Organizing for America | Noto Notes: I've got some swampland...

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I've got some swampland...

By Char from Carnation. WA - Jun 17th, 2008 at 2:01 am EDT

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You, [insert name], are who we have been looking for! Your name was randomly selected as our 1st place $10,000 winner!

An email I received this weekend depicts a dreary aspect of both the internet and some people's extraordinary gullibility. I anticipate many more to come.

The gem I received this weekend, titled "Bill Cosby on Rev. Wright", is the proverbial "true statement" by "the well respected expert". These are particularly nasty little things because they are often hard to prove and sound very legit.

In this case, it is a comment supposedly written by Bill Cosby with an opinion of Barack Obama and the infamous Reverend Wright. It is attributed to have come from the Wall Street Journal.

The problem with these little ditties is that rarely do individuals receiving them ever bother to check them out. If they did, they would find that it was gathered, not from the Wall Street Journal, but by a blog comment posted by someone who called themselves Bill Cosby.

So, let's have another little reality check here. At most blog sites you have the ability to create any username you wish. If I wanted to call myself Mata Hari or Britney Spears or the Queen of Sheba, I could do so with the web site's blessings.

Just for grins and giggles, who might this particular Bill Cosby be?

Perhaps...he is the infamous William J Cosby, head honcho of the Clay County Klu Klux Klan. Or, maybe...he is Wilhelm V Cosby, eldest son of the dock worker in Brindlesmire, Scotland. Does either of these individuals exist? Not to my knowledge. Is there a Brindlesmire, Scotland? I doubt it...I just made it all up.

Perhaps...it is even the illustrious current President, George Bush, giggling in that demented little way he has, as he sets up an account under the name of Bill Cosby to wreak havoc on the election. Could it be? I don't know. And that's my point. You just don't know. Could it be true? Yes. Is it true? I doubt it.

As Snopes points out, it is unlike Bill Cosby to make political and opinionated statements via blog comments, rather than in his speaking engagements. This type of thing is also one of the reason's all my emails have a little statement at the end: "Before you pass on that rumor, check it out on Snopes.com" That's where I found out about this supposed Bill Cosby comment.

The sad thing is...most people really don't care and don't bother to find out. They read something that fits their own personal little opinion profile and just hit that forward button trying to influence other people to be just as gullible as they have been.

So, for all of you who buy into and believe these types of emails and a host of others...you have been randomly selected as the grand prize winner of $10,000! All you have to do in order to receive this is to send me the following personal information...just so I can verify it is really you, of course...

Then, there is that bridge and some swampland you may be interested in...

~Later...

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By Jeff Jun 17th 2008 at 2:24 am EDT

Be vigilant with those emails!

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