More on the Sandy Hook Riders

They are starting to pick up some more press coverage, but the vast majority of it was at the starting point in Connecticut. They did draw some coverage from the NY Daily News when they passed through Harlem.

Originally they were scheduled to rally at Central Bucks West, but CGOPA had people call  CB West school district and ask them to reconsider allowing their high school to be used for a political event, and the school district agreed and booted the event. That forced them to, at the last minute, search for a new venue. They moved their event to a church.

Since I earlier criticized CGOPA, I at least owe them some praise when they do something I think is good. Leaning on the school district and forcing them to scramble at the last minute, sowing confusion among our opponents, was a smart thing to do. Also, deciding to cancel the counter-protest was also the right thing to do, since they moved their rally to a church.

UPDATE: Some coverage of the event in New Jersey, that just appeared.

8 thoughts on “More on the Sandy Hook Riders”

  1. Wow, only like 10-15 people waiting in NJ. 100 miles a day is tough for a trained rider, let alone amateurs.
    They will cause more traffic jams and anger more people than they will gain sympathy.

    1. That’s the way to deal with these people: more in sorrow than in anger. Someone should meet them at one of their stops and give them gift cards to Starbucks, with the comment, “It must be so hard to invest so much work and nobody notices you.”

  2. “Since I earlier criticized CGOPA, I at least owe them some praise when they do something I think is good.”

    Ditto. This one was played wisely.

    “allowing their high school to be used for a political event. . .”

    Separating things from the issue at hand, that would be a tough call, because unlike “church and state” issues, there is no constitutional question involved in the use of school facilities for political activities, and there could be a legitimate gripe if the school has opened its doors to other groups engaging in political advocacy. Assuming it hasn’t, the school played things wisely by not “starting something” by giving an appearance of endorsement in this case.

    “deciding to cancel the counter-protest was also the right thing to do, since they moved their rally to a church.:

    That I don’t get; what about a church that is engaging in secular political advocacy excuses it from secular political advocacy to counter its position? The lawn of a school, the lawn of a courthouse, the lawn of a church are all the same thing if they are engaging in secular political activities? Stand on public space and protest away!

    1. Probably a consideration of the optics.

      Public schools and courthouses are government owned. Churches are not.

      But more importantly when the antis have an event in church they can wrap themselves oh so snuggly in the bloody shirt. And of course that’s when the media puts down the “This is a church! Respect god!” card.

      This means protesting at a church is a bit more delicate Sean Sorrentino had some good advice on how to protest the antis when they hijack a couch.

    2. When I spoke to the CBSD administration about this event, I pointed out that they were going to allow a group to use their property to promote the their political agenda against a protected civil right.

      In a post-McDonald world where the 2nd Amendment was incorporated via the 14th Amendment’s due process clause, thus invoking the equal protection clause; the 2nd Amendment is now protected from infringement by all levels of government, including school boards.

      I pointed out to the CBSD administration that allowing this event is equal to allowing a group to use school district property to advocate against people of different races, nationalities, sexual identity, and/or religious preference.

      I pointed out that they would not allow a group on school district property to advocate against the 1st Amendment, how could they allow a group on their property to advocate against the 2nd Amendment.

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