Today I received a forwarded email from right-wing acquaintance. The message's subject line was "Gee, I didn't see this on network TV!!!! Obama snubbed."
The message opened with" "Watch this 10 second video where a lineup of leading Russians refuse to shake his hand. Did you see this on ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN or MSNBC? " Of course my first thought was to wonder whether anyone saw it on Fox News either - and why the writer failed to mention what is probably his or her favorite news source!
My puzzlement quickly vanished once I checked snopes.com, as I always do upon receipt of such questionable material. Not surprisingly Snopes labeled the message as FALSE, stating that it contained an "edited version" of a much longer video which clearly showed that there was no "snub." See for yourself at http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/snubbed.asp.
Why must these people stoop to fabricating such items to attack the president and the mainstream media? Do they feel their position is so weak that only fabrications stand a chance of making their case? I hope you'll remember to always first check the validity of email messages you receive before forwarding them to your friends. Remember that forwarded messages reflect on YOU!
We receive these same "forwards" and what I have been doing is "replying to all" with a little message about snopes.com. Hopefully, the folks that send them will think before they pass them on and jsut maybe, even check them out. But I actually received a "thank-you" from one of the folks on the "replying to all" list. Mike is a very active democrat and we both campaigned for Strickland and Obama and have never received e-mails about republicans like the ones sent out about Obama. So thank-you for your post on your blog and hopefully, people will think before they pass these things on.
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