Emails from Moscow
Maybe I’ve mentioned this before, maybe even a hundred times, but I have a 96 year old father who forwards me the emails he gets from his buddies, most of them probably nearly as old as he is, what we’ll generalize and call ‘angry white males’. Yesterday I got one that headlined Who the Hell is This? which was mostly a recounting of every misinformation ever written about Obama, his wife, his daughters and whether or not they were really Americans, really lawyers, ever went to the colleges they claimed to have attended, even if they had proof of their birth certificates. Including the kids.
I used to send him fact checks on the stuff he forwards, but my suspicion is he never really reads the replies. Nevertheless, I figured he sends me these screeds to see what my response will be, which in the past was sometimes fairly wild. But the old man is going on 97 and the last thing he needs is vitriol coming back at him from his oldest son. My brother gets the same emails and just hits Delete. Probably the smart response.
Today he asked me if I’d read that email he sent regarding the Obamas and what did I think. I said I think it’s old news, Dad, the guy is long gone. ‘Yeah, but pretty interesting, wasn’t it?’ he commented and I realized he believes these crazy conspiracy theories. ‘No,’ I said, ‘they’re not interesting, they’re bullshit, Dad. I don’t have time to go through 20 goofy accusations but half of them, when Obama was President, I sent you fact checks that showed these were phony baloney.’
‘Okay,’ he said, ‘but the other half sounds kind of right.’
My old man has very short term memory, the emphasis on very. Even if I spent hours fact checking and sending him the results, what would be the point? Next email he gets, we can start all over again. What I think is that most people have short term memory, mostly self-induced. They believe, like Dad does, why would anyone send this stuff out if it wasn’t true. And anyway, it sounds true so isn’t that close enough?
Donald Trump questioned Obama’s birth certificate and now he’s been elected, at least once, maybe eventually twice, by folks who believe what he tells them when obviously he isn’t telling the truth, isn’t factual, isn’t honest about much of anything. I wish it was as easy as fact checking, just send them a memo with a Snopes attachment saying FALSE. Between you and me, I can hardly wait to hit 96.
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Tags: You can't handle the truth! Lies Lies and the Liars Who Tell Them
Conspiracy theories? Check.
Baseless accusations repeated regularly? Check.
Forgets what he said yesterday, or this morning? Check.
Decision making based on personal preference? Check.
Skeeter, have you considered your Dad is prime Republican presidential material? With the impeachment proceedings now underway, and I know a Senate conviction is a long shot, still, maybe you should get your pa into some early state primaries, just for whatever. Based on the qualifications of the current occupant in the Oval Office, Republican voters might not notice the difference, and everyone else would consider your Dad a great American improvement.
My father has formed an exploratory committee, mostly his email pals, and they think he would make a great President, but not until Trump ends his 3rd or 4th term. By then, of course, it will be too late for dear old dad, Kind of like Elizabeth Warren and Uncle Joe who sat out the 2016 election, figuring Hillary had it locked up. Dad shoulda run back then, figuring she would be locked up. Politics, timing is everything.