Got this disgusting email from a freep co-worker this morning

[IDemo]

http://interactive.zogby.com/fuse/messageview.cfm?catid=24&threadid=15784

If you don't want to open the link, it basically makes the statement that Denver was hit with a "biblical catastrophe" (the blizzard) but, unlike victims of Katrina, "No one howled for the government, No one blamed the government, No one looted, we just melted the snow for water (really?)", etc., etc. in the typical format of right wing crap like this, usually arriving in your inbox with a sea of forwarded email addresses ahead of yours. Many of these seem to rely on a bullet-point style somewhat reminiscent of a Readers Digest humor page, but lacking the intellectual content. Is there an agency somewhere for frustrated writers to generate this stuff ad nauseum ?

[Whoa_Nelly]

1. Same BS that's been going around for a while--Check out snopes

It's just a rewrite of an older BS Katrina bashing email that has been going around.
http://www.snopes.com/katrina/soapbox/dakota.asp

[havocmom]

3. Wish I had saved my rant tearing into the bigots that sent that one out

Snow, yeah, I deal with it. It IS NOT likely to force me to claw my way through my roof or face drowning.

I went into a 500 word tirade when my idiot brother sent that pap comparing Katrina to a blizzard in North Dakota.

How many people drown in a blizzard? Damn few.

[orleans]

11. "It IS NOT likely to force me to claw my way through my roof "

but what if you ran out of cigarettes? or coffee? at that point i just might.



(i'm just being a smart ass--i completely understand what you mean. i had a "friend" who kept sending me all this shit -- started before the 04 election. she claimed she was a dem but she was a right wing neocon bitch if i ever saw one. i finally emailed her back and asked her to please stop sending me this because she knew what my views were. she totally disregarded my request to get my name off her "hit" list for neocon spam. i never talk to her anymore, and i've spent the last couple of years deleting her crap along with the regular spam i get.)

[havocmom]

14. I not only sent my rebuttle rant to my brother, I hit REPLY ALL

and got my message across to a whole lotta twits :evilgrin:

And, my brother was a lot more careful about the crap he sent after that.

[rebel with a cause]

15. I told my one of my ex-in-laws and her husband that I loved them way too much to lie to them,

and then told them how I really felt about the crap they had sent me. I also told them what I thought of bush and how I agreed that he was a terrorist and enemy to the world. I have not heard from them since, and I hate it because I do really love them and their children. But they have just gotten too republican neo-conish for me. Their take on how the poor are so far under them and undeserving of any consideration was mind blowing to me. And let me tell you that they do not fit the stereo typical neo-cons.

[orleans]

16. amazing how this administration has divided this country--

encouraged the assholes to be even bigger assholes & encouraged us liberals to not be so damn open-minded and accepting of these freaks anymore.

almost as if the tolerant have become intolerant and the republican intolerant have become inhuman

i was having a discussion with my kid's friend (an 18 yr old who was raised on repuke/neocon crap--who prides himself in being "christian"), talking about a poor/welfare-to-work/single parent and the hardship/tragedy in this woman's life with her struggle & her child.

i couldn't believe what this 18 year old was saying to me, how smug, cavalier, flip, etc he was--

i finally said to him, quietly and calmly,: "your generosity... and compassion... toward humankind... is killing me. you're breaking my fucking heart."

[havocmom]

23. Have written several emails to my bro when he lapses into forwarded shit to me

Three times now, I have made the message stern enough that I figure I would never hear from him again.

This last time, I thought FOR SURE he would not communicate anymore, because when he pulled that 'What happened to your sense of humor, we are just kidding crap when I gently chided him about sending the shit. I REALLY let loose! I prefaced and ended the tirade with Love you, enjoy keeping posted about your family.... but put my foot down firmly on his throat. He knows I cut Dad outta my life years ago and never looked back (whole different reasons) so he may have taken the message to heart. I am still hearing from him and we get on fine. He hasn't slipped back into the 'Rush-isms' I pointed out he had lazily adopted instead of using the critical thinking I KNOW he was raised to do.

Hope your situation goes like mine and you all start communicating again. I have decided being swift and firm in rebuttal to crap passed along and then not rubbing any noses in anything (unless they slip again works) well. Fast consequences for bad behavior and lots of positive reinforcement for good behavior - behavior modification works on most people - but there is a learning period and sometimes the unwanted behavior increases for just a spell, to test your resolve.


These are bad times. Lots of people are having trouble admitting they were duped. Keep working toward enlightenment, be patient with them, and accept that not everyone is strong enough to grow.

Peace to your family. Strength to you for working for truth.

hm

[IndyOp]

2. 70% of New Orleans was DESTROYED by Katrina --

I know you don't need me to add emphasis to this statement, but 70% of Denver was not destroyed by the recent blizzard.

:(

[IDemo]

4. That's just it, I think people who believe this crap lack a sense of scale

The blizzard was a biggie as far as blizzards go, but it was a minor blip on the radar compared to Katrina.

[Greyhound]

5. Native Coloradoan here, and this year is nothing unusual.

We/they have had a mild winters since the early 80's so all those folks that aren't from there think this is bad. Back in the 19th century, the settlers put Denver, along with all of the other old towns, where it is for a very good reason, it is somewhat sheltered from the worst of the Rocky Mountain winters. Once you get out on the plains, there is nothing to stop the jet-stream from blasting down the eastern slope and onto the plains where it can, literally freeze cattle solid in a matter of a couple of hours, where ground blizzards driven by 100+ MPH winds are the norm.

[Goat or Panic]

6. It's on Snopes

Most is untrue.

And snow is easier to shovel than water.

[Touchdown]

7. Since I replied to this Today, I'll post the whole disgusting thing.

My reply...

I don't. I can still live here. The Gulf Coast is a wasteland that will take decades to recover from. It was only 18" anyway, and we get them every 3-5 years. BTW: The "I hate government" bastion of Horatio Alger Republicans in that conservative paradise of Centennial did blame the Government, they howled at the government, and they demanded the Centennial Government do something, because their side streets with their McMansions weren't plowed fast enough. Didn't you watch the news? BTW-2: What are snow plows? Equipment of that evil government that we pay our taxes for, and we expected to work. Whoever wrote this is living in a dreamworld. Isn't it amazing that they never have the balls to put their name on these silly e-mails, then demand they be passed on as if they have something important to say? Cowards? I think so.
T

Oh' yeah. My "little car" made it just fine. I drove by all those SUVs piled up in ditches. It's also SEAN (Irish Gaelic spelling) PENN, and BARBRA STRIESAND, without the extra "A". Sure fire way to know your dealing with a nitwit, look at the spelling. Computers can help with that.

We either have a society, or we don't. We either survive together, or we die separately. We owe each other a living, because we ARE the Government.

"I shall ever hope to see more and more liberalism in the United States." - George Washington

I dare you to pass this on to everybody you know, and you can use my name.

-EDIT- Oops, start of bile...

I know you will enjoy this!!!

XXXXXX

Weather Bulletin - Denver

Up here, in the "Mile-Hi City", we just recovered from a Historic event--- may I even say a "Weather Event" of "Biblical Proportions" --- with a historic blizzard of up to 44" inches of snow and winds to 90 MPH that broke trees in half, knocked down utility poles, stranded hundreds of motorists in lethal snow ! banks, closed ALL roads, isolated scores of communities and cut power to 10's of thousands.

FYI:

George Bush did not come.

FEMA did nothing.

No one howled for the government.

No one blamed the government.< /B>

No one even uttered an expletive on TV.

Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton did not visit.

Our Mayor did not blame Bush or anyone else.

Our Governor did not blame Bush or anyone else, either.

CNN, ABC, CBS, FOX or NBC did not visit - or report on this category 5 snowstorm. Nobody demanded $2,000 debit cards.

No one asked for a FEMA T! railer House.

No one looted.

Nobo dy - I mean Nobody demanded the government do something.

Nobody expected the government to do anything, either.

No Larry King, No Bill O'Rielly, No Oprah, No Chris Mathews and No Geraldo Rivera.

No Shaun Penn, No Barbara Striesand, No Hollywood types to be found.

Nope, we just melted the snow for water.

Sent out caravans of SUV's to pluck people out of snow engulfed cars.

The truck drivers pulled people out of snow banks and didn't ask for a penny.

Local restaurants made food and the police and fire departments delivered ! it to t he snowbound families.
< FONT face=Tahoma color=#bf176e size=5 BACK="#ffffff" FAMILY="SANSSERIF" PTSIZE="18">
Families took in the stranded people - total strangers.

We fired up wood stoves, broke out coal oil lanterns or Coleman lanterns.

We put on extra layers of clothes because up here it is "Work or Die".

We did not wait for some affirmative action government to get us out of a mess created by being immobilized by a welfare program that trades votes for 'sittin at home' checks.
< BR>Even though a Category "5" blizzard of this scale has never fallen this early, we know it can happen and how to deal with it ourselves.

"In my many travels, I have noticed that once one gets north of about 48 degrees North Latitude, 90% of the world's social problems evaporate."

It does seem that way, at least to me.

I hope this gets passed on.

Maybe SOME people will get the message.

The world does Not owe you a living.

[1932]

19. Best part:

"Local restaurants made food and the police and fire departments delivered it to the snowbound families."

OK, the police and fire departments ARE the government and in they didn't deliver food to stranded people. In fact, they barricaded the bridges and prevented people from leaving the city. They prevented people from helping themselves.

If people need a reminder of what happened in New Orleans, they can watch When the Levees Broke, which is now available on Netflix -- http://www.netflix.com/MovieDisplay?movieid=70055578&trkid=189530&strkid=1457870565_0_0

[illinoisprogressive]

8. email the freeper coworker a progressive article back

[eleny]

9. It's kind of hard to loot when the snow is up to your ass

Impossible to run away fast with that tv set!

P.S. I live in Colorado And the government was called in to help the ranchers in the SE part of the state. The National Guard helped to locate cattle stranded on the range and make hay drops to them. But I guess that freeper was too busy melting snow for water to read about it.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1110AP_Winter_Storms.html
"In a massive effort to save stranded rangeland cattle, the Colorado National Guard conducted a three-day airlift that dropped about 3,000 hay bales to herds spotted on the rangeland. Troops trucked in hay and smashed ice on watering holes for livestock trapped and weakened by the earlier blizzard."

[solara]

17. Interesting that the cattle got fed and watered in Colorado

but people were left without either for days in New Orleans after Katrina. I am not bitching about Colorado, I am happy to see that thelp came when needed.

But, I am just wondering why the National Guard can locate, feed and water cattle, but not human beings.

:shrug:

[jmowreader]

24. The Colorado National Guard was a little closer to the cattle

When the Colorado snowstorm hit, the National Guard picked up the phone, fired up the helicopters and fed the cows. Because the Colorado National Guard was in Colorado.

During Katrina, the Louisiana National Guard was in Iraq, and Bush wouldn't defederalize them so they could go where they were needed--HOME!

[Wickerman]

10. ah, nothing like starting the day with a little blatant racism

That is how I respond to crap like that my b-i-l sends me. Sadly, he seems to get it from my father. Fortunately Dad knows enough not send stuff like that on to me. Bil ain't decided to respect my wishes to not get the crap.

[nealmhughes]

12. The two are not even remotely comparable.

Snow melts. People drown. Houses get the snow off with a blizzard in short order. In a hurricane, they don't melt, they blow and float away.
It shows often in Colorado in the winter.
A Catergory 5 hurricane is a twice a century event...so far (New England Labor Day 1938 and the Galveston in 1906).
One can easily sit out a snowstorm in warmth and relative comfort, given an alternate fuel for heating such as a wood stove, kerosene heater, etc. One does not have that luxury in a hurricane -- the debris flying may kill you, cause the power lines to be down for weeks on end and the economy to be affected for a year afterwards.
I've lived thru blizzards in Omaha and in New Hampshire. I have been thru two major hurricanes, the last one the horrid Ivan, 150 miles from the coast, and I watched my neighborhood destroyed, my elecricity out for 2 weeks, and my streets unpassable for a week. I hoofed it to work -- by some miracle they had power, but had to give myself an hour for a 30 minute walk to climb over the downed trees and go around live downed power lines.
I'll take the blizzard any day. Within a week, noone could even tell it had snowed so much. My old neighborhood is still denuded of ancient trees and their Spanish moss and there were still some blue tarps up on sections of roofs 2 years later.

[IDemo]

13. Idaho's interim governor got in on this bs last summer:

Idaho’s governor is essentially a natural disaster chickenhawk.

The governor of Idaho, an affable rancher named Jim Risch, stretched back in his chair and outlined his alternative history of the last few years in America. “Hurricane Katrina - they heaped that on George Bush!” said Mr Risch, in his shirt-sleeves in the blasting dry heat of an afternoon in Boise, the state capital.

"Here in Idaho, we couldn’t understand how people could sit around on the waiting for the federal government to come and do something. We had a dam break in 1976, but we didn’t whine about it. We got out our backhoes and we rebuilt the roads and replanted the fields and got on with our lives."

Idaho Dam Collapse: Declared a federal emergency June 6, 1976

Idaho Governor Jim Risch: Total Frigging Tool

By the way, who got the blame for the Teton Dam’s collapse which killed eleven and cost $1 billion dollars? If you said the feds, you’re right.

"That’s the culture here. Not waiting for the federal government to bring you drinking water. In Idaho there would have been entrepreneurs selling the drinking water."

Leaving aside the ethics of allowing market forces to dictate the price of drinking water (i.e. survival, plain and simple), the federal government wasn’t allowing aid workers into the disaster zone, let alone entrepeneurs.

[tsuki]

18. Yes, it is called the RNC. n/t

[SemperEadem]

20. I dare the people who ascribe to that crap

to sit down and say that to the face of people who did survive Katrina--I dare them to even show their ugly faces in New Orleans, but I suspect they're cowards and are too afraid to even dare show themselves... they'd be the first crying about why the government hasn't melted the snow for them yet.

A blizzard in the Rockies is rather expected during winter, considering the elevation. A category 5 hurricane over below sea level land which is surrounded on 3 sides by badly fortified levees, lakes and rivers is a completely different thing. Humans have not developed gills. No one can even say that they are the same and not be considered delusional.

[salin]

21. ah faux self-rightiousness used to attempt to mask bigotry.

Folks have *no* shame.

[Roland99]

22. Found the SNOPES article >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Appears someone altered an email forward about a North Dakota blizzard to be about Denver.

http://snopes.com/katrina/soapbox/dakota.asp

[gulliver]

26. Good catch!

These are like the mental analog of a "computer worm". I don't think I have ever seen an example of this replicating, mutating, blatant samizdat that didn't have a right wing bent. Susceptibility to these anger-pandering falsehoods is in the DNA of Republicanism. They need a security upgrade.

[Rosemary2205]

25. Well someone's howling because they've been declared a disaster zone

http://www.lamardaily.com/articles/2007/01/04/news/local_news/local12.txt

Governor Bill Owens also declared the state of Colorado a statewide disaster due to ongoing blizzard conditions. The Governor's declaration will free up additional resources to help fight the worsening weather. Owens has also activated the Colorado National Guard to assist in road safety.





http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061226/us_nm/usda_disaster_dc_1

(This link is to federal disaster funds paid from the drought in the fall)

The USDA's Farm Service Agency said farmers in Sedgwick county, Colorado, have eight months to apply for low-interest emergency loans to help cover part of the financial loss of their crops.



Here's more from a previous year

http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=106044,00.html