Center for American Progress

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Nasty Little Fascists Struggling For Relevance

July 15, 2015 by 5 Comments

I received an email this morning from Greg Waples of the Center for American Progress alerting me that the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence (sic) was going to be delivering a petition to both the Federal Election Commission and the Internal Revenue Service tomorrow. This petition, ostensibly signed by 11,000 people, demands an immediate investigation into the National Rifle Association for potential violations of campaign finance and tax laws.

Waples is the Campaign Manager for the Guns and Crime Policy team at the Center for American Progress. Prior to that, he worked as a coordinator in the White House Office of Presidential Correspondence. That was his reward for being a regional coordinator for the 2012 Obama reelection campaign.

His emails says:

Just wanted to flag this event happening tomorrow for those in the DC area. CSGV will be delivering 11,000 petition signatures to the FEC calling on them to investigate the National Rifle Association for potential violations of federal law. This is in response to a series of investigative reports and follow up by Yahoo News on potential NRA violations and the subsequent complaint filed by CREW.

CSGV is asking for people to be present for a crowd build at this event. If you are free and in the area tomorrow morning, please consider stopping by! Also, please forward this to any others who might be interested.

 Given the recent successes of the gun prohibitionists attracting crowds, I’m wondering if it will be 15 or will it be 25 people other than staffers who show up.

CREW or Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington is far from the non-profit, non-partisan watchdog group that they want you to think they are. As the website Crew Exposed makes clear, it is conservatives that are targeted by a ratio of 8-1. This is not surprising given that their chairman is Media Matters’ David Brock and their executive director Noah Bookbinder was a high-level staffer for Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) on the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Let’s be clear about what CSGV and CREW are seeking. They want two powerful government agencies to do their dirty work in swatting down their political opponents. This is a dangerous game that they are playing. In an open society government agencies shouldn’t be called upon to use their power to punish one’s political enemies. This is akin to asking the FEC and IRS to play much the same role as the Nazis asked the Sicherheitspolizei and Gestapo. That is to be their state enforcement agency against regime opponents.

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Note To Demand Action – We Aren’t That Gullible

April 7, 2013 by 2 Comments

Demand Action to End Gun Violence (sic) is a project of Mayor Bloomberg and his Illegal Mayors. This week they have been tweeting a “breaking” message about a new 50-state “analysis of gun violence”.

I’d like to believe that no one would be so gullible as to believe this “analysis” was unbiased and accurate. The sad reality is that this report from the Center from American Progress, a “progressive” research and advocacy group, has been picked up by a number of media outlets including MSNBC. I guess given the record of the media running with sham stories I shouldn’t be surprised.

The first indication that this is a biased report is who wrote it. The authors – Arkadi Gerney, Chelsea Parsons, and Charles Posner – all have links to either Bloomberg or Obama. Gerney preceded Mark Glaze as the executive director of Mayors Against Illegal Guns. Parsons was general counsel to the New York City
criminal justice coordinator prior to coming to the Center for American Progress. Finally, Posner worked for a Democratic polling group and Organizing for America prior to coming to CAP. To think that any of these authors would put out a report on guns that could pass the smell test is ludicrous.

The second indication that this report is a sham is the reliance on data and ranking from groups such as the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, the Violence Policy Center, and MAIG. While they do use some data that is valid, how they twist is not.

Finally, you need only read the “recommendations” to understand that this “analysis” was not at finding the truth but to promote advocacy for more gun control. They want universal background checks, a definition of “dangerous people” that goes far beyond felons and the mentally ill, a ban on “assault weapons and high-capacity magazines”, and stronger laws against trafficking.

 This report is proof positive that the old saw that “figures lie and liars figure” is true.

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Astroturfing By ThinkProgress

January 21, 2011 by 6 Comments

Reporters from ThinkProgress, which is the lefty website for the Center for American Progress Action Fund, attended the SHOT Show this week. They were trolling for people who would say that standard capacity magazines were not needed for self-defense. As might be expected in an edited video, they found the answers they wanted. I imagine this clip will be shown to Congressional staffers and wavering Representatives in an effort to pass HR 308.

You have to wonder how many of the people answering the question realized that they were being used. It points out just how tricky it can be dealing with the press and advocacy groups.

ThinkProgress attended the SHOT Show convention in Las Vegas this week — “the largest and most comprehensive trade show for all professionals involved with the shooting sports and hunting industries” — and asked many attendees if they thought these types of clips are necessary for self-defense. Most we talked to concurred, “Not really”:

TP: Do you think that for self defense purposes it matters whether you have 10 or 15 rounds in your magazine?

ATTENDEE 1: Probably not. No probably not. Honestly. […]

ATTENDEE 2: It takes one shot to kill. … Anything more than one shot is excessive. I mean if someone is breaking in to your house at a panic you’re might going to shoot him once. You’re not going to empty your load on him while they’re lying on your kitchen floor. […]

TP: If someone were to use a gun for self protection purposes, would they need 10, 30 rounds?

ATTENDEE 3: No, I hope not. I don’t know why. If ten rounds of ammunition can’t do the job you probably shouldn’t own a gun. I don’t want to live next to that guy.