Hate Mail

I realize that this is the silly season, that politics create strange bedfellows, and any other cliche about the upcoming presidential race you can think of.

I also realize that I am guilty of putting down Sarah Palin in particular, but also John McCain. And about a year ago Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton by suggesting that they have jobs in the Senate they were elected to that didn’t involve traipsing around the country campaigning for president.

I have to say, however, that I am tired of the constant emails I have been getting from all sides that perpetrate disgusting lies about each of the candidates. The ones that begin, “My brother lives in Wasilla, Alaska, and here’s what he says about Sarah Palin.” The ones that begin, “Here’s a list of 150 books Sarah Palin tried to remove from the Wasilla Library (or state of Alaska library system, take your pick).” The ones that begin, “Barack Obama sponsored legislation to require all kindergarten children to have comprehensive sex education.”

I am tired of getting fifteen to twenty of these every time I open my email.

Sarah Palin indeed did ask how to monitor the books the library had. Shame on her for even considering that. But she never had a list of specific books she told the librarian to remove from the shelves.

Barack Obama voted for a bill that would teach children, in an age-appropriate way, to avoid sexual predators. That’s stuff like Stranger-Danger, and nice people don’t touch you there, and talk to an adult you trust like your parent or a teacher. Props to him for helping to protect our children.

Too many of the hate emails come from people who know that I intend to vote for Barack Obama for president (and I urge the rest of American voters to follow my lead. Follow my lead is pretty arrogant, sorry.)

These hate-emails com from the same Karl Rove-ish bunch who told us in the last election that John Kerry’s did not earn his purple hearts.

Enough!

What kind of leadership can the presidential candidates provide that American needs?
What philosophies that they espouse do you also espouse?
What are their positions on issues?

Issues? you ask. Are there issues in this presidential campaign?

Yes, I believe there are. The economy is one, certainly this morning with the financial news about Merrill-Lynch and Lehman Brothers. Increasing national debt is another. Dependence on foreign energy (I kind of agree with T. Boone Pickens on this one) is yet another. The war in Iraq and the increasingly hawkish behavior to intervene in Georgia and Ukraine by ensuring their entry into NATO and then defending them is yet one more.

These are issues that affect me, that scare me, and some that delight me. And I know where Barack Obama and John McCain (and their vice presidential minions) stand on these issues.

Peripheral issues include age and experience and closeness to death. Is John McCain too far past the actuarial tables for old? Will some bigot try to assassinate Barack Obama? In that respect, are the vice presidential candidates truly prepared to run the country- at least as much as anyone is prepared to run the country?

These are ideas I have considered and will continue to consider up until the time I enter the voting booth.

I feel that the people who send me this hate mail, which I dutifully check out on www.snopes.com and find that 99 percent of it is either exaggeration or outright lies, see me as an easy mark, a thought-less person who will vote for whoever sends me mud last.

Some of these emails try to reinforce my current predilections. Others totally revolt me. In the end, they all disgust me. Actually, they’re very little different from the unsolicited emails I get that shame me about - and the try to tell me how to increase - the size of my manliness and satisfy any woman. Or the ones that try to arouse me with pictures of women and donkeys. (Vomit!)

After the first few, I began to delete them all. Without reading them. Particularly the ones whose subject lines say something like “The real truth about (fill in candidate’s name here)” or “This is really good about (again, the candidate’s name).”

I know I have friends who will read this and be offended. I’m sorry. If you are offended, we'll get together again after the election. Or better yet, right now - without the hate mail.

As always, feel free to comment below.