# Great, now we have Snopes-supported chain e-mails. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 6, 2008, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-now-we-have-snopes-supported-chain-e-mails/458975 "2008-08-06T01:06:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2008, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-now-we-have-snopes-supported-chain-e-mails/458975/1 "2008-08-06T01:06:31Z")
A good friend of mine whom I have known for many years and worked with for many more is a member of the Army Reserve and is preparing for his second deployment to Afghanistan. I gave him my e-mail address so that I could know that all is well when he has the time to send something out. So he puts me on the mailing list, all well and good… …except that he sends the typical uber-patriotic e-mail spams to everybody and their sister. Today’s example: > [@](#): > > ABC owned by Disney Americana, Main Street, etc now run by foreigners and socialists > > Subject: ABC Bans American Flag Pins > > Date: Tue, 17 June 2008 10:27:13 -0700 > > ABC News Bans Flag Lapel Pins > > Yesterday, the brass at ABC News issued orders forbidding reporters to wear lapel pin American flags or other patriotic insignia. Their reasoning was that ABC should remain neutral about “causes”. > > Since when is support for preventing our death & > destruction some sort of a “cause”? Since when is > patriotism to be discouraged. I urge you to boycott ABC and its sponsors and affiliates. > > We’re slowly losing everything our country stands for, and everything our men and women fought and died to preserve. > > ``` > Please forward this to as many as you can. > > ``` Typical fare as e-mail campaigns go, but I have yet to show you the last two lines. Here they are: > [@](#): > > To check authenticity… > > [Did ABC News Ban Flag Lapel Pins? | Snopes.com](http://www.snopes.com/rumors/noflags.asp) I guess it was only a matter of time until something like this happened. How do you debunk this once they have taken the truth out of your hands and turned it around to support themselves? Here’s what Snopes really has to say on the matter: > [@Snopes](#): > > After the September 11 terrorist attacks on the USA, some news outlets asked or ordered their on-air personnel not to wear American flag lapel pins, red, white, and blue ribbons, or other patriotic symbols in order to “maintain an image of impartial neutrality” and to lessen the chances that overseas reporters could be harmed by those who might view them as an arm of the American government. Prominent among these outlets was the ABC network: > ABC News has asked its staff not to wear American flag pins in their lapels, or even red, white and blue ribbons, in an effort to protect their credibility as objective sources. > > “We cannot signal through outward symbols how we feel, even if the cause is justified,” said ABC spokesman Jeffrey Schneider. “Overseas, it could be perceived that we’re just mouthpieces for the U.S. government, and that can place our journalists in danger.” That is a perfectly valid reason. The military teaches that when you are overseas you should not wear anything that identifies you as an American. Why, exactly, does that not apply to others? If I were a reporter I would fall all over myself trying to blend in as much as possible while still doing the job. So, now I face another year of this, blended in with more relevant updates. I can’t put him on ignore and I can’t debunk it because to debunk it I would be more or less making their point for them. Why couldn’t the spammers have stayed stupid? It was much easier when you could shoot them down with ease. Now it takes a lot of effort with an uncertain outcome. It hardly seems worth it except that bullshit perpetuates itself if you don’t stop it. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2008, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-now-we-have-snopes-supported-chain-e-mails/458975/2 "2008-08-06T01:17:38Z")
Taking the truth and putting a dishonest, distorting spin on it? No, I don’t think anybody is breaking any new ground here. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2008, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-now-we-have-snopes-supported-chain-e-mails/458975/3 "2008-08-06T01:54:41Z")
Tell him that reporting the facts, the plain, unvarnished truth, is an American value. Or at least it ought to be. ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2008, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-now-we-have-snopes-supported-chain-e-mails/458975/4 "2008-08-06T02:07:52Z")
If you need a more-or-less impartial explanation, listen to last Friday’s _On the Media_. There was a lengthy segment on the CIA’s presence at a convention for minority journalists. Some of the attendees took issue with the agency’s participation, citing the need for American reporters not to appear to be tools of the government. It’s tough enough to be a foreign correspondent. It’s that much harder when you’re hated and mistrusted by the local citizenry. Why make yourself obvious, just to make some idiot in a uniform feel better? Robin ---
**Author:** ![Annie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/858c86/32.png) [@Annie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2008, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-now-we-have-snopes-supported-chain-e-mails/458975/5 "2008-08-06T02:37:06Z")
“Boycotting companies for not enforcing the wearing of nationalistic insignia? How Politically Correct!” ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2008, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-now-we-have-snopes-supported-chain-e-mails/458975/6 "2008-08-06T03:04:29Z")
[QUOTE=Airman Doors, USAF] Great, now we have Snopes-supported chain e-mails. [/QUOTE] That’s been going on for awhile but I don’t recall seeing one with a direct link before. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2008, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-now-we-have-snopes-supported-chain-e-mails/458975/7 "2008-08-06T03:10:44Z")
[QUOTE=MsRobyn] If you need a more-or-less impartial explanation, listen to last Friday’s _On the Media_. There was a lengthy segment on the CIA’s presence at a convention for minority journalists. . . . [/QUOTE] Why would the CIA want to participate in that? ---
**Author:** ![Greg\_Charles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Greg\_Charles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greg_Charles)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2008, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-now-we-have-snopes-supported-chain-e-mails/458975/8 "2008-08-06T03:28:25Z")
[QUOTE=Airman Doors, USAF] That is a perfectly valid reason. The military teaches that when you are overseas you should not wear anything that identifies you as an American. Why, exactly, does that not apply to others? If I were a reporter I would fall all over myself trying to blend in as much as possible while still doing the job. [/QUOTE] I totally agree with you, but I’m curious on a couple of points. You must mean that you shouldn’t dress to identify yourself as an American when you’re off duty, right? Otherwise, well, the uniform is sort of a giveaway isn’t it? Also, is ABC implementing this policy only for its overseas correspondents, or for its reporters at home too? Either way, the lapel pins could give the impression of government control of the media, but your point seems to argue that it’s only important for the ones overseas. Actually it reminds me of the Doonesbury spoof of Dan Rather, where Roland Hedley is dressed in “native garb” while doing a report from a Middle Eastern trouble zone, but of course very few natives drag a camera crew around with them. IIRC, the sound guy was wearing an Ohio State T-shirt. ---
**Author:** ![Mark\_Ryle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8dc957/32.png) [@Mark\_Ryle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mark_Ryle)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2008, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-now-we-have-snopes-supported-chain-e-mails/458975/9 "2008-08-06T04:07:55Z")
Two weeks ago I received a breathless chain email about a purported dangerous computer virus making the rounds in electronic greeting cards, complete with a link to a snopes article ostensibly to prove the virus really exists and there is no known fix. The linked article calmly described the virus and said it was _not_ a threat. This incident made me stop, once again, and consider: What _is_ this sort of person we are dealing with who forwards chain emails? I give the actual purveyors of spam the benefit of the doubt they are probably slyly working toward some evil agenda while not being overly concerned about merely looking stupid in the process. But I really question the intelligence of the forwarder, the spammer’s dupe, the person so enamored of every latest foolishness that they proactively spam their entire addressbook numerous times per week. And without bothering to BCC – that in itself tells me they are near computer illiterates. They sink even further, if that’s possible, when the emails include a link to snopes that turns out to undermine the email’s whole premise. Here’s a snippet from wikipedia: > [@](#): > > Its [Snopes. com] popular standing is such that some chain e-mail hoaxes claim to have been “checked out on ‘[Snopes.com](http://Snopes.com)’” in an attempt to discourage readers from seeking verification. ---
**Author:** ![Annie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/858c86/32.png) [@Annie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2008, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-now-we-have-snopes-supported-chain-e-mails/458975/10 "2008-08-06T04:31:03Z")
[QUOTE=Mark Ryle] And without bothering to BCC – that in itself tells me they are near computer illiterates. : [/QUOTE] “and that’s when I shot him, your honor”. This is why I have a gmail accout-to give to the relatives I don’t trust with a modem. My spam/mail ratio on my real email account is about 1/100-and that’s how I keep it that way! Yes, please, give my personal email to every one you’ve ever met, so they can give it to everyone they ever met, etc etc. ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2008, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-now-we-have-snopes-supported-chain-e-mails/458975/11 "2008-08-06T05:28:14Z")
[QUOTE=Greg Charles] I totally agree with you, but I’m curious on a couple of points. You must mean that you shouldn’t dress to identify yourself as an American when you’re off duty, right? Otherwise, well, the uniform is sort of a giveaway isn’t it? [/quote] Yes, I’m referring to off-duty personnel. They don’t want a repeat of the [General James L. Dozier](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_L._Dozier) or [Seaman Robert Stethem](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Stethem) incidents, so it is imperative that you are as inconspicuous as possible. > [@](#): > > Also, is ABC implementing this policy only for its overseas correspondents, or for its reporters at home too? Either way, the lapel pins could give the impression of government control of the media, but your point seems to argue that it’s only important for the ones overseas. The people at home may one day be overseas, so it is important for everybody. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2008, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-now-we-have-snopes-supported-chain-e-mails/458975/12 "2008-08-06T13:51:10Z")
I got this gem from Mom yesterday: > [@](#): > > This will make the many who died under the american flag turn over their graves!!! > > * * * > > Looks Muslim based to me, looks like a moon rising over the red stripes. > It will be a cold day in hell before this happens anywhere else but his private affairs. > As for me, my dad fought and was wounded in WWII along with many others, > and I’ll be damned now this twit is blatantly dispecting all who fought in all wars under > the american flag in the name of freedom for all and what it stands for!!! > If this idiot does by chance happen to get in office, we better be ready to fight for whats > right and not be a bunch of pacifists and accept what the changes he may want to implement. > The way things are looking now, we’ll be at the End of Days before we know it!!! > And just when you think he couldn’t sink any lower…I am not believing that the young people are not seeing this or ‘getting’ this…although he does market to them well on both myspace and facebook…watch it folks…even American idol was pushing for the young people to go out there and vote and register themselves on [www.declareyourself.com](http://www.declareyourself.com) …the democrats know they need the young vote… > > J-) Amore, Moi **It is good to have an end to journey towards, but it is the journey that matters in the end–Ursula le Guin** > Lets go to press with this one > WHAT A DISGRACE!!! AND HE IS ALL AMERICAN??? > Obama The Patriot - Removes American Flag From His Plane > > The Patriot Room > Posted on Tuesday, July 22, 2008 8:11:07 AM by Bill Dupray > > Barack Obama recently finished a $500,000 total overhaul of his 757. And as part of the new design, he decided to remove the American flag from the tail… > > What American running for President of the United States would remove the symbol of his country? And worse, he replaced the flag with it with a symbol of himself… Obama is such a despicable human being. > > Please forward this if you’re not ashamed of our country and our flag & if think this is a disgrace. > > If you do not forward this to everyone you know nothing will happen. If Obama is elected president of the United States we are in trouble. If you think the Liberals can lead our country just look what Pelosi and Reid have accomplished for us. I went to Snopes for rebuttal and found it to be true. However, it further goes on to say that the flag symbol was removed from the plane because it was a trademark of North American Airlines! There is still an American flag on the plane. > **[Barack Obama Removes Flag from Air Force One?](https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/an-american-tail/)** > > Did Barack Obama remove the U.S. flag from the tail of Air Force One and replace it with his own logo? ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2008, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-now-we-have-snopes-supported-chain-e-mails/458975/13 "2008-08-06T14:11:24Z")
_bangs head repeatedly on desk_ Over several years, I’ve frequently tried to steer people away from forwarding these things. Now, either instead of them going to Snopes themselves, they forward me the message, asking “What does Snopes say about this?”; or I get them with comments attached like “I don’t care what Snopes says, it’s a good story.” So I’ve given up. Now I mostly just delete the damn things without comment. Occasionally I’l write back, saying something like a) please please please, in the name of all that’s holy, stop sending me these fucking things, and/or b) they’re always wrong. Always. Every one of them. I can live with the microscopically tiny chance that I might ever miss out on accurate or useful information. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2008, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-now-we-have-snopes-supported-chain-e-mails/458975/14 "2008-08-06T14:29:51Z")
[QUOTE=Mark Ryle] They sink even further, if that’s possible, when the emails include a link to snopes that turns out to undermine the email’s whole premise. Here’s a snippet from wikipedia: [/QUOTE] Yeah, unfortunately, you’re only going to see more and more of that as time goes by. One of the many Obama-related forwards I got from my grandfather had a tagline that said something like “I checked this out on Snopes - it’s true!” It wasn’t, and the entry on Snopes said so. But somebody knew their target audience wasn’t very computer literate or discerning and relied on other people to tell them that Snopes says something isn’t true. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2008, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-now-we-have-snopes-supported-chain-e-mails/458975/15 "2008-08-06T14:32:42Z")
My mom has done that too. When I called her on it, she said, “Well, it was partially true!” :smack: ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2008, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-now-we-have-snopes-supported-chain-e-mails/458975/16 "2008-08-06T19:57:44Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] Why would the CIA want to participate in that? [/QUOTE] Public relations, basically. They want reporters to have a favorable opinion of them, so they assign a flack to man a booth. [Here’s a link to the story.](http://onthemedia.org/transcripts/2008/08/01/03) Some of the older reporters, who remember stuff like [COINTELPRO](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cointelpro), have some interesting things to say. Robin ---
**Author:** ![diggleblop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac91a4/32.png) [@diggleblop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/diggleblop)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2008, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-now-we-have-snopes-supported-chain-e-mails/458975/17 "2008-08-07T01:21:30Z")
I’m probably partly to blame for this. Because everytime I would get one of these shitty emails, I would snopes it out and hit REPLY ALL and send it back with the snopes link. Sorry guys, i guess they got the message. It worked a little because the amount of shit I got has dwindled. ---
**Author:** ![Headrush042](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a5b964/32.png) [@Headrush042](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Headrush042)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2008, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-now-we-have-snopes-supported-chain-e-mails/458975/18 "2008-08-07T01:43:30Z")
I’m like **diggleblop**. Whenever I receive a chain letter, I hit “Reply All” and invariably make the sender look like an ignorant fool. Fortunately, I have the kinds of friends that we can do this to each other and still be friends. Friends who have stopped spamming each other with chain letters 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2008, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-now-we-have-snopes-supported-chain-e-mails/458975/19 "2008-08-07T14:45:14Z")
[QUOTE=El\_Kabong] _bangs head repeatedly on desk_ Over several years, I’ve frequently tried to steer people away from forwarding these things. Now, either instead of them going to Snopes themselves, they forward me the message, asking “What does Snopes say about this?”; or I get them with comments attached like “I don’t care what Snopes says, it’s a good story.” So I’ve given up. Now I mostly just delete the damn things without comment. [/QUOTE] Same here. ---
**Author:** ![kingpengvin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9dc877/32.png) [@kingpengvin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kingpengvin)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2008, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-now-we-have-snopes-supported-chain-e-mails/458975/20 "2008-08-07T20:45:37Z")
[QUOTE=Dung Beetle] My mom has done that too. When I called her on it, she said, “Well, it was partially true!” :smack: [/QUOTE] Then see what she says when you tell her that makes her partially a liar. I delete these types of emails without bothering to read them anymore. They end up being glurgerific tales of hope and woe or lies and always seem to be badly, badly written (The Obama example above made my head Asplode trying to figure out what they were trying to say.) Not worth it… [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-now-we-have-snopes-supported-chain-e-mails/458975.md?page=2)