This message was actually delivered to the unsuspecting sender of the original message. No response yet. Details to follow.
Updated @ 7:19 pm on 01/11
It turns out the perpetrator is a woman. Snoops McGee, P.I., and senior member of the research department here at Suburban Burlesque did a last minute sex check. The old fake phone call did the trick.
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Ms. ****:
Yesterday I came into receipt of an e-mail entitled, “Who is Barack Obama.” While it’s obvious you didn’t author the piece, your name and contact information appear at the bottom. As you also forwarded this e-mail to a number of people, I assume you fully endorse the content.
After reading the first few paragraphs, it became clear that the it was nothing more than another transparent political smear. Sadly, we all see or hear this type of thing on a seemingly daily basis.
Normally, I would have deleted it without a second thought, but I was slightly vexed by the source of the e-mail. You see, Ms. ****, your e-mail was forwarded to me by a public school teacher who received it at her public school e-mail address.
This teacher had not yet checked her inbox when one of her colleagues came into her classroom to ask if she’d seen it. Now, aside from her colleague being an oft-recognized, skilled, and dedicated middle school teacher, she is a practicing Muslim. Before I go on, Ms. ****, I’d like to share something that should at the very least give you pause, and perhaps even reason to take a long look into the nature of your heart.
After my friend opened and read the e-mail you generated, she was outraged. She forwarded it to me before calling and asking that I read it immediately. The anger in her voice was palpable, Ms. ****.
In contrast—as I was later told—her colleague showed no visible signs of outrage. She only voiced sad concern for the students sitting in the classrooms of the teachers who were propagating this smear; and who, in their ignorance, were unlikely to recognize the unconscious damage they might inflict on the children they teach.
Her concern for others in the face of such an ugly and unnecessary affront is commendable. And an example we would all do well to remember.
Before moving onto the substance your messages, and what, if any, actions I might consider taking in response, may I suggest you find and read the writings of St. John of the Cross. Of particular interest are his thoughts on, “The Long Dark Night of the Soul.”
By now, my reasons for deciding to further investigate (rather than simply shaking my head and clicking delete) should be clear. If not, I’ll make it abundantly clear to you and your like minded associates. For those entrusted with the hearts and minds of our children, bearing false witness in this manner, and with all the sub-text of racism and fear, is simply unconscionable. Never mind the fact it was generated within tax-payer owned facilities by an employee of the public. It’s my sincere hope that for the most part ignorance plays the greater role in this, but I’ve been around a long time and I know that not everyone involved can claim that unacceptable excuse. And for those who are educators, this excuse is far weaker still.
After printing out your email and giving a more careful read I was struck by your statement: “We checked this out on snopes.com. It is factual. Check for yourself.”
Taking your advice I visited the Snopes’ Web Site. I must tell you Ms. ****, I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
The first thing posted on snopes.com is a copy of your very same e-mail. As I scrolled down the screen, the very next paragraph was as follows:
“One version of the e-mail in circulation claims "We were told this was checked out on 'snopes.com'. It is factual. Check for yourself." and includes a link to this web site. It's our guess that whoever included that bit was counting on folks to not check, as our article says the opposite: that the polemic is not factual but rather is false.”
You see Ms. ****, like me, I guess you didn’t know that Snopes.com is a well-known fact checking site. The contents of your e-mail were in fact the subject for their very thorough, well-documented process for debunking smears, myths, and urban legends. What follows are a few samples—courtesy of the recommended Web site—that do little to corroborate the “facts” in your e-mail:
[please note that any statements in brackets are my personal observations]
**** e-mail: Obama takes great care to conceal the fact that he is a Muslim. He is quick to point out that, "He was once a Muslim, but that he also attended Catholic school." Obama's political handlers are attempting to make it appear that he is not a radical.
Snopes.com: Barack Obama never stated that he "was once a Muslim" (radical or otherwise), so his "handlers" have nothing to "conceal."
**** e-mail: Obama was enrolled in a Wahabi school in Jakarta. Wahabism is the RADICAL teaching that is followed by the Muslim terrorists who are now waging Jihad against the western world.
Snopes.com: CNN has more recently reported that its own investigation found those claims to be false: [R]eporting by CNN in Jakarta, Indonesia and Washington, D.C., shows the allegations that Obama attended a madrassa to be false. CNN dispatched Senior International Correspondent John Vause to Jakarta to investigate. He visited the Basuki school, which Obama attended from 1969 to 1971.
"This is a public school. We don't focus on religion," Hardi Priyono, deputy headmaster of the Basuki school, told Vause. "In our daily lives, we try to respect religion, but we don't give preferential treatment." Vause reported he saw boys and girls dressed in neat school uniforms playing outside the school, while teachers were dressed in Western-style clothes.
"I came here to Barack Obama's elementary school in Jakarta looking for what some are calling an Islamic madrassa ... like the ones that teach hate and violence in Pakistan and Afghanistan," Vause said on the 'Situation Room.' "I've been to those madrassas in Pakistan ... this school is nothing like that." Vause also interviewed one of Obama's Basuki classmates, Bandug Winadijanto, who claims that not a lot has changed at the school since the two men were pupils.
Insight reported that Obama's political opponents believed the school promoted Wahhabism, a fundamentalist form of Islam, "and are seeking to prove it." "It's not (an) Islamic school. It's general," Winadijanto said. "There is a lot of Christians, Buddhists, also Confucian. ... So that's a mixed school."
**** e-mail: Since it is politically expedient to be a CHRISTIAN when seeking major public office in the United States, Barack Hussein Obama has joined the United Church of Christ in an attempt to downplay his Muslim background.
Snopes.com: Obama was first elected to the Illinois state senate in 1996, but he has been involved with the United Church of Christ since the mid-1980s.) The beginnings of Obama's relationship with the church were described in an April 2004 /Chicago Sun-Times/ article: Obama is unapologetic in saying he has a "personal relationship with Jesus Christ." As a sign of that relationship, he says, he walked down the aisle of Chicago's Trinity United Church of Christ in response to the Rev. Jeremiah Wright's altar call one Sunday morning about 16 years ago.
**** e-mail: ALSO, keep in mind that when he was sworn into office he DID NOT use the Holy Bible, but instead the Koran.
Snopes.com: This statement is completely false. It is a mistaken reference to a different politician, Minnesota congressman Keith Ellison.
[Ms. ****, Senator Obama has always been sworn in with his hand on the Bible and the most cursory research on your part would have revealed numerous photos of the Senator at various swearing-in ceremonies with his hand on the bible. May I also remind you that as a teacher, surely you know that our Constitution is explicit in barring any religious “test” being applied to any office holder? Furthermore, there are more than a handful of former elected officials currently serving prison time who all swore on the Bible.]
The point being, it’s not where your hand is, but rather where your heart is.
**** e-mail: Barack Hussein Obama will NOT recite the Pledge of Allegiance nor will he show any reverence for our flag. While others place their hands over their hearts, Obama turns his back to the flag and slouches.
Snopes.com: Senator Obama drew some criticism over a photograph that showed him standing without his hand over his heart during the playing of the U.S. national anthem, but the claim that he "will NOT recite the Pledge of Allegiance" is false.
[Everyone has their back to flag in the picture. We can reasonably assume that there was a separate flag in front. And if you watch or attend many ballgames Coach, you’ll surely notice a large number of people don’t put their hand over their hearts during the anthem. I myself for instance usually stand and remove my hat; And, while I can’t really remember the last time I recited the Pledge of Allegiance, just like Senator Obama, I always put my hand over my heart. Once again, there is abundant photographic & video tape evidence is readily available to anyone with a concern about this.]
Snopes.com provides a list of all references used in their research. It’s worth noting they never use anonymous sources. They also link a number of other useful sources that one can access for more detailed information.
Please understand Ms. ****, that by disseminating this message, you’ve essentially stamped it with your very own electronic signature. Given how you vouched for the veracity of your statements—as did many of your like-minded friends who forwarded this unsubstantiated, racist trash with similar intent, you all have, knowingly, or recklessly posted false or defamatory information about a person or organization*.
* excerpted from the Bonham School District’s policy regarding the acceptable use of computers for employees (4.e)
I’m not a lawyer, Ms. ****, so I don’t know if you are actually subject to any sort of punitive damages; however, you have clearly transgressed the ethical standards of your school, your state, and any Christian church I know to exist. Your email immediately brought to mind something Mark Twain famously said, “A lie travels half way ‘round the world before the truth can even get its shoes on.”
My only interest is in fulfilling a personal obligation to take whatever action I can to mitigate the damage you and your colleagues have already inflicted. As a person of compassion and faith, I feel responsible for trying to prevent this racist trash from having any further impact on our public schools and children.
I can only imagine the justifiable reaction of a Black Muslim Parent, an African-American Catholic Parent, or a White Atheist Parent. And I surely can’t imagine how a parent could possibly explain to their children the nature or intent of your hateful message. Can you?
I’m truly at a loss here because I also understand the damage you cause to all those who had nothing to do with this shameful piece. So, in honor of Mark Twain, Ms. ****, put on your track shoes and let me know how you plan on rectifying your reckless and obvious mistake.
Sincerely,
Mr. ***** *. *****
******@*****.com
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Give 'em the heater, Pop!
That's my dad, motherfuckers!
Never again question my over-developed sense of justice. I come by it honestly.
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