I've said it before and I'll repeat myself--I don't go out looking for new cop stories every day--there are just so many I can't avoid tripping over them, plus many of you send me links and I try to honor your efforts when I can.
But I'm in a bit of a quandary--it seems more and more, WarOnGuns is dominated by "Only Ones" posts--and that's not why I started doing this. I'm spending more time commenting on police outrages and absurdities, and less on promoting RKBA--although I can't deny the two are strongly intertwined.
In an ideal world, I'd have enough time and resources to do a separate website. But that ain't gonna happen.
Is there a solution, aside from consciously setting arbitrary limits, and accepting some stories, while leaving others with equal merit alone? I don't know, and I don't know that I'll end up doing anything differently.
I'm just thinking out loud here.
Whatever it is you decide to do,or not,I sincerely appreciate all you HAVE done thusfar.Keep up the great work,David!!I do find it interesting though that so many people choose to reply anonymously,for various reasons i'm sure,in defense of our 2A rights,yet fear being "known,"neglecting our 1A rights,which I think are just as important!
ReplyDeletePerhaps you should begin taking applications for a co-blogger to assume the "only ones" theme duties.
ReplyDeleteI'm not volunteering, I'm too busy...but it's one option to keep the theme going but still allow you to pursue other topics.
Alternatively, perhaps someone (maybe someone out there has been considering starting a blog but hasn't taken the plunge yet?) would be willing to start an "Only Ones" blog concentrating on those stories and you can direct the stories you find to them.
Or you could even start the blog and get it rolling and then authorize some co-bloggers to contribute to keep it rolling. There are already some bloggers out there contributing to the theme on their own blogs occasionally. You could just consolidate all that effort onto one new blog. That way you can post the ones you feel you need to but, by spreading out the work, you will have time to explore other areas.
Those are just some of the options...ain't the power of the interwebz great?
Oh, hey...if you start another blog, doesn't that mean you'll double the amount of "cold hard cash" you get from the NRA and Gun Industry in support?
If you are *looking* 8-P for some only ones info
ReplyDeletetake some prozac and check out
http://www.copswritingcops.com/home.html
it appears that some of the constaublary don't like other memebers of the constabulary writing them traffice citations.
poor dears 8-P
They are the only ones that aren't required to go by the rules...
gag
woerm at THR
It's a tough call. So many of the civillian-disarmament arguments hinge on 1) cops will protect you and 2) only cops can be trusted with guns, that it helps to point out that very often the exact opposite is true. If fact cops will introduce problems into your life, they can't protect you (they only take action when they know they have overwhelming advantages, it's rarely heroic), and they are often the least trustworthy among us.
ReplyDeleteIf the two issues ("Only Ones," Guns) are considered together, the growing headcount of LEOs and the increasing privileges/autonomy afforded them increases our need to be armed. There's an increasingly hostile gang out there, in blue.
Well, from a practical vantage point, you have to post something, and what you've been doing so far has resulted in my losing count of the number of times that I've visited another 2A blog/site and read some variation of "WoG is an important site; I check it every day, so should you".
ReplyDeleteDon't fix what ain't broke.
This site is about freedom as well as firearms, and any encroachment is note- and news-worthy.
And, be careful what you ask for: you post 4-6 items a day, and if you/we get to the point that there are that many 2A stories a day, we're gonna be in trouble!
Lastly, police overstepping their bounds is vital ammunition for the 2A debate: being able to cite misconduct tends to undercut the 'police will protect us, there fore we don't need to have guns' argument.
I have enjoyed your balance thus far. I also agree that the 'only ones' stories help counter the perception that a uniformed police officer is somehow a safer person with a gun than other citizens. I was going to suggest using only gun related 'only ones' but that may not help much. :) So perhaps the only useful suggestion I end up having is that you don't have to think of yourself as the person that must publish an exhaustive collection of such stories but instead use them as filler for those days when you need a mental day off.
ReplyDeleteMichaelG
I think the 'Only One' items are a good thing. It let's everyone know that even LEO's can't/don't do everything lawfully yet we give them power over life and death issues. We get to see that some people are more equal than others under the law. It let's everyone know that concealed carry/gun people are overwhelmingly responsible people, since they don't show up in the news as often as 'Only Ones'. Plus some 'Only Ones' are just downright funny. I enjoy WoG and check it at least everyday. Your comments help sharpen my debate skills. If you were to post for discussion items other than those showing up in the news, I'm afraid we would all be preaching to the choir with our comments. I look to WoG as a focal point for info on idiots out there, I have posted comments on anti-RKBA sites that I would not have done otherwise due to lack of info. I post anonymously because the stupid Goolge/Blogger will not accept a name/password, even tho' I have tried to set one up 3 different times. So I just put my first name at the end of the post.
ReplyDeleteSam. The last name is Tyner and I live in GA.
We're taught in high school and college to think critically, to question the way things are.
ReplyDeleteWhat this blog helped me see, was that everybody readily make their opinions known no matter how unorthodox, but should the police tell them the sky is red, then their sky is red.
I've got in so many arguments about why citizens should resist arrest when it is clearly an unlawful arrest. Not surprisingly, people are shocked when I say that. I mean 99% of the time you can't sue the police for damages, you're justified outrage is criminalized, and the officer's stupidity is all but rewarded. And to top it off, we have the professional courtesy standard existing inharmoniously under the 14th amendment.
It's like they say, the right to bear arms is not about guns, it's about freedom.
I have seen an official national cop site that has a section called "internal affairs" that posts the troubles that their own get into and it's quite lengthy. It is a shame that the good ones ruin their own reputation by protecting the bad ones in their midst. I have posted on this before, but I have a friend that is a professor at a community college with a law enforcement program. He says thst there is a waiting list to get into the classes and that all that he sees in the program are the absolute dregs of society that are only interested in having the authority to abuse. I'm afraid this nation is at a critical crossroad. One path leads to all loss of our rights and a police state. The middle path of keeping our freedoms at the ballot box is blocked as no matter how we vote we get the same thing. Bush was a terrific govenor, but he has betrayed those who "brung him". The other path is a bloody revolution with friends and neighbors ratting us out for promises of favor and a few pieces of silver.
ReplyDeleteDavid,
ReplyDeleteI need a serious theme over at my blog. Maybe I could pick up some of it. Not actually being a writer myself (more of a cut & paste bandit) if you and your 'Only Ones contribitors wish pass the over flow my way, I will post them in a simular manner as you have.
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