A Disturbing E-Mail

I received a disturbing e-mail from a work colleage the other day. This particular e-mail was a cheap shot at President Bush. Now, I’m not particularly pleased with President Bush, I doubt I will vote for him, yet I feel that there’s no reason to indulge in cheap shots. And that goes not just for President Bush — I don’t like cheap shots at anyone.

If you’re going to make an argument, get your facts right, make sure your argument is logically sound, and don’t use derogatory remarks. This particular e-mail, as far as I know, had correct facts. Yet it was not logical and ended with a derogatory remark.

The essence of this e-mail was a list of what presidents prior to Bush had done for Jews and Judaism. And so, for example, it told us that Millard Fillmore (sorry, I have to make up this details as I erased the actual e-mail, so my facts are incorrect) was the first president to attend a service at a synagogue, Warren Harding (I am making up this detail too, the actual e-mail had the correct facts) was the first president to appoint a Jew to his cabinet, and so on. But I am not making up the following summary of the rest of the e-mail. We are informed that the last several presidents all appointed Jews to their cabinet, with President Clinton appointing the most of any president. Then, the e-mail continues that President Dubya Bush (this is the deragotory part, that’s not his name and if you call every other president by their correct name, please give the current president the same respect) has not appointed any Jews to his cabinet and therefore he is a loathsome SOB who should be sent straight to purgatory, or some such words. Illogic. Non-sequitur. You can find among any president’s actions, if you look hard enough, a fact that appears to be anti-Jewish. Yet Bush has invited Jewish leaders to the White House and to his ranch in Texas, and has been an ally of Israel. If Bush had a policy of denying cabinet posts to Jews, that would be different, but President Bush has no such policy.

This e-mail wanted to make me dislike President Bush even more. It insulted my intelligence; and fortunately, I feel smart enough to see through it’s attempt at persuasion.