I should unsubscribe to Organizing for Action (OFA)\u2013a group supporting the election of Democrats, but I won\u2019t, because I\u2019m mining data from the obscenely insincere. The emails open with a clever ploy, use of the familiar, my given name. It\u2019s almost intimate. Some are signed \u201cBarack\u201d. Here\u2019s one, minus a few sentences:<\/p>\n
\nMissy \u2014<\/p>\n
My administration is taking steps to cut carbon pollution, prepare our nation for the unavoidable impact of climate change, and put America\u2019s best and brightest to work to solve this issue on a global scale.<\/p>\n
One thing we know is we\u2019ll face a well-organized and well-financed opposition by the special interests that profit from keeping things the way they are \u2013 and there are members of Congress who fundamentally deny the science on this issue.<\/p>\n
I need to know you\u2019ll fight alongside me. Say you will. [Subliminal, using the title of a love song.]<\/p>\n
Over the next few months and years, I\u2019m going to need the millions of OFA supporters who understand that we have a responsibility to future generations to fight climate change to join me, and be a force of change in your communities.<\/p>\n
We owe it to our children and grandchildren to take action \u2013 and now is the time.<\/p>\n
Today, I\u2019m here to tell you I am committed to doing my part.<\/p>\n
Say you\u2019ll do yours:<\/p>\n
Thanks,<\/p>\n
Barack<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
This deserves only an \u201coh, please.\u201d But I have to challenge, because many \u201cprogressives\u201d are applauding the recent climate speech.<\/p>\n
And Barack\u2019s \u201c\u2026we\u2019ll face a well-organized and well-financed opposition by the special interests that profit from keeping things the way they are\u2026\u201d is maddening. As if he ever obstructs these profiteers. And what about those who don\u2019t<\/i> deny the science, yet fail to change the status quo?<\/p>\n
Tossing the \u201cchildren and grandchildren\u201d card is exasperating when Barack\u2019s consigned to the young a future grimmer than dismal. His climate plan is less ado about something, a gift to the special interests for whom he\u2019s expressed disdain. And any time he says \u201cchildren\u201d and \u201cfuture\u201d I immediately think about the consequences of his domestic and foreign policies.<\/p>\n
In pledging to do his part, Barack implies he\u2019ll nurture our ecosystem, yet his loyalty is to the fossil fuel industry. His words speak a different language than his actions.<\/p>\n
The next message, from the Executive Director of OFA, Jon Garson, is sent on Barack\u2019s behalf. Again, I\u2019ve deleted some sentences, but here\u2019s most of it:<\/p>\n
Missy \u2014<\/i><\/p>\n
I love this:<\/p>\n
President Obama is going to meet three supporters backstage at an event next month.<\/p>\n
If you\u2019re picked, you\u2019ll get flown out for free to meet him \u2013 and you can even bring a guest.<\/p>\n
Think of how happy you\u2019ll make the loved one you pick to join you \u2013 and the photos you\u2019ll be showing off to your friends and family for years to come of the experiences you\u2019ve had as part of the movement for a progressive agenda for the nation.<\/p>\n
Wow, I want to be selected. I have so many peace friends who\u2019d like a face-to-face encounter with President Obama. Maybe, I\u2019d invite A. as my guest. After reading one of my articles, he emailed. During an exchange, he wrote, \u201cCurrent update on my Home country\u201d\u2013followed by:<\/p>\n
In Baluchistan province of Pakistan, today the terrorists have blown up the museum-grade residence of father of the nation Muhammad Ali Jinnah; after few hours a bus full of female students of a women university was blown up in Quetta; and one and a half hour latter a tertiary hospital\u2019s emergency ward was blown up where the injured female students were brought for treatment. Such is the state Pakistan is living after it has allied with the US in War on terror in Afghanistan.<\/i><\/p>\n
Yes, A. described a single day. One day among many days and nights of terror\u2013carnage countenanced and implemented by Barack Obama in countries across five continents<\/a>, now.<\/p>\n
Oh, my, I see two new messages from Jon Carson, neither of which needs to be opened. One of the subject lines is:
\u201cThe Supreme Court\u2019s ruling this morning made history.\u201d<\/p>\nI\u2019m happy for the euphoric whose civil rights are recognized. I hope they\u2019re inspired to end injustice in every area.<\/p>\n
But really, this is our government deflecting, declaring DOMA unconstitutional while gutting the Voting Rights Act. As the NSA rapes our privacy. And GET this: A Democrat, one whose wife has received Gen. Wesley Clark\u2019s endorsement<\/a> for the 2016 presidential run, signed DOMA into law.<\/p>\n
Again, I should unsubscribe to these OFA emails. But I can\u2019t. They\u2019re fascinating examples of hypocrisy. Like love notes from a charlatan.<\/p>\n
Missy Beattie<\/strong> has written for National Public Radio and Nashville Life Magazine. She was an instructor of memoirs writing at Johns Hopkins\u2019 Osher Lifelong Learning Institute in Baltimore. Email: missybeat@gmail.com<\/a>.<\/em><\/i><\/p>\n