Wow! Several of you stood up and demanded that today be
Thursday. With your help, we managed to turn Wednesday into Thursday. We saw midnight
approaching quickly, got that petition out asking you to TELL Wednesday to step aside and allow Thursday in, and you came through.
We set a hefty goal of six signatures and you helped us reach
that goal before midnight (almost - five out of six was close enough). Now, because we managed
to get that petition out and you cared enough to sign it, today is Thursday.
However, our work is not done. We must pursue this project
relentlessly. We have to let the calendar know we are serious and we will NOT
accept any stalling or going backwards. In order to make tomorrow be Friday, we need your
donations.
Can you help by sending grins, heavy praise, and maybe a few
guffaws or knee slaps? We would like to have at least three of each before our 2 p.m. deadline so we can generate the next free petition before midnight.
Your opinions matter greatly to us. Please answer the
following questions to let us know what you would like to see us work on in the
future.
⃝ Would like to see you
change days
⃝ Would like to see you
change nights
⃝ Notify me by email
⃝ Just send petitions to
my gmail addy
⃝ Need 12 point font
⃝ Prefer 10 point font
⃝ Want to hear from you once
a day
⃝ Want to hear from you
daily
⃝ Hit me up hourly
Thanks for all you do!
----
To keep my head from exploding, I had a bit of fun with a Thursday
petition. Within ten minutes of Ashley Judd’s Twitter announcement that she
has decided not to run against Mitch McConnell for his Senate seat, a petition
to draft the person we all knew was second in line appeared on my Facebook
feed. That petition was as obviously ridiculous and useless as my Thursday
petition—since the Clintons
are behind Alison
Lundergan Grimes—so it hit a raw nerve in me.
I’ll explain this raw nerve in case there is a person who
hasn’t noticed the pattern. A number of groups (that seems to be growing daily)
realize there is fame and fortune in providing a means for people to feel as
though they have contributed when they really have done nothing, sorta like a
prayer group. The ones that moved me from pet peeve to raw nerve status are
MoveOn, CREDO, and Progress [sic] Kentucky.
The second news hits the inaccurate airwaves (sometimes
before the sloppy reporters have even finished their inaccurate, invalidated
stories) these groups pump out knee-jerk petitions with which to spam internet
sites and email boxes. Sensationalized, often dishonest subject lines and carelessly
worded letters accompany said petitions when they hit the email boxes. They
demand that we TELL someone and their party what horrible thing we will not
tolerate any longer, planting dishonest negative impressions about the person
we are telling not to do what they haven’t done, or to do what they’ve already
done.
For example, some right-wing nut job posts on Facebook that the
girl his uncle dumped last week told him she heard Obama plans to remove all
American flags from the White House. Every knee-jerk,
lets-build-a-mailing-list-and-collect-donations group in existence shoots out
an immediate petition asking us to TELL President Obama and the Democrats in
Congress they must not remove the American flag from the White House. MoveOn
follows up with a second email encouraging us to make our own petition (I thought
about using that one for my Thursday petition because I’ve seen some almost
like it come from SignOn), and then a third email that asks everyone else if
they want MoveOn to support the one I made.
Then, when President Obama and the Democrats in Congress
have the added burden of shirking this ridiculous rumor, and they have not
removed the flags from the White House because they never had any intention of
doing that in the first place, these same groups shoot out another email
reminding us that they were first to warn us, they did the hard work of pounding
out a petition and a couple of memes (or maybe posting someone else’s article
or video on their site so they can collect hits and credit), and they deserve praise
and brand recognition for protecting the American flags in the White House.
Now, aren’t they wonderful and can we please send a donation to help them do
this again tomorrow?
Not only is this annoying, it is harmful. Most of these Internet
petitions are meaningless. I could have reached my goal of six on my own if I
had wanted. And, like the people who say a prayer as they pass the hungry guy
on the corner thinking prayer action is as good as forking over a smile, a
dollar, or a vote for a candidate who might help them, meaningless petitions signers
get to think their work is done. This scam provides one set of lazy people an
avenue to ask for money and name recognition, and another set an easy out so
they don’t have to think about doing the hard work.
I will be happy if my Thursday petition encourages thought
and discussion about the groups that are more interested in name recognition
and donations than they are about real issues and honesty.
