Gun-Toting TTAC Founder Farago Profiled By The Washington Post
Farago on guard
TTAC founder Robert Farago receives fame and notoriety at the tip of a gun. Not just a gun, Farago owns 18 of them – at least that’s what he disclosed to the Washington Post. The liberal paper has a big feature on the former car blogger who turned into the eye of the storm that surrounds the gun debate.
Farago workout – with Glock and daughter
Today, Farago does not leave home without his concealed Glock, the gun remains by his side even during yoga workout. This wasn’t always so. “He bought his first gun a week before the debut of TheTruthAboutGuns.com,” writes the Post. I can corroborate the story.
Farago in his bedroom
When Farago bailed at TTAC, he asked me to write for his new venture, TTAG. I told him I did not know much about guns. It’s not that they are alien to me. I have been hard of hearing on my right ear ever since I was 21, courtesy of a 45 which I carelessly loaded in a small room. The bullet went into the floor, inches from my foot. To this day, the first word I learn in a foreign language is “excuse me?” Hä? Mitä? Shenme? E? Come? Don’t ask how I got my hands on a 45 in Germany. Talk about gun control, and a land that was more drawn to 9 mil, or to the ubiquitous, if less man-stopping, 7.65. When I lived in a cabin in rural Virginia, I owned the guns to go with it. That, and the importance of Break-Free in America, or Ballistol in Europe, is all I know about guns.
Farago, sending a hail of blogger bullets
“You don’t need to know anything about guns to write about them,“ Farago assured me. “Look at me, what did I know about cars?” For some reason, I declined.
A good Jewish boy from a liberal family
It was good that Farago did only recently acquire the arsenal he now has in his basement. When he left TTAC, he did not depart on the best terms with TTAC’s new Canadian owners, and the thought of him showing up with an FN SCAR-16 in a meeting in Toronto remains unsettling, even after all those years.
Also, considering Farago’s hard-on for GM, it might be better he’s no longer writing about cars.
Don’t worry, Selim “we don’t negotiate with terrorists” Bingol: My gun days are long gone. The keyboard is mightier than the bullet.
Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.
More by Bertel Schmitt
Comments
Join the conversation
Farago took a chance on me as a freelance blogger and mentored me... I'll never forget that, and my respect for his insight, skills and tenacity remain undimmed. The man's ability to create two juggernauts like TTAC and TTAG from nothing speaks for itself. I have to say though, I'm slightly bemused by the whole gun thing. I distinctly recall (years ago now) making the argument to Farago that cars are at least as deserving of the "tools of freedom" rhetoric that is so lavished on firearms. I absolutely respect the Second Amendment, but the freedom of mobility is more meaningful to me personally, on a day-to-day basis, than that of owning a firearm. And, to put a surreal twist on the whole situation, people kill each other with cars more than guns in this country.
A question for MNM and others who think it is paranoid that people feel the need to carry a handgun on them when in the house, concealed carry out in public etc, what is the difference between this and buying fire insurance for your house? Is that paranoid too? What is more precious, your own life And the life of your loved ones, or being paid for the loss of your house? I honestly don't know the difference in the odds, but the chance you might need a firearm, even if very remote, is a compelling argument if you believe in insurance. I own multiple firearms and am a CCW holder, even though I don't carry daily ( I keep it in my car), but I sure am thinking about it. Also, if you don't think that our government is going down the road of eroding our rights and liberties, and want the US populace disarmed, you're not paying attention.