Well, yes and a lot of the people in the Tea Party wanted the government to get out of their lives and pocketbooks and this would fit.
but....
Any loosely organized group of people, be it the Tea Party or Occupy has a serious problem these days. Your opponents can define you by your edges and they will. The media loves attacking people that don't fit the politics of their network or newspaper. These media then search for the most misguided hanger-on at the edges and make them the face of your movement. Many incidents are misreported to fit their narrative. It minimizes the damage these groups can do and makes them feel bad when they get home and see totally different reporting than what occurred. My favorite is to show a tight shot of the counter-protest making it out to be the same size when it is only 10 to 20 people or show garbage left from another protest as if it came from the one they don't like.
Not to say they cannot be successful. A number of Tea Party folks got elected, and the fight at the 2012 Republican Convention showed who was actually scarred. In the long term movements do win, but we need short term solutions.
Now, you can demonize the NRA, but it has moneys and knows how to motivate its members. It scares officials during and election and can target races. The funny thing is the money in tech dwarfs the money in guns, but the 2nd is better defended than the 4th or 5th.
Your opponents can define you by your edges and they will...Many incidents are misreported to fit their narrative
People frequently do the same thing when complaining about the government about the government of course - like the OP's article implying people are being herded into camps: 'At best our government considers us meaningless sheep to be herded/slaughtered at will,'
This is based on the shooting of an old man who shot his gun at police. Now, I'm not a fan of SWAT teams or the militarization of police, but I can't help noting that the police were called to the residence after he had threatened to shoot his roommate/host and his daughter, and that police spent time trying to negotiate with him after he had shot at officers. http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/09/09/arkansa...
but....
Any loosely organized group of people, be it the Tea Party or Occupy has a serious problem these days. Your opponents can define you by your edges and they will. The media loves attacking people that don't fit the politics of their network or newspaper. These media then search for the most misguided hanger-on at the edges and make them the face of your movement. Many incidents are misreported to fit their narrative. It minimizes the damage these groups can do and makes them feel bad when they get home and see totally different reporting than what occurred. My favorite is to show a tight shot of the counter-protest making it out to be the same size when it is only 10 to 20 people or show garbage left from another protest as if it came from the one they don't like.
Not to say they cannot be successful. A number of Tea Party folks got elected, and the fight at the 2012 Republican Convention showed who was actually scarred. In the long term movements do win, but we need short term solutions.
Now, you can demonize the NRA, but it has moneys and knows how to motivate its members. It scares officials during and election and can target races. The funny thing is the money in tech dwarfs the money in guns, but the 2nd is better defended than the 4th or 5th.