The Email Brigade - the Real Enemy

I consider myself a liberal for two reasons. One, that’s what conservatives call anyone that doesn’t think exactly like them, and two, it’s the only label that Democrats seem to have. Fine, whatever. I’m a liberal. It has taken me quite sometime to realize that right wing conservatives are not the enemy. Oh sure, I like to argue with right-wingers all the time, pointing out their narrow-minded views and their spread of hatred. But to be honest, the loud-mouths don’t bother me as much as what I like to call the Email Brigade. You know EXACTLY who I’m talking about. They forward emails to you about three times a week with long stories that have “lessons”. The conservatives send stories about how our country has gone downhill since we took God out of schools. Or why it is mandatory that we blindly support George Bush and the war because “if you ain’t fer us yer agin' us!” and thus not a patriot. Or how we say the words “immigration reform” but really mean, “keep ‘em Mexicans out!” But conservatives aren’t the only guilty party here. Liberals are the ones who send the prayer chains around, with a veiled threat if you don’t forward the email. They also send the “little Johnny is in the hospital and will have his bills paid if you sign the petition and pass it on” emails that are just plain evil. Not to mention the “you will get $500 as soon as you forward this to ten people” chain emails, and it always has the note “I tried it my damn self and it worked!”. If you believe liberal chain emails, you believe that Bill Gates will give you a free computer, the Post office will start charging you 5 cents for email, and The American Cancer Society will donate money for sending around your email.

I guess you could make a case for which is worse. Both are bad in that they give out your email to spammers (who are usually behind all these anyway). The moment you get these, you should immediately email the person back and tell them that you are NOT part of the brigade and PLEASE remove your address from all the future crap they plan to send. Also, send them a link to snopes.com to show just how foolish they are (you really thought Oliver North was smart enough forecast Osama Bin Laden and then call out Al Gore in a Senate hearing?)

Stop these people. Stop them now.