If you have conservative friends or relatives, you've probably received one of those forwarded wingnut email messages that circulate throughout the intertubes like electronic zombies, occasionally landing in unsuspecting persons' inboxes and attempting to eat their BRAINS!!!
And if you're like me, you've probably reacted by rolling your eyes, uttering a few choice words under your breath, and then going on with your day. But, like me, perhaps you've said to yourself, "One of these times, I'm gonna hit 'reply to all' and debunk this BS for all to see. I'll do that next time."
For me, today was next time.
This is the glistening turd that landed in my inbox today. I'm kind of hurt that I am only now receiving this -- it's over a year old, after all. (Plenty of kossacks got hip a lot sooner!) I feel like a resident of another planet who is just now getting to watch I Love Lucy.
Anyway, after skimming through it (I just don't have the patience to sit and read through every word of this malarkey anymore), I searched snopes.com to see if the purported author was a real person or a fictional character. It would have pleased me to be able to inform everyone listed in the message that it was written by Joe or Jo Blow from East Jesus, TX, rather than an actual sorta-famous business person. But no such luck -- there really is a former Procter & Gamble executive who is either too ignorant to know that no newspaper, the New York Times included, acknowledges letters it doesn't choose to publish, or just finds it convenient to whine thusly:
I did write the ‘you scare me’ letter. I sent it to the NY Times but they never acknowledged or published it. However, it hit the internet and according to the ‘experts’ has had over 500,000 hits.
And evidently, it has polluted the inboxes of thousands more -- yee haw!
Including mine. And I'm not sure why I picked today as the day when I decided I was Mad As Hell and Not Gonna Take it Anymore, but I hit 'reply to all' and typed the following:
I'm sorry, but this is absolute hogwash. Is there a point to this, other than being obnoxious? If you dislike/disagree with Obama, fine, but be honest and intelligent about it. This hyperbolic blather accomplishes nothing, except to whip up people who already agree with it and irritate people who don't. I like to think I've grown up in a country where people can discuss issues with some intellectual rigor and respect for plurality of viewpoints, but lately I am sorely disappointed on that front.
You see, I was not willing to take the time to debunk every single one of the original email's so-called points, though it clearly needed doing. As I indicated above, I'm not willing to devote so much time to these things anymore. But neither was I willing to let this slide, as I have with many other such missives. Of course, the moment I hit 'send,' I thought to myself, "I'll probably regret this."
No one has replied to my response so far. Some folks on the list have known me since I was yea-high, and might be shocked, shocked to learn that I'm a raving liberal now. I've never been overtly vocal about such things with the folks back home, but I haven't entirely hidden my freak flag either.
I don't much care if anyone responds; I'm not interested in getting into a drawn-out back-and-forth about it. it did feel good to do something other than just suck it up. I sorta wish this political email forward phenom would die out, though. I mean, next thing you know, people will start taking this tripe to Facebook... Whoops! :P
By the way, plenty of other people have taken the time to go line-by-line with this horsehockey. Here are some good ones, both in the main post and the comments.
Speaking of comments, here are some Top ones!
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From phonegery:
You have to like CAPitBull's Christian's attitude, and the implementation strategy.
From lamzdotes:
This comment, from Clarknt67, along with the resulting thread, made me pause to consider that the haves don't always have it as easy as we have-nots imagine.
From ezdidit:
In Meteor Blades's story about WaPo's expose on the intelligence community, this response from rb608 to my comment about what Marcy said made me grit my teeth & smile.
From Julie Gulden
I nominate Edrie's comment in my "Oh Noes" diary.
Good luck with that $6.66, Edrie!
From emeraldmaiden:
This very thoughtful comment by Vacationland explains a lot.
From dedmonds comes a truth that is ignored by many in the fight against obesity.
TDDVandy finds yet another good reason for public campaign financing.
(Editor's note: special thanks to emeraldmaiden, who was supposed to be tonight's diarist, but who let me go ahead when I misremembered the schedule and started writing. Be sure to rec her next Monday! :) )
From yours truly, virgomusic:
ThisIsMyTime's diary asks, Why Are You A Member Of Daily Kos? Kossacks respond with many thoughtful reflections. Oh, and of course, some choice snark: Friend of the court likes the company, while Orange County Liberal likes what's on the menu. Oh, and don't forget dessert, as bagman points out -- RLMiller as well!
In Steve Singiser's front-page piece about Georgia Secretary of State Karen Handel, Rich in PA kicked off the thread that the story was crying out for, and shpilk runs with that ball.
brillig brings Top Mojo, which is right nice of her since she's getting ready to go to Netroots Nation later in the week! (I'll miss y'all who are going, boo hoo!)
Top 30 Comments excluding tip jars, first comments and stuff:
1) gjohnsit, this is an excellent diary by nyceve — 164
2) Can I rec AND refudiate your comment by earicicle — 154
3) Sarah Palin's 9-11 Hero by JekyllnHyde — 147
4) That cracked me up too: by MeMeMeMeMe — 117
5) I like this line by Kitty — 103
6) how 'bout this comment by sow hat — 97
7) America is not a bankrupt failing nation by FishOutofWater — 95
8) Strong Unions are the best protection for by LaFeminista — 90
9) David: Thanks for posting this. It is really by richmonds — 89
10) Please rec this diary folks so we can get by navajo — 87
11) Listening now--he's fired up! by boofdah — 81
12) Same old pundits who thought by christine20 — 80
13) The Bard's on Twitter Now by JekyllnHyde — 79
14) Cat food comm is all pols but for 1 economist. by FishOutofWater — 79
15) Unions protect whistle-blowers + other workers by Lefty Coaster — 76
16) just finished watching.... by ridemybike — 73
17) So let me get this straight. by Sister Havana — 71
18) He mentions tax cuts for the wealthy by Kitty — 70
19) We have to change the so-called... by markthshark — 69
20) I'll go to bed by AnnetteK — 67
21) Thanks for writing by MsGrin — 66
22) Usury laws are not only not dumb, by Marie — 65
23) If things don't turn around, we will by gjohnsit — 64
24) LOL! by dharmafarmer — 64
25) Not All Debts Can Be Written Off by bink — 62
26) Diaries have consequences.... by xxdr zombiexx — 62
27) You know... by sheddhead — 61
28) Your comment does not address by TomP — 61
29) Make them pay for putting tax cuts for the rich by marabout40 — 60
30) student loans are destroying people I know by nyceve — 60
Top 30 (plus ties) Comments with no exclusions, aka the Tip Jar & Pooties list :-):
1) Tip Jar by gjohnsit — 411
2) This time its personal by Lefty Coaster — 399
3) Tip Jar by TomP — 355
4) Tip Jar by davidsirota — 329
5) oh noes by Julie Gulden — 313
6) Tip Jar by MsLibrarian — 280
7) Tip Jar by Sara R — 260
8) Tip Jar by Jesselyn Radack — 240
9) Tip Jar by bobswern — 215
10) Tip Jar by Badabing — 195
11) Tip Jar by Patriot Daily News Clearinghouse — 176
12) gjohnsit, this is an excellent diary by nyceve — 164
13) Tip Jar by ThisIsMyTime — 160
14) Can I rec AND refudiate your comment by earicicle — 154
15) Sarah Palin's 9-11 Hero by JekyllnHyde — 147
16) Tip Jar by deepsouthdoug — 143
17) Tip Jar by Verbalpaintball — 121
18) That cracked me up too: by MeMeMeMeMe — 120
19) I like this line by Kitty — 103
20) how 'bout this comment by sow hat — 97
21) America is not a bankrupt failing nation by FishOutofWater — 95
22) Tip Jar by Ojibwa — 94
23) Strong Unions are the best protection for by LaFeminista — 90
24) David: Thanks for posting this. It is really by richmonds — 89
25) Please rec this diary folks so we can get by navajo — 88
26) Same old pundits who thought by christine20 — 82
27) Tip Jar by Lorinda Pike — 81
28) Listening now--he's fired up! by boofdah — 81
29) Cat food comm is all pols but for 1 economist. by FishOutofWater — 80
30) The Bard's on Twitter Now by JekyllnHyde — 79