Dear DUers - I need your take on another email war I got into

[calimary]

The husband of a longtime friend of mine is a knuckle-dragger of the first order. Because of her, I'm on his email list, and so I get every one of his obnoxious, reagan/dubya love letters, extremist Bible-thumping memos, and of course, the ever-popular dumping on Bill and Hillary Clinton. :eyes:

Usually I just delete these, many of which I don't even bother opening, but because I'm feelng a little uppity after slapping down one of those miserable Obama slanders that's circulating now, I couldn't let this one go unanswered, either. So... I wrote up a response and CC'ed it to EVERYBODY listed anywhere on that email, back several generations of forwards, including my faithful correspondent. THE BEST PART? While I sat around waiting to be barbecued by flame wars from these people, I got nothing. Except for this one response - that just shocked the hell out of me and made my day! It just reaffirmed something in my mind about this kind of crap: NEVER LET THIS BE THE END OF IT. NEVER LET THIS STUFF GO UNCHALLENGED. NEVER LET THE SENDERS OF THESE THINGS GET THE LAST WORD!!!

Here's the original email, from earlier this morning:

Subject: On the Record: Bill & Hillary
Date: Thu, 10 Jan 2008 05:45:21 -0900
Subject: Bill & Hillary


BILL CLINTON's MILITARY CAREER

(Bill & Hillary - Grit your teeth before you read this!)


Bill Clinton registers for the draft on September 08, 1964, accepting all contractual conditions of registering for the draft. Selective Service Number is 326 46 228.

Bill Clinton classified 2-S on November 17, 1964.

Bill Clinton reclassified 1-A on March 20, 1968.

Bill Clinton ordered to report for induction on Jul y 28, 1969.

Bill Clinton refuses to report and is not inducted into the military.

Bill Clinton reclassified 1-D after enlisting in the United States Army Reserves on August 07, 1969, under authority of COL. E. Holmes.

Clinton signs enlistment papers and takes oath of enlistment.

Bill Clinton fails to report to his duty station at the University of Arkansas ROTC , September 1969.

Bill Clinton reclassified 1-A o n October 30, 1969, as enlistment with Army Reserves is revoked by Colonel E. Holmes and Clinton now AWOL and subject to arrest under Public Law 90-40 (2)(a) regisrant who has failed to report...remain liable for induction.

Bill Clinton's birth date lottery number is 311, drawn December 1, 1969, but anyone who has already been ordered to report for induction is INELIGIBLE!

Bill Clinton runs for Congress (1974), while a fugitive from justice under Public Law 90-40.

Bill Clinton runs for Arkansas Attorney General (1976), while a fugitive from justice.

Bill Clinton receives pardon on January 21, 1977, from President Carter.

Bill Clinton becomes the FIRST PARDONED FEDERAL FELON ever to serve as President of the United States.

All these facts come from Freedom of Information requests, public laws, and various books that have been published, and have not been refuted by Clinton.

After the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, President Clinton promised that those responsible would be hunted down and punished.

After the 1995 bombing in Saudi Arabia , which killed five U.S. military personnel, Clinton promised that those responsible would be hunted down and punished.

After the 1996 Khobar Towers bombing in Saudi Arabia , which killed 19 and injured 200 U.S. military personnel, Clinton promised that those responsible would be hunted down and punished.

After the 1998 bombing of U.S. embassies in Africa, which killed 224 and injured 5,000, Clinton promised that those responsible would be hunted down and punished.

After the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole, which killed 17 and injured 39 U.S. sailors, Clinton promised that those responsible be hunted down and punished.

Maybe if Clinton had kept those promises, an estimated 3,000 people in New York and Washington , DC . who are now dead would be alive today.

THINK ABOUT IT! It is a strange turn of events. Hillary gets $8 Million for her forthcoming memoir. Bill gets about $12 Million for his memoir yet to be written. This from two people who spent 8 years being unable to recall anything about past events while under oath.

Sincerely, Cdr. Hamilton McWhorter USN (ret)

P.S. Please forward this to as many people as you can! We don't want this woman who has never even run a country store, a business or any thing that requires management skills to even THINK of running for President is insane!


------- :eyes:


MY RESPONSE:

Date: Thu, 10 Jan 2008 08:50:03 -0800 (PST)
Subject: Re: On the Record: Bill & Hillary

Esteemed ones -

I always find it amusing when this kind of onesided dreck is spread all over Christendom, but nobody ever says a peep about...
-George W. Bush's "missing year" in the Texas Air National Guard,
-how he gamed the system and cut corners to get out early and not fulfill all his required service,
-how he covered up his AWOL status - which would have gotten any other recruit sent straight to Vietnam,
-how he refused to take a drug test (which is why he lost his pilot's privileges,
-covered up his arrest record for drunk driving,
-lied us into war,
-violated the Constitution 150-thousand ways from Sunday,
-let bin Laden get away when we had him cornered in Tora Bora - and unlike with Bill Clinton, had multiple-sourced verification of where bin Laden was hiding. But no! We had to divert our forces from there over to Iraq where the "threat" had been completely
fabricated...

Those who attacked the World Trade Center the first time, back in the early 1990's (you know, shortly after some couple named Bill and Hillary moved into the White House), were tracked down, arrested, brought to trial, convicted, and imprisoned.

Anybody know what happened to bin Laden?

Oh, I forgot... we have to keep sending moronic emails around dumping on the Clintons, don't we? And by the way, I'll take the Clintons' way of managing agencies like FEMA, the EPA, the FDA, and the Consumer Product Safety Commission over the Bush way ANY DAY!!! When the Clintons were in power, I never worried about whether toys imported from overseas might endanger the lives of my children or poison my dog because nobody was bothering with inspections anymore (can't have that big ol' nasty government oversight, can we? Free market! Free market!). And I'd take James Lee Witt's emergency management skills during a major hurricane over "Brownie's" - ANY DAY OF THE WEEK.

If Bill Clinton had committed even 1/10,000th of the crimes and abuses of power and violations of the Constitution that have happened on Dubya's watch, I swear the folks who circulate emails like this would be spitting fire.

Sorry if this comes off being a bit rude, but I'm just sick and tired of this kind of baloney. There aren't any historians of any credibility and objectivity who are putting together treatises on how Bill Clinton was the worst president in American history. Sure can't say that about Junior...

And we certainly weren't reviled around the world as a rogue nation and a danger to world peace on Clinton's watch - the way we are now.

signed (me)


-------


A couple of hours later, I got THIS RESPONSE TO MY RESPONSE - really dropped my jaw to the ol' floor:


Subject: RE: On the Record: Bill & Hillary
Date: Thu, 10 Jan 2008 11:01:06 -0600

Hooray to you for saying exactly what I was feeling. Instead I just deleted it and went on. I completely agree with you. It seems like
people would get tired of Clinton bashing since he's been out of office for 7 years and is not running this time. Hillary is. I'm not a Hillary fan but she sure has a lot of guts to go up against the "boys club". I for one am counting down the days until Dubya is out of office.

signed (the author)



Granted, I didn't rebut every last point, but I got in a few zingers, I think. My girlfriend whose hubby sent the original emailed me later to day he'd read my response and was going to reply, but just deleted it instead.

If you can stand it, and you're not already disgusted when these come your way, don't feel reluctant to answer one of these. You may be the ONLY different input they'll get after a steady diet of nonstop Pox Noise. This crap should NEVER be permitted to stand, unchallenged. And NEVER, EVER let them get the last word!!!

BTW - it's about 12 hours later and I haven't heard another peep out of anybody else.

And regarding the slapdown I feebly attempted against that hideous Obama email (and judging from some of the other threads here, that racist shit is now circulating in a LOT of places), I have yet to hear back from a single person. Perhaps the KKK is taking a brief break? ALWAYS, if you can, answer back. It'll make 'em think. Might even give one or two of them encouragement on their own. At least, it'll shame the lost souls.

Humbly submitted,

calimary

[Maat]

1. Thanks for fighting the good fight, Calimary (n/t).

[calimary]

2. Shameless kick!

What the hell...

};>

[Warpy]

3. Oh, I'm nasty about this stuff

I generally reply with a link to the appropriate website to refute it and then lecture about forwarding emails to people without bothering to check out any of the "facts" they supposedly contain. I tell the original poster that another such email in my box from that person will result in a mail block, then hit "reply all." I've only had to block a couple of people, but I've had to put my mail on complete block over a weekend (when no business stuff comes in)just to get rid of the "reply to all" people in the amen corner.

The people I've blocked have gotten upset about it, but tough shit. Life is too short to plod through slander and then have to do all the research for them that they should have done themselves before making jackasses of themselves by forwarding it out to so many people. I've told them that if they really need to get in touch with me, they can phone, pay for a stamp, or come visit.

Needless to say, I get very little of that bullshit clogging my mailbox these days.

[calimary]

5. I used to get a whole slew of 'em and I finally responded - to any and all,

and it certainly stopped the email. My girlfriend (whose husband sent this last one) said she would be more careful about what she sent me from now on.

I have been taken to the woodshed once - after I sent a petition around, VERY early in the anti-Iraq War efforts, and some hothead emailed me back: "Where were you 9/11???" Not "where were you on 9/11"?" It was "Where were you 9/11??" I responded to this person and got another rude, belligerent reply, and I realized this person's soul would NOT be salvageable - at least at that time. That's been it.

But I've never before gotten a response back from somebody I didn't know, giving me a thumbs-up. That made my day!

[Mythsaje]

4. My sister (not really my sister, but as close as I'll ever have)

sent me something some time ago, some anti-immigrant screed, and I explained to her how I found the whole thing inappropriate and quite deceptive.

People don't usually send me shit like that. Not more than once. I don't play e-mail games despite being on SEVERAL yahoo groups. Politics is a taboo subject on the authors/readers groups for good reason and the one time an author stepped over the line, I let fly and explained exactly WHY it was in very poor taste and that it shouldn't ever be repeated.

I got a lot of e-mails in support and a few slamming me for it. Any rah-rah-rah the Iraq War crap gets my back up. I'm okay with "supporting the troops" but I refuse to buy that supporting the troops means supporting the war. And I'll be damned if I'll tolerate anyone saying it does...even if it makes me some enemies.

[calimary]

6. I think this crap will keep coming only if we allow it.

It struck me recently that people who send emails like this are very unlikely to listen to Air America, or watch anything but Pox Noise, and they certainly don't read "The Nation" or even the NYTimes. It just might be that any response you offer to one of these is the first such rebuttal they've ever heard.

Garbage in, garbage out. When all you're fed is bullshit, that's all you produce, yourself.

I was just shocked that the person who did respond offered such encouragement. Totally didn't expect that one.

[PatSeg]

8. I've also found that some people who forward

this crap, often don't even read it. Some just have an addictive habit of "forwarding" stuff, usually chain mail type garbage. Guess it is their way of "keeping in touch".

[PatSeg]

7. I've gotten more than my share of really stupid emails,

many of them just flat out false. I go to snopes.come and look it up. Then I email the sender back with an admonishment that they should check their facts before they spread false information.

I just got one today:

Thought you might be interested in this forgotten bit of information..........
It was 1987! At a lecture the other day they were playing an old news video of Lt.Col . Oliver North testifying at the Iran-Contra hearings during the Reagan Administration.

There was Ollie in front of God and country getting the third degree, but what he said was stunning!

He was being drilled by a senator; 'Did you not recently spend close to $60,000 for a home security system?'

Ollie replied, 'Yes, I did, Sir.'

The senator continued, trying to get a laugh out of the audience, 'Isn't that just a little excessive?'

'No, sir,' continued Ollie.

'No? And why not?' the senator asked.

'Because the lives of my family and I were threatened, sir.'

'Threatened? By whom?' the senator questioned.

'By a terrorist, sir' Ollie answered.

'Terrorist? What terrorist could possibly scare you that much?'
'His name is Osama bin Laden, sir' Ollie replied.
At this point the senator tried to repeat the name, but couldn't pronounce it, which most people back then probably couldn't. A couple of people laughed at the attempt. Then the senator continued. Why are you so afraid of this man?' the senator asked.

'Because, sir, he is the most evil person alive that I know of', Ollie answered.

�
'And what do you recommend we do about him?' asked the senator.

'Well, sir, if it was up to me, I would recommend that an assassin team be formed to eliminate him and his men from the face of the earth.'

The senator disagreed with this approach, and that was all that was shown of the clip.


�
By the way, that senator was Al Gore!
�
Also:
Terrorist pilot Mohammad Atta blew up a bus in Israel in 1986. The Israelis captured, tried and imprisoned him. As part of the Oslo agreement with the Palestinians in 1993,Israel had to agree to release so-called 'political prisoners.'

However, the Israelis would not release any with blood on their hands. The American President at the time, Bill Clinton, and his Secretary of State, Warren Christopher, 'insisted' that all prisoners be released.
�

Thus Mohammad Atta was freed and eventually thanked the US by flying an airplane into Tower One of the World Trade Center. This was reported by many of the American TV networks at the time that the terrorists were first identified.
It was censored in the US from all later reports.


If you agree that the American public should be made aware of this fact, pass this on.


Subject: 9/11

Do Not Break - it is 5 years strong

***************************************************************************

Well I was stunned as I didn't think the sender was THAT gullible. I emailed her back with the snopes link, asking who on earth sent that to you, etc. Well, it was intentional. Evidently I had ignored several previous emails and this was the only way to get me to respond!!! I was really nervous there for a minute, thinking she was buying into right wing propaganda.

[calimary]

9. Oh man!

I've been nervous, too, after sending out responses to these things. But dammit, I'm just sick of 'em. And I'm pretty disgusted with those who insist on spreading them.

[PatSeg]

15. I am most apalled by the mindlessness of some of the people

who have sent me such things. They are generally the ones who send religious shit, lots of angels, and really cutesy stuff. I would email them back and explain that I didn't agree with them and didn't want to receive them anymore. There would be a period of silence and then it would start up again. If it wasn't for the Internet, they would be watching Jerry Springer.

[calimary]

17. I may know the same ones.

My girlfriend is a very gentle, considerate soul. I guess her guy makes her happy (he better!). When she wants me to be sure it's SHE who's sending me an email on that email address they both share, she puts her initials on it. I appreciate that. It's those I open straight away. And if I suspect it's not from her, most of the time I ignore it.

I've just noticed a sudden - and troublesome - increase, after a long lull, in these shitty, stupid emails that frustrate me. Makes me start thinking that maybe I better grow a backbone since I'm usually among the first to complain when somebody else falls short - who could have made a difference with one. These things need to be swatted back down. It does seem to shut them up. Or maybe they're just knocked off-balance because they didn't expect anybody to put up an argument. I dunno, I'm just guessing here. But IF POSSIBLE ('cause it's not always possible), this stuff should not be allowed to hang out there unrebutted. There HAS to be a challenge. Especially since some of these are so glaringly inaccurate. We started the last bundle of fragrant turdblossoms with the breathless assertion that Obama's middle name was Mohammed. And it went downhill from there.

[PatSeg]

21. I figure I may not change the person

but I may make them think about what they are doing and possibly they might shut up.

[lisainmilo]

10. Sounds like you did great!

:)

[calimary]

14. Much obliged.

I'm just still so struck by how somebody would email me back to express solidarity.

That was a surprise. Buoyed me up all day!

It's one of the main reasons I wanted to share this. TOO many threads here have been posted by those of us here who sometimes grow heartsick over what's been done to our country, what the fiends in charge have been able to get away with, and how we feel so isolated and ineffective, no matter what we try to do to fight back. Well, this kind of thing tells me that you never know where you might have unseen allies. The bad guys are not the invincible monolith they like to pretend they are. They're big pieces of swiss cheese with legs, large mouths, and bigger egos.

[lisainmilo]

11. Sounds like you did great!

:)

[DeepModem Mom]

12. You are so right, calimary -- you rock! I also find snopes.com useful...

sometimes when I get some of these "chain" e-mails. I go there, and find out the stuff has been circulating for years, and has, of course, been completely debunked, and I just send the link, suggesting that snopes is a good source to check out these things. I find it really surprising that so many people are taken in by this kind of hateful crap.

K&R!

[calimary]

13. Yeah - no kidding!

I never have the presence of mind to consult snopes.com when these things come up. I guess it's just because I immediately get mad and become focused on "Warpath, Going on the". But that's a really good reminder.

:thumbsup:

[chknltl]

16. I feel sorry for this American

He is a vet. He served our nation, he survived that. Not everyone does. It is especially sad to see Cmdr. next to his name yet he writes like a freeper, (albeit one who figured out how to operate spell check). Calimary, he is not someone I can get angry at, I truly am sorry for him. I truly am sorry for folks who think like him. These people are motivated in the same way we are: out of a profound sense to do SOMETHING to save our country. We ALL share this! It is what brings Americans here to the DU. It is what motivates you to write so prolifically. Cmdr. McWhorter has earned my respect for his service to our country, it is noteworthy that he has not stopped giving that service.

I wish I had some sort of magic which could lift the veil of lies and deceits which rule the thoughts of every single American. We are not immune to it either, you and I. We both know that we are far closer to the truth than Cmdr McWhorter but please understand, there is much that we firmly believe which is equally wrong. OUR GOVERNMENT did that to us all! The other day I heard that Osama Bin Laden was dead, had been dead for some time. Then I heard one of our Democratic front-runners say that finding Osama Bin Laden would be, under their administration, "a top priority"... and I thought who is right, who is wrong and who is filling us full of baloney, who is full of baloney?.

Yes, we here in DU have access to a collective mind, one we can tap into for enlightenment...it is a shame that Cmdr. McWhorter has been so indoctrinated that he will never likely come join us. I'm betting he would be good in a fight, most vets are, pity that he'll never fight alongside with us. The truly sad thing is that we fight for the exact same thing: Democracy in America, yet we see each other as fighting against that. We really aren't, we really are just two sides of the same coin.

Our government has done this to us. We The People do not deserve such treatment from our Government. I believe that our government has been infiltrated by We The Corporations and their needs do NOT coincide with the needs of We The People. They apply more money than we do to our government in order to get their needs met. It is understandable, their bottom line is their stockholders and profits. Ours is preserving our nation. If they get their way, we will have lost control over our government totally...they will have it. Cmdr. McWorter thinks he is helping our country, instead he helps those who would take our country from We The People. If he could only understand this, I am betting he would be mad as hell, I'm betting we would gain an ally, one you and I would be happy to have.

c

[calimary]

18. That's a MOST worthy point!

I noticed that secondarily. What upset me is the act of sending it all over the place. And in this particular case, I've made my views clear on how little I appreciate this dreck. And still it comes.

Your point is a good one, my friend. Well worth remembering.

[PatSeg]

20. Actually, it is kind of cowardly

It wasn't that long ago that people had face-to-face heated debates about politics, but now people can send out hateful, often erroneous emails without confrontation. Perhaps it gives them a sense of power or relevance, but there is a lack of accountability if we don't respond. The times when I have responded, the sender generally backs down and is apologetic. I guess that is good reason to not just delete BS emails. Some people need to know that their emails aren't appropriate nor appreciated.

[chknltl]

23. I get that from Thom

He treats his "adversaries" like that, one can almost feel his sadness. I suspect if Cmdr McWorter were to call into the Thom Hartmann Show, Thom would try to work with him. He gets a lot of brainwashed folks, some are fairly intelligent yet never have I heard Thom get mad at any of them. If he does he hides it well, I admire that in him. I love Mike Malloy and Randi Rhodes and Ed Shultz too but I have heard all of them lose it from time to time and they always wind up tearing into the caller. I have never felt sad for those callers though, invariably they have as much class as some of our own flame seekers. I never feel sad for them either, I cheer you folks on when you turn their flames back at them! Folks like Cmdr McWorter, I just can not get angry at...I'll bet he's a stubborn ol cuss too!

My neighborhood block watch commander is like that. He's a retired cop and has lived here for over 70 years. He is absolutely convinced that I am a communist and he seeks to change me at every opportunity. He gets pretty angry at me too because I just smile back at him as I give him my version of reality. I know where the man is coming from...in a sense he is right BUT in a bigger sense he is wrong and I know that in an even bigger sense: we are BOTH right!

One of my personal heroes is a Republican Precinct Commander and a devout Christian. His name is Raymond Syckes. He was instrumental in the construction of one of the finest Frisbee Disc Golf courses on the West Coast. He has maintained these 30 or so acres for the last two decades. He has taught literally hundreds if not thousands of us how to play disc golf and how to respect the course. He is in his late 70s and yet he continues his service to our community. Hardly a summer week goes by without Ray out in a field teaching a newbie the ropes or hand picking up garbage. I would even go so far as to say: Ray is perhaps the most beloved man in Lakewood Washington. When he goes, it will be a sad time for many, the course will even be named for him on that day. He and I know each other, our debates can go on for hours our respect for each other never wavers. I have purchased books for him over the years: One was a fact book about Marijuana written by an unbiased doctor, another was a diary from earliest settler who worked the very land our golf course is on, (he really liked that one), I got him the recent Naiomi Wolf book which details the ten steps dictators take to gain power and for this Christmas I gave him Pat Buchanan's latest book which just came out a few months back, (I confess I was embarrased when I asked for it at B-Dalton's but I knew that Ray would love the book, he did!)

Then there is my step kids mother. He lives with her, yep he is a bonified freeper in every sense of the word. If he ever showed up here in the DU he would go down in flames faster than a drunk American Idol wannabe at an audition! I love him anyway and it is my hopes that he gets a good education from the college he attends there. Let me tell you about his mother, she is another republican, she sets up an information booth supporting her local party whenever her party has functions in her area. She tells me that invariable Democrats will come around and more often than not shouting matches ensue. She has had her booth wrecked, she has feared for her own safety a few times and once she was even spat on! If I could, I would want to be there with her in her booth, I would NOT want to engage in political fights with anyone, I would just want to protect a kindly old lady who was doing what she felt was the right thing for her country! Hell, I'd even bake some cookies for her to snack on while she worked! Me, i'd sit in the back of her booth if I could and spend my time on-line here in the DU on a laptop or perhaps read one of Thom Hartmann's fine books.

I guess my point to all of this is that we are all Americans, we really DO have as our bottom line a deep need to preserve American Democracy, we each are doing what we can. I am aware that we have been divided, perhaps deliberately as in "Divide and Conquer". I sense that this all benefits the corporate takeover of our government. That very takeover, I feel is the true enemy, not Commander McWorter, not my block-watch commander, not Ramond Sykes and certainly not my step kids mother! I would instead suggest reaching out to these folks where possible, crazy as that sounds, I would rather we brought our fellow Americans out of the dark to join us in the real war!

Freepers and flamers on the other hand are fair game. We have a proud bunch of big game hunters here in the DU, it is often fun to watch you all go after them...
thats when it's time to break out the :popcorn:

[JohnnyLib2]

19. I'm with you.

So many people seem to be "serial forwarders" -- maybe at least a few lessons will be learned.

[fightindonkey]

22. Hello, SNOPES.COM!

[lojasmo]

24. Yup. Snopes busted that shit wide open.

Not only stupid, bur frankly false.

[JohnnyLib2]

25. I'll say it again: Snopes.com is being misquoted in one of these

awful things. Outright lied about, near the top of the email. Got another one this morning.

[MethuenProgressive]

26. "Hillary gets $8 Million for her forthcoming memoir." That email's been around for a while.

And it'll keep on going...

[gratuitous]

27. It can be exhausting

Because teh stupid, it never ends.

Snopes, of course, is the deadly enemy of this form of hate speech, which is every bit as bad as the worst screed uttered by the Grand Dragon of the Ku Klux Klan. This is partly why these screeds have begun pre-emptively citing Snopes to cut people off from checking up for themselves.

It's also why so many of these contain religious and nationalistic themes, the better to dupe folks. If you're comfortable with it, it's useful to cite the Commandment against bearing false witness. What sort of Christian would spread unsubstantiated gossip and falsehoods? And now that the sender has been apprised of those falsehoods, is it sufficient to merely repent, or would a good Christian not go the extra mile to try to undo some of the damage that has been done by sending out the original e-mail?

[progressoid]

28. I usually respond to one or two a year just for the catharsis.

I did receive a very nice email from someone agreeing with me and thanking me for taking the time to debunk the original email.

A few have told me to take them out of my address book (I usually hit 'reply all'). :)

I say we all keep doing it. Even if only a few people change their mind, it's worth it to beat down the lies and misinformation out there.

[wryter2000]

29. What I usually do

Mostly, those ridiculous forwards are so long you can't possibly refute every idiotic statement.

First, I look at snopes. If snopes has debunked it, I send that information along.

If it's not on snopes, I pick out a few things that are obviously inaccurate (as you did with the 1993 WTC bombing) and point them out. Then, I add that the whole thing is too long for me to debunk every point, but I hope I've shown that the source is lying or has things mixed up.

Sometimes, I'll ask who the source of the "information" is. This one is attributed to someone, but many aren't. It would be interesting to ask who Cmdr. Hamilton McWhorter is and what makes him an expert. For the ones that have no attribution, that usually shuts up the person who forwarded it to me. They can't even tell me who wrote the tripe. So, why should I believe them?

I sometimes tell people I routinely ignore posts that ask me to THINK ABOUT IT.

All that stuff about Clinton's military service sounds completely fictional.

[RoadRage]

30. My response would be very short:

Thanks for all of the info. That must have taken you a lot of time...

But, maybe you haven't been paying attention - i'm voting for Hillary.. and your info seems to be about a guy named Bill. I don't think he's running for President, is he?

Anyway, thanks for the info - i'll be sure not to vote for that "Bill" guy, and vote for Hillary instead.

:)