This will be a bit of an unusual post, in that it is a collaborative post with LabRat over at Atomic Nerds. I’m doing the framing and set up, and she is going to ‘finish’ the story…
So here goes…
First and foremost, this post is probably going to piss some people off, and you’re probably going to think I’m a heartless bastard for some of the things I say; but I DO NOT condone violence against innocents in either domestic situations, home invasion, robbery, and other criminal pursuits. I DO support people’s right to defend themselves adequately, and protect themselves and their families from harm.
Pathological Science is a termed coined by Dr. Irving Langmuir in 1953 at a scientific conference (http://www.cs.princeton.edu/~ken/Langmuir/langB.htm#Characteristic Symptoms). What I going to do is compare his symptoms with what the Brady Bunch and VPC do…
Symptoms of Pathological Science:
1. The maximum effect that is observed is produced by a causative agent of barely detectable intensity, and the magnitude of the effect is substantially independent of the intensity of the cause.
The effect is of a magnitude that remains close to the limit of detectability; or, many measurements are necessary because of the very low statistical significance of the results.
The Brady Bunch is all about the victims, as long as they are victims of gun violence. They prey on those deaths, use them to advance their agenda and parade the families of the victims at every opportunity. But when you look at the incidences of gun deaths vs. other types of violent death (e.g. car wrecks due to alcohol, the totals are minimal by comparison…
Helmke’s quote from the Brady Bunch 2010 annual report (http://www.bradycenter.org/xshare/pdf/annual-reports/current.pdf) is a good example-
“As I write, momentum is building for sensible gun legislation in the wake of the terrible shootings in Tucson on January 8, 2011. This tragedy, and countless others, might have been avoided or been less lethal if only our political leaders had shown some backbone and stood up to the gun pushers.”
As we all know, the shooter was captured, and as details came out there were multiple attempts to paint him as a right wing extremist, gun nut and every other ‘thing’ that would make him look bad. Instead, it came out that, much like the VA Tech shooter, he was a ‘known’ problem but was never reported to mental health authorities, and consequently was able to purchase the gun legally. Once again, they danced in the blood of the dead…
2. Claims of great accuracy.
HCI and the VPC (predecessors to the current iteration) were all about protecting the children. The Brady’s still jump on those statistics from time to time, especially when it’s a young child that died (however they use up to age 24 as a child). You can go here (http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2010/crime-in-the-u.s.-2010/offenses-known-to-law-enforcement) and review the actual data without any spin… Note the radical difference in totals if you ONLY use 18 and under as the definition of children. But THAT doesn’t fit the polemic they are using…
3. Fantastic theories contrary to experience.
Any time there is a state that proposes allowing concealed carry, or a change to existing laws (e.g. Castle Doctrine in Florida); it’s always going to be ‘blood in the streets, or shootouts in homes’. Also they like to pull out the old saw about ‘your gun will be taken away and you will be shot with it.”
4. Criticisms are met by ad hoc excuses thought up on the spur of the moment.
She who does not need to be named, need I say more? And the whole light a candle, but ONLY for gun victims, and the back and forth that has created.
5. Ratio of supporters to critics rises up to somewhere near 50% and then falls gradually to oblivion.
I think that VPC supporters are in serious decline, otherwise they would not have brought in Gross as the new president. He was a marketing and advertising executive at J. Walter Thompson, and probably did a lot of fund raising…
When you compare their levels of support to the NRA, and the number of detractors, not only on the net, but the counter demonstrations that are now occurring at some of the VPC functions, it becomes apparent they are falling into oblivion.
To whit- The boycott of Starbucks, that we turned into a buycott…
Now I will turn this over to LabRat for the wrap up and her comments based on her research (her post should be up shortly).
Thanks for reading, and comments are appreciated!
When you compare their levels of support to the NRA, and the number of detractors, not only on the net, but the counter demonstrations that are now occurring at some of the VPC functions, it becomes apparent they are falling into oblivion.
To whit- The boycott of Starbucks, that we turned into a buycott…
Now I will turn this over to LabRat for the wrap up and her comments based on her research (her post should be up shortly).
Thanks for reading, and comments are appreciated!
I think it has become apparent to a good many people who reflexively lean toward nanny statism and consequently gun control that the Brady crowd is not quite right in the head, and therefore they are backing away from support of gun control. They don’t want to be associated with that group of crazies.
An armed society is a polite society.
Nobody claims that you’re more safe in Chicago, Los Angeles, New York or anywhere in New Jersey than you are in areas where there are open carry laws.
The sad truth is that disarming the public is simply ‘disarming honest citizens’ while allowing the lawless element of society free reign and superior firepower.
But the Brady Nuts don’t want to hear that because it doesn’t fit their agenda.
NFO,
Don’t ever apologize for speaking your mind or how many folks might get pissed off.
Andy- True, but it’s taking a long time to realize what is happening and back away.
LL- Concur with all. Their agenda is NOT reality, regardless of how hard they try to justify it.
Packetman- I’m a Southerner, I always apologize 🙂
On occasion I use social science methodology in my research. Every time I do, I recall this quote from Mark Twain:
“Get your facts first, then you can distort them as you please.”
That sounds like the underlying principle of pathological Science.
Tim- Pretty much dead on…
I’d love to know the numbers on the buycott.
I’ve heard internet rumors that the buycott was largely successful for Starbucks. I’m too swamped this week to come up with a confirmation post, but I hope Starbucks made well over it.
Perl- No idea either…
CTone- Thanks and concur.
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