Yet another right-wing email

[JeffersonChick]

Here's the latest one I got, apparently written by former Senator Robert A. Hall. I have absolutely had it with these things. I refrain from sending liberal emails to conservative friends and family out of respect for their viewpoints. Evidently, they have no problem with flinging their right-wing crap my way.

Well, no more. I HAVE HAD IT. I don't care how long it takes, I'm going to respond to every one of these ridiculous statements. If anyone cares to jump in and help, please do. I will post the final version of the response email, in case anyone wants to use it.

Here's the email:



I'm 63. Except for one semester in college when jobs were scarce and a six-month period when I was between jobs, but job-hunting every day, I've worked, hard, since I was 18. Despite some health challenges, I still put in 50-hour weeks, and haven't called in sick in seven or eight years. I make a good salary, but I didn't inherit my job or my income, and I worked to get where I am. Given the economy, there's no retirement in sight, and I'm tired. Very tired.

I'm tired of being told that I have to "spread the wealth" to people who don't have my work ethic. I'm tired of being told the government will take the money I earned, by force if necessary, and give it to people too lazy to earn it.

I'm tired of being told that I have to pay more taxes to "keep people in their homes." Sure, if they lost their jobs or got sick, I'm willing to help. But if they bought McMansions at three times the price of our paid-off, $250,000 condo, on one-third of my salary, then let the left-wing Congress-critters who passed Fannie and Freddie and the Community Reinvestment Act that created the bubble help them with their own money.

I'm tired of being told how bad America is by left-wing millionaires like Michael Moore, George Soros and Hollywood Entertainers who live in luxury because of the opportunities America offers. In thirty years, if they get their way, the United States will have the economy of Zimbabwe, the freedom of the press of China, the crime and violence of Mexico, the tolerance for Christian people of Iran, and the freedom of speech of Venezuela.

I'm tired of being told that Islam is a "Religion of Peace," when every day I can read dozens of stories of Muslim men killing their sisters, wives and daughters for their family "honor"; of Muslims rioting over some slight offense; of Muslims murdering Christian and Jews because they aren't "believers"; of Muslims burning schools for girls; of Muslims stoning teenage rape victims to death for "adultery"; of Muslims mutilating the genitals of little girls; all in the name of Allah, because the Qur'an and Shari'a law tells them to.

I'm tired of being told that "race doesn't matter" in the post-racial world of Obama, when it's all that matters in affirmative action jobs, lower college admission and graduation standards for minorities (harming them the most), government contract set-asides, tolerance for the ghetto culture of violence and fatherless children that hurts minorities more than anyone, and in the appointment of U.S. Senators from Illinois.

I think it's very cool that we have a black president and that a black child is doing her homework at the desk where Lincoln wrote the Emancipation Proclamation. I just wish the black president was Condi Rice, or someone who believes more in freedom and the individual and less arrogantly of an all-knowing government.

I'm tired of a news media that thinks Bush's fundraising and inaugural expenses were obscene, but that think Obama's, at triple the cost, were wonderful; that thinks Bush exercising daily was a waste of presidential time, but Obama exercising is a great example for the public to control weight and stress; that picked over every line of Bush's military records, but never demanded that Kerry release his; that slammed Palin, with two years as governor, for being too inexperienced for VP, but touted Obama with three years as senator as potentially the best president ever. Wonder why people are dropping their subscriptions or switching to Fox News? Get a clue. I didn't vote for Bush in 2000, but the media and Kerry drove me to his camp in 2004.

I'm tired of being told that out of "tolerance for other cultures" we must let Saudi Arabia use our oil money to fund mosques and madrassa Islamic schools to preach hate in America, while no American group is allowed to fund a church, synagogue or religious school in Saudi Arabia to teach love and tolerance.

I'm tired of being told I must lower my living standard to fight global warming, which no one is allowed to debate. My wife and I live in a two-bedroom apartment and carpool together five miles to our jobs. We also own a three-bedroom condo where our daughter and granddaughter live. Our carbon footprint is about 5% of Al Gore's, and if you're greener than Gore, you're green enough.

I'm tired of being told that drug addicts have a disease, and I must help support and treat them, and pay for the damage they do. Did a giant germ rush out of a dark alley, grab them, and stuff white powder up their noses while they tried to fight it off? I don't think Gay people choose to be Gay, but I damn sure think druggies chose to take drugs. And I'm tired of harassment from cool people treating me like a freak when I tell them I never tried marijuana.

I'm tired of illegal aliens being called "undocumented workers," especially the ones who aren't working, but are living on welfare or crime. What's next? Calling drug dealers, "Undocumented Pharmacists"? And, no, I'm not against Hispanics. Most of them are Catholic, and it's been a few hundred years since Catholics wanted to kill me for my religion. I'm willing to fast track for citizenship any Hispanic person, who can speak English, doesn't have a criminal record and who is self-supporting without family on welfare, or who serves honorably for three years in our military.... Those are the citizens we need.

I'm tired of latte liberals and journalists, who would never wear the uniform of the Republic themselves, or let their entitlement-handicapped kids near a recruiting station, trashing our military. They and their kids can sit at home, never having to make split-second decisions under life and death circumstances, and bad mouth better people than themselves. Do bad things happen in war? You bet. Do our troops sometimes misbehave? Sure. Does this compare with the atrocities that were the policy of our enemies for the last fifty years and still are? Not even close. So here's the deal. I'll let myself be subjected to all the humiliation and abuse that was heaped on terrorists at Abu Ghraib or Gitmo, and the critics can let themselves be subject to captivity by the Muslims, who tortured and beheaded Daniel Pearl in Pakistan, or the Muslims who tortured and murdered Marine Lt. Col. William Higgins in Lebanon, or the Muslims who ran the blood-spattered Al Qaeda torture rooms our troops found in Iraq, or the Muslims who cut off the heads of schoolgirls in Indonesia, because the girls were Christian. Then we'll compare notes. British and American soldiers are the only troops in history that civilians came to for help and handouts, instead of hiding from in fear.

I'm tired of people telling me that their party has a corner on virtue and the other party has a corner on corruption. Read the papers; bums are bipartisan. And I'm tired of people telling me we need bipartisanship. I live in Illinois , where the "Illinois Combine" of Democrats has worked to loot the public for years. Not to mention the tax cheats in Obama's cabinet.

I'm tired of hearing wealthy athletes, entertainers and politicians of both parties talking about innocent mistakes, stupid mistakes or youthful mistakes, when we all know they think their only mistake was getting caught. I'm tired of people with a sense of entitlement, rich or poor.

Speaking of poor, I'm tired of hearing people with air-conditioned homes, color TVs and two cars called poor. The majority of Americans didn't have that in 1970, but we didn't know we were "poor." The poverty pimps have to keep changing the definition of poor to keep the dollars flowing.

I'm real tired of people who don't take responsibility for their lives and actions. I'm tired of hearing them blame the government, or discrimination or big-whatever for their problems.

Yes, I'm damn tired. But I'm also glad to be 63. Because, mostly, I'm not going to have to see the world these people are making. I'm just sorry for my granddaughter.


Robert A. Hall is a Marine Vietnam veteran who served five terms in the Massachusetts State Senate.

There is no way this will be widely publicized, unless each of us sends it on!
This is your chance to make a difference.II

[johnnyplankton]

1. I Get Them All the Time

I've blasted my friend, especially on the racist ones, but to be honest, I'm evaluating my friendship with the guy who sends them. So now I just delete.

[droidamus2]

2. From what I see in this polemic

Thing only thing important in this mans world is I, me and mine. He's perfect and everybody else sucks and if they try to tell him different they are wrong. No empathy and no social responsibility it is every man for himself and since in his mind he has succeeded if you haven't it's your fault and not his problem. What an ass.

[JeffersonChick]

3. No equivalent emails on snopes.com

I went to snopes.com to check to see if this email was actually written by Robert Hall. It was. Then I checked the list of Politics/Soapbox emails Snopes has, and not a single one, not ONE, on the entire list, was written by a liberal. Here's the list:

http://www.snopes.com/politics/soapbox/soapbox.asp

[Cartoonist]

4. Overwhelming

There's too much BS in this to respond item by item.

I'm not a vet or a former senator, but here's my letter:

I turn 56 this month. I've worked hard all my life. I've had a rewarding career that saw my income rise yearly, reaching a peak in 2000. Then the monkey was appointed President, that's right, APPOINTED. Over 200 years of democracy was thrown out the window by a right wing that sneers at people who disagree with them by claiming that they are not REAL Americans. Immediately, the economy went south as the boy king undid everything Bill Clinton had done. My income began it's fall as well.
I was horrified at the destruction of 9/11, but even more horrified as it was revealed that our Commander-in-chief just sat there staring into space after being told our country was under attack. The horror turned to outrage as the appointee went around the country claiming he just hit the trifecta.
The economy continued to slide, and all the GOP could do was beat the drums of war and strip Americans of their legal rights and freedoms. I lost my job in 2007, along with millions of other Americans. I lost my health care as well, all the while being told that health care was evil socialism.
I smiled as America voted for a black socialist commie Marxist Muslim who palled around with terrorists instead of the great white war hero and his moose hunting side-kick. I returned to work the next month, riding on HOPE.
I hope the GOP never returns to power, for our grand children's sake.

[kevinbgoode]

5. You made a great start - I'll try to help it along. . .

. . .I'm tired of so-called "patriots" brandishing their military credentials while parroting the same right-wing talking points over and over in mass emailings, as if they are trying to tell their fellow Americans that they yearn for a dictatorship which will never require them to think for themselves. And I'm even more tired of con-artists posing as "conservatives" who view "freedom" as nothing more than the right to steal at will and without punishment from their fellow citizens and then attack the government because it is the only institution with any mechanism to represent their victims.

I'm tired of people whining about entitlements, too. And that includes military veterans who demand constant hero worship and yet never thank the American people who provided them clothing, equipment, food, medical and dental care, free tuition and housing, pension benefits, entertainment, and sent them Care packages because they wanted to play X-Box in their barracks. I'm tired of people who whine about the supposed "quota" systems of affirmative action, and yet they never hesitate to check the box on their own job applications to let their employer know they are a veteran and thus deserve special employment and educational consideration.

I'm tired of these same people who worship the valor of the military (and their supposed role in it) who never, over decades, opened their mouth to defend a single gay or lesbian unit member, whose bravery and valor was rewarded with being stripped of their service and uniform, often disgraced, and having all their benefits removed. I'm tired of hearing all of these same people whine on and on about how those gay Americans must continue to make sacrifices of their own citizenship in order to accommodate the selected religious interpretations of alleged "Christians" - people who freely chose an organization that openly preaches against the Constitution and the promise of freedom for ALL Americans.

I'm tired of all the whining about "undocumented workers" and yet I never hear a word from these same people about any other nationality other than Latino. They don't rage about the boat people who come ashore in Florida, or the huge cost to the American taxpayer in the aftermath of the Vietnam war when we took refugees in, including children who were created by these same alleged "Christians" as they procreated with Vietnamese women- and then left those children behind. I'm tired of paying taxes for payroll and medical treatment for service personnel who readily entertain the affections of countless brothels and escort services that line the roads to our overseas bases, and then have these same people circulate emails whining about dishonesty and immorality among others.

I'm very, very tired of con-artists who circulate emails PRETENDING to claim how disgusted they are with the irresponsible and immoral behavior of some of our public officials of BOTH parties - and then proceed to only produce a laundry list of people from one party and yet hope that enough of us are stupid enough to eat the hypocrisy right up.

I'm also tired of hearing people claim that they go to Fox News to get the "truth." Any American who is so celebratory of personal ignorance that they can't admit that they go to Fox News to get what they want to HEAR, instead of any TRUTH, has little business pretending to be a patriot. I'm tired of listening to these same people repeat the talking points some entertainment news network spews out as gospel and then whine that the rest of the media must be "liberal" because they don't feed you more of what you want to hear. I'm tired of that kind of laziness and irresponsibility, and even more tired of the people worshipping such nonsense that they cannot accept even the most remote responsibility for electing the public officials they claim to disdain now. I'm tired of that determination to cling to willful ignorance, knowing that each time you do so is another step toward destroying your own country and your own reprsentative government.

And I am especially tired of the endless hero worshipping of giant corporations, companies which bear little or no responsibility to the public, who enslave us as "customers" who have few choices that don't produce duplicate results or situations in our lives. I'm tired of the campaigning by the most willfully ignorant for the rights of these cabals of dictators to have more power over our lives and no accountability. It again reminds me that con-artists believe that "freedom" is the right to steal from their neighbor without accountability, responsibility, or repercussion.

And perhaps most importantly, I'm sick and tired of the whining that comes from those who were handed opportunities in their lives. The people who worshipped Ronald Reagan are also the ones who view "working hard" as networking, playing golf with their bosses, joining the right social clubs and churches, and hiring from within the social clique. I'm tired of them always - without fail - ALWAYS talking about how "hard" they worked and never mentioning that good old boy network of straight white males that still dominates the corporate world.

[JeffersonChick]

7. Holy cow, kevinbgoode - you have rocked my world!

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

You got that out lightning-fast! And rest assured, I will be sending it on!

:yourock:

[ChoppinBroccoli]

9. Paragraph #2 Is Niiiiiiiiiiice

I'm gonna steal that one sometime.

[Blue-Jay]

6. Didn't read it. Don't care.

It's probably just a bunch of bullshit.

[ChoppinBroccoli]

8. "innocent mistakes, stupid mistakes or youthful mistakes,"

This kinda sounds like someone we all know trying to explain away the fact that he was a fall-down drunk, a drunk DRIVER, and a cocaine user just a few short years before he became Governor of Texas.

Yeah, I'm quite sure you're tired of people with a sense of entitlement, considering this entire e-mail is basically a "poor me" whine-fest of all the things other people are trying to take away from YOU.

"I'm tired of hearing them blame the government." Isn't this what you've done throughout this ENTIRE rambling whine-a-thon?

You know what I'M tired of? Hypocrites who think the sun shines out of their assholes while they shit on everyone they view as beneath them. I could condense this whole thing down to one sentence: "They're tryin' to take our shit!!!" That's the entirety of the Republican platform. YOU have some shit, and SOMEBODY ELSE is trying to take it from you, and it scares you to death. Kinda like that South Park episode where they keep yelling, "They took our jobs!!!" You can sum up the entire Republican platform with the sentence, "They're tryin' to take our shit!!!"

[bluestateguy]

10. "I'm tired of being told how bad America is..."

which is exactly what he does himself in his rambling tirade.

You are either with this president or you are with the terrorists*.

*Does that rhetoric sound familiar?

[discopants]

11. Lilly Von Schtupp is tired too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-pmpgrYQgs

[county worker]

12. He's tired of straw men. Everything he is tired of came from the lying right wing talking heads.

My bet is that this email is a lie too. If I ever hear a truthful statement from a right winger it probably will make my head explode!

[Scuba]

13. You may want to point out...

...that "spread the wealth" would mean he would get some of the wealth the richest 10% now hoard.

[B Calm]

14. I'm 59 years old and tired of right wing lying false e-mails smearing democrats.

[lib_wit_it]

15. I'm a little disappointed, though not surprised, to see so little interest in this OP. I think

liberals underestimate the power and effectiveness of these massively forwarded RW lies. Especially since just about every liberal I know refrains from sending liberal emails to those they know to be conservative or are unsure of, even in response to receiving this crap repeatedly from "friends" and family. (Same deal with RWers spewing this stuff verbally in mixed company.)

My mom, who does not consider herself a liberal but who likes Keith and love Rachel, had been deleting those RW emails until she became fed up, and even then she'd just send a polite response saying she did not share their views and would like them to stop sending political emails. The response? A few apologized and complied with her request. A few apologized, yet continued to send the crap. A few were offended by her response and said so, along with a grudging or sarcastic apology and stopped emailing her altogether.

Lately she's been replying with more pointed words, telling them that the facts are wrong and that it's that sort of thing that's causing so much hatred and division in the country. The last time she did this it was to my sister's sister-in-law, and she eventually sent an apology due to pressure from my sister--who is also a Keith & Rachel fan, btw--and my dad--also a liberalish Democrat.

I realize that many people who send the RW propaganda will not be educated to the facts, but I'm convinced that many would be open to hearing both sides, but they're only getting one. We may think it's stupid to form political opinions based on emails, but there are many Americans who don't pay attention to politics much outside of what they hear from friends.

I've been saying for ages that we need to execute a counter campaign. Not exaggerated or lying screeds like the RW ones, but factual ones that present the truth. But I've been told it's pointless.

[KonaKane]

16. That tired piece of shit astroturf has been floating around for a long time

It's not only wound up in my email more than once, but its posted on a number of online forums including craigslist. Just accept for what it is - junk.