John had a few laughs at the expense of the Tennessee GOP earlier today. Who’s laughing now?
XXXX:
We’ve had several missions for the RedState Army of Activists. You probably haven’t noticed as we’ve primarily directed them to individual states.
This should be one for an individual state, but we need to take this nationwide and make it a national rebuke.
Meet Kent Williams. He is allegedly a Republican in Tennessee. The GOP took the State House in Tennessee and rallied to one of their own to be Speaker.
Williams had other plans. He made a deal with the Democrats, betrayed the Republicans, and got himself elected Speaker. He then put a Democrat in the number two spot.
On opening day of the legislature the outgoing Democrat Speaker of the House stood behind Williams whispering directions in his ears.
It’s clear he’s a weak mind and will be putty in the hands of the Democrats.
Here’s the assignment:
Kent Williams’ address is XXX, XXX XXX XXXX (redaction mine, not Erickson’s of course)
Go here and send Kent Williams some silly putty. Let’s put in his hands a pretty accurate representation of what he is.
http://astore.amazon.com/reds0b-20?%5Fencoding=UTF8&node=9
Sincerely yours,
Erick Erickson
Editor, RedState.com
AhabTRuler
Seriously? Are these guys doing this for our entertainment? Is PJTV gonna do a sitcom now? WTF?
robertdsc
It would not surprise me one bit to see a RSSF’er send Williams some plastic explosive instead of silly putty.
DougJ
This one is unreal. I almost can’t believe it they’re on the up and up. If it weren’t for that Erickson electronic signature, which I know would be very hard to forge, I would think John was somehow spoofing me with this.
gnomedad
Hey, it’s a step up from flinging poo.
AhabTRuler
It’s a twofer. Every time Republicans screw up, the Trike Force is going to rush in (from their chairs, of course) with shovels to dig the hole deeper.
ZOMGThis is awesome!!!11!
Maybe the RSSF should come to the aid of our friend from CT? We can only hope.
dmsilev
I got that email as well. Notice that they’ve apparently set up an Amazon affiliate account so that they get a cut of the $3.25 that will be spent on their behalf. And they *still* haven’t found someone who can write HTML competently.
-dms
DougJ
@gnomedad
Are you sure about that?
dmsilev
Hah. More epic fail. Click on the link in the post, the one going to the RedState store. Then click on either of the "RedState" links, either in the sidebar or down at the bottom.
The only possible explanation is that Joe The Plumber is branching out and has added website design to his "skills".
-dms
Incertus
I think Red State has officially crossed over into Dada.
Doctor Cleveland
You know, the silly putty thing is childish and sad.
But giving away Williams’s home address to an audience of angry people is still an ugly move. Sure, the jerks the ahem, "Strike Force" just told them to mail Silly Putty. They had no way of knowing that someone might send Williams anything more dangerous.
They have carefully insulated themselves from liability if anything criminal happens. But they have not taken precautions for Williams’s personal safety. They’ve made that much riskier.
Ninerdave
These guys are going to put Doug and Sadly out of business.
Or at least make your lives easier. You can just pass the goods along, no comment necessary.
Lev
This is really unbelievable. They’re just sending out the guy’s home address? I’m not sure this counts as an incitement to harassment, but I guess you can expect nothing less from one of the rightroots’ most detestable figures.
Red State? Sure, maybe Stalinist Russia…fuckin wannabe brownshirt.
TenguPhule
"Republicans are morons…sahsahahahah."
"Republicans are morons…sahsahahahah."
"Don’t repeat everything I say…Sahahahahah."
"Don’t repeat everything I say…Sahahahahah."
Zuzu's Petals
OT, but I highly recommend tonight’s Daily Show re the Clinton hearing.
Let’s just say Stewart gets raunchy with the Kerry and Clinton dolls.
gbear
My guess would be that, with the volume of mail that Williams is about to receive, there will be some pretty serious screening of all his mail for a while. I’d be more concerned for the people at his post office.
Tim F.
The whole premise of this post is crazytown. When have angry militant rightwing fringe actors ever hurt anyone? If you set aside the two Oklahoma City bombers and their friends, the killers of Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Eric Rudolph, Operation Rescue, the KKK and other non-affiliated lynch mobs, Aryan Nation, the nut who shot Bill Gwatney in Arkansas and the Hannity fan who shot up a Unitarian church in Knoxville, the answer is almost never.
So there.
DougJ
They’re unionized, though, so screw ’em.
DougJ
The whole premise is that is pathetically funny. The idea that it might be dangerous didn’t occur to me to begin with.
cyntax
Can they really give out this guy’s address like this? It’s one thing to send mail to his office at the state capitol but this seems like some grade A harassment.
Stay classy RSSF!
Punchy
yes, b/c cuz all they’ll do is send silly putty. I’m sure they’ll not use that address for anything else.
gnomedad
Just to be clear, I was only referring to the Silly Putty. The address posting is near-criminal.
Simone
Crap, if I knew I could get free silly putty by betraying the republican party, I would have switched parties to then switch parties years ago. I love silly putty!
KRK
If the mighty power of the RSSF is going to be channeled into "missions" that involve buying things from amazon.com — maybe it’s time to buy stock in amazon.com.
cyntax
@gnomedad:
For sure. I keep telling myself there’s nothing they can do to shock me but…
It really is kind of amazing how spite informs so much of what they do (think of all the times they’ve said they’re doing something cause it will make liberals crazy).
They’re morally and intellectually bankrupt.
Left Coast Tom
If these dunderheads are planning "missions" to support amazon.com I’d sell the stock.
Xecklothxayyquou Gilchrist
@dmsilev: Notice that they’ve apparently set up an Amazon affiliate account so that they get a cut of the $3.25 that will be spent on their behalf.
Aha – I wouldn’t be too surprised if all the RS Trike Force missions had some kickback like that involved. You can’t just go around doing stuff for free, you know!
Mazacote Yorquest
I think we should send Jason Mumpower’s office lots of those plastic Easter eggs– in each "unhatched" egg put a strip of paper with "50-49" on it.
Oh, right, there’s that life I still have. Gonna finish Greenblatt’s "Will in the World." Good stuff.
Comrade Stuck
It’s all part of their secret plan to make their tent bigger, by throwing more people out.
LiberalTarian
We should track if these bastards wind up in jail. After all, they are not in the upper echelons of GOP land that protect them from the long arm of the law.
demimondian
@Comrade Stuck:
They do seem to have confused "more empty space in the tent" with "a bigger tent".
Comrade Stuck
Wingnut Logic, the Mother of Stupid.
Fencedude
WTF?
What are they, five?
sgwhiteinfla
Isn’t it funny how you never hear anyone refering to Redstate on Tee Vee as a "hate site"?
These people are kindergarteners. Setting aside the fact that they may be putting the man’s life in danger lets say for arguments sake that all that gets sent is silly putty. What in hell is that supposed to do, make him recant? See the error of his ways and wingnut out? If anything it will just push him further left and will probably turn him into a full fledged liberal. That’s supposed to be how they are rebuilding their party???
I have said it before, this election may well lead to an official split in the GOP where you see a new separate party come into being. Personally I am just going to sit back and enjoy the fireworks.
J. Michael Neal
I agree that it’s creepy. However, I wouldn’t get outraged about this incident in isolation. Some opponent of CA Prop 8 just did the same thing with a whole bunch of people who contributed to it. That’s the same thing, on a larger scale.
For better or for worse (mostly the latter), we’re stuck with this.
RedStateStrikeForce
You mock us now DougJ, but you may be next.
Ninerdave
That’s all public information. You donate politically your info is out there. I believe he (or Sully) provides the link to the CA gov’t site where the info is posted.
Also, for at least the guy in my neighborhood, his address isn’t listed, just his name and zip+4
J. Michael Neal
Most people’s address is public information. It’s also incredibly easy to find, even if it wasn’t explicitly made so.
Also a nice handy map.
It’s the same thing. If you want to get outraged about one, you need to be outraged about the other.
expatoz
Completely OT…but this has to be read to be believed. Wedding etiquette for the completely selfish and deranged.
http://styledforsuccess.com/2008/05/wedding-etiquette-tips/
Comrade Nikolita
I don’t think it’s ok to give out the addresses or personal information of anyone, in both this case and in the anti-Prop. 8 situation. Two wrongs don’t make a right.
And as for giving out personal information… even if my address can be googled or dug up, that doesn’t mean I want people posting it around the internet, let alone want it posted in the first place at all.
Ninerdave
@J. Michael Neal:
Well except in the case of my neighbor, that map it narrows it down to about a 5 block radius, or larger (since the map doesn’t give the +4 you have to go to the state’s site to find that).
I’d also mention that the dude who did the Prop 8 map isn’t calling for direct action (or any action as far as I’m aware) against a single person. Having said that I’m not all that outraged about a public official (keyword public) having their address out there. I know where (for example) Nancy Pelosi, DiFi and even Robin Williams live. Not exactly state secrets.
I do have a problem when you call on the mob to harass private people such as Graeme Frost.
Doctor Cleveland
Remember, it was harassment by other Republicans that pushed Williams this far. They were apparently trying to blackmail him for being too moderate by threatening to boycott his family business.
Williams was being thoroughly bullied and vilified before this happened, which is why he did it. Egging his house isn’t going to make him come around.
Lupin
What is Erickson’s address?
Jeff
I can just hear it now…
Sirkowski
The reason this guy fucked over the Tennessee Repubes is because of wingnut harrassement. Red States’ solution? More harrassement.
When you hit a brick wall, next time, just run faster…
Fencedude
@expatoz:
What the heck?! Those are crazy
If you receive an invitation you must send a gift! Even if you don’t attend.
Thats a heck of a racket if you’re the one getting married.
Comrade Kevin
@J. Michael Neal:
The people who donated to the Yes on 8 campaign donated to the "yes" on a ballot proposition in a state where the law about contributions to them is absolutely clear.
To them I say:
Tough shit.
These people use the same arguments that the anti-"inter racial" marriage opponents used way back when. Fuck them.
J. Michael Neal
Okay. I guess there are a bunch of people who are perfectly all right with publishing the names and sufficient information to get the address, and publish it, for their political opponents, but who are outraged when their opponents do it to them.
I’m waiting to see if you can come up a good reason for the one being a-okay, and the other incitement to commit violence.
Zuzu's Petals
@J. Michael Neal:
Well, when you can provide a link to a website telling people to buy stuff and send it to donors’ home addresses, I guess there’d be some equivalency.
Zuzu's Petals
Okay, I just saw the MJ article, and I agree the person is despicable. Still, it doesn’t rise to the level of telling people to actually send stuff to the home address.
Rommie
Will they be parachuting in with the Silly Putty, or blitzkrieg-ing it in on their trikes, er, tanks?
What’s next, chocolate easter bunnies sent to the non-believer in the crosshairs in a few weeks?
We’re going to need to drag Adam West off the ranch to foil the dastardly operations sure to come.
low-tech cyclist
I’m waiting to see if you can come up a good reason for the one being a-okay, and the other incitement to commit violence.
I can’t. It may be legal, but it’s creepy and intimidating, regardless of which side does it.
I’d be OK with widely disseminating the street addresses and phone numbers of war criminals that were getting away with murder. But it would take something rising to that level.
Intimidating people for normal, legitimate participation in our political processes is morally off limits, as far as I’m concerned, regardless of what I think of the cause they’re contributing to.
People who do that sort of thing are bullies. And unless they’ve got the guts to reveal their own addresses at the same time as they’re disseminating others’, they’re cowards, too.
bago
Mayor Adam West will take care of this with his cat-a-pult.
harlana pepper
I think Michelle Malkin has published people’s home addresses before, correct me if I’m wrong, but wingnut bloggers have done this more than once to people they don’t like, I just can’t remember the exact circumstances – no surprise to me anyhow
Xenos
If it was just a matter of mailing silly putty to his office address or campaign address, which are public knowledge, this would be a stupid prank. Stupid as in pointless – the guy is standing up for himself, you think he is going to be shamed by silly putty?
But home address? That is inciting harassment of the man’s children. I doubt it is a crime, but Williams should complain to the FBI and the Postal Inspectors about this.
And does Malkin still do this? Somebody scared the crap out of her, given that she claims she moved as a result of threats that were lodged against her. Curious if she learned some empathy or principles from the process…
Doctor Science
cyntax:
It really is kind of amazing how spite informs so much of what they do (think of all the times they’ve said they’re doing something cause it will make liberals crazy).
This is something I’ve seen and just don’t understand. Conservatives have been running the country for years, why do they need spite? Why "Drill, baby, drill" — a bit of political theater which was extremely successful … at making Republicans look like a bunch of 15-year-old *idiots*. Why does being on top not make them act like grownups?
Part of me thinks they’ve internalized Rush Limbaugh, and no longer see a difference between what gets ratings for right-wing talk radio and what works in the actual world. Part of me thinks it’s re-directed resentment at the plutocrats who actually rule the world.
And then part of me thinks it’s all about performative masculinity, and the only way to prove you have a dick is to act like one.
kommrade reproductive vigor
I love how all of the Stroke Farce’s missions involve the arduous task of … sitting at their computers.
Yeah verily, an Army of One.
$3.25 for Silly Putty??
Man, those people really are incredibly fucking stupid.
(Note my complete lack of surprise that EE is skimming a profit.)
One of you infiltrators should point out that it would be better if everyone bought it from a local store and mailed it. Not only would it support the local economy but Amazon is run by dirty fucking hippies and sells books about teh ghey after all.
calipygian
Hell, Our Lady of Perpetual Outrage has driven people to suicide. Printing addresses is just routine for that mad, self-loathing cow.
maxbaer (not the original)
How many of the commandos do you think will even pony up to send silly putty to Williams?
cleek
yes, she has. but the really funny part is…
when someone published her address in retaliation, she moved, pulled her kid out of school and changed her phone number.
dish it out? sure. take it? no way.
aimai
I think you can absolutely distinguish between an angry right wing lunatic who puts an individual legislator, or private citizen’s, home address on the internet with specific instructions to harrass them and the Prop 8 guy. I don’t distinguish them because I like the idea of harrassing people who donated to prop 8 and I don’t like harassing williams but the cases are very, very, different.
1) Williams is an elected official who acted publicly, in his own name. That doesn’t protect him from criticism but it means that *revealing his name* and personal information to a wider audience is meant purely out of spite, to widen the sphere of people who will attack him far beyond his own constituents. I would have had no problem with Red State doing what Kos sometimes does which is to say "if there’s anyone here from William’s Tenn district give his office a call and say how angry you are." I wouldn’t even have a problem with them saying "here’s his office address send him a white feather" or whatever. Publishing his home address and instructing people who have nothing to do with Tenn, or his district, to contact him at home is qualitatively different–it involves more people and it involves his family and makes the whole thing personal.
Now, why don’t I feel that way about the prop 8 situation.
1) The published list is public information that is to be used not to identify a person’s home address, but to identify supporters of a particular political proposal.
2) directions to the list are no more pushing particular behavior on particular internet angry people than saying "look in the phone book and see if you know anyone and call them."
3) The information people were to be looking for was whether people they knew, or did business with (not strangers) had secretly trafficked with a political cause the person looking opposed. The actual decision about what to do was left up to the person scanning the list. Since it was quite likely you’d find out that a close relative, a bookstore, an old enemy, and a bunch of strangers had donated money to this "cause" the sphere of impact was very much diminished.
4) Since, unlike Williams, these people had essentially done what they had done anonymously *but left traces in the public record* the only recourse for their friends, neighbors, and clients was to search for the information in order to engage in legally permissible public political discussion. Since Williams did what he did publicly, within the scope of his office, no one who was interested in the outcome of the Tenn. issue needs to resort to an internet list to know how to appropriately respond to him. He can (and will be) shunned by his own constituents, applauded by others, voted out, voted back in, all perfectly legally and civilly.
aimai
r€nato
yeah, exactly what I was going to write. The RS Trike Force seems to not have read the part of the story where Williams pulled this move on the Rethugs because he was sick and tired of their thuggish behavior.
Oh and, posting the home phone number and address of people whose politics you don’t like is despicable, no matter who does it. It’s a thinly-veiled incitement to harassment and worse.
Deborah
Oh man. If only we could have gotten these people focused on saving Michelle Bachman against El Tinklenburg, the Dems could have picked up one more seat. Instead McCain and Palin had to scatter Red State’s efforts.
Keith Patrick
"Should you choose to accept this mission, please remember to apply warpaint in a mirror while having someone play a snare drum ‘Rambo’-style in the background."
harlana pepper
heh
In other words, she ran like a fucking scared rabbit. Oh, teh courahge of teh right.
Glocksman
I’m just waiting for Erickson to start using military ranks in the Stroke Force.
SF-Obergruppenführer Erickson sounds cool, eh?
blogenfreude
If someone finds Erickson’s address, we could all send him douchebags. Who’s with me?
The Grand Panjandrum
Are you certain this was Williams home address or business address? Because I see no problem with this if they send it to his legislative office.
The lessons of the last few years should be obvious: if you put yourself in the public square be prepared for anything. Right or wrong, good or evil, you must be aware of all internet traditions to avoid as much of the BS as possible. Privacy is a thing of the past.
bago
So last time a haxxor f’d with me we had all of his passwords and pictures of his cat in 24 hours. Had street views of the po box used for the fraud. Had the passwords of everyone in their network. Bad idea
harlana pepper
Are the weblog awards over? I was thinking there should be a new category for best blog comments. I nominate balloon-juice.
Shygetz
@aimai: That was the WORST equivocation I have read in a long time. Telling people outside of Williams’ district to harass Williams is beyond the pale, but telling people outside the State of California to harass private citizens for donating to a political cause is a-okay? Prop 8 donators did so anonymously except they left their name and f*cking address in the public record? Right…I think you need a refresher course on what "anonymous" means.
I actually think it’s better that Erickson instructed his acolytes to send Silly Putty rather than leave it up to their imagination like the anti-Prop 8 site did. I can totally see the "Oooo, I was gonna send a pipe bomb, but now I’ll send Silly Putty instead! That’ll show ’em!"
What’s stupid about Erickson’s proposal is that I can almost guarantee you that Williams has no national ambitions; he’s not going to give a damn about what some carpetbagging wingnuts think. But, then again, Erickson does get about $0.30 per idiot that sends Silly Putty, so maybe he’s just tapping an unused resource, P.T. Barnum-style.
kay
@Shygetz:
Andrew Sullivan supports the publishing of the names and addresses, so I don’t. He has a rather cavalier attitude about privacy. I was willing to buy his Palin argument (transparency!) for the Trig insanity, somewhat, until he started weighing in on the Travolta kid’s autopsy, in a creepy and disturbing way. I stopped reading him. I don’t want to see that boy’s autopsy. That’s none of my business. It’s none of his, either.
Publishing the names and addresses has a chilling effect on political speech. It’s not illegal, but it’s wrong.
Skepticat
It’s certainly appropriate that they chose *silly* putty. I hope people do send (only) SP, and that he’ll donate it to a local children’s charity.
I’ll probably send him a congratulatory e-mail, as those office addresses are readily available and he needs some positive reinforcement.
jon
Strike Force Member: Okay, here goes.
(puts Silly Putty on monitor showing Red State website)
Strike Force Member: Damnit!
(reapplies Silly Putty to monitor)
Strike Force Member: Shit!
(again reapplies Silly Putty to monitor)
Strike Force Member: How will I ever make my Super Deluxe Official Strike Force Badge?!
(repeat….)
jon
Another Strike Force Member: You know, when you do that, the Strike Force logo will be backwards. Right?
Strike Force Member: Not in my mirror!
r€nato
@aimai:
fail.
r€nato
sending Williams Silly Putty? Yeah, that will show him. That will be almost as effective as the Judean People’s Front Crack Suicide Squad.
Fighting the Iraq war from their computers and sending Silly Putty to politicians they don’t like… what brave, manly men, the Red State Strike Force.
Josh Hueco
@kay:
I think Sullivan’s cavalier attitude towards privacy is a reaction to what happened a few years ago when someone made public his presence on an anonymous online gay dating service for those seeking "bareback" (i.e. condomless anal) sex. He probably figures that if someone could expose his private matters that those of others (e.g. homophobes like Palin and Prop 8 donors) are fair game.
DougJ
Exactly.
Mazacote Yorquest
It’s over, Erick. IT’S OVER!!!
TCG
Erick may be seeing some visitors from the TBI (TN Bureau of Investigation) here shortly.
That would be the icing on the cake.
Maybe he can visit Guantanamo before it shuts down.
Dracula
I’m surprised that these basement dwellers need to buy the stuff. You’d think they could just send whatever was left of the silly putty that they had not yet eaten.
Johnny Pez
Maybe the next time Newsweek does a profile of Erick the Dim they can include the details of Operation Silly Putty.
Also, WOLVERINES!
kay
@Josh Hueco:
Trig has a privacy interest that should be protected. The baby does. It’s long-practiced custom, too. Widely recognized.
If parents act recklessly, and push the kid into the public square, responsible adults should still use some discretion.
harlana pepper
Josh @78 – K, I’m dumb enough to bite – is that for real?
canuckistani
Do these Strike Force clowns don uniforms and strut up and down in front of the mirror before they mail silly putty to their political enemies? I’m pretty sure they must. You can’t be paramilitary fascisti without nice black shirts.
AkaDad
BTFMA
Edit: I wanted to bold just the SS, but the whole blockquote is bold.
Josh Hueco
@kay:
I totally agree. I think Sullivan really made an ass of himself by so fulsomely obsessing over Trig’s parentage and Jett’s autopsy.
@harlana pepper:
‘Fraid so. I don’t think it was right what happened to Sullivan, but I think he uses it (unstatedly) as justification to pry into other people’s private issues.
kindness
I’m wondering how that donation thing works. Say for instance a bunch of "progressive" strike force members donate a $0.01 each…..does Red State then get charged a certain amount to process the donation, or do they just get some kind of overall percentage cut?
I’d be wonderful to make them have to pay for my 1 cent donation.
Phoenix Woman
Poor John. He must be laughing so hard he’s forgetting to breathe.
This is like if Les Nessman and Herb Tarlek had a love child and Newt Gingrich raised it and named it "Erick Erickson".
Michael
You have to get your old boy scout shirt from your mom, cut off the "Second Class" badge and spray paint it black.
Buttoning it over an expanded gut is mandatory. You gotta look sharp!
Anticorium
You laugh, you laugh, but the truth is that this is the exact same scheme that got us a second season of Jericho.
Of course, it’s also the same scheme that didn’t get us a fourth season of Veronica Mars, but we gotta accentuate the positive.
shortstop
I always assumed Erickson was a fairly recent college non-graduate, like Domenech, but I seem to recall recently seeing a photo of him that revealed him to be at least 60. Which makes his GI Joe games all the more humiliating to him, did he but know it.
cyntax
@Doctor Science:
Yep, that’s the one I’m going with too.
Andrew
PJTV needs to send Joe the Plumber to investigate the war in the Tennessee state house.
Tsulagi
Oh noes, it’s a national mobilization of the entire RSSF! They’re poised to attack! With silly putty.
That just so fits.
Cain
@Lupin:
That is a state secret. That would never be released! Obviously the guy would be very afraid if his address was passed out. Why? Because while his strike force goes out mails silly putty to a TN Republican. We’ll be sending him used condoms.
cain
Shygetz
Considering it’s probably the only experience he’ll ever have with used condoms, you’d just confuse the poor soul. Send him a soiled towel–THAT would get your message across in a way that’s familiar.
Cain
@cleek:
She had to. She’d get non-stop harassment. She’ll never know what she’ll get when she opens up her mailbox! Life would definitely be a box of chocolates then, wouldn’t it? Hell ,I’d be tempted to mail crap to her anytime I felt peevish. I won’t because unlike Malkin I have a shred of decency.
cain
Bubblegum Tate
WIN. Much like this whole Silly Putty thing–it’s so full of fail that it’s win for all non-crazy observers.
Cain
Too bad they are doing that by making the pole in the middle of the tent grow longer.
cain
Cyrus
Aimai distinctions between the No on 8 campaign and publishing the address of people like Kent Williams seem arbitrary, and yeah, if the No on 8 "dishonor roll" didn’t include any kind of admonishment to be civil, then that was pretty shitty. That being said, I think the No on 8 list was OK in theory, because there’s at least one important difference between the No on 8 list and the rest: boycotts. If people don’t want to spend their money at businesses whose owners supported Proposition 8, can you blame them? That method of protest is entirely different from asking people to contact targets directly.
harlana pepper
Josh @88: From reading that article, I am not surprised since he is apparently a big f**king hypocrite – I didn’t know he was HIV positive – duh, don’t follow him like some here
AhabTRuler
[p & /p] are your friends!
Comrade Darkness
@expatoz‘s link
"If you can’t attend the wedding, you should send your gift before the wedding with a card expressing your regrets about not being able to attend."
Figures a bunch of self-aggrandizing loser control freaks wouldn’t bother to do any research. Miss Manners has already covered this, and sweethearts, you gots yourself a YEAR to get the puppy-love couple a gift after the date of the wedding, whether you attend or not.
Wankers.
I also loved the …Be eternally grateful you were given an invitation at all… By the All Loving Goddess, get the hell over yourselves.
Zuzu's Petals
Not to rain on the outrage parade or anything, but it appears the address RS posted is not Williams’ home, but his district office.
Still a pretty cheesy stunt.
Zuzu's Petals
@Comrade Darkness:
The other thing is that one properly sends the gift beforehand, whether one is attending or not. Or up to one year later, technically speaking. But it isn’t terribly considerate to bring it to the wedding itself.
Speaking of Miss Manners, I’m pretty sure she’d find the idea of the gift having to equal the cost of the reception meal gauche under any circumstances.
Ecks
If you receive an invitation you must send a gift! Even if you don’t attend.
Actually that’s not the rip off it looks, because if they invite you they run the strong risk that you’d come, at which point they’d have to shell out a $60 (for a really low end wedding) to $100+ (for an average one) for you and each person you brought. And plus their venue will have a maximum on the number of people it’ll accommodate, and they can’t go over that.
Oh yeah, and all that anal retentiveness about telling them for sure ahead of time whether you’re coming or not, is because they are charged for the number of people they expect, and they don’t get a break on that if people unexpectedly don’t show up. So if you don’t come they still pay a hundred bucks for your ass anyway.
Yeah, weddings are messed up, but it’s not the fault of the suckers that have them (speaking as an upcoming sucker myself)
John Cole
@Lupin: Anyone publishes ANY addresses here and it is a permanent, irrevocable, unquestioned lifetime ban.
Period. No debate.
Wareq
In after personal army.