Just got this fascist e-mail

[bluestateguy]

It has all the makings of a story that is just a little too "perfect", as well as overtones of militarism and nationalism.


I arrived in Moscow, Idaho (Home of Idaho University one block from Best Western) and went to dinner at Best Western. About 85-100 people were in the Restaurant. I'm at a table for about 5 minutes when this "Group" comes in (20 people). They have Anti-War Picket Signs with them. It appears that two of these demonstrators are Professors.

They all sit at a large round table behind me and begin to talk very loudly about US atrocities in Iraq. One of the "Professors" stands up and gives a brief talk about how the "US is famous for atrocities" and Iraq is no different. One of the students asked a question about Viet Nam POW's. The "Professor" makes a comment about how that was only US propaganda about poor treatment of POW's.

OK - I'm really mad now and I jump up and go over to their table. (In retrospect - Over the entrance to the Restaurant is a huge American Flag. On each table is an American Flag and a small hand painted sign "United We Stand"). I excuse myself and ask the Professor if I can ask him a question. He says yes. I said that he appears to be of age to have served in Viet Nam, and asked him if he had served. His answer was, "NO - I defended this Campus and told the truth to the students. I then asked if he remembered what he was doing on February 16, 1969. When he answered, "Of course not - that was too long ago," I responded, "Really, I remember what I was doing. That was the second day of my capture and I had been standing in a bamboo cage for 24 hours with water up to my chest". I then said "Sir, your comments about how POW's in Nam were treated are a lie and I personally say to you, you are a ******* liar, as you never were there. I was a POW and they did not treat our POWs humanly. The only other person I have ever heard make the statements like you have is Jane Fonda. Is she telling the truth and not me?" He stood up and after about 10 seconds said, "Jane is a great patriot and I cannot visualize her lying." With that, I reached over and grabbed the small American Flag and United We Stand sign and said, "I'm taking this back to my table where it can be appreciated".

No one said a word to me as I started to walk back. However after a few seconds, people started standing up and applauding all around the restaurant. Two men got up from a table across the room and walked over to me. The first identified himself as former US Marine Lieutenant Flynn and the other man was former Gunnery Sergeant Graboski. In a loud voice after introducing themselves, Lt. Flynn said they were former Marine Guards at a US Embassy. He then said, "We are over at this table to defend the US Flag from all foes, both foreign and domestic." They then sat down and asked their Waitress to bring their meals over to my table. A few more minutes went by with loud comments from the "Anti-War" table. All of a sudden, "Gunny" Sergeant Graboski stood up and in a loud voice said "All of you heard what the President said the other night. You are either with the United States or you are with the terrorists." He then said, "Please stand and join me in God Bless America."

As he started singing, people all around the restaurant stood up and joined in. Several of the students at the "Anti-War" table also stood up half way through the song and joined in. Both Professors and the majority of the students remained seated and refused to sing. At the end there was a great ovation.

The Manager came up to my table. (He and his staff came out from the kitchen and sang). He thanked me for what I started and then went over to the Anti-War table and asked them to leave. "I will pay for what you have had so far but I cannot in good conscience serve you - get out now!!

One of the Professors then made a remark "Well, we are not going to pay one dime for how shabbily we have been treated." As they were leaving, one customer stood up and said, "Manager, here is $5 towards their bill, anyone else willing to chip in to get this scum out of here?" All over the restaurant, people stood up reaching for their wallet and saying, "I'll chip in" The Manager, in tears said, "My family is from Poland, I am now a citizen and am so proud of what I see tonight." He started crying and a couple of the waitresses helped him into the kitchen.

The two Marines and I were there for about another 20 minutes and finished our meal. The Hostess came up and showed us more than $100 dollars that all the other tables had told their Waitresses to give towards our bill. I thanked her but said I could not take the money. I just can't believe how Americans are coming together now.

Just thought you would like to hear how the rest of the country is reacting to what happened!!!

[pacalo]

1. This e-mail has been circulating for the past two years. I got it twice.

[punpirate]

2. Fiction

http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/p/pow-idaho.htm

Cheers.

[acmavm]

3. Not everything on the internets is the truth. I've seen this one before,

a few months back.

Saw it for the crock of shit it was then, see it for the crock of shit it is now.

And maybe my memory is faulty, but I think the site of this 'incident' has changed. I don't remember it being in Idaho.

[knitter4democracy]

4. There's no way that's true.

What anti-war person would say that he couldn't visualize Fonda lying? I mean, come on.

I'm so sick of them trying to paint all of us with that broad anti-troops brush.

[Oversea Visitor]

5. Most likely

He got thrown out :rofl: what a spin

[FreedomAngel82]

6. Is this Email serious?

LOL! Let me laugh my ass off! I doubt a restaurant would let this happen if it's true. LOL!!! This guy wanted to appear like a tough macho and not a liberal anti-war protestor. LOL! I don't think an anti-war protestor would bring their signs into a restaurant! LOL!!! Who are they kidding?!

[The Doctor.]

19. This author, in 'his' ignorance...

assumes that all others would behave as they would regarding their convictions.

"We expect of others what we see in ourselves."

[Mythsaje]

7. The professor, I'm afraid,

was talking out his ass if he said the POWs in Vietnam weren't treated badly, and even Jane Fonda has said she was out of line and young and foolish when she did what she did.

I have my doubts that this actually happened, but even if it did these professors were WAY out of line for that. It gives leftists a bad name when they're willing to talk up the enemy and piss all over the U.S. in the process.

Yes, the Vietnam war was a farce...we should never have been there. But it wasn't as though there weren't bad things done on BOTH sides.

And had I been in that restaurant at that time I would've stood up and said so, the credentials of the 'professors' be damned.

[democracyindanger]

So you're buying into it hook, line and sinker, huh?

That's almost as hilarious as the email.

[Mythsaje]

13. I said I doubted

it ever happened, BUT IF IT DID, the professor was talking out his ass.

[democracyindanger]

15. If you think for a second that this actually happened

you'd better get a pair of wire cutters to clip the hook out of your mouth.

[Mythsaje]

21. You know...

I've got a rule--I accept that nearly anything's possible unless I have evidence to the contrary. It doesn't mean I BELIEVE it happened, but some of it could be based on real experiences. It's not like it's impossible.

As written, it strikes me as nonsense. AS I SAID.

[Liberal In Texas]

22. It didn't freekin' happen! This is a piece of bad fiction with echos of

stories about anti-war protesters from the '60's.

[Mythsaje]

28. In its entirety,

most likely a piece of jingoistic, self-satisfied, militaristic bullshit. Now as to go so far as say that no one on the left has ever said something this stupid? Uh-uh. I've heard some remarkably dumb shit come out of the mouths of both righties AND lefties.

Most people know better than to send anything like this my direction, because I have little tolerance for bullshit. And had I been in a cafe and heard this type of crap, I would have stood up and called both sides of the argument the random spoutings of methane breathers.

[Liberal In Texas]

34. I will take your point that anything is possible. My science teachers

through HS and college drilled that into me.

However. Some of this "lefty" stupid spouting college professor stuff came from popular TV shows (like Dragnet or Adam 12) back in the 70's and even into the 80's. It's a stereotype that was easy for hack script writers to plug into a script to create "instant" villains that were against the moral upright patriotic protagonist. Very black and white.

There was always a hint of truth (college professors back then were by and large anti-war and their students did protest) but the overall characterization of spitting on returning troops and being a "pinko" because you opposed war was an easy generalization to make their pro-war arguments. It's much like today. I think this "story" was actually borrowed from some earlier one, but I have sources on that.

It's just a made from whole cloth "morality play" and not very well presented.

[Mythsaje]

36. I've done a lot of message boarding

and I've seen some arguments that echoed some of the sentiments in this e-mail, from BOTH sides.

But, yeah, the basic structure is very...convenient. The 'bad' lefty morons are braced by the good 'rightie' heroes and everyone cheers.

It's a lot like some of the pre-Billy Jack propaganda pieces I barely remember. I hated dragnet even as a kid...of course, being raised by a counter-culture anti-establishment father, that only makes sense, eh?

[Liberal In Texas]

41. Have you been looking around? It's a good thing to do, being skeptical.

I would love to have the time to document every bullshit thing that comes down the pike, and debunk it. But, to paraphrase our wonderful pResident...it's hard work.

Every time one of these things pops up and you do spend time doing some meticulous documentation to refute your freep friends/posters/co-workers, somebody comes up with another one. It's like ENDLESS.

But this story is so obviously "fiction" it really does not warrant much research. Snopes is good, but boy, have they been behind lately on some of the current stuff.

[Mythsaje]

42. I usually respond with a general

"uh-huh. Whatever."

RW stuff is generally pretty easy to spot, thankfully.

A friend sent me something a few weeks ago re: a girl found after the tsunami who remained unidentified...I did a quick search of the hospital name and found out immediately that it HAD been true, but the girl had been identified and returned home to surviving family members.

It's a little trickier to handle the 'feel-good' altruistic stuff, but there have been a lot of weird e-mails in that vein over the years. And considering I got my start on-line on AOL, I've become pretty skeptical of that sort of crap too.

I was like the LAST person who would ever fall for that Nigerian money thing. I'm one of those people just a little too honest to fall for a con...I know better than to try to get something for next to nothing...nor am I likely to get on board something that sounds as though it would require bilking someone else. My B.S. detector goes off REAL loud at that point.

[Liberal In Texas]

47. Yes! I've been collecting the Nigerian scam e-mails as almost a hobby.

I think they are so funny.

Also very funny response to the Nigerian thing here:

http://www.joshmadison.com/humor/spam_response.asp

I guarantee a laugh.


If the "feel good" stuff looks too much feel good, it's probably some fake thing.

Snopes is your friend, and other sites.

[Liberal In Texas]

46. One more thing, Mythsaje. I commend you for looking around.

But message boards, even this one, are not reliable. I just had this feeling right now in reviewing your last post that we probably have a generation gap. I'm probably as old as your father. My 2 kids probably your age.

My 2 sons are wonderful people (they're twins, but you'd never know it) one is a (I hate to say it) a slacker who loves anamie and whatever he likes to do... the other one works on the Space Shuttle as an engineer as a Mission Controller. Both of their political views have not been fired in the furnace of experience. However, if there is ever a draft again, I'll smuggle them out of the counry. No question.

"Dragnet" was always a joke. Over serious and over EVERYTHING. Hippies were always living in a dirty squaller. Anti-war activists always had signs (made by the art department of Universal) that they would walk into restaurants (!) and any other place the scene was taking place. Anybody using drugs or alcohol, was almost comotose and letting their babies die in bathtubs --cause they forgot to turn the water off!?

This EM in the OP is the same theater as that. Pure fiction to make their point. It's called propaganda.

Know it when you see it. It is sometimes easy to see. (Like this one) and sometimes not.

[Mythsaje]

53. Oh, yeah...

I'm 38... I've been a non-conformist since I could walk--which isn't easily to pull off as a child. I got beat up a lot. LOL

I accept nearly anything as possible, but I assume very little to be absolutely true. Like Frank Herbert indicated in his Dune books--absolutism is a trap that blinds you to the web of variation and the true infinite nature of the universe.

I wouldn't worry TOO much about your slacker son...he might catch on eventually. I was a slacker for a long time...now I work a full-time job, try to stay on top of all the things in the house my wife and I are buying, and spend as much time as I can writing and doing what political stuff I can to help turn the tide. I'm one of the few fiction authors out there I know of who doesn't hide his political views. Controversy is my friend. :evilgrin:

As far as propaganda--I remember a lot of little anti-counter-culture stuff from when I was a kid...though Billy Jack was one of the first movies I remember seeing, and that was certainly not in that vein at all. Also one of the things that originally interested me in the martial arts, an interest that stuck with me throughout my life.

The drug war propaganda is among the WORST out there partly because it demonizes something as generally innocuous as pot rather than contrasting it with truly dangerous substances like heroin or meth. People see and recognize the lies about cannabis fairly early, and tend to assume that ALL the information is false...which it isn't.

But that's a whole 'nother thread. :D

[FreedomAngel82]

11. It's all crap

See the link above.

[Mythsaje]

14. I thought so initally, as I said.

But I have heard people, including professors, spout stupid shit like that before.

The whole thing was way too pat to be a real event though.

[NMMNG]

8. This sounds like some putrid garbage written by someone at Freak Republic

Except for the fact that it is gramatically correct and spelled properly. Other than that it is typical of their rabid uber-nationalistic style that makes anyone with half a brain want to vomit :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke:.

[madeline_con]

9. Is this on the Urban Legends site yet?

It seems it should be.

[Kathy in Cambridge]

10. snopes.com

[Ilsa]

57. Here's the link from searching for the name of the town:

http://www.snopes.com/rumors/egghead.htm
"False"

[The Doctor.]

12. It's garbage until the author identifies himself...

I could easily write the exact same story with roles reversed and it would circulate just fine too.

[sam sarrha]

27. it is a total bullshit freeper mental hard-on fantacy.. it is just weird.

someone pretending to be the person they never were or ever will be..

[richmwill]

16. I'm surprised it didn't include...

"After the anti-war table left, one of the chefs came out carrying a record player. I got tears in my eyes as the sounds of 'God Bless America' came through the record-player's speaker. What happened next was even more astounding, as EVERY person in that restaurant stood up, placed their hand over their heart and started singing along! Following that, another chef emerged from the kitchen carrying a framed photo of George W. Bush. He held the photo up high and yelled 'This is OUR Leader!'. The applause was overwhelming!..."

[mirandapriestly]

24. Heh heh, Yes, if they are going to make us gag

they might ads well go all the way. Funny post.

[Contrary1]

40. And then he announced loudly...

"Freedom Fries for everyone...on the house!"

[Liberal In Texas]

17. This is such a crock. Unfortunately the dull-witted will believe it.

I've read all the books by Jan Brunvand and he has tips for spotting these "urban legends".

For one thing he says they were Marine Guards at an embassy. Well, which one? That would make it too much easier to check that story out.

It's highly unlikely that the "protesters" would walk into a restaurant with their picket signs.

College professors are automatically demons. After all, they're part of the intellectuals, which the freeper types just don't like.

Then the whole thing degenerates into some sort of wet dream about how the whole restaurant rose up as one to put these degenerates down and it turns into a jingo-fest of singing and flag worship.

They really need to get more creative if they want to be credible with this propaganda.

It's crap, tell the sender, and whomever he copied it to, that.

[jmcon007]

35. I call it their "cartoon strategy". Reagan did it all the time.

They frame their bs in the form that they like.....like a cartoon in a newspaper, it has four to six boxes with a simple beginning, a little rough in the middle, then the moral that warms their Americana hearts.

Puke.

I know where I was in Feb 1969. I was a Marine in Viet Nam and I won't say anymore, but I can tell you a POW treated as badly as this cartoon character claimed to be just wouldn't talk about it. Period.

[Enraged_Ape]

52. No kidding.

My grandfather escaped from a German prison camp in WW II and he NEVER, EVER discussed it with anyone, nor did he EVER talk about the war, period. It's an easy litmus test for phonies.

Thanks for your service, BTW.

:patriot: :hi:

[jmcon007]

54. Thanks enraged

[Stephanie]

18. What about Lt. Heywood Jablomi?

He wasn't there???

[democracyindanger]

20. Ohhhh man

Well done.

[sam sarrha]

23. some Freeper got a real hard-on writing that,my brother sends me that shit

all the time.. i go to http://www.truthorfiction.com (great site)and check it out if it is do-able, like the one about jane fonda and the one about the fence someone gave to Oli North to protet him from Ossama .. f*ck'n traitor criminal

[Alien8ed]

25. Hmmmmm...

Were such a gent to make such a statement about POW's in Nam, and were a Nam vet who had been captured to overhear it, it is quite possible that he would refute it, in a restaurant or anywhere else.

Were such a gent to then say something rather sweepingly over the top concerning Jane Fonda or whomever, there are those Nam vets who would, indeed feel it appropriate to "borrow" their flag.

However, the "Excuse me sir, but that's not true."

"Oh, yes it is!",

"Are you sure that's what you wanted to say?",

"Yes,"

and

"Thanks for the flag."

Would indeed be the extent of the entire, epic event.

And I would bet that the nine-ream screed of crap you got as an e-mail was based upon nothing more than a third-hand version of something like that - at most.

[AwakeAtLast]

26. Someone has an *incredible* imagination.

When is the last time any of you have sung "God Bless America" in a restaurant? :crazy:

[bobbieinok]

31. when I was in Casablanca and we all stood and sang the 'Marseilles'

the author of that story has seen way too many WWII movies

[democracyindanger]

32. You were there?

I was standing next to the cigarette girl!

[Beaverhausen]

29. See post #2 - its bullshit

Punpilot found it.

http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/p/pow-idaho.htm

[Wapsie B]

30. They can't win on policy

so they resort to mass-mailing bogus stories. All part and parcel of the gop propaganda machine. So sad what a once great party has become.

[jmcon007]

33. Let me tell you what I heard about a welfare Cadillac.....

[Mythsaje]

43. You might be surprised...

I've seen a few rather luxurious cars pulling into the welfare office a time or two. They're VASTLY unnumbered by the clunkers, beaters, and P.O.S. cars, though.

[jmcon007]

62. my point is that Reagan officials admitted years later that

Reagan's "welfare queen" story wasn't true, but that it reflected reality and that was the main point. So, it doesn't have to be true if it reflects truth? Why not just use a true story, then?
Oh, yeah...it's not quite as neat and tidy with a dynamite ending.

[Why Syzygy]

37. "At the end there was a great ovation."

:smoke: Ya think?

False ~

http://www.snopes.com/rumors/egghead.htm

[aePrime]

38. As somebody who lives in Moscow, Idaho...

I live in Moscow, Idaho. I first moved here in 1997. This is complete and utter BS. Let me count the ways:

The Best Western in town is called The University Inn. It's more than a block away from the university, which, incidentally, is the University of Idaho, not Idaho University (there's an Idaho State University, but that's in Pocatello, ten hours away).

The University Inn has two eateries -- The Pantry, and The Broiler Room. Neither of them have an American flag over the entrance, let alone a "huge American Flag ". And there never could have been, because both of the restaurants are within the hotel, and neither of the entrances have clearance for hanging a flag over the entrance without people dragging their faces through it. I have never seen small American flags on the tables at either place.

The tab paying conversations make no sense, either. The manager says he will pay for the protester's food so far, but then the protesters say they won't pay!

I've never heard of this incident, and I have never (much to my dismay) seen an anti-war protest in Moscow (with a population of only 21,000, it would be hard to miss).

I know a couple of people who have worked at the University Inn. I have an overwhelming desire to ask them if the Broiler Room's manager was Polish, but I can already guess at the answer.

[mitchum]

39. It's hilarious horseshit

[Warren DeMontague]

44. "Flaming Bullshit", party of four?

Your table is ready.

[Warren DeMontague]

45. I'm still waiting for my PERSONAL CHECK from BILL GATES for $109.98

for each person I forwarded an email to back in 1996!

See, it was a high tech test of a microsoft/AOL email handling system, and...

Damn! Nothing, again, today.

[Swamp Rat]

48. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!! ... HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! ... HAHAHAHAHA!!!!

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: ... den all of a sudden three-headed monkey-monsters came outta da professor's ass and ate all da librul students! ... :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[Robbie Michaels]

49. Did It Tell You...

To pass it on to ten of your friends within the next ten minutes or else you'd break the chain and have bad luck?

[magellan]

50. Probably more like

..."Pass it on to your entire address book within the next ten minutes or you'll be reported as a traitor and compromising photos will be sent to your friends and family. Love, Karl."

[B Calm]

51. Of course this e-mail is propaganda bull, but why do people glorify

war?

[kiki]

55. "And then...

...I finshed jacking off to The Deer Hunter."

Whoever wrote this has the mind of a 12-year-old, regardless of their chronological age.

[kliljedahl]

56. First saw this Urban Legend about 5 years ago

Continues to pop its ugly little head I see.


Keith’s Barbeque Central

[Ilsa]

58. Be sure to send the debunking sites' links to

everyone on the email list.

[Arugula Latte]

59. This is such bullshit.

Two of the people appeared to be *gasp* Professors! The horror!

[dogday]

60. This reeks of republican spin n/t

[Kerrytravelers]

61. After reading all the responses here, My advice would be:

Respond to the email by hitting "reply all."

In your reply, I would include the links proving the story is false.

I'd also respind by saying something in regards to "instead of sending around tired emails that are false, try searching for the truth. You look foolish when you send out such famously silly stories that have already made the email circut numerous times."

Best of luck.

kt

[SmokingJacket]

63. What a load of baloney.

Really, we need a baloney smiley around here, would save typing.