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The Annoyed Man wrote:

srothstein wrote:So, while I may not have been willing to do this, I must support the man's right to carry the rifle and the decision to do so while protesting the oppressive government.

Steve, I don't think anyone is questioning his right to do this, only the wisdom of doing it at this particular time or place, which is why I would not have been willing to do this either. So I guess my question to you is, why your own reluctance, if it were not for the questionable wisdom of the thing? Conversely, if it were not unwise, then why would you be reluctant? I ask because that is really the matter at the heart of the criticism.

And ELB, for the record, there is no shame in wisdom. None.

TAM, I agree that the question here has always been the judgment involved, not the right or legality of the action. The difference, and my reluctance is in how we each perceive the issue and the people. I see the Tea Party rallies as a protest against oppressive government, and a movement that is going to either lead to major changes or be co-opted by the current powers that be. I know some see it more as an anti-tax movement than an anti-current government movement. I believe that the movement is critical to our overall goal, freedom, if just by showing the possible numbers that support our basic concept.

But I also know the media is doing everything in its power to marginalize the protests and protesters. They will look for anything they can to show the protesters are lunatic fringe and not anywhere near mainstream. My choice on tactics is to work for small steps in the offices with the elected representatives, much as TSRA and NRA (to a slightly lesser extent than TSRA) have been doing with great success.

But each of us gets to make our own choice on tactics and strategy. I can fully understand someone else deciding that carrying a gun to a protest where the protesters would not object is a reasonable step. After all, he successfully demonstrated that the people were not terrorized and no one was killed or injured. I am confident that most of the Tea Party members are not against us, even if they are not full supporters yet. I am also confident that some of the protesters probably raised the same issue of "is that appropriate" that we are discussing here. If they do raise that issue, and think about it instead of just jumping to the conclusion it was wrong, then we might have made one or two more converts to the cause. I don't see that the man hurt the cause at all, and I do see where he could have helped us. While I may not have liked his tactics, I cannot argue with the results. This is similar to what i read about how the NRA felt about Heller - against it at first for the possible danger, then supporting it when it looked like it would work (note that I am not saying they did work this way, just that this is the popularly reported version).

Looking this over, I am not sure if I made myself clear, but it is basically a case of me recognizing that my tactics on how to fight the battle are not the only possible tactics to use.

I am going to chime in now with an unpopular opinion. I don't see anything wrong with what the man did carrying the AK to the tea Party Rally. As a matter of fact, I see it as the perfect place to do so and make that particular statement.

Now, I have to say i would not have done it because I agree that a good general chooses his battles wisely. And that may mean biding my time for certain battles, but this one is coming, and coming soon, whether we like it or not.

But consider what the man did. He performed a 100% legal behavior at a rally against oppressive government. That is the key point. Some of the people in the crowd are there to protest income taxes, some to protest health care bills, and some for other reasons. I have always seen the root cause in the Tea Party as a protest against oppressive government in general, with different people picking the part that marked the line in the sand for them. The big question on perceptions was not the media view of the man's acts, but the Tea Party crowd view. If they did not have a problem with his carrying, then he picked the right environment to do it. There may even have been one or two tea partiers who were nervous by it (and I am sure the media would find them and put them on TV), but they were clearly in the minority.

So, while I may not have been willing to do this, I must support the man's right to carry the rifle and the decision to do so while protesting the oppressive government.

And my comment on the battle coming is still true. We are going to have to keep fighting some battles over and over unless we move to the attacking side. We have legal carry in Texas, with a license, but we just had to fight a battle on securing a government building. We can keep fighting holding battles on where we can carry or we can go for small steps to advance our cause. Or we can go for big steps like repealing chapter 46 altogether (my end goal). My sense of strategy is to use small steps right now, but keeping an eye on the end goal is not a bad idea. And the occasional reminder to us is also not a bad idea.