Who, indeed? And yet, here we are — again.
Yesterday, ThinkProgress posted a piece featuring a photo that purportedly depicted open carry advocates in Dallas intimidating a contingent of anti-gun group Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America:
40 armed gun advocates intimidate mothers against gun violence in a restaurant parking lot http://t.co/lAhKa1LMSJ
— ThinkProgress (@thinkprogress) November 10, 2013
From the piece linked above:
According to a spokeswoman for Moms Demand Action (MDA), the moms were inside the Blue Mesa Grill when members of Open Carry Texas (OCT) — an open carry advocacy group — “pull[ed] up in the parking lot and start[ed] getting guns out of their trunks.” The group then waited in the parking lot for the four MDA members to come out. The spokeswoman said that the restaurant manager did not want to call 911, for fear of “inciting a riot” and waited for the gun advocates to leave. The group moved to a nearby Hooters after approximately two hours.
Here’s the photo from that piece:
Looks like there might be some intimidation going on, right? National Review’s Charles C.W. Cooke thought so at first:
This strikes me as being not only unacceptable behavior but also illegal. Anyone have a counter-argument? http://t.co/ptuYsGjCr0
— Charles C. W. Cooke (@charlescwcooke) November 11, 2013
But as it turns out, ThinkProgress wasn’t presenting the full picture:
Aha. RT @linoge_wotc: It turns out that picture is the other side of this picture: http://t.co/lusOAhQv3d @charlescwcooke @kcarmical
— Charles C. W. Cooke (@charlescwcooke) November 11, 2013
@charlescwcooke Yes, unwise. But the pic in that article is not what it seems. https://t.co/e91sP7WCd4
— RBe (@RBPundit) November 11, 2013
Well, well, well.
Oh wow. MT @charlescwcooke: Aha. MT @linoge_wotc: It turns out that picture is the other side of this picture: http://t.co/tYv2g8Q6TH
— David Freddoso (@freddoso) November 11, 2013
Show of hands: Who’s shocked that ThinkProgress would play fast and loose with context and deceive its readers?
More from Cooke:
Why can’t @thinkprogress ever write up anything without lying and spinning? Seriously. http://t.co/OyHsUFwtjG
— Charles C. W. Cooke (@charlescwcooke) November 11, 2013
Great question.
For what it’s worth, I don’t like the Open Carry Texas's tactics, which I think are counter-productive. But that doesn’t make them illegal.
— Charles C. W. Cooke (@charlescwcooke) November 11, 2013
If you’re going to make a case that this was illegal, you have to do it on grounds of intimidation or brandishing. http://t.co/OyHsUFwtjG
— Charles C. W. Cooke (@charlescwcooke) November 11, 2013
But no. Let’s lie about the laws in Texas, and publish a deliberately misleading photograph: http://t.co/OyHsUFwtjG
— Charles C. W. Cooke (@charlescwcooke) November 11, 2013
https://twitter.com/charlescwcooke/status/399941672336756736
Maybe ThinkProgress just doesn’t care about getting caught.
https://twitter.com/ShimRimmels/status/399939247030800384
https://twitter.com/IslandDog/status/399942293815169024
@charlescwcooke It's not about getting caught. They've already established the meme among people who want to believe. All that matters.
— Michael Blum (@MichaelBlum3) November 11, 2013
Exactly. And ultimately, TP’s credibility doesn’t seem to be an issue for some pretty important people:
https://twitter.com/redsteeze/status/399936791832457217
Yep.
@freddoso Yeah. Complete distortion by TP and that anti-gun group. @charlescwcooke @linoge_wotc
— RBe (@RBPundit) November 11, 2013
This is just the sort of thing we’ve come to expect from these hacks.
@justkarl @charlescwcooke @linoge_wotc you forgot the double scarequotes. "Think" "Progress."
— David Freddoso (@freddoso) November 11, 2013
https://twitter.com/jonessince1970/status/399941793648619520
Shameful.
***
Update:
Will an apology from Vanity Fair contributing editor Kurt Eichenwald be forthcoming?
Four moms from a gun control group went to lunch. So 40 jerks armed with assault rifles gathered outside to scare them. Bullies AND cowards.
— Kurt Eichenwald (@kurteichenwald) November 11, 2013
We won’t hold our breath.
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