Axelrod Viral Email Hell
Americans hate spam and getting spammed. Not the kind in the can but the kind that clogs your email inbox. The kind that makes you wonder where the sender got your email address. Today I got such an email from the White House and Obama adviser, David Axelrod. Here’s an excerpt:
Dear Friend,
This is probably one of the longest emails I’ve ever sent, but it could be the most important.
Across the country we are seeing vigorous debate about health insurance reform. Unfortunately, some of the old tactics we know so well are back — even the viral emails that fly unchecked and under the radar, spreading all sorts of lies and distortions.
As President Obama said at the town hall in New Hampshire, “where we do disagree, let’s disagree over things that are real, not these wild misrepresentations that bear no resemblance to anything that’s actually been proposed.”
So let’s start a chain email of our own. At the end of my email, you’ll find a lot of information about health insurance reform, distilled into 8 ways reform provides security and stability to those with or without coverage, 8 common myths about reform and 8 reasons we need health insurance reform now.
Right now, someone you know probably has a question about reform that could be answered by what’s below. So what are you waiting for? Forward this email.
Thanks,
David
David Axelrod
Think it’s no “big deal”? Think again, as I’ve never signed up at WhiteHouse.gov for anything so how did they get my address? Therefore, the Axelrod/White House viral email falls under the category of spam.
Is it illegal? Not according to the Federal government’s rules on spam mail:
The CAN-SPAM Act requires that a spam e-mail contain accurate header and subject lines, identify itself as an ad, and include the sender’s postal address. It also requires that the spam give recipients an opt-out method, so consumers can elect not to receive messages from the spammer in the future. To ensure that consumers are not exposed content they do not wish to view, the Adult Labeling Rule requires that senders use the phrase “SEXUALLY EXPLICIT: ”in the subject line of sexually explicit e-mail messages and ensure that the initially viewable area of the message does not contain graphic sexual images. The consent agreements announced today settle charges that the spammers violated the CAN-SPAM Act, the Adult Labeling Rule, or both.
Here’s the address of the email:
The White House • 1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW • Washington, DC 20500 • 202-456-1111
and,
WhiteHouse.gov
Is the viral email an “ad”? It sure seems to fit the qualifications of one: a political ad, mass marketing of President Obama’s healthcare reform.
Even if it’s not illegal for Obama’s website to spam Americans and my email box, the question still remains, how did the White House get my email address? Here’s the facts:
I have visited the website, WhiteHouse.gov.. but,
I never signed up to receive emails, nor have I sent an email to the White House website address.
During today’s White House Press briefing, FOX New’s Major Garrett asked Obama’s Press Secretary Robert Gibbs about the Axelrod viral email. Garrett stated that he’d been contacted by several people who, like me, had received the email, and, like me, wondered how they’d received the email, when, like me, there was no reason for the White House to have their address.
Gibbs wouldn’t give Garrett an answer. In fact, he was highly dismissive of Garrett and Garrett’s claims while picking on Garrett’s “demeanor”. Gibbs asked Garrett to give him the names of the people so he, Gibbs, could inquire if they were on the “list”. Since I got the viral email and the people who contacted Garrett got one too, then we’re on a list. Not just any list, but a list compiled and maintained by the White House. A list used in a giant mass marketing spamming of America.
Note to David,
“don’t spam me, man.”
*UPDATE*
Hot Air had this to say about Axelrod/White House Viral Email:
From Hot Air:
Major Garrett grills Gibbs: Why are people getting unsolicited e-mails from David Axelrod about health care? Update: See White House privacy policy
He claims to have evidence that some entity — either the White House itself or The One’s army of cultists at Organizing for America — has now sunk to the point of spamming people about the glories of socialized medicine. I suspect Ace is right in thinking that this is the origin of the spam and that Garrett has his facts slightly wrong: It’s not Axelrod who’s spamming people, it’s Obama cultists acting at Axelrod’s behest by copy/pasting his post and sending it to friends. If Fox wants this charge to stick, they have to show us exactly what Garrett was forwarded (minus the “to” and “from” lines, natch). Frankly, given The One’s ubiquity on television and in print, the White House might as well go the rest of the way and start pushing e-mails at us too. The more talking points I hear, the more they blend together as noise and the easier it is to tune them out.
Now, if Garrett can somehow put the spam story together with this story, then we’re cooking with gas.
Sorry, Hot Air, I got the email. There was no “cut and paste”. As I stated before, I did visit WhiteHouse.gov but I never left a comment, never sent an email, and never signed up to receive one.
This was the header:
David Axelrod, The White House to me
Here’s the footer:
This email was sent to XXXXXXXXXXX.com
Unsubscribe | Privacy Policy
Please do not reply to this email. Contact the White House
The White House • 1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW • Washington, DC 20500 • 202-456-1111
By LBG