Feeding Frenzy Time

Heather Martens – formerly of “Citizens for A “Safer” Supine Minnesota”, now with some other astroturf group that is, most likely, a re-branding of CSM, wrote a “Commentary” on Minnesota Public Radio today in re Rep. Cornish’s “Stand Your Ground” bill (HF 1467).

Here’s the “Commentary“.

Here’s the bill.

I’ll have a piece out on it tomorrow.  Actually, I’ve found 15 serious outright lies – as in, statements that are 180 degrees divergent from reality – and 2-3 major logical fallacies so far.  So much, in fact, that I may break the piece up into, well, 15-18 pieces, running every half hour all day tomorrow.

The piece is that bad.

And there is just no way I should have all that fun by myself.

So I’m going to do something I haven’t done in years; I’m going to sound the horn.

Bloggers, Tweeter and Facebookers; it’s time for a good old-fashioned feeding frenzy; a Blog Swarm on Martens.  And on MPR for printing a “commentary” that can’t pass even the most rudimentary fact-checking, as part of what is seeming more and more like an editorial position to start pushing for more gun control.

If you write a piece – a blog post, Facebook update or Tweet – about Martens and MPR, leave a note in the comment section.  I’ll post a “Carnival of Truth” tomorrow recapping everyone’s efforts.

3 thoughts on “Feeding Frenzy Time

  1. Forgetting the actual policy, for a moment, Heather Martens is in the same position — except worse — that Joe Olson and GOCRA are in. Heather’s Citizens for a Safer Minnesota/Protect Minnesota/Minnesota Chapter of the Million Mom March presents itself as a grassroots organization, when it’s nothing of the sort; GOCRA is a hierarchical organization (Joe being President for Life, and all) which had a grassroots base (all those folks recruited by Alfred Fingulin who attended, literally, every gun show in the state) which has allowed the base to erode over the past five years, and is now trying to a: rebuild the base and b: trying to act as though it’s still the CCRN from 2003 and 2005.

    Both have a lot at stake today in the hearing; both have called out an “all hands” drill to show up.

    Back in 2005, GOCRA was the nexus of a grassroots movement that was so large and committed that it could place enough phone calls and send enough emails to shut down the office of Dean Johnson — then Majority Leader in the DFL-controlled Senate — until he agreed to get the carry bill repassage an up-or-down vote on the Senate floor; the rest is history.

    Today is theater —as I think I demonstrated at http://freejoel.com/2011/04/27/legislative-theater-show/ — yesterday. The bill isn’t going to become law this year, or next, nor, really, will it become law while Mark Dayton is governor. (What with the demographics, the DFL can, occasionally, get a veto-proof majority; the Republicans never have and likely never will.)

    But that doesn’t mean it’s not important — to Heather’s group, and to GOCRA. An all-hands-drill is a risky move — if you don’t absolutely dominate the room and the hallway by numbers (you don’t have to, and shouldn’t, be impolite) it’s a stone cold guarantee that the legislators will take note.

    I’ve been around for several, and organized two, over the years — the first MCPPA Birthday Party, back in 2004, and the one around Tony Cornish’s last go-round with “Stand Your Ground” in committee, three or four years ago. And, from personal experience, I can tell you that the folks running it are sweating, err, bullets, so to speak. Heather may or may not be able to bus in a bunch of school kids (she did that for her counterprotest to the Birthday Party; we still outnumbered them, and at least one of the kids she brought in took my carry permit class last year — thanks, Heather!), but the one three or four years ago on the GOCRA side got 66 people to show up on a working Thursday (just like today) for a bill that everybody knew was going to be killed, even if it didn’t die in committee (which it did, on a tie vote).

    Both sides have written a very large check, that comes payable today — it’ll be very interesting to see if either mouth can cash it.

    More at http://freejoel.com/2011/04/27/legislative-theater-show/, for those interested.

  2. Oh — and for those folks who want to watch the show, but can’t get there in person, I’ll be liveblogging it at http://ou.gd/5qB0 , starting around 10:15. Full details on how to watch the show there.

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