By Phineas J. Stone
It was many years ago when I was using e-mail during the beginnings of the new technology that I was outed.
It’s happened to all of us by now, but this was the first time for me, and it was quite embarrassing.
The circumstances were pretty mundane. A friend of our family was passing away in the Beth Israel hospital and we were in contact with another family that was close to her and had been designated to take care of some medical responsibilities – as there was no immediate family. I had been in contact via e-mail with the other couple, specifically the wife. Back and forth we went about what to do and what had to be done – as well as how to carry out the imminent wishes of our dying friend.
There was a stumbling block, however, in that my wife and I were a little more immediate about the situation that our friends – the other couple. While we were sort of demanding they do things quickly for our dying friend, the other couple – specifically the wife – had the feeling that time was not of the essence. That came through quite clearly in one of her e-mails to me, and I was fully exasperated after reading it.
I pulled up a blank page and began unloading my frustrations in an e-mail to my wife. I stated how the other couple, specifically the wife, was just out of touch with the situation; that they had grown hard-hearted towards our dying friend. I was particularly upset that they had prioritized one of their children’s soccer games over taking care of the situation at the hospital.
I ranted.
I raved.
I went a bit overboard in my frustrations. But I bore out my true colors, every little bit of my honest feelings about our friends that I wasn’t willing to tell them face to face.
Then I sent the e-mail.
Except I had hit the reply button.
I had not e-mailed my honest thoughts to my wife, but rather to the object of my ire – the wife and husband who I wasn’t too happy with.
As the weight of what I had done sunk in; that my dear friends were now reading my dressing down of their behavior in terms that were not friendly at all. It was meant for my wife’s eyes only, but the world had seen it – at least everyone in the world that it mattered too had seen it.
In a matter of minutes, the phone rang.
And yes, I had some explaining to do. But once my apologies penetrated through their anger at my callous descriptions of how they had handled the situation, we actually got to talk about the situation and work it all out. It’s what we should have done in the first place, but were forced to do by accident.
This is exactly why I am enjoying every little bit of the WikiLeaks e-mails. Oh, so many people moan and mumble about the fact that it’s illegal information and it’s been hacked and gained illicitly, but the squirming has begun and the weight of it can’t be ignored. The full embarrassment of the truth is right before our eyes – even if the typical media sources have shamelessly ignored the revelations in hopes that they won’t get noticed.
Our government – and in this case Hillary Clinton, Colin Powell, the Clinton campaign, President Barack Obama and so many ancillary figures – have been outed just as I was. The truth is there for the reading.
They would never say it, but now we know the obvious, that they despise Christians and Catholics. We know they have colluded with the White House, the FBI and other such sources to manipulate the truth and our opinions. We know about the speeches to Wall Street and the fact that they weren’t as damning as one would expect, though still concealed for some reason. We know Colin Powell thinks very little of his friend Hillary Clinton.
We know the truth, and it’s glorious.
The American people have finally gotten even after years of having to swallow mashmouth double talk from elites who couldn’t even cook a batch of Ramen Noodles if they had to. I can’t wait to hear more from all angles.
In Boston, we can smell fiction and spin happening on Beacon Street all the way down to the furthest reaches of Tremont. One can find this in about any community meeting in the area. So many times a developer has tried to pull one over on the community, proposing some unsavory situation and playing it like it’s a Golden Goose. Cutting to the chase is an art in Boston; ask any such developer who has tried the above song and dance and they’ll tell you that the ugly truth is better than the attempt at spin once you penetrate into the real people at the neighborhood level.
But lo, there are a lot of people with passions and sentimentalities that still want to grip on to these leaders. They’ve invested too much time defending them, investing money in them or simply believing that these people – whether it’s Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump, President Barack Obama or former President George W. Bush – that they can’t let go and face the truth that Wiki has enlightened us with. They don’t want to believe the person they believe in would have such disdain for them and their friends and family.
But the truth is, they do, and it has nothing to do with party affiliation.
On either side or in either direction, the folks we elect outside of the grass-roots offices are so far removed from us that they simply cannot bear to see and experience the way normal people live. They can pretend for a few moments, but the majority of the time they spend trying to fool us, manipulate us and figure out how to cover their own warts so we don’t know the dirty business they revel in.
That’s why I’m all in on Wiki. I want to know the truth.
If I were to have Hillary over to my house for a fish dinner, I think I’d want to get the hacked e-mails detailing how she thinks the peas were salty and the fish was too dry – and that she was sickened by the decor of my living room, which is outfitted with cheap imitations from Marshall’s.
So I say, keep it coming Mr. Assange. I’m ready to see them outed, to get the truth out there and have an earnest conversation so we can perhaps find an authentic leader.