Obama "scares" former P&G VP Lou Pritchett in mass email -- What say you?

[ambushed]

I’m posting this to solicit reality and fact checking regarding the following anti-Obama mass email, at least for the subset of Pritchett’s dubious and over-wrought accusations that can be reality-checked and/or debunked. All Snopes.com says in its entry on this is they’ve confirmed that it was authored by former Proctor & Gamble vice-president Lou Pritchett, which in my view seems somewhat remiss of them for an email that’s been making the rounds since May. To put it explicitly, the debate here concerns whether Pritchett’s assertions and fears are justified or not and the reasons you invoke to assign them to one category or another.

I understand that a great many people hold that debunking these things is futile, but I have had a fair degree of success changing minds as long as my counter-arguments are solidly fact-based, and I owe much of what success I’ve actually had to the extensive knowledge of the posters here at The Straight Dope.

The email follows in blue to distinguish them from my own thoughts…

AN OPEN LETTER TO PRESIDENT OBAMA

Dear President Obama:

You are the thirteenth President under whom I have lived and unlike any of the others, you truly scare me.

You scare me because after months of exposure, I know nothing about you.

You scare me because I do not know how you paid for your expensive Ivy League education and your upscale lifestyle and housing with no visible signs of support.

You scare me because you did not spend the formative years of youth growing up in America and culturally you are not an American.

You scare me because you have never run a company or met a payroll.

You scare me because you have never had military experience, thus don’t understand it at its core.

You scare me because you lack humility and ‘class’, always blaming others.

You scare me because for over half your life you have aligned yourself with radical extremists who hate America and you refuse to publicly denounce these radicals who wish to see America fail.

You scare me because you are a cheerleader for the ‘blame America’ crowd and deliver this message abroad.

You scare me because you want to change America to a European style country where the government sector dominates instead of the private sector.

You scare me because you want to replace our health care system with a government controlled one.

You scare me because you prefer ‘wind mills’ to responsibly capitalizing on our own vast oil, coal and shale reserves.

You scare me because you want to kill the American capitalist goose that lays the golden egg which provides the highest standard of living in the world.

You scare me because you have begun to use ‘extortion’ tactics against certain banks and corporations.

You scare me because your own political party shrinks from challenging you on your wild and irresponsible spending proposals.

You scare me because you will not openly listen to or even consider opposing points of view from intelligent people.

You scare me because you falsely believe that you are both omnipotent and omniscient.

You scare me because the media gives you a free pass on everything you do.

You scare me because you demonize and want to silence the Limbaughs, Hannitys, O’Relllys and Becks who offer opposing, conservative points of view.

You scare me because you prefer controlling over governing.

Finally, you scare me because if you serve a second term I will probably not feel safe in writing a similar letter in 8 years.

Lou Pritchett

[Marley23]

I say “bullshit” very loudly. This piece is largely fact-check proof because it’s mostly just opinions, partisanship, and loaded words. But others are just stupid.

You scare me because after months of exposure, I know nothing about you.

Huh? Say what you will about his style and substance, but Obama has written two books and has been subjected to a great deal of media scrutiny since he started running for president two and a half years ago. The volume of coverage became enormous when he won the Iowa primary 18 months ago. How is it possible to know nothing about Barack Obama at this point? If the author didn’t know the answer to some specific things, that would be different, but saying he knows nothing indicates he’s being irrational or obtuse.

You scare me because I do not know how you paid for your expensive Ivy League education and your upscale lifestyle and housing with no visible signs of support.

What is the author implying here, one wonders? I can’t say how he paid for college, but if he was like 99 percent of students, the answer would be a combination of financial aid and loans. I don’t know how much money Barack and Michelle Obama made earlier in their married life but since they were both Ivy League graduates, I imagine their starting salaries in the law were pretty good. By the time he ran for the Senate, he’d written one book that was (by then) selling pretty well, and she was a hospital executive who was making good money. Not a big mystery here. I don’t think Al Qaeda or the government of Kenya was subsidizing their lifestyle, and I also don’t think this is of much importance.

You scare me because you did not spend the formative years of youth growing up in America and culturally you are not an American.

The author seems to believe your formative years are ages six to 10, because aside from those years, Obama has lived in the U.S. his entire life. The meaning of ‘culturally American’ is too subjective to nail down. Obama certainly had plenty of experiences most Americans don’t have, like having a monkey, but all things considered it’s hard for me to believe a man who has lived in the U.S. from ages 10 to 48 would not be culturally American. The early years are important and all, but how would four or five years in Indonesia make him Indonesian if the rest of his life doesn’t make him American?

The list goes on and much of this is too hysterical to even get into. I note with some amusement that on his own Web site, the author touts his own international experience. I wonder if he has spent more time abroad than Obama, and whether or not he is really an American himself.

he served as President of the company in the Philippines and as Corporate Vice President of World Sales where he worked in Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, India, Middle East

[El_Kabong]

Why the hell should I, or anyone else who has an actual life, have to spend hours fact-checking an E-mail forward? Pretty much every other one I’ve ever seen is full of bogus information, so I have no expectation that this one would be any different.

You know, following a few fundamental journalistic principles isn’t all that hard. When people posting partisan opinion pieces, especially a presumably university-educated person like Mr. Pritchett, apparently ignore elementary rules about citing sources and facts, there’s usually a reason.

Here’s an idea; it is responsibility of the author of the message, and of those who choose to pass it on, to verify the facts of the message before sending it on to other members of the public, or at the very least, to provide references that will give other readers a reasonable ability to verify these facts on their own. These are entirely absent in the quoted message. As this has not been done in this case, then no one need feel guilty in the slightest about ignoring the message.

[NinetyWt]

@ambushed

I have had a fair degree of success changing minds as long as my counter-arguments are solidly fact-based,

I highly doubt that solidly fact-based arguments are going to sway any person who cannot see for themselves the ridiculousness of such emails, be they anti-Obama or anti-Bush (or anyone else).

[elucidator]

Proctor and Gamble? Aren’t they the Satanists? I think I read that somewhere, which is good enough for me.

[Shodan]

@El_Kabong

Why the hell should I, or anyone else who has an actual life, have to spend hours fact-checking an E-mail forward? Pretty much every other one I’ve ever seen is full of bogus information, so I have no expectation that this one would be any different. …

Here’s an idea; it is responsibility of the author of the message, and of those who choose to pass it on, to verify the facts of the message

Fair enough.

AN OPEN LETTER TO PRESIDENT OBAMA

Dear President Obama:

You are the thirteenth President under whom I have lived and unlike any of the others, you truly scare me.

I don’t see how else one can established that a President truly scares someone apart from asking them, so this one is, AFAICT, true and well established.

You scare me because after months of exposure, I know nothing about you.

It is also true that most of the exposure is from those who are eager to promote Obama and his agenda. Given the fact that Obama has changed his tune on a number of issues - lobbying, PAYGO, etc. - the idea that the writer knows nothing about Obama is hyperbole, but not excessive. so it seems this too is a legitimate point.

You scare me because I do not know how you paid for your expensive Ivy League education and your upscale lifestyle and housing with no visible signs of support.

I don’t know how he paid for his Ivy League education either - affirmative action? Loans? Scholarship?

That doesn’t scare me, but maybe this guy is different.

The upscale life style is not hard to understand - Obama wrote some books, and was a part-time law professor and community organizer and state senator. Presumably he lived off that.

You scare me because you did not spend the formative years of youth growing up in America and culturally you are not an American.

This is true, at least the formative years part.

You scare me because you have never run a company or met a payroll.

It is also true.

You scare me because you have never had military experience, thus don’t understand it at its core.

Ditto.

You scare me because you lack humility and ‘class’, always blaming others.

This is an opinion, and not subject to proof.

You scare me because for over half your life you have aligned yourself with radical extremists who hate America and you refuse to publicly denounce these radicals who wish to see America fail.

Ayers, Wright, etc. A disputable but legitimate point.

You scare me because you are a cheerleader for the ‘blame America’ crowd and deliver this message abroad.

More opinion.

You scare me because you want to change America to a European style country where the government sector dominates instead of the private sector.

More opinion, disputable but legitimate.

You scare me because you want to replace our health care system with a government controlled one.

More opinion, but much closer to fact that most of the others. Obama said he supported single payer earlier in his career, and the idea that his plans will eventually force out the private sector is plausible.

We hashed this out a while back, but it was mostly just blackwhite from the Usual Suspects.

You scare me because you prefer ‘wind mills’ to responsibly capitalizing on our own vast oil, coal and shale reserves.

More opinion.

You scare me because you want to kill the American capitalist goose that lays the golden egg which provides the highest standard of living in the world.

Likewise

You scare me because you have begun to use ‘extortion’ tactics against certain banks and corporations.

Likewise

You scare me because your own political party shrinks from challenging you on your wild and irresponsible spending proposals.

Again, more opinion, but not far from the truth. Although the fact that the stimulus package is mountains of pork and earmarks is mostly the fault of the Democratic Congress rather than vice versa.

You scare me because you will not openly listen to or even consider opposing points of view from intelligent people.

This part is also opinion, but much closer to false than the others are to true. Obama has a filibuster proof majority, but the town hall things didn’t go so well for his health care plans. Still, he asked, which is to his credit. So this part is the first piece of opinion that cannot be reasonably sustained.

You scare me because you falsely believe that you are both omnipotent and omniscient.

That’s mostly his followers. It remains to be seen if it will go to his head.

You scare me because the media gives you a free pass on everything you do.

Opinion again, but also more true than false. Much more.

You scare me because you demonize and want to silence the Limbaughs, Hannitys, O’Relllys and Becks who offer opposing, conservative points of view.

I think it is mostly his allies in Congress who talk about silencing the opposition. He has not brought back the Fairness Doctrine, at least to date.

You scare me because you prefer controlling over governing.

Opinion.

Finally, you scare me because if you serve a second term I will probably not feel safe in writing a similar letter in 8 years.
Likewise

Regards,
Shodan

[RickJay]

Just for fun I’ll do the ones MArley23 didn’t.
You scare me because you have never run a company or met a payroll.

This is true. Does it constitute something to be scared of? Other Presidents have lacked such experiences.

You scare me because you have never had military experience, thus don’t understand it at its core.

See above. Lacking military experience has been a common feature of many Presidents, including many great ones.

And frankly, I call bullshit on the necessity of military experience to “understand it at its core.” I served and know many people who did, and many people who served understand very little about the military they were in and most know nothing about the military concepts a President would need to know. My serving in the Army no more qualifies me to be a commander-in-chief than my working in a nylon factory qualifies me to be CEO of DuPont.

You scare me because you lack humility and ‘class’, always blaming others.

I don’t see evidence this is true.

You scare me because for over half your life you have aligned yourself with radical extremists who hate America and you refuse to publicly denounce these radicals who wish to see America fail.

Unless Barack OBama was a member of Hamas or al-Qaida and I missed it, this is plainly a lie.

You scare me because you are a cheerleader for the ‘blame America’ crowd and deliver this message abroad.

No evidence.

You scare me because you want to change America to a European style country where the government sector dominates instead of the private sector.

No evidence. If one thinks healt hcare reform constitutes “government sector dominating the private sector” one must conclude that all the other PResidents this man has seen wanted the same thing, because unless they all wanted to get rid of Social Security and Medicare, they’re equally on the hook.

You scare me because you want to replace our health care system with a government controlled one.

This isn’t really true, though. What Obama’s proposing isn’t even remotely close to a genuine universal health care system as exists in most other Western nations. I will grant he wants more government invovement, but what he’s proposing looks, to every in the rest of the industrialized world, like a pathetic, pathchwork bit of bipartisan junk.

You scare me because you prefer ‘wind mills’ to responsibly capitalizing on our own vast oil, coal and shale reserves.

What the hell is this guy talking about?

You scare me because you want to kill the American capitalist goose that lays the golden egg which provides the highest standard of living in the world.

No evidence.

You scare me because you have begun to use ‘extortion’ tactics against certain banks and corporations.

Welcome to the world of politics, bub.

You scare me because your own political party shrinks from challenging you on your wild and irresponsible spending proposals.

Why does this make someone scared of OBama, instead of making some angry at Nancy Pelosi? IT’s false, of course - many Democrats are opposing health care reform, and Obama has spent a lot of political capital keeping his party in line - but let’s assume it’s partially true. The Democrats completely caved in to GEORGE W. BUSH. It’s clearly their problem, not the problem of the guy living at 1600 Pernsylvania Ave.

You scare me because you will not openly listen to or even consider opposing points of view from intelligent people.

Sheer, unadulterated bullshit. Barack Obama’s never listened to a smart person? What, do you shadow him 24/7?

You scare me because you falsely believe that you are both omnipotent and omniscient.

Okay, now we’re getting into insane.

You scare me because the media gives you a free pass on everything you do.

Watch what this one is followed by:

You scare me because you demonize and want to silence the Limbaughs, Hannitys, O’Relllys and Becks who offer opposing, conservative points of view.

So, um, the media gives him a free pass, and he demonizes the media because it doesn’t give him a free pass?
I had to stop here, just short of finishing it. The letter is idiocy, not opposition.

Ignorance is not a point of view.

[elucidator]

…You scare me because you demonize and want to silence the Limbaughs, Hannitys, O’Relllys and Becks who offer opposing, conservative points of view…

Wish I had read this first, wish this was point number one, then I wouldn’t have soiled by beautiful mind with any of the rest. Anyone who wants to offer me “Mad Dog” Beck as a responsible voice of conservative opposition is eating a batshit pizza.

[Squink]

Obama “scares” former P&G VP Lou Pritchett in mass email – What say you?

Proctor and Gamble, ehh?
Aren’t they the ones with the satanic Moon and Stars logo?
Of course they are!
Why would anyone ever take the words of a known satanist sympathizer like Lou Pritchett at face value?
Satan is the father of lies and Lou Pritchett is obviously one of his minions*.

---

*Down with Halloween!

[elucidator]

Don’t you need at least 10 for a minion?

[Jophiel]

@RickJay

You scare me because you demonize and want to silence the Limbaughs, Hannitys, O’Relllys and Becks who offer opposing, conservative points of view.

So, um, the media gives him a free pass, and he demonizes the media because it doesn’t give him a free pass?

Dude, he means the mainstream media… you know, everyone who isn’t Fox or a conservative AM radio host?

[tnetennba]

The sad truth is that all the people who hate Obama will say “EXACTLY!” because they, too, fear Obama and need as many justifications to do so as possible. I see no way to combat that with information; they’re minds are shut to it. They don’t want a conversation about their epistemology; they just want to talk about how awful the president is. Shame and ridicule, which they sorely deserve, just makes them more defensive and insular. So for me the question is, how do you combat this kind of rubbish, and is it even possible?

[Snowboarder_Bo]

@Lou the Satanist

You scare me because you have never run a company or met a payroll.

Is this true? Obama never met a payroll? What about during his campaign? Didn’t the campaign pay people? Or were they all volunteers?

[Snowboarder_Bo]

I just wanted to ask: Am I the only person who’s noticed that the entire conservative movement in the US for the last 10-15 years has been all about fear? WTF is wrong with these people that they are so afraid of everything? They’re afraid of terrorists, drug gangs, youth gangs, labor unions, immigrants, communists, socialists, environmentalists, even the President… what aren’t they afraid of?

And what happened to all these people, millions and millions of them, living in the safest, most prosperous, most advanced country in the world, to make them so afraid of nearly every damn thing on the planet that isn’t themselves?

[tnetennba]

@Snowboarder_Bo

what aren’t they afraid of?

Handguns and global warming.

[tnetennba]

For somebody who admits he knows nothing about Obama, this guy sure makes a lot of claims about Obama.

[emacknight]

Racist.

There, I said it, Obama is a racist.

[elucidator]

Which one?

[Defensive_Indifference]

@Marley23

What is the author implying here, one wonders?

Isn’t “no visible mans of support” law-enforcement-speak for “probably a drug dealer or gangster”? Seems like he’s implying that Obama got his money from some illegal activity.

As far as Pritchett’s last line – “Finally, you scare me because if you serve a second term I will probably not feel safe in writing a similar letter in 8 years” – my response is mostly, “What the hell?” I mean, it’s just a hysterical claim with no hint of why he’d be afraid of dissent. Obama hasn’t pulled the plug on warrantless wiretapping, but he seems to be reining in the torturers, so it seems like dissenters have gotten marginally safer. Maybe he’s referring to that Obama Youth nonsense.

This guy ran a major corporation?

[Robot_Arm]

@Bayard

As far as Pritchett’s last line – “Finally, you scare me because if you serve a second term I will probably not feel safe in writing a similar letter in 8 years” – my response is mostly, “What the hell?” I mean, it’s just a hysterical claim with no hint of why he’d be afraid of dissent.

My response is mostly, " What the hell?" Even if he serves a second term, Obama won’t be the president in 8 years.