As Election Day nears, the trolls are out in force

By Nathan Rothwell 

Several days ago I received a physical letter in the mail from a (possibly) crazy person. Perhaps my recent blog about responding to Obama Derangement Syndrome may have struck a chord with somebody?

A two page rant from an allegedly "speechless" author

A person by the name of “Darnell Wooster” (whose apparent address is nearby, but I won’t reveal publicly) sent me an unsolicited letter that appeared to be a printed copy of a chain email containing purported evidence of (then) Senator Barack Obama’s hatred for the American flag and “The Star-Spangled Banner,” in the form of quotes from an alleged appearance on “Meet the Press” in 2008.

Nothing was written by Mr. Wooster himself; rather, it was signed by someone named “Dale Lindsborg.” I have no idea who Darnell Wooster is, but a Google search for “Dale Lindsborg” quickly revealed an exact replica of the letter I’d just received. It was nice to have proof that this “transcript” of Obama’s remarks was indeed a hoax, but from the moment I opened the letter I could tell I was dealing with the work of a troll.

As you might have already gathered from the letters pictured above, a number of things stand out (formatting errors courtesy of “Dale” and/or “Darnell,” not me):

“From Sunday’s 07 Sept. 2008, 11:48:04 EST,   Televised “Meet the Press” the then Senator Obama      was asked about his stance on the American Flag. ”

You read that right: “Dale” timed Obama’s appearance on “Meet the Press” timed to the second. Which seems more likely --- a scenario in which the letter’s author performed the enormous amount of research to determine the exact second Obama was asked a question about the American flag in 2008? Or a scenario in which “Dale” simply made up that timestamp? Keep in mind, this author evidently enjoys alternating between normal text and giant, bold, improperly spaced letters for stylistic purposes.

Race has everything to do with this

There are no words that properly contextualize the tragic killing of Trayvon Martin. His parents and loved ones will grieve for him long after the media frenzy moves on to the next national outrage.

While it’s good that we’ve placed an enormous magnifying glass on the laws and police force that allowed a man to gun down an unarmed teenager to walk away charged with no crime, it comes at a heavy price. Bitter enemies who had never heard of Trayvon before are now exploiting his demise to settle old scores.

I’m talking of course of the conservatives who emerged from the weeds to earn a few seconds in the spotlight by criticizing President Obama for offering his public condolences to Trayvon’s family. 

“If I had a son, he’d look like Trayvon,” Obama said last Friday. “I think they are right to expect that all of us as Americans are going to take this with the seriousness this deserves and get to the bottom of what happened.”