Bitter – Page 98 – Shall Not Be Questioned

Finding Abortions & Gun Control

Or, an alternative title to this post might be The Side Effects of a Successful PR Campaign.

For anyone who follows any level of tech news, liberal politics, or conservative politics, you’ve heard that Apple’s Siri won’t turn up results when asked to find abortion clinics. In one article test, it directed them to pro-life clinics. Women’s groups are pulling out the mandatory outrage, and ACLU is screaming discrimination.

I don’t think I’ve seen any commentary on one possible explanation that could be directly tied to public relations efforts by pro-choice groups. Many have found that classifying abortion as nothing more than a procedure that some women may choose as part of their reproductive health care is one easy way to minimize offending the other nearly 50% who claim pro-life status. I’ve received very different reproductive care services at two different women’s clinics – one a Planned Parenthood – and neither of them made a big deal out of abortion. The posters, decor, and informational brochures most widely available were for other reproductive care issues and public or social service programs available to low-income women. Another common theme in their materials is finding a support network for LBT folks & allies.

On the other hand, pro-life groups and clinics want to highlight themselves as being a resource regarding abortion, even if they aren’t providing them. They want to be at the top of results for women looking to end a pregnancy because they’d like to offer other alternatives. They specifically don’t want to downplay that side of their services because it’s at the core of their mission.

In other words, a likely explanation is that in minimizing the direct issue of abortion to focus on a broader spectrum of women’s reproductive health, clinics that offer them have been highly successful in their PR campaigns. I’m sure there are ways that Apple could change Siri to find more specific results, but I don’t think these groups should be publicly denouncing this new technology when it may simply be responsive to their own PR efforts.

This does relate to guns beyond that fact that finding gun stores via Siri is apparently pretty easy.

When I think about this issue, I consider the changes we’ve witnessed at the Brady Campaign and the style of other gun control groups. The Brady Campaign tried to “moderate” their message a bit by highlighting that total gun confiscation was off the table thanks to Heller. Unfortunately for them, this really appears to have driven at least some of their supporters – even at least one of their own board members who is active with the other groups on social media – to the more extreme groups that maintain Heller was a mistake that must be overturned.

This means that as the media & newcomers into the gun control movement went looking for an extreme opposite of the pro-gun view, Brady was overlooked because of their own shift in language. In that regard, it’s not so different than Siri which may not be able to read between the lines of the pro-choice movement’s adopted PR language about women’s health. When gun banners go looking for a group to represent them, they couldn’t read between the lines on the rhetoric that the Brady Campaign wouldn’t actually ask gun owners to turn every single gun in. The groups would still ask that we turn in all cheap guns, scary-looking guns, “unsafe” guns, big guns, concealable guns, etc. But, without that direct appeal of attacking gun owners and overturning the Supreme Court, it just isn’t a message that allows them to survive.

The Cuteness, It’s Too Much

Friends of NRA needs to stop with overly adorable children’s toys already. My mother already got into a minor bidding war during this year’s auction over the tricycle this year and left it here as a “hint.” For followers of their Facebook page, Friends of NRA just posted glimpses of their 2012 prize package.

I can see the Brady Campaign tweets condemning the NRA for reckless recruiting by branding & ruining children’s toys. Or perhaps CSGV will add it to the Insurrectionist Timeline since it’s a Jeep, a model of car used for military purposes. Therefore, it is obvious to all that this is a weapon of war.

Regardless, it’s freakin’ adorable.

For those of you interested in the slightly less adorable, but more age appropriate good stuff, they had that, too. The Gun of the Year is a Benelli Ultra Light 12 gauge shotgun, and there are a couple of other long guns in the picture that might attract your interest. In this photo, there’s artwork to show you patriotism and something that looks to be a fire pit. If you’d like to mix your love of shooting sports with a slightly more cerebral and indoors, there appears to be a shell casing-themed checkers game.

The Irony, It Burns

I could fisk this editorial from the Philly Inquirer about the evils of concealed carry reciprocity. But most of you have heard those arguments before. Instead, I’ll just highlight a relevant point compared with some other news from today.

The NRA and its acolytes in Congress argue that this measure simply brings a degree of uniformity to concealed-carry permits in much the same way as one state honors another’s drivers’ licenses.

But the stakes are much higher, since making the right determination about who should – and should not – carry a gun is a potential matter of life and death to a degree unmatched by rules about who gets to slide behind the wheel of a vehicle.

Follow that with a report from the front lines in Philly about their crime problems:

With last night’s vehicular homicide, the kill tally in #Philly is now 302.

I look forward to tomorrow’s editorial calling for the end to the “49 state loophole” that allows drivers from other states to come into Pennsylvania with their tools of death (aka cars) that are too dangerous for Philadelphia’s streets.

Family History

Sebastian received some information about his grandfather’s WWII service that sent him into research mode last night. While he was at it, he looked up what he could based on what he knew of my grandfather whose grave we visited out in Hawaii last year. Several similar names popped up, but few results on my actual grandfather.

As he told me about it this morning, I whipped out my computer and googled on my grandfather’s full name which just happens to also be my dad’s full name. Guess what I learned?

My dad was part of a state supreme court case before I was born. He won, by the way.

I have texted my mother to find out exactly how I did not know this before now.

Shopping for the Gunnies on Your List

The Outdoor Wire ran a holiday gift ideas list for outdoor enthusiasts last week, and it featured at least a couple of items for gun nuts. Two mentions are guns – both Smith & Wessons at that. Their first mention is the M&P22 pistol because you really can’t go wrong with a .22 to shoot cheaply all day long. The next recommendation is the M&P15 Sport.

Regardless, neither one of these is easy to pick up for the family member of said gun nut. On that front, his only other recommendation is the EoTech XPS3 Holographic Weapon Sight. The Outdoor Wire cites the battery life as a big plus to this sight. The only review on Amazon is low, but that’s because the guy got a defective one that was promptly replaced with a perfect one.

Perhaps the most amusing thing I find on his list would also work for a gunnie out at the range on a cold morning. A Coleman Portable Propane Coffeemaker. I can’t tell you why I find this so amusing, but I do. I think it speaks to the fact that I am not a hardcore coffee person, so I can’t imagine being in such dire need to own this. However, from the way I have seen some coffee addicts search out their next cup of java, I could totally see a market for it – complete with twitching hands trying to replace the propane cylinders when they realize it emptied just before making their next batch of brew.

You’re Not in Kansas Anymore, Dorothy

You know you’ve left the Northeast when you look at the Black Friday ads and find several listings for gun sales.

No, we won’t be heading out to purchase a gun. However, we will be checking out the local gun shop to see what their selection of pepper spray looks like since a family member could use it.

Let Them Eat Venison!

Hunters have done more to provide healthy meals for the nation’s poor than Michelle Obama’s crusade for Whole Foods arugula on every table. According to NSSF, hunters donated nearly 2.8 million pounds of game (mostly venison) to hunger programs in 2010. That provided more than 11 million meals for those less fortunate.

Ever since the early days of the recession, local news outlets have covered stories of food banks in desperate need of donations. Hunters have stepped up to help meet that need. The White House garden? That didn’t make 11 million healthy meals. I also bet that the carbon footprint of the average hunter taking to the woods is far smaller than that of the First Lady flying in her tax-funded plane with her entourage to Hawaii and traveling all around Oahu to find an organic arugula farm.

As an interesting side note, NSSF estimates that if they could account for all direct donations – those hunters make directly to friends & family in need without going through a food program – these numbers are easily doubled.

On Scott Brown & National Concealed Carry

On the eve of a House vote on H.R.822, the national concealed carry law, I have a few random thoughts on Scott Brown’s statement against us on the issue. As a former Massachusetts resident, and as someone who supported his run for the State Senate, it’s a bit disappointing, but it’s far more baffling from a political standpoint.

What He Doesn’t Gain
Typically, the easiest way to figure out why a politician does something is to figure out what he will gain. This may mean the support of constituent groups or access to new campaign donors. But, Sen. Brown seems to ignore the fact that Tom Menino isn’t going to run around campaigning for him in 2012. Gun control groups in Massachusetts won’t suddenly endorse him. He won’t gain any votes for his position because anyone who looks to this as a key vote will choose to back a more extreme anti-gun candidate. I doubt he’ll line up any new donors for his single position on the bill if he won’t even earn their votes for it.

In a best case scenario, he saved himself from direct attacks on this issue. However, it won’t stop Democrats for attacking him for his previous pro-gun votes. Taking this very specific gun policy off the table doesn’t take the entire gun issue off the table, and they will hit him for every remotely positive thing he has ever said or done to support the right to bear arms. In fact, Menino has made 2011 the year of attacking Scott Brown over his support of gun owners. Ever since Brown was elected, there have been discussions about the massive warchests Massachusetts Democrats have been building to boot him from office. In other words, appeasing them on this one issue isn’t going to stop his opponents.

The Very Odd Timing
He wrote a letter to Menino nearly two weeks before a House vote. That might make sense if he served in that chamber. He doesn’t. Given that it’s nearly the end of 2011, we don’t even know if H.R.822 will be on the Senate’s radar in coming months or by the election. In other words, he made a public declaration that gains him nothing in an election as campaign season starts to ramp up before it’s even an issue in the chamber where he actually has a voice and vote. What was the purpose in that?

What Gun Owners Should Do
Make it known that he’s needlessly pissed you off if you’re a Massachusetts voter. Remind him that he needs every vote he can get, and he has now put yours at risk. Remind him that Massachusetts has a very big problem with discretionary issue of the license to even own a firearm to law abiding citizens, so the state can’t be trusted not to abuse the rights of gun owners.

What He Loses
Here’s the thing, Massachusetts gun owners are used to having to make a choice between “actively hates my rights” and “sometimes surprises us with a vote in our favor.” But, with this being the only major issue up before the election, he’s running off gun owners who might have been preparing to volunteer for him or start talking to friends and family about they planned to vote for Scott Brown.

Unlike the frustrations we sometimes face in a state where gun owners always feel safe, many folks in Massachusetts are willing to get involved and help out for a political cause. I remember when some guys would take laptops & printers to their club meetings to get everyone to write up a letter & sign it for a political issue before a big vote. The club leaders would then gather the letters & coordinate to get them to the State House. He could have had that system working on his re-election. Now, there will probably be a few who are a little less inclined to do that in 2012.

The good news is that because this isn’t an actual vote in the Senate, he still has plenty of opportunities to do the right thing so that he doesn’t lose these valuable supporters. We should try to make sure he sees enough support to come around to the right decision.

Looking for a Crappy Christmas Gift? No, Really…

This is just the kind of crappy gift all of your kids need to find under the tree this year. When I say crappy, I mean it quite literally.

For those of you who don’t think this will be a hit with the kids, you are WRONG! This has apparently been one of the biggest sellers in Germany.

If you are looking to follow up with a Gassy New Year gift, it turns out that you’re covered there, too.

(h/t to AdAge for the Doggie Doo commercial)

Trading Liberty for Security

Here’s a very quick introduction to the discussion about how security can mean trading away some liberty, but that TSA takes away the choice completely. To have such broad concepts broken down into 2 minutes, I like it.

(h/t Gary Leff)