WTF?! OMFG!

Um. Yeah. It is part of an organized letter writing campaign. So what! It's still a goddamned letter and it certainly represents my opinion. I. Hate. The. MSM.

We can't use your letter because it is part of an organized letter writing campaign.

>>> <amber.lastrega@----.com> 2/23/2008 6:51 PM >>>
Opinion letter submission from Amberlynne LaStrega

Street Address: ----
City: ----
E-mail: amber.lastrega@----.com
Home Phone: ----
Work Phone: ----
Occupation: Prepress
Text: Dear Editor,

I was appalled to lean that John McCain was the only Senator who two weeks ago chose to skip a crucial vote on the future of clean energy in America -- dooming the measure to fail by just a single vote.

Now I am even more appalled to learn that this is a pattern with Senator McCain. On the League of Conservation Voters scorecard he received a 0 for missing the 15 most important environmental votes in 2007. McCain's score of 0 is lower than members of Congress who died last year.

John McCain's LCV score exposes the real record behind the rhetoric: a lifetime pattern of voting with polluters and special interests and ducking the important votes.

Sincerely,

Amberlynne LaStrega
----, Minnesota

when it comes to all of the RW fundie organized letter/email campaigns? Somehow, I think not. Sheesh.

There was one instance a couple years ago when one of those right wing fundie groups did a form letter that people could blast to the media. I searched online and found a bunch of little newspapers that printed them with people claiming to have written the letters themselves, when it was really just copied/pasted off a website.

The letters I got back from the editors were apologetic for not catching it, and in one or two cases they let me know that as a result they were putting those "authors" on a list of people they would bar from publishing in the future.

I don't have a problem with quoting an organization, but if you publish under your name without acknowledging the quote, it's plagiarism, and it's not going to be within their editorial guidelines.

I'm not so sure about the plagiarizing part though.

I wonder if it would have been different if I'd simply re-written then letter?

We (the Star Tribune) have been coined by wingnuts 'the Red Star' claiming us to have a decidedly liberal slant. But I can assure you, the bulk of letters to the editor that get printed are RW.

Here's what I got from the Sierra Club:

Dear Amberlynne,

Thanks so much for writing a letter to the editor on Senator McCain's environmental voting record. The news has caused a stir -- the Washington Post picked up on the fact that Senator McCain scored lower than some lawmakers who passed away during the 2007 term!

Over 3,000 folks across the country wrote letters to the editor. Will you let us know how it went and if your letter was published?

Click here to tell us your experience: http://tinyurl.com/3d2rce

We're already seeing the first published letters rolling in. Gwen C. tells readers in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, "As someone who is passionate about environmental issues, I was dismayed to learn that John McCain skipped a crucial vote two weeks ago on the future of clean energy in America. The measure failed by a single vote." Letters like this around the country start to spread the word that John McCain isn't who he says he is on energy and global warming.

Your feedback is helpful -- we count on you to help us make it easier to take action in critical environmental moments. Click here to let us know how writing the letter went.

Thanks again for taking action and writing a letter to the editor, and thanks for all you do to protect the planet.

Sincerely,

Carl Pope
Executive Director
The Sierra Club

Just like if you call it the "Republic" Party, they will take it upon themselves to correct it, but not if you call it the "Democrat Party".

Yes, our MSM is a bad joke, for the most part.

It's fine to send your opinion to an elected official as a form letter to get your opinion included in the tally. But when you are writing for publication, with your own signature as the author of the piece, you do need to in fact be the original author, or cite the source properly if you are using someone else's words.

several letter writing organizations, and we found that it became so common that they started to become ignored.

Pretty much everyone out there in a position to get letters is clued in to look for mass mailings now. Best thing is to write a letter in your own words.

He has missed half his votes lately.