Oh come on! It quite clearly wasn't REALLY George W. Bush Jr. sending
this message, nor, I would guess, did the sender REALLY intend anyone to
believe that it was.
I would find it troubling if someone was trying to impersonate another
geographer in order to misrepresent their views on this list, but that's
not at all what was happening, and the comparison is spurious.
This message was satire and it's an old and valuable of puncturing the
egos and pretentions of the rich and powerful. Whether or not it's
geographical is another matter (and there's discussion going on about
that...).
I really wonder if the American correspondants who are getting annoyed
about this if this was done about Clinton and before 9/11? Probably not.
But we shouldn't let even the most horrible crimes like 9/11 turn us all
into shocked conservatives. And in case you're wondering, I would find
it equally funny if it was about Tony Blair or the Queen. I try to
maintain a healthy disrespect for our rulers.
All the best,
David.
> am I the only one to find false representations of identity a
> troubling use
> of a large listserv? Are any of the defenders of that email
> ready to have
> me impersonate them (in order to ridicule them and distort
> their views)?
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