E-mail from a friend---supposed letter from Jay Leno

[WiseButAngrySara]

How do you respond to this?

If you're not a Jay Leno fan read what he wrote anyway. My respect and esteem for him has really increased.

"The other day I was reading Newsweek magazine and came across some poll data I found rather hard to believe. It must be true given the source, right?

The Newsweek poll alleges that 67 percent of Americans are unhappy with the direction the country is headed and 69 percent of the country is unhappy with the performance of the president. In essence 2/3s of the citizenry just ain't happy and want a change.

So being the knuckle dragger I am, I started thinking, ''What we are so unhappy about?''

Is it that we have electricity and running water 24 hours a day, 7 days a week? Is our unhappiness the result of having air conditioning in the summer and heating in the winter? Could it be that 95.4 percent of these unhappy folks have a job? Maybe it is the ability to walk into a grocery store at any time and see more food in moments than Darfur has seen in the last year?

Maybe it is the ability to drive from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean without having to present identification papers as we move through each state? Or possibly the hundreds of clean and safe motels we would find along the way that can provide temporary shelter? I guess having thousands of restaurants with varying cuisine from around the world is just not good enough. Or could it be that when we wreck our car, emergency workers show up and provide services to help all and even send a helicopter to take you to the hospital.

Perhaps you are one of the 70 percent of Americans who own a home. You may be upset with knowing that in the unfortunate case of a fire, a group of trained firefighters will appear in moments and use top notch equipment to extinguish the flames thus saving you, your family and your belongings. Or if, while at home watching one of your many flat screen TVs, a burglar or prowler intrudes , an officer equipped with a gun and a bullet-proof vest will come to defend you and your family against attack or loss. This all in the backdrop of a neighborhood free of bombs or militias raping and pillaging the residents. Neighborhoods where 90 percent of teenagers own cell phones and computers.

How about the complete religious, social and political freedoms we enjoy that are the envy of everyone in the world? Maybe that is what has 67 percent of you folks unhappy.

Fact is, we are the largest group of ungrateful, spoiled brats the world has ever seen. No wonder the world loves the U.S., yet has a great disdain for its citizens. They see us for what we are. The most blessed people in the world who do nothing but complain about what we don't have , and what we hate about the country instead of thanking the good Lord we live here.

I know, I know. What about the president who took us into war and has no plan to get us out? The president who has a measly 31 percent approval rating? Is this the same president who guided the nation in the dark days after 9/11? The president that cut taxes to bring an economy out of recession? Could this be the same guy who has been called every name in the book for succeeding in keeping all the spoiled ungrateful brats safe from terrorist attacks?

The commander in chief of an all-volunteer army that is out there defending you and me? Did you hear how bad the President is on the news or talk show? Did this news affect you so much, make you so unhappy you couldn't take a look around for yourself and see all the good things and be glad?

Think about it......are you upset at the President because he actually caused you personal pain OR is it because the "Media" told you he was failing to kiss your sorry ungrateful behind every day.

Make no mistake about it. The troops in Iraq and Afghanistan have volunteered to serve, and in many cases may have died for your freedom. There is currently no draft in this country. They didn't have to go.

They are able to refuse to go and end up with either a ''general'' discharge, an ''other than honorable'' discharge or, worst case scenario, a ''dishonorable'' discharge after a few days in the brig.

So why then the flat-out discontentment in the minds of 69 percent of Americans? Say what you want but I blame it on the media. If it bleeds it leads and they specialize in bad news. Everybody will watch a car crash with blood and guts. How many will watch kids selling lemonade at the corner? The media knows this and media outlets are for-profit corporations. They offer what sells , and when criticized, try to defend their actions by "justifying" them in one way or another. Just ask why they tried to allow a murderer like O.J. Simpson to write a book about how he didn't kill his wife, but if he did he would have done it this way......Insane!

Stop buying the negativism you are fed everyday by the media. Shut off the TV, burn Newsweek, and use the New York Times for the bottom of your bird cage. Then start being grateful for all we have as a country. There is exponentially more good than bad.

We are among the most blessed peoples on Earth and should thank God several times a day, or at least be thankful and appreciative."

"With hurricanes, tornados, fires out of control, mud slides, flooding, severe thunderstorms tearing up the country from one end to another, and with the threat of bird flu and terrorist attacks, "Are we sure this is a good time to take God out of the Pledge of Allegiance?"

Jay Leno

[BurtWorm]

1. For the millionth time, it's bullshit.

Someone will be along in a few with the Snopes link.

:yawn:

[WiseButAngrySara]

2. Sorry, I missed the earlier discussion. Who is spreading

this, and why? My friend is extremely intelligent and very well educated. i was shocked to receive this from her.

[BurtWorm]

22. Right wingers are spreading it

because they agree with it and because they don't care about the truth (that Leno didn't write it). They like the idea that a household name "agrees" with them--even though the author is just your run of the mill dumb wingnut.

PS: Sorry to sound short. It's not at you. It's at the way these e-mail myths spread and never go away.

[WiseButAngrySara]

23. I sent her the link. But I never thought that she would have fallen

for anything so blatant. I basically told her it was a lie. Seemed harsh, but you can't say you love truth and promote falsehood.

[avrdream]

9. And it gives Bush a lot more credit than he deserves.

Friends and family in the military aren't even sure they are risking their lives for our freedom.

[IDemo]

3. Snoped in 60 seconds

http://www.snopes.com/politics/soapbox/hitnail.asp

Why do these things always read like they were written by Readers Digest contributors?

[WiseButAngrySara]

7. Because they probably are? Thanks for the link. ....n/t

[Liberal Veteran]

21. I wouldn't be surprised however to find that 90% of these obnoxious chain letters...

...all originate from the same place in the RNC headquarters which is often submerged in a swamp and looks uncannily like Darth Vader's helmet.

[MadBadger]

4. Not sure Leno would ever say this in a million years.

[Vanje]

5. Your friend is spreading a lie

http://www.snopes.com/politics/soapbox/hitnail.asp

[Redstone]

6. God, that smells like week-old fish. And you BOUGHT it?

Redstone

[WiseButAngrySara]

13. ROFL! Not me buying fish ever, not on Friday and certainly not

a week old. And I didn't buy this, but it reeked so badly that I couldn't believe the source of the fish! Pretty high minded and fresh watered, so to speak.

[Redstone]

14. Amazing how gullible some otherwise-intelligent people can be, I agree.

Redstone

[Frances]

8. I got this email from a Repub relative

I didn't respond.

The person who sent it to me is in her 70s. Another older relative used to send me this kind of stuff too. Do you think older people are targeted for this kind of propaganda or is it sent to all ages?

[avrdream]

12. I know.

I get e-mails from my friend's parents, a wonderful old Jewish couple from Los Angeles. Many of these e-mails are ones that have been completely debunked by intelligent members of the online community but this couple hasn't become internet savvy enough to check it out for themselves so I'm always doing it.
And, let me tell you, they VOTE based on some of the stuff that is out there.

[WiseButAngrySara]

16. My intelligent, educated friend is in her seventies. But I don't

see the connection.

[Frances]

24. I have a hunch that the Repubs pay people to write propaganda

like this and then send it to a list of older folks that they know will like it. Those folks send it on to their friends and relatives.

This email, like others I've seen, uses words, sentence structure, and images that sound like my age group. As a former English teacher, I have noticed that younger people tend to use more informal words, shorter sentences and shorter paragraphs than my generation did. Plus younger people understandably don't tend to romanticize the past the way we older folks do. Most of them are sophisticated enough to be skeptical of something like this and know how to use Snopes to root out lies.

[Cleita]

26. No hunch. It's a widespread practice not only with political

parties but special interest groups to hire publicists to spin this kind of thing. They get articles published in unsuspecting journals and newspapers, and spread what else they can in the internet and websites. I have seen some very suspicious type posts here on DU as well. Fortunately, the majority of DUers know it when they see it and the posts, like this one, usually get shot down with facts in the matter of minutes.

[Vanje]

10. Be sure to hit "reply all" to send your snopes link to sender, et al

http://www.snopes.com/politics/soapbox/hitnail.asp

[Canuckistanian]

15. I ALWAYS send the Snopes link right back to them

And I'm mainly pissed off that I have to work so hard to do it.

[WiseButAngrySara]

20. And thanks. Just stunned that people I thought were so

intelligent would send me this. Guess I'm the gullible one.

[DemBones DemBones]

17. Yes! Most people who send this sort of thing on also don't know how

to delete the e-mail addresses of all the people it was previously forwarded to so you often have five or six sets of e-mail addresses you can reply to.

It's amazing what people will believe -- and what they won't believe (PNAC, for example.)

[WiseButAngrySara]

19. Thanks! ....n/t

[DemGa]

11. I could tell this was not Leno

Waaay too partisan slanted.

[Initech]

18. Yeah, no kidding! You think a guy who's on TV every night would be blasting the media?

:rofl:

[Arugula Latte]

25. So I guess whoever wrote this was happy as a clam when Clinton was president -- right?

:eyes:

[Berry Cool]

27. The comedy gold in this piece is

the part where we're actually supposed to believe that Jay Leno is advising people to "Shut off your TV."

You just can't beat that with a stick.

Personally, my favorite is:

Or if, while at home watching one of your many flat screen TVs, a burglar or prowler intrudes , an officer equipped with a gun and a bullet-proof vest will come to defend you and your family against attack or loss.

Yeah, right. First of all, I don't have "many flat screen TVs." Second, I have been burglarized--twice. Each time, when I called the local police, they came by, made a report and, when I asked them what they were going to do next, shrugged. Like "What do you expect us to do, lady? This isn't TV." They had way more important things to worry about than recovering my stuff, which I never did get back. They were there to record what had happened, not to do anything about it.

I knew who burglarized me. It was a teenager in the family I was renting my half of the house from. His aunt lived in the other half, and she had been robbed first. Her nephew knew the house and how to get in and when we would be away. He had been in trouble with the law before, but at the time was free. He needed money for drugs. She told me all about it.

Know when the cops finally arrested him and threw his ass in a juvenile facility? When he was busted for shoplifting. You see, that was different. He was robbing from a BUSINESS. As long as he stole from individuals, it was OK. But rob a store, and they bust your ass.