I had a pretty hearty laugh when I first saw Sarah Silverman’s YouTube video about “The Great Schlep” a week or so ago. I do not personally have any relatives in Florida, so it has no bearing on me, and though it is entertaining and a novel idea; I initially dismissed her video’s effectiveness.
I also get hundreds and sometimes thousands of junk emails every day, and mostly a combination of server filters (Spam Assassin) and smart Mail client (Mail.app which uses both Bayesian filtering and my own personal junk rules) keeps the junk out of my face. I routinely see email about political issues and often the claims of such email messages are quite obviously pure fabrications and I both ignore them and discount their effectiveness as I figure no one is ignorant enough to believe them.
Turns out I may have been wrong, on both counts: CNN has an article about the Great Schlep, and apparently not only are senior citizens more prone to the spread of fear, uncertainty, and doubt by these junk emails, but also getting a reasonable discussion going with readily available sources of facts can make a huge difference in their confidence and knowledge before voting.
So a belated Kudos to Sarah Silverman and her efforts to get people discussing the facts rather than the bull-crap sent around via anonymous email messages. Call your relatives and make sure they are not falling for the same crap emails. Jewish heritage and Florida residency are not requirements like I initially thought they were, this can happen to anyone anywhere; make sure your friends and family are informed.
For those who have not seen Sarah Silverman’s funny video message (contains some strong language):
Here are some relatively non-partisan fact reporting websites that can help you sort out the BS from the truth:
Congressional Quarterly
FactCheck.org
Update: Here is another video along the same lines as the Silverman video, but not specifically targeted at Jewish Grandparents in Florida:
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