beatledog7
Member
I enjoyed timmy4, but did anyone else get the sense that he may have been a committee of sorts rather than just one person?
so that the anti-gunners can later point to a thread on the highroad and say: "Even pro gun newsgroups have discussions where many agree that XXXX is reasonable"
next time someone proposes the government "do something," and we say "it's okay if we do nothing."
I'll agree. I liked the guy, for an anti. Name calling is childish, and he never gave us grief.One problem with THR treatment of "Timmys" is that everyone wants to be part of the action. In spite of attempts at reasoned discourse on both sides, the participation is perhaps analogous to a feeding frenzy.
What to do? My suggestion is to exercise restraint, such that posting is limited to a few Mods. IMO, I am confident that most Mods can speak for the majority at THR regarding Timmy and that in so doing, the odds are improved that Timmy will hang around longer which favors a better outcome.
Of course, if we must all pile on, then so be it.
Come on buddy, sometimes the best battle is showing the enemy how we sharpen our swords.Whether Timmy was trolling or not he wasn't looking to be convinced. He was looking to stir the pot among gun owners and try to argue for "common sense" gun control.
Good riddance.
And yet, by his own admission he went away convinced of several points important to us.Whether Timmy was trolling or not he wasn't looking to be convinced.
Last I heard he said he didn't want "high capacity" magazine bans either but just registration and background checks now.
He was looking to stir the pot among gun owners and try to argue for "common sense" gun control.
That may have been true on a few issues, but many, he simply ignored and refused to address. Others he dismissed out of hand. Having been considered the troll on other sites, one a dialysis site that had off topic issues and politics, it grows old dealing with many of their antics. Lastly, his parting shot was to criticize the moderators!! Give me a break, I have never seen such handling of anyone else on THR EVER and he leaves complaining about that. Go figure, sour grapes in the end no matter what sort of progress he claimed. In the end, the people trying desperately to make him welcome became the target of his anger. Sorry, I see it a bit differently.Wrong
Anyone that actually participated or read the threads saw his perspective change on critical points. Given time we might have changed the attitude on magazines. I'm skeptical on any of our ability to change the attitude show about universal background checks or registration. Still, achieving a conversion on the major points allows a greater focus on changing those final ones.
The ability to present arguments, debate them, tune the argument and then restate and see an effect is vitally important to our side of things. We need as many people as possible to learn how to present the facts countering Anti arguments in the most effective package and win converts by appearing calm and confident.
+1, they bent over backwards for Timmy, and in the end he dissed them in his final comments. Talk about ingratitude. I have never seen the mods let such a discussion go on for I believe 22 pages. Most such discussions reach a tipping point after 10 or less pages for most mods.I read most of the "Timmy" threads.
I was impressed by his willingness to listen and by his guts in continuing to engage calmly in the face of overwhelming beat-downs.
I also thought that most people who responded to "Timmy" did so politely and with a genuine desire to educate. Given the current situation it was remarkably High Road and unlike anything you would see at just about any other internet gun board.
I take my hat off to THR and to the mods.
Tinpig
This is the high road. We should welcome people who differ in opinion. I believe it's called Freedom of Speach.
Regardless of how well he articulated himself he ignored or refused to address several questions that were legitimate and logical rebuffs.
Wikipedia said:Existential Crisis
Description: Awareness of one's freedom and the consequences of accepting or rejecting that freedom