Project Appleseed

 
Okay I am usually the reserved guy that thinks more than I speak. So, here it goes:
Journalism is supposed to have a subject and be objective. This article had neither with its slant and shifting topic, therefore it has no credibility. All this publication has for strength is an audience. So get mad if you dont like it (which I dont) and put it to good use. Get local and down in the dirt by spreading the truth about Appleseed and it's mission. History will be written with the truth in our actions. Finally, never compromise your morals or beliefs because someone seeks to discredit you or your values.Those belong to you exclusively and they can't change that unless we let them, so carry on and fight the good fight fellow rifleman. See you on the Appleseed circuit with even more passion......

In Liberty,
Koolman68

I'm not sure if my comment will get posted on the article, but this is the tact I took:

"Wow! I didn't realize I was a right-wing looney tune, racist, idiotic menace, moron. Last I knew I was a law-abiding, freedom loving, marksmanship enjoying, American-heritage-learning wife who just happens to have recently joined her husband and daughter as an Appleseed instructor. Another daughter and son are soon to follow suit. Our time as a family out on the range sharing history and instructing on the means of sound marksmanship to folks from all walks of life, i.e., doctors to carpenters, service men to young girls, singles to whole families really drives home the reality of how diverse America's citizens are in occupations, race, religion, and ideology. And to experience two long days rubbing shoulders together, getting to know a bit about one another and having a good time while staying on mission: heritage and marksmanship, is something to behold.

May I challenge those who think Project Appleseed is just a lot of men who have too much pent up anger against America's government take a moment to view this video:

http://www.youtube.com...

then go to Project Appleseed's website http://www.appleseedinfo.org/ and find an event nearest you and sign up. See for yourselves who we are and what we're about. Men, bring your whole family; they are more than welcome. Women, there are a number of "Ladies Only" Appleseeds popping up on the events list that might suit you better. Sign up with your daughters and make it a girls weekend out. To all who sign up and attend, see if your experience matches up with what most of those who have commented on this article are characterizing Project Appleseed to be. Come on now. Don't be shy. Who knows, we just might bump into one another out on the range."

Some people look at a glass as half full, and some look at a glass as half empty. The Pessimist see's a half empty glass that someone put out a cigarette in.

Working on the assumption that
                                                         "There is no such thing as bad publicity except your own obituary."
                                                                                                                                    Brendan Behan

Appleseed has just received it's best publicity yet. This article will reach over One Million people.  The Progressive Liberal crowd, will get confirmation of their beliefs and suspicions. On the other hand, not everyone that reads the New York Times is a Progressive Liberal. There will be many people that will read the article or watch the Slide Show and Video and have something resonate in them and they will want to find out more.

What percent of one million people do we need to attract to meet and to exceed our goals this year?

I agree with everyone's comments, regarding the relative fairness of the Video, Slideshow and article. The only thing that I thought should have been included was link or mention of the website to get more information.

You can probably tell how I look at the glass. In the long run this exposure will bring many more people to the program. Who knows who will be reading this article, Appleseed might be featured on Hannity, Rush or Beck next week. And wouldn't your jaw drop if Ted Nugent walked into your event?

We knew it was coming, what I found great was that my sister in Florida sent me the link, knowing that I am with Appleseed and having heard my explanation. She will be at one someday soon.

First Rebuttal Video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmVvs5LCYPY

Quote from: techres on July 30, 2010, 03:15:56 AM
First Rebuttal Video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmVvs5LCYPY

I like it.  Is there anything that can be done to end the audio more gracefully?

And a second:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knGRMwtOwcI

..techres..   way to go,  kill'em with kindness..
                the video brought a tear to my eye, thanks..............JW.............

First Rebuttal Video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmVvs5LCYPY

Quote from: eaglescouter on July 30, 2010, 03:22:05 AM

Quote from: techres on July 30, 2010, 03:15:56 AM
First Rebuttal Video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmVvs5LCYPY

I like it.  Is there anything that can be done to end the audio more gracefully?

Not tonight.  I need to be using flash and all I have here is not intended for this purpose.  It is a hack and will be made better later.  This is a temp fix.

One part of me says a hit piece like this is going to make getting the message out even more of an uphill battle.  Getting a non-shooter off the couch is already hard enough without the lure a day at the range would be to a shooting sports enthusiast.  Contending with an article that just barely stops short of calling AS a training consultant for militias is not going to make it any easier.  We're bailing to save the noble ship of American ideals and the NYT has just called her a garbage scow.

The other part of me says "bring it on!"  No one said this was going to be easy, and if the NYT wants to put the name out it's doing half the job for me.  Sure, I may have to gift a few entrance fees to get the uninformed on the line, but I have faith that the vast majority of Americans are still capable of having an open mind, and the best way to combat drivel like this article is to show the uninitiated the family and fellowship of a multi-generational bailing team laid out on the line together, let them experience the passion and emotion that our instructors put in to every recounting of the three strikes, and hear of the very personal sacrifices made by the founding generation.  We've already seen how successful speaking to a like-minded group about the Appleseed program is - shooters telling shooters has managed to double the size of the program every year since inception.  But this article gives us the chance to expand into a group of people whose perceptions of the shooting sports and those who enjoy them are diametrically opposed to ours.

Your word, or my word, or Fred's word won't make a lick of difference to this article's target audience, but show just one avid NYT reader what we're really about, show them that we're not here to teach America how to use the cartridge box for political ends but instead remind America what was given so that we would not need to use it, and then turn 'em loose on their friends.  Now that this demographic is familiar with who we are and think they know what we're about, nothing could carry more weight now than one of their own telling of a safe time, with a sound and passionate message of history, and not even one single peep of taking up arms against our present leaders.  If you were trying to convince a Ford man to change his brand of choice, would you rather try to sell him a Chevy he knows but thinks he doesn't like or a Dadi he's never heard of and isn't motivated to try? This article has primed the pan for us.   The powder is a bit damp, but not so wet it won't ignite with the right spark.

Xeyed makes a good point. It was not good press by any means, but it was press. How many more people know about us now?  How many are going to look into this?   Free advertising is free advertising; anyone who agrees with what we are about is going to see through the article's propaganda and think 'hey, they think like I do. I should get in touch with them.'  Now we'll see how it will reflect in the numbers.
Lol, makes you wonder what the LA times would say, huh    

I must admit, I read the comments on the article, and it made my blood boil a little bit.   It was the same with the Post article.  But it made me realize:  this is the ignorance and the apathy that we are trying to fight. Those that read between the (already) slanted lines  came up with their own decisions on who we are and what we're about, and it makes me even sicker to realize that these people vote when they openly believe and create lies!  
That is why I appleseed.  To fight the apathy and the ignorance. John Adams haunts me in that respect.

"Posterity! You will never know how much it cost the present Generation to preserve your Freedom! I hope you will make good use of it. If you do not, I shall repent in Heaven, that I ever took half the Pains to preserve it."
-- John Adams  

OK, I must say...there was a lovely contrast at the end of my viewing the video.  The next "story" that came up was "Shaking it to New Orleans Bounce."  One went from people outdoors, sky, green grass...to a dark, smoky, crowded nightclub.   (Not that there's anything wrong with that environment, if that's your thing, but it did flip a switch for me through the contrast.  It said, "I need to get outdoors into a more healthy environment.")  I wonder if that was peculiar to my viewing or if everybody gets hit with "Shaking it to New Orleans Bounce" after "Project Appleseed."

FF

Good grief... it's like watching a slow motion train wreck. What is WITH all these people asking "where were we when Bush was blah, blah, blah"? I gotta wonder - where were THEY? On the TV watching American Idle?

Yes, THANK YOU....they DID post your comment. Whew....talk about tunnel vision....there's a LOT of work to be done to get some of those "posters" off the couch! I thought your video was a great response....

Ben

Quote from: TruTenacity on July 30, 2010, 03:05:16 AM
I'm not sure if my comment will get posted on the article, but this is the tact I took:

"Wow! I didn't realize I was a right-wing looney tune, racist, idiotic menace, moron. Last I knew I was a law-abiding, freedom loving, marksmanship enjoying, American-heritage-learning wife who just happens to have recently joined her husband and daughter as an Appleseed instructor. Another daughter and son are soon to follow suit. Our time as a family out on the range sharing history and instructing on the means of sound marksmanship to folks from all walks of life, i.e., doctors to carpenters, service men to young girls, singles to whole families really drives home the reality of how diverse America's citizens are in occupations, race, religion, and ideology. And to experience two long days rubbing shoulders together, getting to know a bit about one another and having a good time while staying on mission: heritage and marksmanship, is something to behold.

May I challenge those who think Project Appleseed is just a lot of men who have too much pent up anger against America's government take a moment to view this video:

http://www.youtube.com...

then go to Project Appleseed's website http://www.appleseedinfo.org/ and find an event nearest you and sign up. See for yourselves who we are and what we're about. Men, bring your whole family; they are more than welcome. Women, there are a number of "Ladies Only" Appleseeds popping up on the events list that might suit you better. Sign up with your daughters and make it a girls weekend out. To all who sign up and attend, see if your experience matches up with what most of those who have commented on this article are characterizing Project Appleseed to be. Come on now. Don't be shy. Who knows, we just might bump into one another out on the range."

At the bottom of the article I found this:

"Mattathias Schwartz last wrote for the magazine about online trolls."

Quote from: Sprocket on July 30, 2010, 10:36:27 AM
At the bottom of the article I found this:

"Mattathias Schwartz last wrote for the magazine about online trolls."

Yep, I thought that one was funny too.


Mike

To my fellow Appleseeders...all good points.

Time to make lemonade out of lemons.

Let's move on.  We have a lot of Appleseeds to plant !

I was there in Winterset, Iowa. I asked the reporters, Mr Orr and Mr. Schwartz, to respect the good, hard working Iowans who were there that day.  I was glad to see the great homeschooled family's mother interviewed.  I was a bit disappointed that they spent the most time interviewing the most radical participant we had.  But overall our story was told fairly well.

Our ITs Mark, Alex and Whisker did not advocate any kind of extremist- hide in the woods with a rifle- attitude.  What they did was to passionately tell the story of our country's heritage.

We are construction workers, farmers, doctors, preachers, teachers, family men and women... those with faith in God... those without...  We are Americans.

Blessings,

Dave

He described Fred as a "Tall Man" 

So? Fred is a tall guy.

At least, from the point of view of a guy who's screen name is "Dwarven One", he is!! 

Ross

Anyone who can't see through the propoganda wouldn't make it to an Appleseed in any case.

If this attracts one new person then it was worth it.

For some people just being featured in the NYT will lend some credibility to the program.

A net positive in my mind.

OK. Read it a third time.

The first page is OK, so is the second and third. Most people will not read past that. 6-pages is way too long for 90% of the readers to plow through anyway. I was reading a very biased article against Open Carry at Starbucks in the local paper here a few weeks ago. The first 1/2 of the article concentrated on all the people that re opposed to open or concealled carry. The later talked to people who were for it. Both sides of the story were presented, in a very biased way, and the writers know full well that people will not read past thw message they were intending to get across. But at the same time, both stories were given.

I sort of see this article as giving the good stuff first, then the bad stuff.

I say page 3 was OK because the guy from the ADL is back pedaling on what they had published on their website about RWVA and Appleseeds. He only shows how spineless he really is.


And this statement by the author here:

"When American men talk like this, they are usually giving voice to fantasy. Only in fantasy, after all, are governments overthrown by men trained to do nothing more than shoot long-distance targets in a controlled environment. Some of these men seek out unlikely battlefields, where they can be warriors of the future, warriors of the imagination or reluctant warriors in waiting who are passing their time on the Internet. The power of a gun to take a life is not so much a threat as a talisman connecting these fantasies to the real world. ".

Clearly, the message did not ring through to this reporter.

Personally, I would have figured on much worse. All of the bad stuff was about other orgs / people, so for the intelligent people who read well, they will see that were are not them. For the ones who want to see us as bad - they would never attend an event anyway - so noting lost.

There is an upside to this article and as it was inevitable anyway - let's see it as a challenge - a way to improve our strength and character through a little adversity. Let's focus on "lemonade" - how can we spin this to our advantage? How can we use it to advance the only two areas that matter to this program:

A) Getting shooters on the firing line tp learn the heritage
B) Getting staff on the firing line to teach them

It's great when we have a man like Mas Ayoob attend an event and come away with the true nature of the program and delineate same so well, but that's just not the norm from reporters. Reporters like dirt, because editors like dirt, because people like to read about dirt. Get used to it and focus our energies on solutions.

I will wager, and I am not the wagering type, that this article will boost attendance in the long run.

If we rail agin this article - even here on the forum, we are falling into a trap that cannot be escaped. He who protesteth too much will always be seen as guilty. Confidence in our mission and a steely resolve will show the world that our cause is just and our methods unimpeachable.

This is but the first in what will likely be a long line of slanderous attempts to make us out to be something we are not. Adversity breeds character and we have been afforded a great opportunity for some character building - a chance to show what Appleseeders are made of.

Thank you mother - may I have another.   

Quote from: PHenry on July 30, 2010, 01:03:40 PM

Thank you mother - may I have another.   

Absolutely correct!  So long as we ride the wave and do not hang ourselves through our responses, we are golden here.

Just hang in there, and know this is the start of something really, really big.

We survuived the Southern "Poverty" Law Center, the ADL and the Washington Post.
Relax all. No bad stuff there.

We will get another 170-180 shooters in each of PA/NY/NJ over then next 4-5 months from it and that will be the total effect so long as folks HERE don't over react.

Pay no attention to the nay sayers, just keep plugging along. Matter of fact if you feel the need to find fault lets check our mirrors and our internal processes before we worry too much about the press.  5 years ago they had half again as much circulation as they do now, wonder why?  They have enemies all around them, our only enemy is right here when we self doubt

Well I just got thru reading all 113 comments.  It was obvious that alot of the "educated" people out there have a reading comprension problem.

It does look like the NYT knows what buttons to push for their target readership.

Oh well, back to bailing!

The article seems fair considering the source.  Recall from Fred's pre-publication post that the writer was recently faced with a series of re-writes driven by the assignment of a new editor to the project.  Re-writes directed by NYT editorial staff probably weren't ordered to paint us in a more favorable light.

I like the mention of Guard training, and the mention that "kids and women shoot free." 

Although the article took cheap shots, it's still advertising our name and project to quite a large audience.  May help us clear some couches...

Quote from: jacques on July 30, 2010, 12:20:54 PM
He described Fred as a "Tall Man" 

   How tall I am all depends on how tall YOU are...

Reminds me of the comment historian and anti-statist author, Thomas Woods ("Meltdown"), said about his books on the NY Times Best Seller list--something to the effect of they're the kind of books the NY Times would rather not acknowledge but being on the list is helpful to sales.

Considering the source, I am grateful they didn't make us look like a bunch of toothless slobbering psycos running through the woods in camo gear shooting everything animate or inanimate. 

Nevertheless, it got me thinking about the difference between Appleseed and the fringe militias alluded to in the article.  I would sum it up this way, "We don't learn to shoot to overthrow the government, we learn to shoot so we can defend it." 

Hector