[2186] in peace2
RE: White House War Opinion Line
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Robert Murnick)
Thu Jan 30 10:54:28 2003
Reply-To: <rmurnick@foliage.com>
From: "Robert Murnick" <rmurnick@foliage.com>
To: "Rebecca Lehman" <rclehman@MIT.EDU>, <peace-announce@MIT.EDU>
Date: Thu, 30 Jan 2003 10:51:53 -0500
Message-ID: <NBBBIOFDKOBONBMCOFLOGEMNODAC.rmurnick@foliage.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain;
charset="us-ascii"
In-Reply-To: <5.1.0.14.2.20030130104419.00b8b6c8@hesiod>
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit
Hi Rebecca,
This one's been sent to peace-announce already. It smelled a bit like an Internet rumour, so I
looked it up on http://www.snopes.com/. Here's what I found:
Claim: The White House is soliciting phone calls to
record public opinion about a proposed war with Iraq.
Status: Sort of.
Example: [Collected on the Internet, 2002]
Phone the White House at 202-456-1111. A machine will
detain you for only a moment and then a pleasant live
operator will thank you for saying "I oppose" (or "I
approve of") the proposed war against Iraq.
The president wants to know. Tell him. Time is running
out.
Then please forward this e-mail to at least five
people right away.
Origins: This item is true in the sense that people
can call the White House at the phone number given
above to offer their comments about whether or not the
USA should initiate military action against Iraq, but
the phone service was not set up specifically to
record public opinion about the Iraq issue. It's
simply the general White House Comments phone line,
which callers can use to express their opinions about
any issue on their minds. (One has to call between
9:00 AM and 5:00 PM Eastern Time on weekdays to speak
to a real person, though; otherwise the number just
plays a recording inviting the caller to try again
when the department is open.)
Will phoning this number to offer your opinion on the
USA's going to war with Iraq make a difference? The
operator who answered our call at the comments line
wouldn't offer any specifics about how public comments
are recorded or whom they are delivered to, and even
if they are indeed tallied and made available to
President Bush, there's no telling how much they might
possibly influence his decision on the Iraq issue one
way or the other.
Public opinion is an important factor in many
political decisions, though, so if you're willing to
spring for a brief long-distance phone call, it
certainly won't hurt to phone the comments line and
offer your opinion. However, President Bush has put a
resolution to authorize the use of military force
against Iraq before Congress, so a more immediate and
direct means of making your opinion count would
probably be to phone, write, fax, or e-mail your
representative and senators.
-----Original Message-----
From: Rebecca Lehman [mailto:rclehman@MIT.EDU]
Sent: Thursday, January 30, 2003 10:45 AM
To: peace-announce@MIT.EDU
Subject: Fwd: White House War Opinion Line
>X-Mailer: Apple Mail (2.551)
>X-MIME-Autoconverted: from quoted-printable to 8bit by
>lists01.Princeton.EDU id
> QAA02991
>Date: Wed, 29 Jan 2003 16:29:27 -0500
>Reply-To: Jamie Forrest <jaf@HONKSANDSIRENS.COM>
>Sender: 2D Coop Alums talk E-list <2dalum-talk@Princeton.EDU>
>From: Jamie Forrest <jaf@HONKSANDSIRENS.COM>
>Subject: White House War Opinion Line
>To: 2dalum-talk@Princeton.EDU
>X-Spam-Flag: NO
>X-Spam-Score: 1.6, Required 7.5
>X-Spam-Level: * (1.6)
>X-Scanned-By: MIMEDefang 2.28 (www . roaringpenguin . com / mimedefang)
>
>whether you oppose or approve (and i hope you oppose), everyone should
>try and do this:
>
> > WAR OR NO WAR?
> >
> > The Bush White House has an "opinion" line for you to call. The
> > line only
> > accepts calls from 9-5 EST. Monday through Friday. Note that the
> > weekends
> > are closed for calls.
> >
> > Call the White House at 202-456-1111.
> >
> > A machine will detain you for only a moment and then a pleasant live
> > operator will thank you for saying "I oppose" or "I approve." the
> > war with
> > Iraq. It will only take minutes.
> >
> > The President has said that he wants to know what the American
> > people are
> > thinking about a war. Let him know. Time is running out.
> >
> > Please forward this number by e-mail to at least five people today.
> > Tell
> > them what you think:
> >
> > THEY COUNT EACH PHONE CALL AS REPRESENTING 10-20 PEOPLE WHO DIDN'T
> > CALL!
> >
> > [PS: The line is constantly busy--a good sign--but don't give up. Use
> >
> > Redial.]
