Would like to ascertain legitimacy of website form promising multiple email submissio

So that all visitors to this thread may understand what was going on here, I have attempted to answer Mr. Daxe's concerns, below. It begins with my original email to emailsenators.com , and contains both email and forum exchanges with Mr. Daxe, all in chronological order. All of my input has been bolded, and each separate message, sent or received, is delineated with a horizontal line.

Mr. Daxe (username in this forum: grimble) is the admin for emailsenators.com , a service which emails all senators and congressmen, at one time, as opposed to sending individually from each senator's or congressman's site, using their web form.

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In your terms of use, you stipulate respect for the recipients, but if I understand the form, the "Dear employees and..." part of the form is the greeting that gets included in the text input box of the form ( becomes part of the message to the recipients)?

If this is correct, that hardly seems respectful.

It would also be nice if there were a message after sending the form, confirming that the message was sent.

Thanks for your site.

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Dear Mr. George,

OK, I'll bite!

First, I fail to see how "Dear employees" is disrespectful. The only way it could be deemed disrespectful is if the word itself, "employees", is somehow a pejorative word. You must be assuming it is, otherwise you would not have taken the time to bring it to our attention.
Employees are subordinate to their employers, Mr. Daxe. When you're attempting to influence people of considerable stature (you'll probably need to look that one up, Mr. Daxe), it's far from a good idea to begin a communication with them by focusing on the fact that they are your subordinates, even if they actually are your subordinates - which in this case, they are not ( please don't get all bent out of shape again here, Mr. Daxe; you have a habit of seeing things that aren't really there - I agree that they are ignoring the will of the people). However, much better to begin with respect, especially since you're hoping to receive a reply (which was my case).

employee: a worker who is hired to perform a job

Did you actually hire them Mr. Daxe, or did you (we) elect them? (this is a rhetorical question, because I'm fairly confident I already know the answer to this one).

In the case of the form you are referring to, the word "employee" is used as a respectful and deliberate reminder of what our Senators and Congressmen are: our employees! You do not agree that they work for us? They "work for us" as our elected representatives; they are not employees.

It is my opinion, and the opinion of many Americans, that our representatives in Washington easily forget whom they are working for. Considering how much and how often they simply ignore the will of the American people, they need to be reminded who brings home their bacon. Call it tough love if you want. The sad truth, however, is that our messages are likely to be ignored regardless of our literary style. It will make NO difference if they are addressed with "Dear employees" or "Dear benevolent, kind and gracious leaders"! Yes, it will make a difference Mr. Daxe; take it from someone older, wiser and more experienced than yourself.

EmailSenators.com exists, in part, for the very purpose of reminding our representatives that they were NOT appointed by any King, Emperor, Dictator or by God. They work for US, they need to represent US. Often, however, they abuse our trust, abuse the power granted by the American voter. I agree with you, but addressing them as our employees in a communication where you're attempting to influence (or asking a question in my case) and receive a reply, is not exactly stacking the odds (of reply) in one's favor.

When you, Mr. George, take the time to contribute to our political process, when you spend time and money, receiving NOTHING in return (you sure? seems to be no shortage of Ads on your site?) to create, manage and operate a website which aims to improve all of our lives and shine the light of truth on our system of government, then YOU may decide how to do it.
Here, Mr. Daxe, your resentment and pomposity shines through, as you waste valuable time (letting me know who's in charge), when you could be properly updating your pages, such as changing the Merry Christmas & Happy New Year wish, appearing in one of the follow-up emails I received, after using your service (any readers should know that I began my message to the recipients by apologizing for and attempting to explain away, the employees remark).

Second, as a matter of fact, the "message sent" page is scheduled to be implemented any day now, but thanks for the tip. Excellent Mr. Daxe! May I assume that the updating of the Merry Christmas and Happy New Year follow-up message/email, is also scheduled to be implemented any day now? Your ears must have been burning. You will see it soon should you again decide to utilize our worthwhile, convenient, valuable and free service.

We hope you do continue to use our site despite our semantic disagreement. We also hope you will sign our petition which aims to assist in repealing Obamacare. Pass on the word to your friends and family, urge them to do the same. We want to make our country better.

Sincerely,

Michael Daxe

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Could anyone help with legitimacy of the mass email form on the following page (if that can be ascertained by viewing only the source code):

Email ALL Senators and Congressmen!

If my purpose is not clear, I'm just wondering if this form really does send email to all senators and congressmen.

Thanks much for any help.
Because your reply to my initial comment, about the Dear employees greeting, was indignantly atypical of most web professionals, I gradually began to wonder if your site was, indeed, legitimate, Mr. Daxe. A long shot I know, but nevertheless a worthwhile shot, in your case.
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Hey, justplumducky, what's going on? Are you trying to incite hacking activity? Trying to steal code? Are you trying to make yourself an accessory to a crime? You mess with my site, I'll come down on you like a ton of bricks! You certainly do have a knack for jumping to conclusions, and if I were you Mr. Daxe, I wouldn't flirt so closely with defamation of one's character. You never know who you might be dealing with...

But I'll save you some trouble. You won't find a thing. The form links to another script which actually sends the mail. Nice try though! Next time just contact the site directly instead of sneaking around like a rat. If I were concerned about you discovering my post Mr. Daxe, (or about someone from the forum tipping you off), I would have assumed a different identity prior to joining the forum.

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May I assume that Michael Daxe and grimble are one and the same?

Would have asked this question in the forum, but I couldn't login. (I emailed the admin and asked if I was blocked)
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Would you be willing to divulge your age, to me?
You can rest easy Mr. Daxe; was just having a small wager with a colleague, about the level of your maturity.

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Yes, I tracked and soon noticed it was you, the gentleman who doesn't like my choice of words, who requires a "message sent" page, is inquiring on "coding sites" how to get into my code and wants to know how old I am. Is there anything else I can do for you? (yes Mr. Daxe, you can change the Merry Christmas and Happy New Year message - thx Mr. Daxe. You are curious, aren't you. Your comment about me requiring a message sent page shows your continued resentment of me for my constructive criticism. Hypersensitivity on your part.

Well, you are also pretty creepy! Thus, I am hereby officially asking you to refrain from emailing me any further. Your motives are highly suspect and you should consider minding your own business. It will tear at my heart strings, but I can do that for you, Mr. Daxe.

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In closing Mr. Michael Daxe, most web professionals would have kept it much simpler, and considerably less arrogant, with something to the effect of:

"Thank you for your comment Mr. George, and we will certainly take it under advisement. In the mean time, we hope you will continue to use our site..."

Instead, you have expended valuable time and effort displaying your hypersensitivity, resentment, pomposity, arrogance and inexperience.

If you choose to continue our discussion, I can continue to reply (if warranted) for as long as the admin may or may not permit it, but I would choose my words more carefully Mr. Daxe, or I may be the one who ends up raining down on your parade with the aforementioned "ton of bricks".

Edited by justplumducky, 06 April 2010 - 07:12 AM.
Adding final comment at closing paragraph