# Obama "scares" former P&G VP Lou Pritchett in mass email -- What say you? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [August 29, 2009, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-scares-former-p-g-vp-lou-pritchett-in-mass-email-what-say-you/508142 "2009-08-29T07:25:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Kimmy\_Gibbler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Kimmy\_Gibbler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimmy_Gibbler)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2009, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-scares-former-p-g-vp-lou-pritchett-in-mass-email-what-say-you/508142/21 "2009-08-29T16:25:45Z")
> [@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. QFT, and I would also add this: You should refuse to fact-check the more obvious bombs lobbed from doctrinaire conservatives, as (i) it gives the false impression of legitimacy to this sort of person (they are what you would call in the vernacular “shit stirrers,” they are free to do this, and we are free to stop taking them seriously), and (ii) flooding the marketplace of ideas with this kind of bullshit is part of their strategy, they hope to detain us by making us counter ridiculous claims and to spend our energy there rather than advancing the agenda the American people voted to adopt. In other words, as the great maxim of the Internet goes: Don’t feed the trolls. ---
**Author:** ![guyblond](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@guyblond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guyblond)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2009, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-scares-former-p-g-vp-lou-pritchett-in-mass-email-what-say-you/508142/22 "2009-08-29T16:38:38Z")
> [@](#): > > 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. None of these assertions are worth looking up, but I bet the answer to this question is available. So let me take a guess: Obama reached what some would consider one of the highest pinnacles of an academic career by being the editor of the Harvard Law Review. One can then assume that he had shown high academic achievement prior to his college years and perhaps was awarded a free ride due to his achievement. High achievement at Harvard can lead to high income. Additionally, isn’t the cost of an Ivy League education pocket change to a guy like Pritchett? ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2009, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-scares-former-p-g-vp-lou-pritchett-in-mass-email-what-say-you/508142/23 "2009-08-29T16:52:56Z")
Heehee. A motivational speaker talking about being scared. Never thought I’d see that. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2009, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-scares-former-p-g-vp-lou-pritchett-in-mass-email-what-say-you/508142/24 "2009-08-29T17:17:02Z")
> [@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? Conservatism, at its very core, is the fear of change. It follows naturally that they’d be scared of all sorts of other things. Here’s another fact to check: Do we really have the highest standard of living on Earth? I don’t think so. Maybe in the '60s or '70s we did, which seems like the last time this guy opened his mind to let a new idea in. ---
**Author:** ![wierdaaron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/eada6e/32.png) [@wierdaaron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wierdaaron)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2009, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-scares-former-p-g-vp-lou-pritchett-in-mass-email-what-say-you/508142/25 "2009-08-29T19:31:19Z")
You scare me because you are black and a democrat, and I am an old white man easily frightened by things that aren’t me. ---
**Author:** ![R.P.McMurphy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7993a0/32.png) [@R.P.McMurphy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/R.P.McMurphy)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2009, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-scares-former-p-g-vp-lou-pritchett-in-mass-email-what-say-you/508142/26 "2009-08-29T19:33:19Z")
On the sandlot they’d just say, “Pritchett’s a scaredy-cat, Pritchett’s a scardy-cat! Pritchett hides inside his mommy’s dress.” Why would anyone want to take seriously anything said be someone that is that easily scared? What a wuss! ---
**Author:** ![wierdaaron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/eada6e/32.png) [@wierdaaron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wierdaaron)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2009, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-scares-former-p-g-vp-lou-pritchett-in-mass-email-what-say-you/508142/27 "2009-08-29T19:33:47Z")
From snopes: > [@](#): > > I did write the ‘you scare me’ letter. I sent it to the NY Times but they never acknowledged or published it. However, it hit the internet and according to the ‘experts’ has had over 500,000 hits. In the land of unverifiable facts, the unverifiable fact attributed to an unverifiable third party is king. ---
**Author:** ![wierdaaron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/eada6e/32.png) [@wierdaaron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wierdaaron)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2009, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-scares-former-p-g-vp-lou-pritchett-in-mass-email-what-say-you/508142/28 "2009-08-29T19:40:05Z")
If I’d seen this email first, it definitely would have been the third entry in my “why are people so goddamn stupid” series in the Pit, but since I didn’t, I’ll try to let this one slide. And I’ve got some real good jokes lined up, too. C’mon, conservative wingbats, gimme another one! ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2009, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-scares-former-p-g-vp-lou-pritchett-in-mass-email-what-say-you/508142/29 "2009-08-29T19:59:09Z")
> [@Mr Pritchett](#): > > 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. Sooo… does this scare him only if the guy in question is the POTUS, or in general terms as well? Cos if it’s in general terms, dude musn’t dare leave his house for fear of a foreign graduate student who’s never held a gun giving him the Evil Eye. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2009, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-scares-former-p-g-vp-lou-pritchett-in-mass-email-what-say-you/508142/30 "2009-08-29T20:12:15Z")
I wonder if there’s any person on earth who you couldn’t write vague scary things about. ---
**Author:** ![wierdaaron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/eada6e/32.png) [@wierdaaron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wierdaaron)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2009, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-scares-former-p-g-vp-lou-pritchett-in-mass-email-what-say-you/508142/31 "2009-08-29T20:22:20Z")
> [@SenorBeef](#): > > I wonder if there’s any person on earth who you couldn’t write vague scary things about. SenorBeef, you scare me because you’ve written 8,395 posts yet I know nothing about you. You scare me because you live in Las Vegas, and there are hookers there, so you must frequent them. You scare me because I cannot pronounce your name; is it supposed to be “Senior” beef? Are you a legal citizen? You scare me because you joined the forum in August of 2001, only a month before 9/11. Coincidence? You scare me because you have never run an international corporation, and therefore have no way of knowing what the world is like. You scare me because you apparently have an internet account, which is well-known to be a tool used by terrorists to communicate. ---
**Author:** ![tnetennba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tnetennba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tnetennba)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2009, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-scares-former-p-g-vp-lou-pritchett-in-mass-email-what-say-you/508142/32 "2009-08-29T20:44:47Z")
> [@SenorBeef](#): > > I wonder if there’s any person on earth who you couldn’t write vague scary things about. Especially when you’re not afraid to lie. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2009, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-scares-former-p-g-vp-lou-pritchett-in-mass-email-what-say-you/508142/33 "2009-08-29T21:44:43Z")
This Pritchett guy sounds like a real nancy-boy. ---
**Author:** ![Hakuna\_Matata](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a88e4f/32.png) [@Hakuna\_Matata](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hakuna_Matata)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2009, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-scares-former-p-g-vp-lou-pritchett-in-mass-email-what-say-you/508142/34 "2009-08-29T21:52:17Z")
Here is a nice rebuttal I found online > **[Lou Pritchett, you make me fear for my nation – an open letter to a former...](https://timpanogos.blog/2009/08/20/lou-pritchet-you-make-me-fear-for-my-nation-an-open-letter-to-lou-pritchett/)** > > It looks like an internet hoax, but it’s not. It’s worse than that.  It is a triumph of cynicism and pessimism wedded to false claims, crafted to impugn a good man.  Lou Pritchett’… ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2009, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-scares-former-p-g-vp-lou-pritchett-in-mass-email-what-say-you/508142/35 "2009-08-29T21:59:09Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > Is this true? Obama never met a payroll? What about during his campaign? Didn’t the campaign pay people? Or were they all volunteers? As far as I know, Bill Clinton never met a payroll. Neither did Johnson, or Kennedy, or Eisenhower, or Bush the Elder. Bush Junior did, and ran several companies into the ground. Much better I’m sure, and good practice for him running the country into the ground. ---
**Author:** ![R.P.McMurphy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7993a0/32.png) [@R.P.McMurphy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/R.P.McMurphy)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2009, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-scares-former-p-g-vp-lou-pritchett-in-mass-email-what-say-you/508142/36 "2009-08-30T00:14:10Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > As far as I know, Bill Clinton never met a payroll. Neither did Johnson, or Kennedy, or Eisenhower, or Bush the Elder. Bush Junior did, and ran several companies into the ground. Much better I’m sure, and good practice for him running the country into the ground. Refresh my memory. What payroll did St. Ronald of Reagan meet? I know he was head of an actors union but that’s not much different than a political campaign. Probably less so because the union members automatically have their dues deducted. No budgeting difficulties there. What were his business qualifications? Governor? Cummon, the dynamics of that are so different from private business and the support staff and regulations are night and day from running a “business”. Clue me in. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2009, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-scares-former-p-g-vp-lou-pritchett-in-mass-email-what-say-you/508142/37 "2009-08-30T02:19:02Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > > [@Lou the Satanist](#): > > > > . . . I presume that this is a joke about various fundie types claiming that P&G was Satanic, but let’s not mess around with the names inside trhe quote boxes, please. [/Modding] ---
**Author:** ![Frostillicus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Frostillicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frostillicus)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2009, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-scares-former-p-g-vp-lou-pritchett-in-mass-email-what-say-you/508142/38 "2009-08-30T03:46:32Z")
That corporate VP is a real pussy. I’m selling my P&G stock ASAP. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2009, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-scares-former-p-g-vp-lou-pritchett-in-mass-email-what-say-you/508142/39 "2009-08-30T04:26:15Z")
Well, the OP describes him as a former VP, which I take to mean P&G is no longer burdened with him. ---
**Author:** ![athelas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5e9695/32.png) [@athelas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/athelas)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2009, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-scares-former-p-g-vp-lou-pritchett-in-mass-email-what-say-you/508142/40 "2009-08-30T04:31:20Z")
> [@wierdaaron](#): > > You scare me because you are black and a democrat, and I am an old white man easily frightened by things that aren’t me. :rolleyes: [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-scares-former-p-g-vp-lou-pritchett-in-mass-email-what-say-you/508142.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-scares-former-p-g-vp-lou-pritchett-in-mass-email-what-say-you/508142.md?page=3)