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March 31, 2004
Anti-Bush Spam
I don't know about you, but I've been receiving a lot of anti-Bush spam lately. Some of it has been plaintext e-mails with links to anti-Bush sites (like TheTruthAboutGeorge.com), while others have actually included graphics from sites like BloodForOil.org (see left).
Over the past few months, the stream of this stuff has become steady, and I now receive 1-3 e-mails per week which protest Bush and the war in Iraq. It hardly rivals the spam I get for penile enlargement or the junk generated by various on-going e-mail viruses, but it's still noticeable � which means it's effective (they get noticed).
You may be wondering � since I obviously don't sound thrilled about receiving this "left-wing" junk e-mail � why I would perpetuate the messages that they deliver to me (by linking to them here on my blog). Well, the answer is simple ...
I think the use of electronic mediums of communication to virally spread a propaganda message is pretty brilliant actually. So I give the folks on the liberal end of the political spectrum credit for figuring this out and taking advantage of it. They've certainly been the ones who have set the standard during the past year of using art and technology to communicate their message. (Just look at some of the artwork here.)
The Blood For Oil website simply explains, "Download any of these free images and publish as you see fit." And obviously many people have "seen fit" to spam the rest of us with Blood For Oil's graphic messages.
My question is: Will this anonymous spam campaign contribute positively to the Democrats chances during the election in November? Or will average Americans (like myself) get sick of all the anti-Republican hate speech clogging our Inboxes and "send a message" of their own (e.g. "I'm sticking with Bush just to tick you people off!")?
If I were to make a prediction today, I might actually have go with the former. Art and humor are powerful tools in the hands of passionate people who have a message � and many Americans (planted firmly on the political fence) can easily be persuaded.
So Bush should probably focus more on developing anti-spam policies between now and November. (I just hope he doesn't adopt the stupid Bill Gates e-mail postage idea ...)
Posted by Steve K. at March 31, 2004 10:33 PM
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Comments
Spam will track you down regardless of what e-mail client you use, but if Bill wanted to seriously put a dent in all the e-mail viruses and worms going around, he'd advocate that everyone stop using Microsoft Outlook.
But then I'd have to have an ounce of respect for him, so I suppose it's an equal trade-off.
Posted by: dave at April 1, 2004 01:21 AM
I think the way Bush has handled the country/war/terrorism/taxes/etc. speaks for itself... perhaps I'm just all riled up from those propaganda posters, but Bush was not a good leader before he became president (look at Texas) and 4 years in the White House has only proven that fact.
I didn't vote for him the first time and I certainly won't vote for him this time.
Posted by: Nick at April 1, 2004 06:15 PM
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