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This weekend I received an email from a friend who I think really believed he was sending me information that was important. It was a forward of two emails, one attacking Hillary Clinton by including a “table” of taxes, comparing the supposed taxes of various levels of income under Clinton (Bill, of course) and under Bush (Dubya, that is). It will come as no surprise that the comparison was not favorable to Clinton, showing nearly double the amount of tax for a single person under $30K income and for a couple making $60K. It gave the source as taxfoundation.org. Very powerful. Very simple demonstration of what will happen to the lower income groups if Obama or Clinton get elected.
Very false, too. A check of the site in the email shows that the Tax Foundation itself disavows the email. It says:
Recently an incorrect comparison of income taxes under Presidents Clinton and Bush has been making the rounds of the internet, showing up in forwarded e-mails and on numerous blogs and message boards.
Winston Churchill said that a lie will be halfway around the world before truth gets it pants on, and that was before the Internets! Now, the lies get disseminated so quickly and so far that it seems impossible to combat the right wing’s tactics. The wingnuts have learned well the lesson of terrorism and the utility of fear.
Americans react so predictably to fear that it has become like a narcotic to Republican politicians and their supporters: Scare the electorate and it will vote against its own interests.
These emails are an extension of that doctrine. Send out the lie, knowing that the truth will not catch up to it until after the majority of recipients have been infected with the diseased message.
The rest of the email is a diatribe against Nancy Pelosi, attributing remarks to her to the effect that we should tax 401 K’s and IRA’s so we can give illegal immigrants the benefits they want from our country. Again, totally false, as a quick check of Snopes.com showed.
Humor may be the most powerful antidote to this tactic of just making stuff up.
Some candidate somewhere, in a debate with his opponent, said:
If you will quit telling lies about me, I will quit telling the truth about you.
Perhaps it is time for us to strike back.
Surely, there is some talented Webster out there (and I speak in the Internet sense of the word Web) who could put up a site for us to post the names of all who forward the drivel that they pan off on their listserves and email buddies.
We could make those senders a little more responsible by then sending polite replies, with something to this effect:
Your email in which you accuse the Democrats of heinous crimes and un-American activities is false, incorrect, fallacious, untrue, disingenuous and full of lies.Please send a correction to the same list you sent the lies to, or your email address will be posted on this site so that Democrats and other people who can think for themselves can correspond with you and point out the error of your ways.
If your retraction is not posted with us within 2 hours of this notice, the address will be posted. If you don’t think your email was in error, please refer to the Urban Legends and Myths site, or Snopes.com, or just use the Google, to learn the truth. Govern your actions accordingly.
I am sure that Halliburton, Exxon, and other companies whose “Green” advertising has been so prevalent lately would be happy to sponsor the site.
Any takers?
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Comments (1)
That's telling it like it is; excellent.
Posted by Ryal Bird
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March 10, 2008 11:03 PM
Posted on March 10, 2008 23:03