Unbalanced Media

With every passing day it becomes harder to avoid the mounting
evidence of the extreme anti-gun agenda of the national media. The
number of voices of those in opposition appears to be fewer and fewer,
and the fellow journalists routinely demonize those that still have the
courage to be outspoken.

When I first came to Washington, DC over twenty years ago, there were
as many diverse points of view as there are now. Nobody lectured on
diversity, but diversity of thought was certainly acceptable and the
level of discourse was far less disagreeable than it is now. I had come
to Washington to work for the National Rifle Association and was, then
as now, a strong proponent of the individual right to keep and bear arms

Soon after I arrived I discovered that a college classmate with whom
I had been quite friendly now resided in the greater Washington area.
We agreed to have lunch and she met me at the NRA building that was then
on Scott Circle. We took a cab to one of DC's nicer restaurants and had
a pleasant time discussing our families and mutual friends. In the cab
ride back to the office, she turned to me and said, "Tanya, do you think
we can still be friends, since you work for the NRA?" Quite taken aback
by the question, I answered, "Why not, we can agree to disagree on that
one issue, can't we?" She said, "of course." Then we parted.

Subsequent phone calls to her went unanswered and we never met
again. I guess what she really meant was that because I had a set of
beliefs she didn't agree with she couldn't be friends with me.

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Today's response to differences of opinion has become more strident
and more vituperative We are not surprised anymore when one of the
parties to the disagreement even tries and many times succeeds in
publicly vilifying the person or groups with the opposing viewpoint.

One can see that happening in the media coverage of the Million Mom
March (MMM). The news media has given millions of dollars of free
coverage to MMM, the latest media hyped event coming to Washington, DC
this coming Sunday, Mother's Day 2000. There probably isn't a reader who
hasn't already seen front-page coverage on their daily newspaper, and
rest assured it will continue through next week. It has been reported
that WBBM Radio of Chicago, a CBS affiliate, has been giving MMM free
advertisement during news broadcasts. On Sunday, May 7th, the radio
station was not only reporting on the March again, but actually giving
out information such as bus availability to go to Washington D.C. and
phone number contacts for Chicago march organizers.

In addition, TV news shows have been covering it for quite a while.
Diane Sawyer interviewed three "Moms" and proceeded to ask feel good
questions such as, "What is your biggest hope for the day?"

Last Sunday's This Week with Cokie Roberts and Sam Donaldson ended
with an announcement that on the Mother's Day show they would be
interviewing Rosie O'Donnell from her position in the MMM on the Mall.
If there is any coverage of the counter-demonstration of the Armed
Informed Mothers March (AIMM) it will pale in comparison to the Rosie
interview.

On Monday evening's CBS news show with Dan Rather, the organizers for
the MMM received several minutes of glowing coverage, while AIMM,
received a one line comment and the NRA's new campaign for gun safety
got 60 seconds, which included a snippet of their new commercial. All
along this media-hyped story has been sold as the brainchild of just a
regular Mom, Donna Dees-Thomases, who signs her letter on their web
page, as "Just One of a Million." Now the real story comes out in an
Opinion Editorial by Bob Barr in

Tuesday's Washington Times.

Barr, a three-term Congressman from Georgia's 8th Congressional District, tells us who this "just one of a million Mom" really is. According to Barr, "The march started as a press release, and has snowballed to a story hook of monstrous proportions. It says a great deal that this entire effort was generated not by a mother working as a grocery clerk or a corporate officer, but by a former Democratic Senate staffer Donna Dees-Thomases who is currently a publicist for the David Letterman Show, and who has familial ties to Hillary Clinton." I wouldn't bet against Hillary showing up on the Mall, would you?

Meanwhile, the AIMM group, a true grass roots group of women who have used guns to save their lives, is trying to get some coverage. They have, however, found the coverage sparse to non-existent. In fact, when their story is told, the media uses such terms as "pistol-packing mommas," "Annie Oakley's," or some other pejorative term. The AIMM press release, which has been sent to all national media, can be found on their

web site. Their rally "will begin at 9 AM at the northwest quadrant of the Washington Monument." The keynote speaker will be Texas State Representative Suzanna Gratia-Hupp. "In addition to Ms. Hupp, the rally will feature speeches by Larry Klayman, Chairman of Judicial Watch, and women from across the country who represent the 2.5 million people whose lives are saved by guns every year. It will conclude with a march to the Capitol Building."

Representative Hupp was the driving force behind the passage in 1995 of Texas' right to carry law. Her story of watching her mother and father be killed by George Hennard in Luby's cafeteria, while she was helpless because Texas law made it illegal for her to carry her pistol on her person, certainly helped Texas legislators vote to change Texas law and allow citizens the right to carry. I predict the media won't compare the performances of Suzie Gratia-Hupp and Rosie O'Donnell. It won't be any contest. As a speaker Suzie Gratia-Hupp can run rings around Rosie O'Donnell and, what's more, she's a lot better looking.

In addition to the Washington, DC rally, AIMM is holding counter marches in many cities throughout the United States. A list of cities and contact persons can be found at their

Local March web page. The cities include Los Angeles, Sacramento, San Diego, Denver, Chicago, Lansing, Eugene, MI, Las Vegas, Tulsa, Providence, Rapid City, SD, and Salt Lake City.

The women and men who will be attending the AIMM rallies are standing up for what they believe. They are expressing their support for their Second Amendment right under the U.S. Constitution, as well as their right to self-defense. They will be vilified: some unfortunately in big ways -- loss of jobs, for example, others in small ways. They, as I did, will find former friends shunning them.

Hopefully some will find their voice and add it to the minority of voices that still extol the concept of freedom. Thus we will again have a free press that reveals diverse opinions fairly, a citizenry that accepts differing points of view, and a government that supports freedom in all its forms.