Below is an email exchange which originated with an email that one of my family members (whom I love deeply) sent to me and his/her entire email list (yes I do know whether this family member is male or female – I’m just protecting the privacy and identity of everyone involved, except of course myself). You may have received this email as well recently if there are people in your email list who send you jokes, political emails, chain emails, etc. It was the one about Obama on Meet the Press which claims that Obama made some outrageous statements about his views on the flag. Anyway, I quickly debunked the email as a hoax for everyone who received the original email. Within a few minutes I received a reply from someone on the list that I don’t personally know. That reply prompted a rant from me. I have removed all names and email addresses to protect the privacy of those who sent and received the original email, although I point out and take responsibility for my own comments below.
Original Email (I apologize for the formatting. Apparently the people who send these types of emails are fond of multiple font types, sizes, and colors)
Subj: The most damning email yet !
If you do nothing else . . . . please read this entire frightening, arrogant, disgusting interview starring Barak Hussien Obama. Pass this on to everyone you know. People need to wake up . . . we only have 4 weeks!!!!!
This is absolutely amazing that someone running for president of ‘the United States’ said this on a public television program.
MY God! I hope every one is listening, before it is too late.
Perhaps there are SOME out there who are beginning to get ‘the picture’.
The following is a narrative taken from Sunday Morning’s televised ‘Meet
The Press’. and the author is employed by none other than the Washington Post!!Yeah……the Washington Post of New York and Los Angeles Times fame!!
Must say that I’m dually impressed………………
From Sunday’s Televised ‘Meet the Press’ Senator Obama was asked about his stance on the American Flag. Obama Explains National Anthem Stance
Sun, 07 Sept. 2008 11:48:04 EST, General Bill Ginn’ USAF (ret.) asked Obama to explain why he doesn’t follow protocol when the National Anthem is played.
The General also stated to the Senator that according to the United States Code, Title 36, Chapter 10, Sec. 171… During rendition of the national anthem when the flag is displayed, all present except those in uniform are expected to stand at attention facing the flag with the right hand over the heart. At the very least, ‘Stand and Face It’
Senator Obama Live on Sunday states, ‘As I’ve said about the flag pin, I don’t want to be perceived as taking sides, Obama said. ‘There are a lot of people in the world to whom the American flag is a symbol of oppression. And the anthem itself conveys a war-like message. You know, the bombs bursting in air and all. It should be swapped for something less parochial and less bellicose.
I like the song ‘I’d Like To Teach the World To Sing.’ If that were our anthem, then I might salute it. ‘We should consider to reinvent our National Anthem as well as to redesign our Flag to better offer our enemies hope and love. It’s my intention, if elected, to disarm America to the level of acceptance to our Middle East Brethren.
If we as a Nation of warring people, should conduct ourselves as the nations of Islam, whereas peace prevails. Perhaps a state or period of mutual concord between our governments. When I become President, I will seek a pact or agreement to send hostilities between those who have been at war or in a state of enmity, and a freedom from disquieting oppressive thoughts. We as a Nation have placed upon the nations of Islam an unfair injustice.
My wife disrespects the Flag for many personal reasons. Together she and I have attended several flag burning ceremonies in the past, many years ago. She has her views and I have mine’. Of course now, I have found myself about to become the President of the United States and I have put aside my hatred. I will use my power to bring CHANGE to this Nation, and offer the people a new path of hope. My wife and I look forward to becoming our Country’s First Family. Indeed, CHANGE is about to overwhelm the United States of America.
WHAAAAAAAT the Hell!
Yes, ladies and gentlemen, you heard it right. This could possibly be our next President.I, for one, am speechless.
Dale Lindsborg, Washington Post
My Reply
I would be pretty angry also if it were true.
http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/stance.asp
The reply which prompted my rant
I know that a lot of people want to believe everything SNOPES says, but I have found many items where they said something was true or false and then found PROOF that THEY were wrong. I recommend that everyone use a different fact checker or several, but don’t just believe everything SNOPES says.
My rant
I don’t know what your point is. Although my suspicion is that the original email aligns with your own beliefs so you prefer to direct your skepticism at SNOPES as opposed to the claims in the email. I do applaud your restraint in stopping short of claiming that the email is true and SNOPES is wrong in this case. No man or woman who publicly made such statements or held such beliefs would be a viable candidate for the presidency of this country in this election. My personal philosophy is to assume that EVERY email or story from the internet is FALSE until I have personally verified its veracity through several sources. And to demonstrate my approach, I’m skeptical of your claim to have found PROOF of many items where SNOPES’ was wrong without you providing evidence of such claims. I do believe that there is a possibility that SNOPES has been wrong, so I’m not claiming that they are infallible. Although, their aim is to be the primary destination for debunking rumors and urban legends, so they have a strong vested interest in doing a thorough investigation and checking facts before publishing the results of their evaluation. However, it should be very easy for you to provide evidence of just one of the many times that you have found PROOF that they were wrong.
Since it only takes one white crow to prove that not all crows are black, here is a viable source which proves that Obama was not even a guest on Meet the Press on September 7, 2008. The guests were Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE), Democratic Vice Presidential Nominee and Tom Friedman, Author, “Hot, Flat, and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution – And How it Can Renew America”; Columnist, New York Times. Here’s a link to the full transcript: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26590488/
What everyone needs to do is break the cycle of blindly voting for whoever has the (R) or (D) behind their name. Until we do that, the politicians have no incentive to reform themselves or government. Hold your own party as accountable as you hold the other. Make them earn your vote. Educate yourself on what both parties are doing with your money and your country. I mean how can a bill or judicial or cabinet appointment that is not worthy of a “yea” vote on it’s own merit suddenly become good for America now that the politician’s constituents receive a $3 Million projector (Obama – Democrat) or a $398 Million Bridge to Nowhere (Ted Stevens and Don Young – Republican) AT TAXPAYER EXPENSE? We the people have no way of limiting or eliminating this behaviour in Washington other than letting the politicians know that it’s unacceptable, they are being watched, and will be held accountable at the next election.
I usually don’t rant like this or even reply to these emails and certainly don’t forward them to my friends, but the original email is right by stating that people need to wake up. I’m awake and I think many others are or soon will be. Unless something drastic happens to change my mind between now and November 4, the candidate that will be getting my vote has an (L) after his name, and Obama looks extremely likely to be the next President of the U.S. If so, I wish him well and hope that he does a good job. But I’ll be watching and keeping score – not only the President, but more importantly my senators and representatives. I hope you will be too.
You hear that Washington? No one gets my vote unless they earn it!
I can’t help but think about the residents in the path of Hurricane Gustav. After spending a week in Lake Charles with Rebuilding Together just a couple of months ago, I feel a strong connection to the area and I have to say that news about potentially devastating weather approaching the area is much more meaningful to me than it was before.
As of now, I haven’t received confirmation that Mrs. DeJean and Mr. Keleman (the two homeowners we assisted back in June – watch the video here) have been able to move back into their homes yet. But if not, they were at least very close. While I do hope that the most devastating part of the storm misses Lake Charles (Mrs. DeJean has spent nearly 3 years in a FEMA trailer park waiting for here home to be suitable to return to), I also realize that the storm has already done damage to other areas and is likely to continue its devastation where it makes landfall. Residents in the area will be needing help of all kinds. If you are able, please consider helping out in some way. There are few things that you can do that have a greater purpose than helping someone in need.
Christmas in October, the Kansas City Rebuilding Together affiliate, has put together a very nice video about the projects we worked on in Lake Charles, LA in June 2008.
Tags: Volunteer
Courtesy of Mike Gallagher
En route to Houston
“We made the front page!” shouted John Bruhn as he burst through the kitchen door of the Southwest Louisiana Volunteer center. “We made the front page!”
The day before yesterday, a rookie reporter showed up at the Mrs. DeJean’s place sent out by his editor to find a community interest story. He spoke with everyone and put together a piece that the paper decided to run with as their lead piece, complete with a four-color photo front and center.
Boy was that a boost to team moral. Not that it was drooping in this hard-driving group, but recognition for a job well done is always appreciated.
Yesterday was all about the electrical inspector. Electrical inspectors: can’t live with ‘em, can’t shoot ‘em. We tried to organize our day around the arrival of the electrical inspector, but in the end it was no go.
We packed up the new-found glow from the newspaper article and headed off to the job site. It was great how everybody on the team prepared themselves to do whatever it took to ready themselves to complete our work, if only the inspector would come. We made sure we got Mrs. DeJean to the permit office first thing in the morning to apply for building, plumbing and electrical permits. We knew the crew would be doing finishing touches for the morning without the usual plate full of tasks to accomplish. And that, if we were lucky, we would have a frenzied afternoon of work trying to finish.
John Bruhn was so great, making sure we had lights available for evening work if needed. He is great about making sure there are no excuses for not completing our appointed rounds.
The electrical crew, now known as Southpaw Electric (both Eileen and Ben are left handed), had some needed work to accomplish before the inspector arrived: hard-wired smoke detectors in the 3 bedrooms (and the six-foot long hallway!), two outside outlets, and the installation of arc-fault breakers (a safety device that disables a circuit in the event of any intrusion into the electrical flow, e.g. a nail driven through a wire).
Those tasks were dispatched in relatively short order and we stood ready to screw the sheetrock home, close up the walls post-inspection and put a bow on the whole enterprise for Mrs. DeJean. But by about 2 PM, most of the crew left to pack up and clean up our volunteer housing center, leaving the Southpaws, John, Graylyn, Kevin, Dave, Nick & Nate in case the inspector showed.
But by 4 o’clock on a Friday afternoon, it was clear even to the huddled hopeful that no inspector would show. So we saddled up and moved out, securing the place carefully to await Mrs. DeJean’s return. She still has work to complete, but with the other disaster relief funds, she could get a contractor to finish this off in a few weeks.
While talking to the photographer, the day before, Eileen had obtained a restaurant recommendation. We were getting a little bit tired of cooking for the 25 person crew (actually, Eva, Linda Pam & Natasha did most of it – Thank you, thank you) in the institutional kitchen and wanted some local color, especially in Louisiana, so known for its good food.
Steamboat Bill’s was the recommendation that came back, and Susan Mestayer, our fearless leader, seconded the nomination. We had a great time, eating crawfish and combination seafood platters. Brian Houston entertained us with crawdad finger puppets using the discarded crawdad heads.
All in all, it was feel-good week with a ton of accomplishment, putting Mrs DeJean on a good footing to finally complete her rebuilding and get her life back on track. We will look back on the new friendships we made, the relationships forged and the skills learned from our time in Lake Charles. Unanimously, we want to encourage each and every one of you to participate in an effort like this. It is a chance to give back to your fellow man and it will change your life.
Tags: Volunteer
Somehow we shifted into an even higher gear today as we finished off task after task. The DeJean house went from being dark red with dark green trim in the morning to being light blue with dark blue trim at the end of the day. For a short period in between, the house was white from the primer. Additionally, all of the sheetrock for the remaining walls was cut and tacked in place. We didn’t fully install the wall pieces due to being unsure about the status and scope of the required inspection. We later found out that the inspection will be a full rough in inspection by the City. So our hopes of being able to complete the installation of the sheetrock including taping and mudding could not be realized today. However, there is still a chance that the inspection can be completed sometime tomorrow. If the inspection gets done, several of us plan to work as late as it takes to get the sheetrock finished.
We were fortunate to meet the owner of the house today. She dropped by as the exterior was being painted. It was an amazing experience to see how the work we’ve been doing is having an obvious impact. When Ms. DeJean and her son walked in the front door, she had tears in her eyes and all she said was “Oh my God”. After she made her way through her home, she thanked us over and over before she left.
After the work day, Susan Mestayer, the Executive Director of Rebuilding Together Calcasieu, cooked gumbo for us back at the housing center and then spoke to us from her heart as the Executive Director, as a mom of 2 children, and as a resident of Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana which suffered devastation 3 years ago due to hurricane Rita but did not have the same national and global spotlight that New Orleans received. All of us had an opportunity to speak about what this week has meant to us. This week has really changed us all.
Tags: Volunteer
