Phila Daily News

Bush snub story takes on life of its own

E-MAIL STARTS WITH PHILLY MAN,GOES WORLDWIDE

WHAT'S THAT old saying? A lie runs around the world before the truth can put its socks on?

An e-mail sent by a Philadelphia man describing a July 4 snub by President Bush has taken on a life of its own.

The man, whose name we agreed to withhold, said in the e-mail that as Bush worked the crowd at the Greater Exodus Baptist Church in North Philly, he confronted the president, saying he was disappointed with him and hoped he wouldn't get reelected.

"Who cares what you think?" Bush allegedly replied.

The man sent the e-mail to his friends. In it, he suggested he might sell "Who cares what you think?" T-shirts. His friends sent the e-mail to their friends.

Then it began popping up on Web sites: buzzflash.com, bartcop.com, NewsMax.com and, just this week, on Slate.com.

On July 21, the Rocky Mountain News reported that Denver's mayoral spokesman, Andrew Hudson, was deluged with calls asking him about the T-shirts.

Hudson, a recipient of the e-mail, had passed it on to his friends but neglected to delete his name and phone number, leading thousands of later recipients to think he originated the e-mail.

"This has taken on a life of its own," Hudson told the newspaper. He had to stay at work late to handle the calls and e-mails.

On July 28, the New York Daily News reported the anecdote and said the e-mail "has become chat-room fodder and been forwarded to thousands of people around the world."

A White House spokesman said yesterday that there had been many media calls about the incident, but the administration was not commenting on it.

The Philadelphian who wrote the original e-mail sounded exhausted when we reached him. He said he had been besieged with calls and e-mails.

"This has been like wildfire," he said.

He asked us not to write about it, but we declined. We did promise to not to use his name so as not to jeopardize his employment.

He would neither confirm nor deny the interchange with Bush, but promised to talk more at some future date.

He also said he was leaving the country today. That sounds like a good idea.

-- Anonymous, August 10, 2001