Yesterday was a little wierd.
I run a little project that produces simple scripts for people to use on their web pages. Things the send emails when you fill in a form, guestbooks, that kind of thing. Many webmasters that use these scritps are kind enough to include a link back to the project homepage when they use one of these scripts. As a result one of my email addresses is starting to appear in a few strange places on websites that I have no connection with. The problem is that some visitors to these sites can’t differentiate between the owners of the site and someone who just write some of the tools used on the site. I get some very angry emails from people who disagree with the views on some of these sites. Most of the time they don’t even tell me which site they are complaining about.
Apparently one of the websites that I’m featured on is one that is running a campaign to impeach George Bush. This is a point of view that is guaranteed to annoy a lot of Americans. Especially ones in the forces. Yesterday I got this email:
To: davorg@users.sourceforge.net
From: [deleted]@[deleted].AF.MIL
Subject: IMPEACHMENT
Date: Fri, 14 Mar 2003 05:43:40 -0600AS A SERVICE MAMBER I AM COMPLELELY SICKENED BY YOU PEOPLE. TO THINK MEN ACTUALLY DIED SO THAT YOU PEOPLE COULD SIT IN AMERICA DAILY AND INFECT IT WITH THE VERY PLAUGES OF THE MIND THAT THEY FOUGHT TO DESTROY. HOW DARE YOU!!!! QUITE FRANKLY WHAT YOU PEOPLE NEED AND DESERVE IS A GOOD COUNTRY ASS WHIPPING.
Now whether or not, I agree with the sentiments on the web site (which, of course, I do) no-one should have to put up with that sort of abuse. So I emailed a complaint to the postmaster at the site. I guess that the US military machine whirred into action pretty quickly as this morning I got the following response from the same person.
Mr Cross I would like to appologise if I strongly offended you in my letter it was meant to only be mildly offensive. I felt personally offended by the apalling memorandum calling for the impeachment of president Bush my commander in chief. I chose the strong words not meant as a threat but meant as the expressions of deep annoyance and frustration towards the ignorant left wing that I feel if ruining the world. If you feel wronged by recieving such email then prehaps you should distance yourself and email address from webpages and ideals that violate every AMERICAN FIBER that we have woven into our beings from birth. The thought of leading a charge to impeach my president because he feels a need to conquer evil and protect us makes naseau rise in the depths of my soul. I keenly niticed sir that there was no direct feedback link on the “IMPEACH BUSH” webpage however the creators of the page kindly left a link to you, therfore I suspect I willnot be the only pissed off American you get a letter from.
Which I’ll accept as an apology, if a slightly ungracious one.
I still don’t know which site they are talking about tho’.