I receive at least one chain email per week. Many seem pretty harmless, if you don’t buy into a caveat like Forward this to at least ten others, or you, your children & children’s children will be cursed with bad luck. Of course, I always break the chain, and I’m still alive (and doing very well). Other emails are not so harmless; like accusations that Obama is a Muslim and refused to place his hand over his heart during the Pledge of Allegiance (Yes, both of these are still alive and well, thank you). These types of provocative emails always receive a response from me.

False and deceptive chain letters depend on the fear and ignorance of the recipients to gain momentum. The following is an example of an actual email I was recently sent, and my response:

Social Security Changes

It does not matter if you personally like or dislike Bush. You need to sign this petition and flood his e-mail box with e-mails that tell him that, even if the House passes this bill, he needs to veto it.

It is already impossible to live on Social Security alone. If the government gives benefits to 'illegal' aliens who have never contributed, where does that leave those of us who have paid into Social Security all our working lives?

As stated below, the Senate voted this week to allow 'illegal' aliens access to Social Security benefits. Attached is an opportunityy to sign A petition that requires citizenship for eligibility to that social service.

Instructions are below. If you don't forward the petition and just stop
it, we will lose all these names. If you do not want to sign it, please
just forward it to everyone you know.

Thank you! To add your name, click on 'forward'. Address it to all of
Your email correspondents, add your name to the list and send it on.

When the petition hits 1,000, send it to comment@whitehouse.gov

Instructions are below. Add number and your name at bottom.

PETITION for President Bush:

Dear Mr. President: We, the undersigned, protest the bill that the
Senate voted on recently which would allow illegal aliens to access our Social Security. We demand that you and all Congressional representatives require citizenship as a prerequisite for social services in the United States.

We further demand that there not be any amnesty given to illegals, NO
Free services, no funding, no payments to and for illegal immigrants. We are fed up with the lack of action about this matter and are tired of paying for services to illegals.

The wretched display of syntax and typos should give you a clue as to its neo-con origins. To many of us this is reason enough to discard it. However, we’re dealing with those who blindly accept these emails as gospel, many of whom voted for Bush, not once but twice. Need I say more? I replied not only to the sender, but to ALL, including many on the upper echelons of the pyramid. I chose not to use such phrases as You pig-headed asshole, and Where did you dig this shit up?, but chose instead to take a kinder, gentler approach:

I’m afraid many of you are victims of some very deceptive information, meant to capitalize on people's fears of illegal aliens. I'm also concerned that some of you have passed this distortion of the truth along to others.

I devote a lot of time these days checking out the accuracy of these types of chain emails. Unfortunately, in today’s age of instant access to the computer, misinformation can spread rapidly, and most of these emails are filled with half-truths and claims which are patently false. The assertions made in "Social Security Changes" can easily be disproved.

FACT: There is no pending bill which would permit illegal aliens to receive Social Security. Furthermore, such legislation would be unconstitutional.

Variations of the Social Security Changes email have been circulating since 2006.

In addressing one variant, here’s what non-partisan Factcheck.org has to say:

Republican Campaign Theme Debunked: Social Security for Illegal Immigrants

October 10, 2006

Updated: October 11, 2006

Twenty-nine ads and counting feature the claim with varying levels of truth and distortion.

Summary

Republicans are tagging Democratic opponents across the country for wanting to "give Social Security benefits to illegal immigrants." But nobody's proposing paying benefits to illegals, not until and unless they become US citizens or are granted legal status.
http://www.factcheck.org/...

In another variant, here’s what non-partisan Snopes.com also has to say:

In a nutshell, the amendment referenced above wasn’t about "giving illegal aliens Social Security benefits"; it was about whether formerly illegal aliens (who had since become legal) should be credited for monies they themselves had paid into the Social Security fund while they were in the U.S. illegally. The senators listed above did not vote in favor of this proposition; they voted to withdraw the amendment from consideration.
http://www.snopes.com/...
http://www.snopes.com/...

According to Urbanlegends.com, even if this information was accurate, this sort of email petition is largely ineffective:

As petitions go, this one is likely doomed to failure. Why? Because it's an email petition -- a glorified chain letter with no guarantee of reaching, let alone convincing, the elected officials to whom it's addressed. Even if copies do somehow make their way to Washington, there's no way for the "signatures" to be authenticated. Most, in fact, are redundant. On every one of the several dozen copies I've received, each from a different sender, the first 200 or so names are identical. Why would anyone in a position of power take such a document seriously?

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It is not my intention to point the finger at anyone, but to try to head off the incredible amount of falsehoods spread about everyday via the Internet. In the past, I myself have bought into deceptive emails and have been complicit in spreading them to others. You may call this my penance. I hope that each of you will pass my response along to those of whom you have already sent this email, and also to those who sent it to you. In the future, when you receive these chain emails, please go to de-bunking sites such as Fact Check.org, Snopes.com and Urban Legends.com, before forwarding them to others.

I encourage you to deal with these virulent emails as soon as you receive them. It takes only a few minutes to research their validity and respond to them. You may look at it as stopping the spread of a wildfire by creating a backfire.