I don't think the goldbugs are egotistical enough to talk about paper shorting the ETF's.
Possibly they are more risk adverse to try and short something in a clear upward trend!
Thats my take, I'm not a goldbug myself and I don't short anything at all, its just not in my trading appetite.
The problem with HC is there are alot of key board hero's saying there doing a lot of things and I dare say in reality it's mostly just rhetoric and talk!