Right Foward: A Right Wing E-mail Forward Blog

August 11, 2009 9:29 AM

Right Foward: A Right Wing E-mail Forward Blog
A blog where I post e-mails from right wing relatives and acquaintances, mostly of a political nature.

Yeah, I know there's already a few site that collect e-mail forwards, but I'm mostly focusing on conservative forwards I get, so people can get an idea where the people who are yelling at Town Hall meetings and that sort of thing are coming from. And sometimes the e-mails are so batshit insane, they're amusing.

Also this is going to be like my third attempt at starting an actual blog that people will want to read.

posted by champthom (14 comments total)

Oh god, the fonts. The colors.
posted by odinsdream at 12:05 PM on August 11

yeah, are those colors and fonts from the emails themselves? my god. the readability of the site is really low. I recommend maybe just copying the text but not the formatting.
posted by shmegegge at 12:41 PM on August 11

NO

IT MUST BE PURE

THE MEDIUM IS PART OF THE MESSAGE

(god these are insane)
posted by Damn That Television at 12:56 PM on August 11 [6 favorites]

Yes, the exact copy of the format is part of the beauty (by which I mean horror).
posted by Burhanistan at 2:46 PM on August 11

Ouch... my brain / eyes / soul...

...this is going to be like my third attempt at starting an actual blog that people will want to read.

Um, yeah... about that...

Maybe add some kittens or something?
posted by MeatLightning at 4:26 PM on August 11

Okay - I recommend trying a screencap of the email so we get the gist, but retyping the message for readability. Also, do us a favor and link to the Snopes story on each one, if applicable.

Are you planning on transferring ppt files also?

And where are the animated gifs?
posted by jabberjaw at 6:13 PM on August 11 [1 favorite]

I agree with Burhanisan. Still, is there a way you could use a format which would box each post, so we could easily tell them apart?

I might also recommend a 'more' link instead of a bunch of massive missives on the front page. Eventually, you'll have to tag and sort these, and making them easy to find now will help.
posted by l33tpolicywonk at 6:21 PM on August 11

Can I please please please forward you the emails I get from folks back home? Pretty pretty please?
posted by ocherdraco at 5:29 AM on August 12

As a Canadian I've always been curious what sort of stuff got forwarded in the US. Much appreciated.
posted by furtive at 6:25 PM on August 16

I checked out the site in its original form last week and just looked at it again today (when I remembered it after receiving a right-wing email forward on how Hurricane Katrina was divine retribution for "telling God to get out of our schools.")

I have to say, I'm with you on the formatting issue. The enormous fonts, the unnecessary italics, the psychedelic colors - they are all intrinsic to the culture of right-wing email forwards, and they illustrate what appears to be a core belief of those who disseminate these missives: "What we say is not as important as how loud we say it, and if we scream loud enough we can get we want." And it's a tactic that is proving effective, at least in the healthcare debate.

So I propose you post the emails with all their original formatting, but perhaps have a link to a text-only version for those who cannot endure the visual shouting.
posted by philotes at 7:38 AM on August 19

Hahaaa ... "As a disclaimer, I will, as best to my ability, post them in their original form. Therefore, the 36 point font in various colors is not my doing but the doing of the original e-mail composer."

I think your intention is fine indeed, but I agree with jabberjaw's recommendation of screencapping the original and re-entering for the benefit of readers slightly sharper than the original email target audience, who probably need the 36 pt bright red to keep their attention from wandering back to Springer.
posted by polkadotninja at 10:37 AM on August 19

It's great to capture these, but I do wonder if you should, you know, at least link to the Snopes article that says, "Actually, no, Jay Leno didn't say that" or the like.

I'd offer to send you my Grandpa's as well, but since the steady stream of Snopes links, he's taken me off his "list".
posted by Gucky at 2:48 PM on August 23

Have you seen this mefi thread?
posted by washburn at 6:48 PM on September 6

Hey ... what happened to the site? Not updated since 8/13? If you're short on materials, I'd be happy to forward it to you.
posted by jabberjaw at 5:44 PM on September 16