In 1970, Monty Python’s Flying Circus debuted their “Spam” sketch.
In Python fashion, a couple floats from the sky into a cafe. The couple asks what is on the menu.
The waitress answers with eggs and Spam; eggs, bacon and Spam; eggs, bacon, sausage and Spam; Spam, Spam, eggs and Spam . . . .
Suddenly, at the mention of Spam, a chorus of Vikings sings “SPAM, SPAM, SPAM, SPAM, SPAM, SPAM, SPAM, SPAM, lovely SPAM!” drowning out all conversation.
From this sketch in 1970, the word “spam” came to mean something more than a processed meat product. “Spam” became the term for when irrelevant and repeated emails which peppered inboxes.
The prevalence of this unwanted junk email became an issue to the workability of email. It was hard to sort the wheat from the chaff.
As a result, email providers created spam filters, which attempt to move the high priority items into one email folder, and the lower priority items into a spam filter. Those filters are not perfect, but they are good.
The Wyoming Legislature uses a Microsoft email platform. Microsoft developed the algorithm for sorting spam from legitimate emails.
The goal was to sort out clearly constituent emails from those sent by bulk emailing services.
Now, an outfit called Honor Wyoming, with nebulous leadership and financing, is going onto social media and claiming “Whether wittingly or unwittingly, the Wyoming Legislative Service Office (LSO) has been censoring voter communications with legislators.
This is a critical threat to the First Amendment of the United States Constitution and Section 20 of the Declaration of Rights in the Wyoming Constitution.”
What Honor Wyoming is really complaining about is that the Microsoft Office has a spam filter which moves spam into a spam folder, and non-spam email into an email folder.
Apparently, some of Honor Wyoming’s emails are finding themselves in a spam filter. Honor Wyoming contracts with a bulk emailer for its email service.
One should watch the video of the Management Council Hearing. Having such a discussion for hours in front of the leadership body of the legislature is an embarrassing waste of time.
In a debate worthy of Bill Clinton, the committee tried to define the word “blocked” as it applied to emails. Sen. Tara Nethercott said, in her mind, “Blocked” means rejected -- not received -- never had it (at 1:36.05). She said receiving an email in a “junk” folder does not mean blocked.
Representative Bear said “blocked” is a verb much like “received” is a verb, and there is not category called “blocked” or “received”. He said his definition of “blocked” was that the email was not sent to an inbox, but to a junk folder.
Bear said during the session, each legislator receives between 200 and 800 emails a day, in the inbox, and who knows how many in the junk folder. He said some legislators do not read their junk email.
Then, Rep. Bear talked about being a veteran and how he fought for the First Amendment. While his service is laudable, his word salad justifying getting rid of a spam filter that followed is worth watching and trying to understand.
Sen. Biteman then castigated Rep. Bear for his continued use of the word “blocked”.
Sen. Biteman pointed out, it was clearly established that all emails were being delivered to our legislators. .
No censorship, blocking or selective delivery of emails ever occurred, despite claims to the contrary.
At this point in the debate, I heard a chorus of Vikings singing, “Spam, spam, spam, spam . . .”
Sen. Tara Nethercott summed up her analysis of the situation.
She said, “The conversation we’re really having here today is about Wyoming being taken over by large, political, well-funded organizations — that have the ability to control your electeds through fear and misinformation, wittingly or unwittingly. Creating confusion and fractionization of our great state. It must come to an end.”
Her point was that well-financed secret political groups should not dictate what email our legislators read.
We all must have access to our legislators. We need to be able to share our thoughts, opinions and views with them.
But we do not need to inundate our legislators with spam.
Cue the chorus of Vikings.
Tom Lubnau served in the Wyoming Legislature from 2004 - 2015 and is a former Speaker of the House. He can be reached at: YourInputAppreciated@gmail.com
