This is a comment I left at Politics Plus.
But this brings up another issue. I’ve been as guilty as everyone else in jumping on the bandwagon to criticize Obama over something that seemingly wasn’t true. I even put up that petition from Bold Progress. I don’t know if Gibbs has hoofing mouth disease or what, but I sure would like to find a way to “check it out” before I jump. I also think outfits like Bold Progress and Move On should be a little more careful before sending out petitions until they know absolutely for sure that the situation is as they say it is.I'd like to add that there are far too many falsehoods flying around these days and I think we need to be very diligent before we, in this case "I", go off on a tangent. It really is up to us to ferret out the truth and double check it.
I used to feel very strongly that signing these petitions was my little way of letting my voice be heard. But I don't want to be a party to false attacks. (I just received another one from CREDO).
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Email From Bold Progress:
EMERGENCY PETITION TO PRESIDENT OBAMA:
"President Obama, ARE YOU KIDDING? Democrats lost in 2010 because they caved instead of fighting on popular progressive issues. Americans strongly oppose more tax cuts for millionaires and nearly a trillion in new debt. If you don't fight on this issue, Democrats may lose even more seats in 2012 - and possibly even the White House."
Not the best but you can add your own words. Please do so.
http://act.boldprogressives.org/sign/petition_obamafight/?source=auto-e&referring_akid=2701.336358.iJvcLk
PLEASE SHARE
I got It, I signed it, and added a few choice words...
ReplyDeleteI'm becoming increasingly discontent and I don't like it one bit!
Thanks, Sue. I'm getting pretty discouraged as well. Please share.
ReplyDeleteBeen there, signed that, spread it. :-)
ReplyDeleteThanks for the link, tnlib! More direct line is to just call the White House and express yourself. That phone number hasn't changed since they gave it out in "All the President's Men." I'll go sign it. :-) BJ
ReplyDeleteThanks, TC.
ReplyDeleteBJ: I can express myself better in writing - at least some of the time.
Done and done! Thank you!
ReplyDeleteI read the story in many different news sites yesterday even before I got that email(which is no excuse), so I don't feel guilty about losing my temper(well yea I kinda do). the White House has caved before so it's becoming a trust issue with me I'm afraid. But I am known for my emotional outbursts which make me a little embarrassed a few days later...:0)
ReplyDeleteSue: We rely on external sources for our "news," so it's only natural that occasionally we're going to follow a false lead. Right now, I think we're all a little slap-happy because of the election and our emotions are running high. But now it's more imperative than ever to stay calm and check things out. You have nothing to be embarrassed about.
ReplyDeleteWhat happened yesterday was the same kind of thing we see happening on right-wing blogs where one falsehood is created and it's quickly taken up by all the rest. I think we need to be careful about this kind of thing.
Maybe these petitions served a purpose in giving Obama a warning that caving on this issue will dearly cost him and the Democrats.
I signed it and (I hope) posted it on Facebook. I also added a few words on the petition. We can hope that Obama is finally getting it and will stop caving in on important issues.
ReplyDeleteHere’s a dirty little secret about these online petitions:
ReplyDeleteThese organizations are desperate for money, particularly when donations are down due to the economy. If you have followed the “pattern” for a decade as I have, you will realize these groups SELL your name, address (if you give it) and email address. They can get money for these nice long list of names. Sign one of these petitions and watch your email spam and your snail mail junk mail go up. I get snail mail from every liberal and progressive group in this country, and there is no doubt in my mind they secured my address from petitions I signed along the way. Normally, I avoid them like the plague, but I do sign the petitions from AVAAZ and don’t seem to have any spam from those. Also, AVAAZ is great about following up with results of its petitions. Have you ever wondered just exactly how these groups delivered these signatures to the White House (or elsewhere)? BJ
BJ: I checked the privacy policies for Credo, Bold Progressives and MoveOn. They all have pretty tight staandards. MoveOn will share with organizations they work with but only with your permission. It is also standard to share such info with public officials, which I'm sure they deliver electronically.
ReplyDeleteOther than those and a couple of environmental groups and AVAAZ, I am either unsubscribing or not participating if I'm not familiar with them.
I simply unsubscribe.
CREDO and Bold Progressives have apprently taken down the above petition.
Leslie, the more I look at what he actually said, the more I think he's going to cave-in. But I think conviction before a crime is committed is not wise.
ReplyDeleteI used to "sign" these petitions, but realized that...no one is really paying attention to them anyway.
ReplyDelete