But the petition offers no resistance. It will get no more coverage than an op-ed to a local paper, and it capitulates to the idea of Gun Free Zones by calling for the "elite" to live by them, rather than calling for the abolishing of Gun Free Zones.
The petition, as I see it, is an avenue of resistance. Those who sign it are offering the resistance. I doubt any signer expects the leftist elite to bend to our wishes on the basis of this petition anymore than we would expect them to respond to a petition to abolish Gun Free Zones. It is one more way to tell them to back off. Surely you can see the value in that. If you don't think they are tracking the numbers and the steady manner the numbers are accumulating you are fooling yourself.
My assertion is that our calling for an end to armed protection for them, not in the same deceptive way the leftist elite is calling for our disarmament, has more Constituional footing than they'll ever have as established by the Bill of Rights.
Encouraging Americans to address authority is hardly like encouraging kids to do mindless tasks to appreciate the environment. I have friends who have been involved in various political issues who had a do not cross line because they feared being on a list. We were not meant to live like that. Our Constitution stipulates the power belongs to the people, not to those who slither into political office and corrupt the American Way until we're graduating socialists from elementary school and Middle America rubs their eyes one day, looks around and suddenly feels like strangers in a very strange land.
You keep saying this petition is a waste of time. You suggest instead "...they focus on something useful, like writing their members of congress, speaking at their local school board, writing op-eds, commenting on articles in the paper, and sending money to groups that actually are working on the problem." as if people who would sign this petition aren't doing such things.
But what makes you think such activities are not also a waste of time? Do you have the same advice for those who do indulge in such pastimes? Aren't those methods merely avenues of resistance also?
And to respond to your BTW post, I did look into the subjects of previous petitions and did notice the various leftist demands and I never thought I'd be signing one of these petitions.
This one caught my fancy. Someone pointed out the alinski-ness of it's nature and for that alone, I would value it. But having a direct means of communication available where thousands can express their unique American nature to those who are trying to kill it is, like the credit card company says, priceless.
You just have to realize that a thread similar to this gets posted every day, sometimes twice a day, and often by people who chastise others for not signing.
An op-ed is an attempt to educate other people who might read the op-ed. A letter to a congressman, if combined with thousands of others, has been shown to influence their vote. I’ve seen the NRA convert votes in the house and senate, and I’ve seen other groups also get politicians to sway their way, so giving money to organizations seems also to be useful.
I don’t oppose resistance, I just don’t find useless resistance useful, nor am I a fan of “sending a message” by calling for actions we oppose in the hopes that people will notice the irony.