I received the below email from someone (frankly, who is easily bamboozled). My response is below the original nutty email. I know it's long, but I think I did a good job shooting down this kind of crap.
***** my response is below ******Below is the dumb email I originally received (misspellings left intact):
**********************
I couldn't believe this when it came but at the same time I was listening to Mr. Obama's remarks on Iranian sanctions so I quess NOTHING surprises me now. Please repond and pss this on
I thought this was a joke when I received it.
I read it. I voted.
Just in case you haven’t heard yet Fox News has a Poll--Should the Flag Be Banned at Schools?
Moveon.org, Organizing for America , and SEIU have been twittering today to go to Fox Poll and vote to ban the Flag .... and right now it is working.
SHOW THEM WHAT TRUE PATRIOTS BELIEVE!!! Let's flip those numbers and show the leftists we are organized and on the move....flip the numbers now-FLIP THE HOUSE in November!
GO HERE TO VOTE NOW
http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2010/05/06/american-flag-banned-america/
..........and then pass it along, please!
Once again, the right-wing is lying to you. Here's my proof:
This email claims that "Moveon.org, Organizing for America , and SEIU have been twittering today to go to Fox Poll and vote to ban the Flag "
This can be easily verified by a simple Google search. Did you know can search the contents of an entire web site for certain keywords? Go to Google, then click "Advanced Search" to the right of the search field (or just click here: http://www.google.com/advanced_search?hl=en). The bottom search filed is this: "Search within a site or domain". First I entered this domain (or Internet address): twitter.com/BarackObama/organizing-for-america. Then in the top search field I entered the keywords "ban flag." Here was the result:
"Your search - ban flag site:twitter.com/BarackObama/organizing-for-america - did not match any documents."
I did the same keyword search for these domains: twitter.com/moveon and twitter.com/seiu. But I got the same "did not match any documents" result.
But if I enter different keywords that should be in a Twitter message from those organizations, I do get some results. For example, instead of using the keywords "ban flag" while searching the domain twitter.com/BarackObama/organizing-for-america, I enter the keywords "oil spill" then, BINGO! I get a search result: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&safe=off&as_qdr=all&q=oil+spill+site%3Atwitter.com%2FBarackObama%2Forganizing-for-america&aq=f&aqi=&aql=f&oq=&gs_rfai=
Just in case Google missed any trace of the alleged call to ban the flag on Obama's Twitter page (http://twitter.com/BarackObama/organizing-for-america), I manually searched every page of "Tweets" in the past week for the word "flag" using the web browser's search function and..., nope--not a single Tweet even mentions the word "flag."
There. I just proved this ridiculous email completely false. Since this email was forwarded to hundreds of people (but it was a lie), don't you think it's a good idea to now forward my response (which shows the truth) to the same people who sent this to you? Why forward a lie when you can forward the truth? And hopefully you can undo some of the damage this lie has already caused.
And..., if you forward it to ten people in the next five minutes, something wonderful will happen to you within the next 24 hours. Just kidding!
One more thing. Just stop and think about the basic premise of this email. I really didn't even need to prove it wrong because it simply doesn't even make sense. Do you really think Barack Obama, MoveOn or the SEIU would actually encourage people to ban the display of the American flag for any reason? What possible advantage would there be for an American president, an American political lobbying organization or a American labor union to advocate the removal of the American flag? It's inconceivable that anyone would do that. Apart from a handful of some really nutty people, can you ever remember any person (on the Left or the Right) actually proposing to ban the display of the American flag in schools (or anywhere else for that matter)? Stop and imagine this scenario: Barack Obama steps up to a podium and announces that he wants to prevent the American flag from being displayed in public schools. Do you really think he would ever say something like that? This email doesn't even pass a simple logic test.
Besides, the moron who originally compose that email didn't even get the basic facts right. The Fox Poll says nothing about displaying the flag in schools. Here is the actual question: "Should the American Flag Be Banned -- in America?" http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2010/05/06/american-flag-banned-america/
By the way, if you want to "be a true patriot" as this email suggests, don't just respond to a poll on a web site. My definition of a patriot is a person who continually makes personal sacrifices for the greater good of the nation. For example, you give up your personal time to volunteer somewhere or you give up your money to help a worthy cause. You do something so that the lives of Americans and the overall state of our nation (or the world or the planet) is improved.
By contrast, everything the right-wing does has either two purposes:
1) to keep money, power and other resources flowing to the already wealthy (usually at the expense of the rest of us); and
2) to keep the rest of us distracted so that #1 can keep occurring.
Ask yourself--how patriotic is someone who engages in the above two activities?
And guess which one of the above that this stupid email just accomplished. This is known in the political world as a "wedge issue." It is a tool used by Republicans (very frequently) and Democrats (rarely) to present a controversial and divisive issue in order to get people all riled up--yet it has no real effect on the lives of Americans. So pretend the American flag is somehow under attack and you can manipulate people into getting emotional and even taking (misguided) action--such as voting Republican.., even though Republicans have never done a single thing to improve the lives of non-wealthy Americans. NOT A SINGLE THING. At least the other party occasionally throws the rest of us a few crumbs.
I remember being outraged in June of 1989 when President George H.W. Bush announced his support for an amendment to the U.S. Constitution to prevent any desecration of the American flag. No, I wasn't outraged that he wanted to protect the flag. I was outraged that he had done NOTHING for the American people for the first five months of his term of office, then when he finally steps up to take some action, it was for such a lame reason..., merely to score political points before we celebrate the 4th of July. How gutless.
Other wedge issues to look for that are commonly used by the right-wing (again, that have no real positive effect on the lives of Americans):
1) threats that your gun ownership rights will be taken away
2) threats that abortion on demand will be allowed
3) threats that your freedom of religious expression will be removed
4) threats that homosexuals will somehow ruin "traditional marriage"
American political wedge issues are often put in the simple categories of the Three Gs: "God, guns and gays."
I don't know about you, but I'm so tired of these pathetic threats that attempt to play with my emotions. And none of these will ever actually happen. But, in order to keep their "base" of supporters all riled up and sending in campaign contributions, the right-wing will keep trotting out these phony issues. These are all meant to distract, dupe and bamboozle you so that the rich can keep using the political system to rob you. So that Halliburton can keep overcharging us taxpayers billions of dollars to provide overpriced and often inferior services to our military (just Google the keywords "Halliburton scandal"). So that Goldman Sachs (and all the other large financial firms) can keep stealing your investments without that pesky SEC oversight. So that BP can keep drilling for profits while keeping those annoying government safety inspectors off their backs. "Spill, baby, spill!" (isn't that right, Sarah? You betcha!). And so the rich can keep buying off OUR politicians and OUR democracy for their own selfish purposes.
Look at where the ACTUAL damage is done: the mega-rich are hurting our pocketbook and our planet. So how has this phony flag issue hurt anyone? As Representative Gary Ackerman (D-New York) said,
"If a jerk burns a flag, America is not threatened.
If a jerk burns a flag, democracy is not under siege.
If a jerk burns a flag, freedom is not at risk and we are not threatened.
My colleagues, we are offended; and to change our Constitution because someone offends us is, in itself, unconscionable."
A common magician's trick is to do something interesting with his right hand to distract you while his left hand is doing the so-called "magic," such as pulling something out of his pocket. That's what these emails and wedge issues are designed to do--keep you distracted from their real actions that are actually hurting you: stealing your money (i.e., giving your tax payments to defense contractors), polluting your planet, destroying your democracy, engaging in class warfare to destroy the middle class, etc.--and all while your attention is diverted to the magician's/politician's "other hand": God, guns and gays..., and flags.
Meanwhile, any attempt to bring a decent life (decent wages, health care, education, housing, etc.) to non-wealthy Americans is incorrectly attacked as socialism, communism, fascism and any other scary B.S. the right-wing can throw into the political debate.
So, in conclusion, it's your choice: vote for or against YOUR best interests. Be bamboozled by people who are out to rob your quality life and to benefit the super-wealthy--or work with those who are trying to improve your life in REAL ways.
Try to remember that when you go into the voting booth in November.
