New York Times article on Project Appleseed

dwarven1

Lonely Mountain Arms
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The Appleseed Project has definitely hit the main stream! We are very excited to announce that the New York Times has published an in-depth, six page feature on our all-volunteer Marksmanship and Heritage program. Please read the NYT piece here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/01/magazine/01Appleseed-t.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&hp

Unfortunately, there are several mis-characterizations in that article that The Appleseed Project wishes to address. It appears as if we were unfairly portrayed by a Mainstream Media outlet using subtle innuendo, outright falsehoods, and everything in between to label us as something we are not, as has happened with many pro-Liberty organizations in recent times.

Please read our official response to the New York Times below and we invite you to help us educate anyone and everyone with these corrections.

Dear Sirs:

It is with some sadness and disappointment that we at the Appleseed Project read the New York Times article this evening. When the NYT originally asked us to host their media team in order to better understand what we do, we welcomed them. When they wanted access to our students, programs, and instructors, we acquiesced without hesitation.

We did so because we have nothing to hide and no secrets in our program. There is no reason whatsoever to restrict or fear an open and honest press.

We spoke with happiness and excitement about the stellar growth of our program over the last four years and our mission to bring every American to a greater sense of responsibility for our nation and to live out that feeling through civic involvement.

Frankly, we opened ourselves up and said our piece in trust that it would be conveyed by the press to its readers.

Sadly, today's article is not about us. It is not about the Appleseed Project. It is about militias and about anecdotal gun owners who are not members of our program. The constant focus on the militia movement, the Tea Party, and Mr. Faire are at the center of this article and as a result this article is not about us, since those things are not, and never have been the Appleseed Project.

Frankly, there are among us those who feel that we have been poorly described and treated in this article, and I will return to that point in a moment.

The real tragedy here, however, is a complete failure of the press to see the real story: Why does Appleseed double every year? Why are people of all races, genders and ideological affiliations drawn to the Appleseed Project? What is going on here?

In its rush to cover the desired story, that is, scary militia groups, the NYT simply misses what is really important. Therein lies its disservice to both its readers and our program.

Now, with respect to specific themes in the article that we feel incorrectly describe the Appleseed Project, let us simply address each in turn:

Inaccuracy #1: Appleseed is Militia

Appleseed is not a militia or interested in militia training. Appleseed teaches only individual marksmanship skills and the history of April 19th, 1775. Appleseed does not provide training in military tactics or unit operations. Rather, Appleseed uses marksmanship as a way for modern Americans to reconnect with the Founders through a shared, traditional American skill. No more. No less. Appleseed does not see our government as an enemy or force of arms as a solution. Rather, our enemies are laziness, ignorance and apathy. Appleseed sees education and lived history as the means to get people to the real solution: Personal involvement in civic processes to ensure a better future for our nation. Our ancestors fought so that we would not have to; all we have to do is get off our couches and get involved.

Where militias offer a dark haven for people with concerns about an unwelcome future, Appleseed offers reason for hope and sees bright, happy days ahead. That is the real reason we are not a militia nor associated with any such like-thinking group.

Inaccuracy #2: Appleseed is White (and thus Racist in some fashion by extension)

Appleseed is filled with students and instructors of all races, creeds, genders, and identities. We make no distinction for color, religion, sexual preference, political beliefs or any other discriminatory category. Our program is comprised at all levels of all Americans, and we explicitly urge all Americans to come. We have no patience for those who would take this great nation and divide it up by race, or who would single out someone else for ridicule or derision. There is no place in our cadre, among our students, or at our events for those who would put petty distinctions above unity and our joint past and future.

Inaccuracy #3: Appleseed is Anti-Government, Anti-Military, Anti-Law Enforcement

Appleseed is not anti-government, anti-military, or anti-law enforcement. Among our volunteers are people who work in law enforcement, the military, the government and nearly every civilian trade. We teach students who work in law enforcement, the military, the government, and any civilian occupation precisely because we are all Americans and inheritors of the same heritage and history. And together we must make our joint future.

Appleseed has zero tolerance for anti-government, anti-military, or anti-law enforcement attitudes, comments or advocates. To the contrary, we offer free spots on our shooting lines for active duty military personnel and have been called onto military bases to teach troops deploying for overseas duty in combat theaters. Elected officials at any level of government are invited to participate in Appleseed without charge. Finally, it is our goal to get each and every participant involved in the body politic, which means we are always clear that we hold our government, the government given us by the Founders, in the highest regard.

Soldiers, police officers, and government officials are not our enemies. They are our neighbors, friends, and protectors. At Appleseeds they are our honored guests.

Inaccuracy #4: Appleseed is Right Wing


Appleseed is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization with no interest in partisan politics. Appleseed volunteers and students come from all political parties, economic classes, and ideologies. We have no place for left wing, right wing, or any "wings" at all. Our program could not function that way, nor do we want it to.

Our only interest in politics is with the political details that led to and followed from the events of April 19th, 1775. From our retelling of those events we find that students are often motivated to move into civic involvement themselves. We do not frame the prospective involvement of our students and look forward to the day when we see two Appleseed graduates from opposite sides of the political spectrum running against each other in a national election.

Our goal is civic involvement across the ideological spectrum.

Inaccuracy #5: Appleseed has a Secret Plan


We wish we had a Secret Plan to get more people involved but we don't. There is no inner group, no special level, no wizard behind the curtain. There is only this: Our ancestors were left with two paths: submission or bloodshed. They chose the latter so that we could be left with a third path: citizenship and civic participation. To take this third path we must get off the couch, turn off the TV, and get involved in our communities. Those who would blather about a "choice" between submission and bloodshed in modern America do not understand what America was meant to be, or is.

Civic participation is not our secret plan. It is our openly stated mission.

In conclusion, it is my hope that the NYT and its readers continue their search for authentic information about the Appleseed Project so that they learn for themselves exactly what the Appleseed Project is, and what it seeks to create: a more active body politic. The current article is simply woefully lacking in that regard.

If anyone has any interest in continuing this conversation or attending an event, please be sure to contact us through our website http://www.appleseedinfo.org or via our email [email protected] and we will be happy to meet you.

We are open to all inquiries and harbor no ill-will toward the NYT or the author. We are certain that what lies behind this unfortunate description of our program is a deep-seated concern about firearms, marksmanship training and heritage programs. It is our stated mission to change that through the hard work of education and apparently we are right where we need to be.

Thank you for your time, and thanks to your readership as well,


The Appleseed Project
National Branch
 
I have said this here before and I will say it again.

DO NOT talk to the press. EVER!

The often-used argument for letting the press have access is that if you don't you will be portrayed as something you are not.

Well, guess what. The same thing will happen if you DO give them access. Except now the press can say: everything we reported we learned during our time with the Appleseed Project/XYZ firearms training school/ABC group/whoever........

If you had not given them access, if you had refused any involvement, then the NYT would have no defense against accusations of lies, made-up stories, or mis-characterizations.

DO NOT talk to the press. EVER!
 
I have said this here before and I will say it again.

DO NOT talk to the press. EVER!

Unfortunately, if we follow that rule, then we get reporters signing up without mentioning what they are, and you get articles that look like "Inside the super-seekrit world of Appleseed: the underground militia!" or some other such nonsense. I can just see it now: "The publicity-shy world of Appleseed was cracked open by two brave reporters who signed up to see what Appleseed has hidden in their secretive weekend-long workshops where they create right-wing snipers blah, blah, blah..."

Nope, our best shot is to just be what we are - Marksmanship and history. No secrets, no hidden agendas, no militias (in spite of the Times' best efforts to paint us as such).

I just remember what the Times' true mission is: to sell newspapers and advertising, not necessarily to report the truth.
 
Dwarven1, I don't think the founding fathers looked at militia's the same way as you have stated in your letter. I believe they looked at them as being neccesary for the security of a free state.
Overall well written but I would have left the negative comment about the militias out.
Unfortunatly the times is run by useful idiots spreading their propaganda so your comments are most likely wasted on them.
 
One June morning last year, Jack Dailey drove from his home in North Carolina’s Piedmont country, through verdant, hilly farmland to a rifle range near the town of Ramseur. Eleven men and a woman had mustered there for a weeklong boot camp run by the Appleseed Project, a group Dailey started that is dedicated to teaching every American how to fire a bullet through a man-size target out to 500 yards.

I stopped reading here, before the end of the first paragraph. New York Times. Please.
 
Unfortunately, if we follow that rule, then we get reporters signing up without mentioning what they are, and you get articles that look like "Inside the super-seekrit world of Appleseed: the underground militia!" or some other such nonsense. I can just see it now: "The publicity-shy world of Appleseed was cracked open by two brave reporters who signed up to see what Appleseed has hidden in their secretive weekend-long workshops where they create right-wing snipers blah, blah, blah..."

You got that anyway. And you helped them.
 
All of the centerfire rifle sports that I have been involved in have given me the skills to drive a bullet through a man-sized target at 500 meters. And even at twice that distance.

So......freaking.......what.........?
 
Dwarven1, I don't think the founding fathers looked at militia's the same way as you have stated in your letter. I believe they looked at them as being neccesary for the security of a free state.
Overall well written but I would have left the negative comment about the militias out.
Unfortunatly the times is run by useful idiots spreading their propaganda so your comments are most likely wasted on them.

+1

Militias come in many colors. The most effective ones don't wear camo and play wargames on weekends.
 
Ross,

The effort to return to a society with our original freedoms (along with the applicable responsibilities) has to be won on more than one front and in more than one arena.

Saying that we should not talk to anyone about what we do because they will portray it in an erroneous and false manner is pretty much the same as saying that we should not defend ourselves because someone may portray our act(s) of self-defense as acts of aggression, violence, or worse.

I applaud whoever had the courage to open Appleseed to the NYT.
 
The effort to return to a society with our original freedoms (along with the applicable responsibilities) has to be won on more than one front and in more than one arena.

Saying that we should not talk to anyone about what we do because they will portray it in an erroneous and false manner is pretty much the same as saying that we should not defend ourselves because someone may portray our act(s) of self-defense as acts of aggression, violence, or worse.

Eventually, when we filtered through their consciousness, we WOULD have been the subject of an NYT article. Considering that the Washington Post has already written us up, it was inevitable. Oh, and I understand that the article was re-written several times, by order of the editor.

Guess it wasn't harsh enough for him in it's original configuration.

If this gets our name out there and only SOME of the readers check us out to see what we are about and what we espouse, it's a net gain. Those whose minds are already closed weren't going to come to an AS so we could open them, anyway.
 
Saying that we should not talk to anyone about what we do because they will portray it in an erroneous and false manner is pretty much the same as saying that we should not defend ourselves because someone may portray our act(s) of self-defense as acts of aggression, violence, or worse.

They are not even close to being the same things.

You are going to get villified by the libtard press because you play with guns one way or another.

Don't voluntarily hand them the material to do it.

You know what, you show your face to the press all you want. If you ever have to smoke-check someone in self defense, have a f-ing press conference afterwards.

Let me know how that works out for you.
 
i've said this before, and i'll say it again. if you preach liberty, reconnecting with the founders, talk about April 19th, 1775, and proceed to teach marksmanship skills in that vein, you are an implide militia. period.

perception is reality. appleseed should either man up and admit that, or ditch the Concord Bridge crap and take a Boy Scout approach to just hitting targets at distance, woodsmanship, hunting, etc.

because what the general public gets from the RWVA is this: "hi were from appleseed. we're going to teach you how to kill bad guys who want to take away your freedom. just like our founders did with their rifles."

appleseed has no true sense of identity because it's trying to play both ends of the field without committing to either.

you can't have it both ways.

Yep. I'm afraid that Timber hit the nail on the head. It's all about what is implied at an Appleseed and how one reads it.
 
John, have you actually BEEN to an Appleseed Shoot? Just wondering. I'm pretty sure that Timber hasn't.

No, Ross I haven't. But when you connect the dots the individual interpretatation of the event can be construed as Timber describes. Don't get me wrong. I applaud you and the program, however an outsider can take away a totally different view than what YOU believe you are portraying, especially if that outsider leans in that direction.
 
an outsider can take away a totally different view than what YOU believe you are portraying, especially if that outsider leans in that direction.

I wish I could argue this point with you but I cannot. Not after seeing what all those who posted comments said. I'm not even sure what article they were reading, but it sure wasn't the one they commented on. There are a lot of people who seem to live under the "My mind is made up; don't confuse me with the facts!" point of view. [thinking]
 
There are a lot of people who seem to live under the "My mind is made up; don't confuse me with the facts!" point of view. [thinking]

It's difficult enough when you have to face this attitude in the people who are against your exercising your 2A rights. But when you have to battle those who are supposedly on your side the same way it's a bit of a bummer.

My advise is to let them complain amongst themselves and just keep doing the job you do so well.
 
John, have you actually BEEN to an Appleseed Shoot? Just wondering. I'm pretty sure that Timber hasn't.

No, Ross I haven't. But when you connect the dots the individual interpretatation of the event can be construed as Timber describes. Don't get me wrong. I applaud you and the program, however an outsider can take away a totally different view than what YOU believe you are portraying, especially if that outsider leans in that direction.

Well, I have now been to an Appleseed and can tell you that I fully agree with Timber's assessment. I don't see anything wrong with that . . . but the bleeding heart liberals will have a field day with it . . . they look for any small edge that they can then use to provoke the masses that this is an evil thing.
 
Well, I have now been to an Appleseed and can tell you that I fully agree with Timber's assessment. I don't see anything wrong with that . . . but the bleeding heart liberals will have a field day with it . . . they look for any small edge that they can then use to provoke the masses that this is an evil thing.

+1
 
It's the New YorK Times, I'm not suprised.

All I can say is:
F 'em. If they won't respect us, they can fear us.
 
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I expected much worse from the NYT. That piece was soft. It will surely scare the moonbats (everything does), but it might act more as an advertisement to some people.

Appleseed's message is fine the way it is. Reacting to biased "reporting" is not a good idea (where do you stop?). Appleseed should just try to do what is right, and they're doing a damn good job of it. Running it in a way that is inclusive, that gets sheep to open their eyes, and maybe even gets some liberals to start asking questions is a good thing. No, it's a great thing.

Too many people here seem to think that people are static, that they can't wake up, can't change how they think. They are wrong. People can change. Will they change? That's up to them. And to you. Are you willing to engage them in a way that opens their eyes? Many here have said that they are not. That's a damn shame.

It's a message like that at Appleseed, that reminds us of the debt that we all owe, that can wake people up - even sheep. And even some people way on the other side. I'm glad someone is engaging some of them.

The rest of them are busily listening to whatever crap is on the tv today, and will do whatever it tells them to do.
 
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Finally! Another person who understands. AND has more than one tool in their toolkit.

Thanks.

I expected much worse from the NYT. That piece was soft. It will surely scare the moonbats (everything does), but it might act more as an advertisement to some people.

Appleseed's message is fine the way it is. Reacting to biased "reporting" is not a good idea (where do you stop?). Appleseed should just try to do what is right, and they're doing a damn good job of it. Running it in a way that is inclusive, that gets sheep to open their eyes, and maybe even gets some liberals to start asking questions is a good thing. No, it's a great thing.

Too many people here seem to think that people are static, that they can't wake up, can't change how they think. They are wrong. People can change. Will they change? That's up to them. And to you. Are you willing to engage them in a way that opens their eyes? Many here have said that they are not. That's a damn shame.

It's a message like that at Appleseed, that reminds us of the debt that we all owe, that can wake people up - even sheep. And even some people way on the other side. I'm glad someone is engaging some of them.

The rest of them are busily listening to whatever crap is on the tv today, and will do whatever it tells them to do.
 
It's a message like that at Appleseed, that reminds us of the debt that we all owe, that can wake people up - even sheep.
I owe nothing to no one outside God, family, self, and tribe. Society at large can F itself. So can the government.
 
The video was made by a guy who went to an Appleseed, filmed it, and edited it himself.

The article was written by a guy who went to Appleeed, wrote it, and then spent a year doing rewrites because the editors told him to.

The difference is plain as day.

To the person who asked, there are 500+ yard ranges in Jericho and Bennington VT.
 
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