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Read this bullshit piece of propaganda and then read my response. A quick Google search of the terms "Heinz sandwich sliced pickles" produced tons of hits. This email has already been widely circulated and is even showing up in letters to the editor in newspapers nationwide. Try to counter the warped logic here whenever you can.
BULLSHIT PROPAGANDA
Subject: Heinz 57
Look at the label of a jar of Heinz sandwich slice pickles. Yep...."Made in Mexico" Check out some of your Heinz products.
Sen. John Kerry keeps talking about U.S. corporations leaving this country nand setting up shop in foreign countries, taking thousands of jobs with them. He is right, because that has happened. However, he is trying to blame it on George W. Bush. As far as I know, Bush has not moved one factory out of this country because he is not the owner of a single factory. That cannot be said about Kerry and his wife, Teresa Heinz-Kerry. According to the Wall Street Journal, the Kerrys own 32 factories in Europe and 18 in Asia and the Pacific. In addition, their company, the Heinz Company, leases four factories in Europe and four in Asia. Also, they own 27 factories in North America, some of which are in Mexico and the Caribbean. I wonder how many hundreds of American workers lost their jobs when these
plants relocated to foreign countries. I also wonder if the workers
in Mexico and Asia are paid the same wages and benefits as workers in the United States.
Of course they're not. However, Kerry demands that other companies that relocate should pay the same benefits they did in the U.S. Why does he not demand this of the Heinz Company, since he is married to the owner? If Kerry is elected, will he and his wife close all those foreign factories and bring all those jobs back to America? Of course they won't. They're making millions off that cheap labor.
If you can read this, thank a teacher. If you are reading it in English,thank a Marine.
Please pass this on. I think it is important we get the word out!
MY RESPONSE
I could tell after reading only a sentence or two of that email that it was part of a mass-mailing smear campaign. I mean, honestly! Consider the source. Furthermore, a simple Google search with "Heinz sandwich sliced pickles" as terms produced thousands of hits that led directly to this email. It's a campaign smear message that has been widely circulated. Unfortunately, rather than relying on truth, the message misinforms and misdirects its recipients. What is most remarkable to me, however, is that messages like this are symptoms of a larger problem. Why are Republicans so busy talking about John Kerry? Why aren't they praising the accomplishments of their war-time President? Clearly, the answer is that they CAN'T! The list of achievements that Bush can be credited with is so short that it defies description. And this is precisely the reason that I will support Kerry. I don't feel that he's the answer to every problem -- not by any stretch. I do, however, feel that he will be a vastly superior President than GWB.
Now, as to the specifics of the message itself....
The idea that is created by the message is that John Kerry or his wife is somehow responsible for "moving" these factories to other countries, which would certainly make the two of them look like huge hypocrites (in light of Kerry's campaign promise to close tax loopholes for corporations and business interests that export jobs overseas). Unfortunately, this insinuation doesn't hold any water at all. Kerry and Heinz-Kerry are not members of the board of directors of the Heinz Corporation. They have NO say in the corporate decisions that would make such moves actually happen. But, more obviously, don't you think that these factories were more likely OPENED in other countries, rather than MOVED there? I mean, Heinz is an international corporation. They serve the whole world, and it's dumb to think that they would do so from factories located exclusively in this country. More to the point, it should be noted that the Heinz Corporation has NEVER closed an American factory and relocated it to another country -- NEVER! The article that follows notes that Heinz ketchup is made exclusively in the U.S., but it's logical to concede that different commodities produced by the corporation might be produced in different areas of the world.
The most important thing to remember here is this: we started off talking about how divisive American politics have become. That fact is clear with your message here. Don't be taken in by someone who isn't even willing to pay you the respect of being honest with you. Consider the source, check the facts, and decide on your own. After doing so, I'm convinced that Bush is bad for America and the world. Kerry may not be my "perfect" candidate, but he's got my vote in '04!
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