Something better to do » Robert Wexler

Spam-Rape from Robert Wexler continues, this time via Scott Maddox

jik — Tue, 18 May 2010 18:33:37 +0000

Yet another chapter in the saga of the political spam I can’t seem to put a stop to, courtesy of ex-Congressman Robert Wexler. I’ve just been spammed by Scott Maddox, who is running for Florida Commissioner of Agriculture & Consumer Services. Like I care!

Here’s the letter I’ve just sent Maddox:

Dear Mr. Maddox,

You got my email address, either directly or indirectly, from Robert Wexler. I gave him this address in 2008 when I donated to his campaign.

I have asked him and his office staff REPEATEDLY since then to stop spamming me and stop giving my email address to other people. He and his staff have completely ignored me.

Now, I can no longer ask him or his staff, because he has resigned and his Congressional staff has been disbanded.

I am writing to ask you:

1. Please remove my email address, [elided], permanently and completely from your database.

2. Please tell me from whom, exactly, you got my email address and how, exactly, I can contact them, so that I can do my best to stop them from giving my address to anyone else.

It is SHAMEFUL that you and your fellow politicians are still batting around my email address, like bullies taking away a kid’s toy and throwing it around despite his repeated requests, “Give it back!” What is WRONG with you people?

Sincerely,

Jonathan Kamens

Congressman Robert Wexler ignores spam complaint, continues to gang-rape my inbox

jik — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 22:45:43 +0000

Last November, I posted on my blog a copy of a letter which I faxed to Congressman Robert Wexler, in which I chastised him for giving my email address (which I gave him when I made a donation to his campaign, so that he could send me a receipt) to another politician’s campaign and demanded that he remove my address from all lists and databases under his control.

A friend, Michael Burstein, commented on that blog entry, “Wexler is a good guy, so I can’t I imagine that he and his staff won’t take steps to fix this. Let us know once he has.”

Alas, my friend was incorrect. I received no response from Wexler or anyone on his staff, and today, I received another piece of spam at the email address I had given to Wexler, from the campaign of yet another politician, Ted Deutch. Although the spam came from “campaign@tedforcongress.com”, the letter in it was signed by Congressman Wexler, making it all the more clear that he provided the mailing list to Deutch.

Many are saying that one of the reasons why the Democrats lost yesterday’s special election in Massachusetts is because they are acting like elitist snobs. I’m not fan of the Republicans and I voted for Coakley yesterday, but I can absolutely understand why people feel that way. I think there’s a lot of truth to it, and I think that this unrepentant spamming from Wexler is a symptom of it.

Congressman Wexler: What you have to say to me is not so important that you get to say it when I’ve told you to leave me alone. Your fellow Democratic politicians are not so critical to the future of this country that you get to share my email address with them when I’ve never given you permission and indeed asked you not to. You are not so high and mighty that you get to ignore my letters to you with impunity. You, sir, have lost my trust, and you will not soon regain it.

Hey, Congressman Robert Wexler: In the EU, this would be ILLEGAL!

jik — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 04:02:52 +0000

November 21, 2009

Congressman Robert Wexler
2241 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Fax: (202) 225-5974

Dear Congressman Wexler,

In May 2008, a letter from you to one of your supporters was forwarded to the Jews for Obama listserv with the introduction, “As you all know, Congressman Wexler has been a strong Obama supporter and advisor to the campaign. Please help him in his re-election bid. Thanks.”

In response, I sent a donation to your campaign, one which I couldn’t really afford given how much I had already spent to help Obama.

When I donated to you, I specified a unique email address, [elided]. Today I received an email message to that address from “Marcy Winograd for Congress”. Since the only time I’ve ever given out that email address to anyone is when I donated to your campaign, the only way Winograd’s campaign could have gotten the address is from you. Shame on you.

I’m sure most of your other supporters are as uninterested in being hit up for donations from California as I am. Apparently you think it’s OK to cause your supporters to be annoyed with unwanted email as long as they won’t be able to figure out that it’s your fault. That, sir, is appalling. Unsolicited email is a huge problem on the Internet. It’s simply unacceptable for your office to add to it.

Please remove my email address completely from all databases and lists under your control. Also, please contact everyone whom you have given my email address and tell them to remove it from their lists. Please confirm to me that you have done these things.

I sincerely hope that you will put a stop to giving third parties the addresses of your supporters without their knowledge and consent.

I have published this letter on my blog, http://blog.kamens.brookline.ma.us/. I hope that your response will make it clear that you understand you’ve done something wrong and won’t do it again, rather than making it clear that you’re just another run-of-the-mill politician who thinks nothing of shafting his supporters when (you think) it’s to your advantage.

Sincerely,

Jonathan Kamens

Cc: Winograd for Congress 2010