Prattfall
By Mitch Berg
Among Second Amendment circles, it’s been a long-term matter of sport to pick out the various “sportsmens” “groups” that are fronts for the gun-grab movement. Every election cycle, a “group” of “sportsmen” will issue an earnest plea for…gun control.
The groups are invariably ringers, of course. And maybe it’s just me – but it seems like we’re seeing fewer of them here in Minnesota; if I’m right, perhaps it’s because the antis realize that northern Minnesota is lost to them, and they’re concentrating their Michael Bloomberg’s resources to motivating the ignorant base in the Metro area.
Still, you see all sorts of these potemkin organizations on the left; “people” and “groups” – almost invariably astroturf “organizations” intended to provide unlikely “bipartisan” PR cover for their extreme allies; groups like “Sportsmen for Gun Safety”, or “Small Businesspeople For A Higher Minimum Wage” or “Babies for Choice”.
And, if i had to guess, this fellow,Izak Pratt, to whom Brad Carlson introduced us on his July 11 broadcast. Mr. Pratt claims to be a gay former Republican.
But the sniff test just keeps failing (emphasis added by me):
I voted against my own interests and didn’t think twice about it. I felt it was my duty to uphold what the Bible had taught me. It was my dumy own intereststy to make my parents proud and continue a legacy of “goodness” in an increasingly “immoral” world.
And there’s the first tell; the phrase “…own interests”, which is “progressive” code for “more fiscal and moral entitlements from government”, whether it’s farm bill benefits, an artificially high minimum wage, or government stepping in to tell society what to believe is the first.
I was vehemently against abortion, stem cell research, gun regulation, immigration reform, welfare programs and gay rights. I was also pro-war, slightly xenophobic with somewhat racist inclinations.
In my ignorance and backwards ideology, I had twisted parts of the Bible in order to justify my views — all while refusing to study or learn about differing opinions.
The reduction of all conservative thought to a series of ofay cliches seemingly cribbed from MSNBC – aka “bigoted chanting points delivered with an air of unearned condescension” – is another big fat reeking tell; Izak Pratt was no more developed as a conservtive than I was as a liberal when I switched to the right.
Only nobody published my testimony indicting the left, naturally…
Then, during the summer of 2012, my views radically changed. I experienced an awakening that began when I immersed myself intensely into researching both sides of the political spectrum.
And all that “immersion” led him to switch to – surprise! – the left, as well as…:
… [dumping] Fox News and questioned everything I had been told.
I love it when progs throw that out there. I don’t know that I’ve personally ever watched Fox, outside of the occasional waiting room. CNN, either.
And all of that soul-searching led him to…:
I guess facts such as the low unemployment rates, strong stock markets, high consumer confidence, equal rights and healthcare are all too inconvenient for many to accept. I mean, who has time for those silly facts, right?
Yawn. The not-so-silly facts are that unemployment rate is “low” because people are leaving the workforce, the market is high because companies are hoarding cheap unsustainable no-interest cash from the Fed, consumer confidence is about as reliable a measure of the economy as sheep entrails, and the “free” healthcare is going to clean us out. Mazel tov on the “equal rights”.
The actual fact, Izak Pratt, is that what you call “facts” are actually chanting points.
And your leaving a GOP and a conservative movement is your loss and our gain; not because you’re gay, but because you’re the kind of gullible, incurious person that the left needs, loves, and fosters.
Glad we settled that.
July 21st, 2015 at 12:48 pm
Once again, most of us don’t care what adults do to each other in private, as long as kids are not involved in any way.
But if you have to announce your alternative sexual proclivities, you’re making a case for acceptance. I’d say you are probably not someone that is going to help the conservative cause.
July 21st, 2015 at 12:51 pm
this is a well known rehabilitative practice, from wikipedia under communism find:
Self Criticism
“Under some systems of communism, party members who had fallen out of favour with the political elite were sometimes forced to undergo “self-criticism” sessions, producing either written or verbal statements detailing how they had been ideologically mistaken, and affirming their new belief in the party line. Self-criticism, however, did not guarantee political rehabilitation, and often offenders were still expelled from the Party, or in some cases even executed.”
The LGBT try really hard to be good comrades.
July 21st, 2015 at 1:03 pm
“Pro-war” is a tell. No one considers themselves to be pro-war. That is how liberals characterize their enemies.
The whole article has the “true confessions” taint about it. It is as though some progressive learned about conservatives by reading Huffpo and Media Matters, and then wrote an article hitting all of those memes. Real conservatives read it and scratch there heads, because they’ve never met any conservative who could write such blather.
July 21st, 2015 at 1:26 pm
The first thing you should notice when reading this is that although Pratt calls himself a freelance writer, the writing is bad: “I constantly remember praying that God would take my “sinful” desires away. . .” should be “I remember constantly praying . . .”
The next thing you should notice is that nothing he writes can be independently verified. He gives no names, no conservative organizations to which he belonged, nothing. He throws out conservative buzzwords. Like many on the Left, Pratt seems to believe conservatives sit around all day with their eyeballs glued to FNC. He seems to have written nothing, conservative or liberal, before 2014.
Put this case in the fraud files.
July 21st, 2015 at 2:44 pm
Show me anyone who is against stem cell research? As long as the experimental materials don’t come from murdered babies.
BTW, I thought stem cell research was supposed to have provided the cure for everything by now. How did the State of California’s “Investment” in it pay off?
July 21st, 2015 at 4:05 pm
I didn’t get the memo that only bible thumping straight people are the only ones allowed to be in favor of a limited, fiscally responsible government.
Apparently I must employ a much narrower view of the world.
July 21st, 2015 at 5:03 pm
“I voted against my own interests and didn’t think twice about it.” People who know me will tell you that I often say ‘If it’s free it’s for me’. It doesn’t really apply in real life though. How many ‘free vacations’ have I turned down because the thought of sitting through an all day time share buying seminar is too painful to contemplate? Or when my elected representatives tell me how great the light rail will be for me; Think of all the money saved going to Twins games? I only go to 0-2 games a year so honestly (and most of my neighbors agree based on ridership levels) light rail isn’t in my best interest.
One of the things that bothers me about a lot of people (on both/all sides) who involve themselves with talking about political/cultural issues whether it is on a small, yet regionally prominent blog like this one or via social media or just over a few beers… I rarely get a good answer when I ask someone ‘why’ they “think” the way they do. For the most part, I find people really haven’t taken the time to think – why do I believe this? Could I be wrong? Is the way I claim to think or believe how I actually live my life? When you know ‘why’ you think what you do – Fox News nor CNN nor the Strib not Comedy Central is ever going to change your mind.
July 21st, 2015 at 5:55 pm
Then, during the summer of 2012, my views radically changed. I experienced an awakening that began when I immersed myself intensely into researching both sides of the political spectrum.
I’m curious as to what brought on this “awakening”. The only times I ever hear about “awakening” are kids who go to college and come out of the liberal spin cycle all fired up about some cause or another, or, as is the case with my cousin who wasn’t highly political at first, someone was struck by tragedy. He was stationed on an aircraft carrier during the first Gulf War under GHWB. There was a fire on board, and close friends of his died. Somehow due to circumstances I have never been made aware of, that twisted into GWHB hates the servicemen and he became a staunch democrat more because GHWB (and by extension, Republicans) sucked rather than believing in any liberal causes. Those came later. I still don’t get it.
To me this article sounds like this guy’s loudspeaker trumpeting “SEE? SEE JUST HOW EVIL I WAS? “FORMER CONSERVATIVE REPUBLICAN” TURNS LOVING, INCLUSIVE, GAY, AND DEMOCRAT! VALIDATE ME!” A nice liberal sprinkling of “evil conservative” talking points that would sound great to the left.
No conservative I know calls it “gun regulation”. “Slightly xenophobic with somewhat racist inclinations”? This bullshit gives real bullshit a bad name.
Another big red flag? Unless he legally changed his name, most conservatives from his parent’s generation weren’t real big on names with “alternative” spellings.
July 22nd, 2015 at 7:49 am
{Poof} There goes the strawmman