The newest hatefest I received about illegals and how they're

[babylonsister]

raping social security. Who's feeding this beast?

We have sat on our collective butts taking care of our
> own personal lives for so long that we stand a chance in losing
> everything we have put in this program since we were 12 years old. I hold
> no animosity toward persons coming to the US and going thru the
> citizenship requirements but I draw the line at paying for someone who
> isn't supposed to be here anyway and getting access to social programs
> that were SUPPOSED to be for US citizens. Forward it or delete it. If you
> delete it, you deserve the results of the SS system being overwhelmed and
> getting NOTHING of the monies you have put in for so many years.
>
> Dan Harry
>
> SEE BELOW:
>
>
> Social Security
>
> As stated below, the Senate voted this week to allow illegal aliens to
> access to Social Security benefits. Attached is an opportunity to sign a
> petition that requires citizenship for eligibility to that social service
> You can Agree or Delete. Instructions are below.
>
> When there are 500 names, send to: [e-mail]
> PETITION FOR: President Bush , Gov. Schwarzenegger and Congressman Dana
> Rohrbacher - for Guam, Congresswoman Madeleine Bordallo
>
> Mr. President and Gentlemen:
>
> The petition below is a protest against what the Senate voted on recently
> which allows illegals to access our social security! We demand that you
> and all congressional representatives require citizenship for anyone to be
> eligible for social services in the United States . We further demand
> that there not be any amnesty given to illegals, and NO free services or
> funding, or payments to and for illegal immigrants. We are fed up with the
> lack of action about this matter and are tired of "paying" for services to
> illegals! Tell Senor Fox to pay for his own people!
>

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. Dumbass freeper e-mail got it wrong, as usual.

http://www.snopes.com/politics/immigration/socialsecurity.asp

[Barnaby]

2. "Illegal citizens"?

[babylonsister]

4. I edited that, thanks, but refuse to call anyone an alien except

perhaps that little vaccuum thingamajingy that moves around legally.

[silverojo]

9. "Illegal alien" is a legal term. n/t

[Hangingon]

3. They are not "illegal citizens".

Perhaps "illegal residents".

[Alcibiades]

5. Remember the lynch mob that showed up in FLA

in suits and ties to demand that they stop counting the votes, and how it turned out that nearly all were staffers and lobbyists? I suspect that there is the same sort of thing going on here. Someone in Washington has a group of writers churning out misinformation and sending them on to people who they know will be receptive to such messages, who they know have forwarded them in the past. Many are written, as this one is, to appear to be a forwarded message with a phony intro written by some fake person such as "Dan Harry" (which sounds like a name a telemarketer might use).

The key to recognizing these things are the misspellings and grammar errors. These are, I am sure, inserted on purpose to give their e-mails a folksy "look, I have not actually been carefully crafted by a professional writer" feel. Most commonly, I'll see very uncommon spelling and grammar errors--for example, "getting nothing of the monies" is a particularly precious grammar error--that are telltale signs of a phony populist e-mail chain. On some level, that's the appeal. It's sort of like watching that Gary Busey character on the reality television. That fellow acts as though he's all crazy and sort of brain damaged (because he is), and yet, when he says something lucid, it has an extra impact, sort of like when an 18 month-old baby speaks in full sentences. It's so unexpected that it somehow gains more force. In this case, the message no doubt was originally sent to people known to hate brown people, who probably thought it was great--"hey, look, an argument I can use against brown people without overtly seeming to hate brown people."

[babylonsister]

6. No, I don't remember the lynch mob at all.

But I'll be checking that out.

[annabanana]

11. the Brooks Brothers riot:

[snowbear]

7. babylonsis... you need to upgrade your spam filter...

..or sump'n. http://eliteleague.co.uk/forum/images/smilies/duh!.gif

[babylonsister]

8. Actually...

my twin sister sent me this from a 3rd party. But trust me, she'll be hearing about it!

[mrreowwr_kittty]

10. Why aren't they more worried about PRIVATIZATION of SS?

They're concerned about a few illegals getting their hands on Social Security (which they would have at least paid into if they did) when they should be paying attention to the financial industries who are salivating over the prospect of raking in billions in fees for risky investments.

Idiots. :eyes: