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Randy Cassingham's BlogHistorical Details and Author's Notes from This is True®
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Politics Archives
Politics is a Dirty Business
In the 25 August 2002 newsletter, there was a paid ad for an anti-Bush bumper sticker. The ad's headline: There's Dirt Under Every Bu$h. That led to (ahem) several reader letters:
Mac wrote: "I do not want to see your communist propaganda any more. Please stop my subscription immediately. I want no association with you. You are extremely stupid and should I do not want you coming into my house. I hope you have a great time selling your propaganda to little children and fools who would believe your lies."
Dirty Politics: The Mail
Last week, a few readers sent scathing letters; they were upset with me for an advertisement that appeared the week before that had some mildly unkind words about the Bush political family. All in all, the four letters I ran (and the 2-3 others I got that I didn't run) represent a VERY tiny minority of my readers -- only about .0068 percent, if I did my math right. But they were so danged entertaining that I couldn't resist running them (and then responding by pouring some cold water on the hotheads). After all, True is about the stupid things people do; my own readers are not exempt from being featured here if they do something idiotic themselves!
Liberal Bias AGAIN?!
In last week's issue I ran two stories that were wonderfully balanced, politics-wise. Yet the response was very, very telling. First, here are both stories:
Proof I'm a Stinking Liberal?
Ronald Reagan died last week. I didn't happen to mention that fact in last Friday's free edition -- which "naturally" brought a grumpy complaint from Jeffrey in Florida:
Why You Need to Vote
Midterm elections are being held in the U.S. on November 7. Midterms, which are called that because they are for open seats in the federal House of Representatives and Senate but not the President, tend to have low voter turnouts. That is a huge mistake. If you're a U.S. citizen (and 85 percent of my readers are in the U.S.), I urge you to vote. Certainly, the other 15 percent of my readers care that you do.
Republican Bash?
I have something to say about last week's story "about the vice president" (as most people are terming it):
Jerry Falwell, American Taliban
Jerry Falwell died this week. There's quite a bit of traffic coming into my page where I dubbed Falwell one of the American Taliban in disgust over his using the 9/11 terrorist attacks to further his own agenda. I followed some of those links back to the blogs which were quoting me, with titles such as "JERRY FALWELL IS DEAD. Good." and I'm glad he is dead. Indeed there were so many that I Googled the combination of "Cassingham" and "Falwell" ...and got a couple of hundred hits.
Another Empty Suit
Another fun story that's made even more fun by seeing the photos involved:
Fornigate, Lindbergh and Hawaii
Ten years ago this week I wrote two full columns: the regular one, and one on the breaking scandal with President Bill "I Did Not Have Sex With That Woman" Clinton. I (and many others) dubbed it Fornigate, and it led to his impeachment.
Funny YouTube Irony
Something fairly funny happened with my latest video, which was about a homophobe politician running for re-election while under the cloud of felony indictments over his first election.
The Right to Be Offended
I continue to be astounded at the number of people who choose to be offended by things that don't exist. I refer this time to a story in the 31 August 2008 issue about the Republican vice presidential nominee, Sarah Palin:
Nice Work If You Can Get It
I got a fascinating letter from a reader about a story that really adds to it. First, the story from the 28 September 2008 issue:
Visiting the White House
I mentioned in my post last week that being in Washington D.C. was "more surreal than usual" because it was election time. Well, imagine being inside the White House just two days before the election! Because indeed, that's where I was.
Laugh, or the World Laughs At You
It's so sad to see how people just can't take an obvious joke. (Say, like on a site called Jumbo Joke!) There was a political item today, and it resulted in a lot of whining -- and protest unsubscribes.
Zero Tolerance Thwarted by Common Sense
The first story in True about "zero tolerance" appeared in June, 1995, and I started railing about the concept soon after. It took more than a decade before I starting noticing other columnists editorializing against ZT.
Continue reading "Zero Tolerance Thwarted by Common Sense" »
Ed Freeman and Political Manipulation
I generally don't want suggestions for True's Honorary Unsubscribe feature; my usual problem is having far too many possibilities for the one slot each week. In July, a new trend started, and has not stopped (I got another last week): people wanting me to do an Honorary Unsubscribe write-up for Ed Freeman, a brave Vietnam War helicopter pilot who saved about 30 shot-up kids and was awarded the Medal of Honor -- the U.S.'s highest military decoration.
Forever Doomed to Repeat History
One of the best things about writing This is True is I'm always learning interesting things. (Usually I say "It's really fun!", which is certainly true too. But I get to research so many interesting topics!) And not just the regular stories: I learned something I never knew about before with this week's Honorary Unsubscribe, too.
No Parking -- Lithuanian Style
I've had a couple of complaints about a story in the 7 August 2011 issue. Let's start with the story:
Are You Liberal, or Conservative?
I think a couple of stories this week will make some people's heads explode. "Confound it, Randy! Are you a heartless Glenn Beck conservative, or a bleeding heart Barney Frank liberal?!"
