DEBUNKED: Virginia Gun Rally Lies | Louder with Crowder

Well stated and appropriately received. Maj Kevin "Mac" McLaughlin

PVT James Strait - I've seen you post this several times (about the posers) and while I agree that some of these people take their appearance a little too seriously or over exaggerated, who cares? Like you, I can take one look at a person wearing tactical gear and pretty much sum up whether the person is trying to look cool or has a real purpose behind wearing the gear. Hell, even I thought it was cool back when I first got issued tactical gear like I imagine most people do. I got over it pretty quick.

In the end, when it comes to people going to a rally to support gun rights, I am more concerned about their other actions. Are they carrying properly, are they respectful to the local authorities and the community, and are they inciting violence. If they want to wear body armor and a ton of web gear, have at it. Personally I was happy to hand most of that stuff back upon the return from my last deployment. It's a pain in the ass to carry and wear it all day long, throughout the course of a year, in a combat zone. So if some poser wants to do it for whatever reason, I really don't care. I look at it much like how I look at the conversation about why one would need more than 10 round magazines. It's none of anyone's business why I would choose 15+ round magazines, but I do have my reasons. Now maybe someday I might run across a guy who likes to go to rallies wearing body armor and I might be inclined to respectfully ask why. Maybe someone reading this can explain it. But the reason really doesn't keep me up at night pondering it.

Maj Kevin "Mac" McLaughlin - During periods of Moral Waiver use the recruiters MAY be doing their best to weed out those type of folks? I would suggest that you go back and recheck the actual statistic during the current conflicts and then go back and recheck the data going back to the beginning of the All Volunteer Force.
And why doesn't it have a place in this discussion? The US Military as a whole is a cross section of a small minority of US Citizens and others is it not? Or is it a cross section of Americans as a whole? Either way it does have a place in the conversation when other people, especially the Media, want to make it that way.

And what is/was your role in Cyber Warfare? And if you think about it and analyze it, the bottom line about this 'news' and discussion is "Information Warfare."
I also say wake up and smell the coffee.

I think you missed my point. The media with these articles is trying to build that perception in that there may be more of a cross section of extremist groups represented. I don't buy it or believe it. Have I seen examples? Yes, but no more that I see outside the military (in fact, a lot less). The thing is, the original topic here is about a rally in VA where those folks did not live up to the hype made by the media and the Gov of VA that this is nothing but a big white supremacist rally. Inserting articles on how some in the military espouse those attitudes adds nothing relevant to the discussion of the original post.

The military as an organization, one we are all mostly a part of, does not promote, or
condone such sentiments. But like any organization, there are some who join it for different and misguided reasons. Most do not find their attitudes welcome there. Adding it to this discussion is pure diversion and ad hominem. It was to imply that because some of the members of the military hold racist or white supremacy values, they must be the ones showing up to these rallies. Maybe they do, but they do not control the issue or the real attitude behind the debate.

So when it comes to IW, this is exactly why I feel I needed to chime in, because I don't agree with what some people choose to insert into the conversations in an attempt to change the debate. I spent a good part of my career watching how information sources can and do sway perceptions turning the conversation into something completely different.

The rally in Va was about protecting 2A rights, not promoting white supremacy or invoking a civil war. But if you read/view some of the ridiculous reports from some of the media sources out there, you might think it was.

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