Conservative Groups Smear Gun Safety Groups Over "American Sniper" Internet Comments

[Fred Sanders]

http://mediamatters.org/blog/2015/01/13/conservative-media-smear-gun-safety-group-over/202112

And guess who the executive producer of the hyper violent gun flick is?

Yes, that great true liberal, Clint Eastwood, of the talking to any empty chair fame.


"Fox News and other conservative media outlets are attacking gun safety group Coalition to Stop Gun Violence (CSGV) by falsely claiming that the group insulted slain Navy SEAL sniper Chris Kyle. But CSGV did nothing of the sort. The attacks rely on blaming CSGV for statements made by commenters to its public Facebook page.

Kyle was a decorated veteran of the Iraq War who was well known for having 160 confirmed kills. In January 2013, Kyle published a book about his experiences, but was murdered just days later at a shooting range by a veteran allegedly suffering from PTSD. Kyle's life story has been turned into a movie, American Sniper.

During the January 13 edition of Fox & Friends, host Heather Nauert falsely claimed, "This morning the anti-gun group Coalition to Stop Gun Violence is blasting Kyle, inviting its Facebook users to trash the American hero." On-screen text included "Dishonoring A Hero" and "Anti-Gun Group Trashes Chris Kyle."

....

"The smear on CSGV appears to be a joint effort of Washington Examiner -- which broke the "story" -- and conservative group 2nd Vote that seeks to damage the gun safety group's funding.

Run by longtime conservative operative Chris Walker, the non-profit organization seeks to track the flow of money to liberal causes so that it can inform its conservative supporters' buying decisions. According to the Examiner, 2nd Vote "unearthed some of the disturbing comments" on CSGV's Facebook page. (In turn, 2nd Vote is now touting the Examiner write-up on its website.)"

...................

Because nothing speaks to progressive values more than Fox News, Clint Eastwood and the NRA.

[discntnt_irny_srcsm]

1. re: "...Fox News, Clint Eastwood and the NRA."

Really Fred? Is that where you get your news?

[russ1943]

2. there are none so blind as those who will not see.

Understanding cannot be forced on someone who chooses to be ignorant. Fred you keep trying. Even when you clearly provided the link to Media Matters a blog that features rapid response fact-checks of conservative misinformation, links to media criticism from around the web, and you’re accused of getting your news from the sources they are criticizing.
you can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink

[discntnt_irny_srcsm]

3. Thanks for clearing that up

I really thought Fred was an NRA life member.

[beevul]

4. What "gun safety" group?

CSGV is a gun CONTROL group, not a "gun safety" group.

Formerly known, before taking on a less honest name and broadening its scope, as The National Coalition to Ban Handguns.

But why take the word of a gun humping murder advocate, huh fred? Behold:

In 1989, the National Coalition to Ban Handguns changed its name to the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, in part because the group felt that "assault weapons" as well as handguns, should be outlawed.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coalition_to_Stop_Gun_Violence

But wait, theres more. Heres an example of the BS they've fed their supporters and the American people over the years. This is an excerpt of something they put up on their own website, purportedly from the cinci post:

Crowley will ask his colleagues on City Council to endorse Yates' bill, as well as lobby to extend the federal ban.

The semiautomatic weapons continue firing ammunition automatically once the user squeezes the trigger once and keeps it pressed down.

Urban areas already are wracked by gun violence, and ending the ban would worsen the situation, the lawmakers said.

http://web.archive.org/web/20041102065156/http://www.csgv.org/news/headlines/cincipost5_7_04.cfm

Now, lets have a look at the original cincy post story and see whats missing:

Crowley will ask his colleagues on City Council to endorse Yates' bill, as well as lobby to extend the federal ban.

Urban areas already are wracked by gun violence, and ending the ban would worsen the situation, the lawmakers said.

Oh, look, the bolded part doesn't appear in the original cinci post version. Gee, I wonder where that came from...


"The goal of CSGV is the orderly elimination of the private sale of handguns and assault weapons in the United States"

http://web.archive.org/web/20000815060817/http://www.csgv.org/content/coalition/coal_intro.html

[Fred Sanders]

6. I fully support their goal of removing these dangerous killing machines for legal possession.

And what is in a name? The National Rifle Association sounds like it could a gathering of sane gun advocates with common sense ideas on how to keep these weapons safe and out of criminal hands, but you would be dead wrong.

30,000 dead folks a year dead at the end of a barell is always a tough nut to crack and say that it is OK, it is getting marginally better, now please look away, things are fine.

[beevul]

7. Do you support lying to the American people to that end?

Please, do tell.

[friendly_iconoclast]

18. I notice your question was studiously avoided

[Duckhunter935]

20. well Fred does tend to

run away as fast as he can when questioned. I have seen that now on several posts.

[GGJohn]

8. I hope you fully understand that there are 80-100 million of us gun owners

will fight tooth and nail to defeat your attempt to accomplish your goals.

[GGJohn]

9. Oh yeah, forgot to add,

we vote, we lobby, we write and email our representatives, IOW, we make our voices heard.

[beevul]

10. Of course you do. You're a gun banner.

"And what is in a name? The National Rifle Association sounds like it could a gathering of sane gun advocates with common sense ideas on how to keep these weapons safe and out of criminal hands, but you would be dead wrong.

30,000 dead folks a year dead at the end of a barell is always a tough nut to crack and say that it is OK, it is getting marginally better, now please look away, things are fine."

Its not our fault you guys can't be bothered to look at suicides differently than homicides, and treat them accordingly. That's on YOU guys. Your the ones that only see guns, and only see gun control as a solution. What? 'Theres no evidence of that' you say? How about the other forum here on DU that has already decided gun control is the answer, which blocks posters for posting outside that issue.

Words...The words of you and so many of your fellow controllers say one thing, but your actions say quite another thing.

Besides that, I don't think that "sane" or "common sense ideas" should be defined or applied, by a poster that pimps for gun bans, pimps for gun ban groups, characterizing them dishonestly as "gun safety" groups, and who turns a blind eye when the group he pimps for deliberately lies to the American people, and even its own members.

[Fred Sanders]

11. I am a proud pimp of gun control, not a pimp of the NRA. Free country.

[GGJohn]

12. You don't want gun control, you want a gun ban,

you want the destruction of the 2A, don't pretend to be a controller, you're much more than that, fortunately, you're in the minority in this country and, as has been clearly shown for the past 20 years or so, you and your lot have been losing quite badly.

[beevul]

13. Yup. And we are free to attach that where it counts.

Your (hypothetical) credibility.

This world runs on 2 currencies my friend, credibility, and legitimacy.

Neither you or your movement, have any of either.

And where your movement is concerned, I'll do all I can to keep it that way, as will tens of millions of others.

Gun ban ideology, extremist is thy name.

[oneshooter]

14. I have to agree with you, you are a "pimp"

1pimp
noun \ˈpimp\

: a man who makes money illegally by getting customers for prostitutes

[Nuclear Unicorn]

17. Kind of a "Workplace Safety for Rapists" campaign.

[Duckhunter935]

16. yes, nobody wants confiscation

except you as you support this group. Well that will never happen as we vote unlike a lot on the controller side.

[petronius]

15. I got fired a couple of days ago, and at first I was really pissed about it

But then my (former) boss explained that he wasn't 'taking away my job,' he was 'improving my workplace safety' - can't get hurt if you don't have a job, right?

Once I understood the proper frame I was really grateful, and am now a committed advocate for universal unemployment workplace safety...





(Caveat: no, I've never actually been fired from any job.)

[GGJohn]

5. Funny that you left this part out.

CSGV is a gun CONTROL group, not a "gun safety" group.

Formerly known, before taking on a less honest name and broadening its scope, as The National Coalition to Ban Handguns.

But this is what we've come expect of you, leaving pertinent information out.

[ileus]

19. He saved a lot of lives and died helping people...

What more can be said???

[Fred Sanders]

21. Yes, he was a real swell guy....a hate filled killer. You are proud of him?

The real American Sniper was a hate-filled killer

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/jan/06/real-american-sniper-hate-filled-killer-why-patriots-calling-hero-chris-kyle

The real American Sniper was a hate-filled killer. Why are simplistic patriots treating him as a hero?
Clint Eastwood’s film about Navy Seal Chris Kyle has hit a raw nerve in America, with right wingers calling for the rape or death of anyone ungrateful enough to criticise his actions.

Chris Kyle, a US navy Seal from Texas, was deployed to Iraq in 2003 and claimed to have killed more than 255 people during his six-year military career. In his memoir, Kyle reportedly described killing as “fun”, something he “loved”; he was unwavering in his belief that everyone he shot was a “bad guy”. “I hate the damn savages,” he wrote. “I couldn’t give a flying fuck about the Iraqis.” He bragged about murdering looters during Hurricane Katrina, though that was never substantiated.

[GGJohn]

22. No, you're wrong......again.

As has been pointed out to you numerous times, he never said that, someone said he said that.

[Fred Sanders]

23. BUSTED!

[GGJohn]

26. WTF are you babbling on about now? eom

[GGJohn]

24. I would love for you to link to a credible source of him actually admitting

to shooting Katrina victims.
Think you can do that?

[Fred Sanders]

25. You think the producer Clint Eastwood is a hero of liberalism also, do you?

[GGJohn]

27. BUSTED!!!!

Won't or can't answer the question?
Instead divert, divert, divert.
Seems to be your MO.

[GGJohn]

28. Come on Fred,

put up or.......
Can you post a link of him actually saying that? Or are you going to do your usual vanishing act when asked to produce evidence of your accusations?

[Duckhunter935]

30. Bet Fred

runs away once again, it would be funny if it really was not so sad.

[branford]

29. Clint Eastwood is, first and foremost, an actor and director.

By definition, he lies, deceives and embellishes the truth for entertainment.

Moreover, much of the analysis and conclusions about Kyle are not by Eastwood, but rather the visceral reactions of zealots with highly questionable reputations and agendas like Max Blumenthal. You cite the article in The Guardian, but it appears that you did not read it carefully or examine who was making the claims, no less their overall reputations.

[Fred Sanders]

32. By defintion he lies, etc.....for entertainment. .. Hilarious. Of course, that is what actors and

directors do. .. Hilarious. I have tears in my eyes!

But we are off on a tangent, the hero of the movie is some insane piece of work in real life, right?

"Live by the sword, die by the sword."

Should be on his gravestone.

[MFM008]

31. it doesnt matter

even if it gets a nomination tomorrow It wont go anywhere, the academy HATES political controversy unless in a documentary perhaps. After that nursing home performance at the gop convention, Eastwood is finished.

[Fred Sanders]

33. Conservative extremist thinking fries the brain, so he was finished away before he started talking

to empty chairs.

[GGJohn]

34. Hey Fred, you found that link yet? eom.

[Fred Sanders]

35. Proving my just commented point........

[GGJohn]

36. No idea what you're talking about, as usual,

but back to my question, found that link yet of Chris Kyle actually saying that he killed Katrina victims?

[tosh]

37. Are you saying that Brandon Webb lied?

http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2013/06/03/in-the-crosshairs

[GGJohn]

38. No, that's not what I said,

I asked Fred to link to a reputable source that he actually said that.
Thank you for the source, but it still comes down to someone said he said that, too bad Chris isn't still around to verify that.
Even if he did say that, I highly doubt it's true.