Comments on: Open Letter to Members of Congress and their Staffs

By: ProfessorBainbridge.com

ProfessorBainbridge.com — Mon, 12 Jun 2006 21:36:58 +0000

Congressional Spam...

James Joyner sends an open letter to Congress that I heartily endorse. Money quote:I am writing to express my concern for a recent trend that has been increasing over the last several months, namely, the sending of inordinate numbers of...

By: James Joyner

James Joyner — Sat, 10 Jun 2006 11:13:32 +0000

Bhoe:

Likely not, at least in the short term. The post is intended mostly for other bloggers but some congressional staffers do read this.

I will likely refer to this post in replies to emails that I judge in violation of these principles as a feedback mechanism.

The thing is that it's a good thing for congressional staffs and public officials generally to communicate with bloggers. I don't even mind messages from P.R. firms and lobbyists. I'm in the information business, after all. But the latter groups are far more sophisticated than the former in how they go about it.

By: Below The Beltway » Blog Archive » Stopping Political Spam

Below The Beltway » Blog Archive » Stopping Political Spam — Sat, 10 Jun 2006 03:23:26 +0000

[...] James Joyner posts an open letter on political spam that I wholeheartedly agree with I am writing to express my concern for a recent trend that has been increasing over the last several months, namely, the sending of inordinate numbers of press releases via electronic mail to a mass mailing list. Given that you are considering legislation to rid America of the scourge of spam and knowing that the Contact With America that helped bring the current Republican Majority to power in 1994 promised to apply all laws that apply to citizens to Members, I thought I should bring it to your attention that many of us in the Blogosphere consider this practice to in fact be spamming. [...]

By: Bhoe

Bhoe — Fri, 09 Jun 2006 22:04:42 +0000

I actually just posted it here. You know, as an open letter.

I was being a bit sarcastic in my first comment; it will be interesting to see if your Congressional spam declines as a result of your open letter. I would bet not!

By: James Joyner

James Joyner — Fri, 09 Jun 2006 21:27:50 +0000

Bhoe: I actually just posted it here. You know, as an open letter.

By: Bhoe

Bhoe — Fri, 09 Jun 2006 21:22:35 +0000

I am writing to express my concern for a recent trend that has been increasing over the last several months, namely, the sending of inordinate numbers of press releases via electronic mail to a mass mailing list.

James, just curious: did you send this "open letter" as a mass email to the 535 Senators/Reps and the 3,000+ staff members on Capitol Hill? Or did you go through the CQ Congressional Staff Directory and send the letter one-by-one to your intended audience?

By: Steve Verdon

Steve Verdon — Fri, 09 Jun 2006 20:23:55 +0000

But this is what you get for running a group blog! Heh.

What we have a Texas topic? James how come I can't see it?

By: Christopher

Christopher — Fri, 09 Jun 2006 18:35:19 +0000

Wow, Michael! Where did that come from?!? And anyway, my spam filter is pretty good, and with the click of a button I can get rid of annoying stuff. never realized it was that difficult for other people, not to mention "professional" bloggers.

By: Michael

Michael — Fri, 09 Jun 2006 18:02:04 +0000

An even better solution is for each congressman to hot an RSS feed of their statements, then anyone interested can subscribe to it.

Christopher,

And a â��time-honored traditionâ�� in blogging? How can it be time honored when blogging has only been around for a short time

Since "Fisking" has been around since the beginning of blogging (and even longer on message boards and mailing lists), I would agree with James on that point, wouldn't you?

On a side note, you should be happy to get all those emails about Viagra, fake watches, and hot lonely women in your area.

By: Christopher

Christopher — Fri, 09 Jun 2006 17:24:12 +0000

How could any politicians on the right ever have mistaken that you were on their side of the political spectrum?

And a "time-honored tradition" in blogging? How can it be time honored when blogging has only been around for a short time (or at least a short time that anyone has cared about it). LOL! You are waaay too full of yourselves down there at OTB headquarters.

Oh, and finally: Waaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!

Get over it. You should be happy to get all the press releases.

By: Mark

Mark — Fri, 09 Jun 2006 17:21:24 +0000

you should consider carefully targetting your messages to those who your staff knows through careful research are actually interested in the topic you are communicating

But this is what you get for running a group blog! Heh.

By: YourOnlineMarketingBlog - Email mailing lists

YourOnlineMarketingBlog - Email mailing lists — Wed, 31 Dec 1969 18:00:00 +0000

Honorable Members of Congress: I am writing to express my concern for a recent trend that has been increasing over the last several months, namely, the sending of inordinate numbers of press releases via electronic mail to a ... ... Original post:Open Letter to Members of Congress and their Staffs by Copyright © 2006 Microsoft. All rights reserved. These XML results may not be used, reproduced or transmitted in any manner or for any purpose other than rendering MSN Search results within an RSS aggregator for your personal, non-commercial use.