Slog

You shouldn't be worried. The email won't change anyone's mind. I have an aunt who sends similar stuff to my family and it hasn't changed how anyone thinks. Really these people are actively preaching to the choir, and they do it because they know the choir will listen. I call them Armchar O'Reilleys.

Racists hate him because he's black? Shocking!

On the other side, my redneck uncle *loves* Obama, and thinks he's the best politician to come along since JFK.

So -- assuming he didn't use bcc's -- did you send your own factual e-mail to his address list?

"to people who honestly believe the mainstream media just makes shit up"

Um...didn't we believe that for the last 8 years? And had it confirmed with Fox?

I've got to agree with Matt Fuckin' Hickey - I've got relatives who regularly receive these emails, and occasionally I get one forwarded to me and other non-crazy relatives. No one's mind gets changed. These people are mostly preaching to their respective choirs.

And with all due offense to your southern relative, if he/she is a routine Democrat voter who suddenly buys into all this made up crap because it's about Obama, then maybe, just maybe, your southern relative is a filthy fucking racist and not worth yours or our time.

Yeah, I've gotten this, and replied with the corresponding Snopes article. That was months ago though.

Not that this isn't something we should be fighting, but I think these particular tactics have already hit the critical point. Nobody is opening their emails these days and are suddenly surprised to find out that Obama is a Muslim and a Manchurian Candidate and the Antichrist. It's more likely that a few people each day are disabused of the idea.

Reply all to the list (and any e-mails you can gather from earlier forwarding) with a well-written rebuttal, with links. It probably wont' change anyone's minds, but at least you'll feel better.

I always reply all to those things, with a link to Snopes or whereever. The last time I did this though ("Nancy Pelosi wants to tax your retirement income 100%!!"), the person who forwarded it to me did not understand the explanation on Snopes of why it wasn't true.

Here's a link to all the Snopes myths on Obama. Scary.

I think you should take that energy of "worried" and put it to good use. Find a state close to you that is a Battleground state and send your time/$$ there.

Said the man living in Arkansas (Will go McCain), going to Missouri(should go Obama) twice before the election to work on the Obama Campaign.

Best,

Drew

P.S. if your relative is in a battleground state perhaps it's time to go visit them and spend the whole trip volunteering for the Obama Campaign?

How to we teach everyone is smaller, faith-based or other communities how to (1.) Not be afraid, (2.) Think for themselves, and (3.) Do good research?

*sigh* Welcome back to the 1800s.

Yes, that kind of stuff is getting passed around down here, but I wouldn't be too concerned about it. Most people I know get those e-mails, roll their eyes, delete them and go about their day. And those are the people who think Sarah Palin is the best thing since Jesus.

Believe it or not, there are actually a lot of intelligent, rational-thinking people in states that aren't blue (for reals!).

The Obama-as-Muslim smear only works on people who, let's face it, weren't gonna vote for him in the first place.

This crap has been circulating since his name came up as a potential nominee.

It is disturbing that someone would actually believe it though. Says a lot about racial and religious tolerance in this country.

The greater point is, if people are immune to presentations of facts and are voting based on easily-discredited race baiting (or Swift Boating or whatever) then what hope is there for these people? They cannot be convinced by the boring truth if they prefer their salacious lies. Their minds cannot be changed.

What's the answer? Lie back, more convincingly? In the end the truth loses either way.

The Low Road is notoriously difficult to abandon once taken.

Then there's this lady:

"Pausing recently at a Wal-Mart, she said: 'Honestly, I don't know what to do. I really don't want to vote for McCain. You can tell he only cares about rich people. Sarah Palin wears glasses that cost $300. McCain's wife wears Gucci clothes. Which means they don't know anything about people like me.' Into that stew of assumptions, she adds: 'I hear that Obama's a Muslim. If he is a Muslim, that would be a problem, because the terrorists already attacked us.'"

From http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20080918/us_time/maxedoutmoms - which helpfully added "(He's not.)" after her bizarre last sentence.

My mom forwards this shit to me all the time, at least she did until I told her to stop. She usually votes Republican but is is voting for Obama.

Sure, there are Stupids out there who believe this stuff, but these people occupy the tail of the left side of bell curve.

"only getting started"???

i know you haven't been living in a cave the past couple years, but perhaps you had more pressing things on your mind...? well, allow me to fill you in - remember that time when you vented daily about all the sexism and misogyny directed at hillary? seems like yesterday, doesn't it? well, while all that was going on, this "barack HUSSEIN obama is a big HUSSEIN scary muslim HUSSEIN black HUSSEIN dude" was going on, too. it's not exactly news. but feel free to worry.

oh, and sorry about your family.

Do these people know that Muslims aren't supposed to drink alcohol or is Obama's father supposed to be that much more of a big, bad Muslim because he defied his religion's rules?

@14: the stupids (see the article linked @ 13) are all that's left to sway. there are enough of them that this slander cannot be ignored.

did obama's apostate muslim dad have shit to do with raising him? no he did not - his white-on-white grandparents did.

when you get this shit, respond to every idiot on the copy lists. you never know, you might wake a few the fuck up.

It would be ideal if email apps/sites had a snopes filter just like they have spam filters.

@8 -- excellent suggestions. In general doing something beats whining. And doing it where it counts more is just plain old common sense.

ECB: please stop being shocked at dirty tactics, racism, etc. There are like millions and millions of conservatives in this county, they usually win presidential elections, there are many in the South and yes they spread all this stuff around all the time and we're surprised by this in the little Seattle bubble??

All you ahve to do is read the paper and look at the election returns for what, oh the last 50 years, to see that urban northern liberals don't win and the conservative side usually wins.

Cuz, like they get the voters. So...there must be people out there who vote that way.

This is why the focus on economics is so important. It's how you get the votes of these "filthy fucking racist[s who are] not worth yours or our time." In reality you actually need a majority of the voters to win a state's electoral votes and to get that yes you have to get a slice of the cracker vote. Seems like people here'bouts spend half their time denouncing the fact there's all this racism all over the USA, then acting surprised to find out the racists get to vote, too, and perhaps this is why the conservative candidate wins and has won like 7 of last ten presidential elections?

Hello?

Obama's speech today in Espanola really hit the economic theme very hard including:
--McCain part of Old Boys Network
--McCain says fire head of SEC, Obama says fire everyone supporting the failed philosphy of the past -- the trickle down do-nothing no-regulation philosophy

That was most excellent -- actually trying to connect it to policy.

--he had lots of specific changes
--he said tomorrow he's sitting down with key advisers including a former head of treasury (is that Rubin?) a former head of fannie mae or something and toher formers to come up with more specific crisis plan.
--he ending saying the change he will bring is to restore the ability of each family to leave a legacy of better opportunity -- very much in synch with the "restore the American dream" theme I've suggested as a catch-all overall theme.

When Democrats give crackers econmic hope they vote Dem. It has to be economic hope cuz it sure ain't gonna be on cultural issues. When Democrats don't they lose. Because then all those stupid e mails and cultural memes fill up the heads of all those crackers. You gotta fight something with something; telling them they're wrong and stupid may be asserting something that's true, but it does not persuade them and in fact turns them off.

This is all basic math and people skills.

Unidad todos, que escuchen lo que dijo Obama hoy --

I'd be worried too: you might have the same genetic defect as this relative and suffer sudden brain shrinkage. Maybe there's a test the doctor can do to put your mind at ease.

Dear Dumbass Relative,

1)Quit being stupid.
2)Am I in the will?
3)Shut up and die.

Love,

ECB

Keep in mind, too, that email of this odious sort has been circulating for almost a year now. This is nothing new, so it's highly likely that this tactic has already done the majority of the damage it will ever do.

My mother, though she is most likely voting for McCain, has a generous habit of rebutting these emails whenever she gets them, usually by sending the original sender links to FactCheck or Snopes.

This type of talk has me wondering:

How many bigots are there in the US that will not vote for a non-white, under any circumstances?

All the muslim & socialist talk is just a cover for the real reason folks won't vote for him. Just like things like "school choice" is code-speak for "resegragation" (overturning Brown v. Board), "family values" is code for "anti-gay", and "deregulation" is code for "government cash giveaways".

It's been clear for some time now that the only hope the GOP has is the bigot vote. Did McCain screw that up by selecting a woman? How many bigots are just race haters and not also misogynists? (That's why the idea of Condi for VP was always laughable: most bigots couldn't tell her apart from Michelle O.)

The question is: How many bigoted voters are there, and where are they concentrated?

10 million? 20? Idaho, Utah, Georgia, New Hampshire?

I find it really funny that ECB thinks that she's so special for having relatives who send her stuff like this. Judging by my own life, and the comments would imply I'm not alone, getting emails like this from relatives is rather common.

but it’s also garbage that’s being widely circulated in channels we liberals in Seattle have little or no access to

Ummm. No.

In any case, my standard response to this is:

1. There are men in Nigeria who need your help cashing a check.
2. I'll be you had a lot to say about the stupidity of the O.J. Simpson jury to acquit despite overwhelming evidence that he was guilty. Unfortunately, that's what you look like now.

You want to worry about something?

Worry about THIS: http://www.theroot.com/id/48123

Hey, let's start a few rumors of our own. McCain likes to be whipped. Wears women's panties. Sucks cucumbers and makes his wife watch. Common, get creative...don't fret.

post the email so we can see it first hand?

BE NOT AFRAID WE AS YOUR FORMER SLAVES LOVE YOU NAND YOUR WHITE JESUS TO DO ANY SERIOUS HARM TO WHITE AMERICA. WE JUST ARE ANXIOUS SCREW THE COUNTRY UP JUST AS YOU GUYS HAVE. WE PROMISE NOT TO DO ANY MORE HARM THAN YOU GUYS HAVE DONE FOR THE PAST 500 YEARS..