Ms. Watts’ appearance. It’s not worth it.

    • I’ve been ignoring them for a while. This story was just the tipping point.

      I don’t care about whether or not Ms. Watts is offended by the comments, which is what I think of when I think P.C., that is, the only reason I’m not saying ‘x’ is because saying ‘x’ would offend some person or group.

      No, the real reason I care about what guys like Dirk Diggler are posting is that I really like my civil rights. I like our cause being portrayed as being a struggle to restore civil rights that have been taken away. When Mark Glaze of MAIG and the other grabbers read these comments and inevitably share them with persuadable people in the middle who wouldn’t normally read this site, it makes it easier to marginalize gun rights supporters. It reinforces the sterotype that we’re a bunch of meatheads who think with our dicks and can’t be trusted with anything more powerful than a red Swingline.

      I’m not concerned about whether Ms. Watt’s is offended. I’m not opposed to guys like Dirk getting their jollies. I am concerned when getting their jollies starts to muddy the message of our civil rights struggle.

      And you should be too.

  24. From the CBS story: “The group is sending dozens of cutout number nines to Washington to call for stronger laws nationwide to keep guns out of the hands of criminals.”

    Dozens!!! That’ll sure get Congress’ attention.

  25. my question is whatmakes these women think they are so damn special just because they are moms? newsflash ladies, mom’s have been around for EVER. it doesn’t take any brains to become a mom.. just ask 10,000 pre teens yearly!

Comments are closed.