Topic: WorldNetDaily
WorldNetDaily editor Joseph Farah wants to oust John Boehner as House speaker, and he wants you to send him money in a futile effort to do it.
In his Dec. 15 column, Farah touts the "hundreds of emails demanding to know how to dump the one I call 'Barack Obama’s No. 1 enabler.'" The column then becomes a sales pitch:
Of course, the only way to effectuate the unseating of Boehner is to convince the majority of House Republicans that it is not only the right thing to do, but also in their own best interests. I really believe we can do that.
The only problem we’ve had in the past is the direct communication between the people and the lawmakers.
Yes, they have phones, but the lines get jammed, and there really is no methodology for calculating the calls that come in, the ones that go unanswered and translating them into numbers every member can appreciate and evaluate.
Yes, there are fax machines, but there are limitations there, too. They run out of paper. The faxes end up in the garbage. The speaker himself has the power to prohibit any collation, meaningful reports and tabulation. And, most importantly, no members ever see what the avalanche of paper looks like during the entirety of the campaign.
Yes, there is mail, but there are more problems than you know with it. All mail needs to go through a screening process outside the Capitol. It causes long delays. And how difficult is it to send a letter to all 246 Republican members of the House? How expensive and time-consuming would that be?
My plan doesn’t involve any of those traditional lobbying methods. It’s been tried before with amazing results. It reaches all those who need to get it in hard copy form with guaranteed delivery to their individual offices, personalized to them and by the sender. It’s cheap, effective and sends a powerful message that cannot be ignored. It’s even been tested.
One such campaign by WND resulted in 9.5 million letters delivered to members of Congress – the historic “pink slip” campaign.
The message all members receive in the letters is succinct, persuasive, professional, civil. And they are delivered by Federal Express, if you can believe it, for maximum impact.
AND WHEN YOU SEND ONE, YOU SEND IT TO EVERY REPUBLICAN MEMBER OF THE HOUSE – INCLUDING JOHN BOEHNER!
That’s 246 different letters, with different names and addresses and different destinations all for the one price of $29.95 – and they’re sent by Fed Ex! Try to top that. It’s just not something individuals could ever do.[...]
For WND’s part, we do all the heavy lifting. We buy the paper. We print the letters. We pay for delivery. We measure results. We gather and chronicle responses and feedback from members. We work the media. We organize the press conferences. We spearhead the campaign on your behalf.
Your only obligation is participating by paying a nominal amount that covers our mailing and handling expenses.
Just compare the price and time commitment of an individual participating in this campaign versus a do-it-yourself effort or one of the old-fashioned fax or phone campaigns. There’s simply no comparison in price, time commitment and, most importantly, effectiveness.
As we've documented, WND has made some serious coin from its readers off previous letter campaigns, and there is no evidence that they work. Even Farah won't claim that; he claims only that "this approach prompts members to talk about the boxes of letters that are coming into their offices each day" -- again, something that doesn't translate into anything productive, let alone achieving the goal of the campaign.
Once again, Farah is turning politics into yet another opportunity to fleece his readers. How cynical and money-grubbing can he be?
