This. I'm trying. I've spent a lot of time and money as well as those aligned with me and this is pretty insulting, mainly because so far no constructive criticism has come forth, just name calling and general idiocy. I don't expect everyone to agree with what we're trying to do but we're trying and until you tough guys are runnin the streets with an AR slung over your shoulders save it.
The folks at GOAL seem to appreciate our attempts, so what does that say? Should people be laughing and pointing at them as well?
Up until three months ago, I hadn't done anything more than vote, sorry if my groups attempt at activism pales in comparison to some romantic vision of some modern day Jonathan Parker you all seem to be waiting for.
You're trying something new. It takes a while to get the lay of the land. If you stick with it - you will get better over time. I can't put my finger on exactly why - but there seems to be a lot of people in the world whose main purpose in life appears to be to act like a douchebag. Part of being in an advocacy position is going to be learning how to deal with the d-bags. Listen to that Youtube interview I posted above - both of the guys in that discussion talk about how often you get attacked as a public figure. It's just part of the game.
Maybe this story will help show that douchebaggery appears everywhere. Back in 2003 the wife and I decided that we were going to add onto the house. The plan was to rip the roof off our ranch - and add a second floor as well as change the architecture to more of a Cape type style. We planned everything out. I drew up plans - ran the cost estimates, accumulated all the tools I thought I would need - etc. Once everything came together - the plan was to take a couple of weeks vacation and do the work starting in late May. I had 3 people lined up to help me with the initial construction - but this was pretty much all on me. I drew the plans, I got all the materials - and I got the permit from the town to do the work.
A number of my friends at work knew I was going to be doing this and we used to talk about it at lunch time. Well one day - just a few days before I was scheduled to go out on vacation and start the work - one of the field engineers who ate lunch at the same table occasionally was there. One of my friends casually asked if I was ready to go and we talked about it for a minute or two. Then the field engineer guy piped in - "what are you working on". I gave the rundown - how we were ripping the roof off the house - adding a second floor - all of that. He started talking about how he had done a similar thing a couple of years before, gotten a contractor in and so forth. He asked me who I had doing the work. I told him that I was doing the work myself along with some friends and family helping.
His response was " You can't do that". And he meant it. He never really explained why exactly he thought that - but he was serious. I told him: " well - I've got a pile of lumber in my front yard, a permit in hand - and 3 people showing up Saturday morning to chainsaw the roof off the house - so it appears that I am actually doing it".
He just sort of got pissed and walked away.
I didn't see him again until I cam back into work a couple of weeks later.
Then a couple of days after I got back we were eating lunch in the cafe again - and he came over. He asked - sort of snarkily - how things were going. I told him that the main structure was up and framed in. I needed to finish off some roof framing (it was a complex design with dormers and peaks and valleys and so forth) - and then do the roof and start installing all the windows. He just sort of got all pissy and tried to change the conversation - and as I remember he never really came to eat with us ever again.
Some people just have issues. For some screwed up reason the simple fact that I could do this work on my own was interpreted by him as some sort of attack against his manhood or some crap like that. I don't really know what his problem was - all I know was that what I was doing just bugged the living shit out of him. I think he expected to hear when I got back about how much of a disaster the whole thing had turned into - when he didn't hear that story - it just pissed him off more.
I've run into this with people over and over again in my life. If it's not "you can't build your own house" - then it's " you can't own a gun", - or " you can't restore a car on your own, rebuild an engine on your own, paint a car on your own," ..... etc.
My guess is that you're going to run across an awful lot of this type of behavior now that you have decided to travel this road you are on.
Sometimes you just have to learn how to tell people to STFU. And there's ways to do it that make the other person look like a complete jackass and you come out looking good - even though you are insulting the crap out of the other person.
Watch, Listen, and learn. And don't be afraid to tell somebody they're full of crap and would benefit themselves by just keeping their pie-hole shut.