Tuesday, November 04, 2008

 

Thanks for the clarification.

I belong to a lot of different interest groups. I'm Catholic, and I subscribe to a few (mostly but not all liberal) Catholic magazines, newsletters and listserves. Then again, I subscribe to some Jewish news sources, partly for the joy of Torah study. I am registered a Republican, so my party sends me information about the dastardly doings of the Democrats. Then again, I've volunteered for and donated money to Democratic and Green candidates, so I'm on their mailing list as well.

I receive literacy activities from various education sources, and science activities from NOAA. I think it is my New Yorker subscription that gets me the pitches for expensive watches and luxury vacations. Years ago, I had a friend who put a different middle initial on all his subscriptions just to see which ones were associated with what additional mail. And then there are the catalogues....

All this goes part of the way toward explaining two emails I received today and yesterday.

On November 3rd, the day before election day, I received this message from the Republican Jewish Coalition, via the Haaretz mailing list.

"Concerned about Barack Obama? You should be.

Many Americans have questions about Barack Obama and whether his views are good for the United States and Israel. And for good reason.

Most concerning is Sen. Barack Obama's naive grasp of the threats against the United States and Israel.

Obama has surrounded himself with anti-Israel advisors like General Tony McPeak, Zbigniew Brzezinski, Robert Malley and Reverend Jeremiah Wright.

Sen. Obama told a Jewish group he supports an undivided Jerusalem, only to flip-flop the very next day. Another time, Obama called his support for an undivided Jerusalem a "poor phrasing" of words.

From his opposition to legislation labeling Iran's Revolutionary Guard a terrorist organization to his willingness to meet with Iranian President Ahmadinejad without any preconditions, Sen. Barack Obama has raised real questions about his judgment and experience.

Barack Obama has not shown the commitment to stand up to the people who would do us harm."

There were some videos and graphics, and a very small tagline:

Paid for by the Republican Jewish Coalition. Not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee.

Today, November 4th, is election day. This was in my inbox:

"Dear Haaretz subscribers,

You received an email earlier today from Haaretz.com about Barack Obama, on behalf of the Republican Jewish Coalition.

This email was issued by the commercial department and is not Haaretz editorial content.

Yours,

Haaretz.com"

Haaretz is an Israeli publication that is (like much of Israeli society) loyally critical of their own government -- particularly over the treatment of Palestinians and Arab Israeli citizens. Their coverage of the Obama campaign, and his visit to Israel, was quite positive.

I'd like to think people in the United States do not vote on the basis of what Haaretz recommends, and that anyone who might, could see clearly that the Monday piece was a political ad.
Still, I hope no one ran out and voted in response to the first email before receiving the second one.

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Comments:
Hooray for the big Blue New Mexico standing all alone out in the west while we wait for the polls to close on the west coast!
 
Had this election come to a slimmer margin and not a near landslide then we'd be splitting hairs over who voted based on fear tactics or the bradley effect or who got suspect emails and treated them as factual. Instead, we'll probably forget all about them until they rear their ugly head in the next general election...
 
I think some of those fear tactics backfired-and may be part of the reason Dole-and McCain- lost. Even the red state voters have some intelligent voters who are disgusted with that type of election and want positive ideas for the future. For now, tho, I feel like it's Christmas-a world full of love, HOPE, peace and joy! With Indiana voting blue, anything is possible...
 
The fonts and typefaces are totally messed up on this post, so I am going to take it down.
 
or not...
 
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