Sorry, bad pun. But I couldn't resist when I read on DailyKos that Terri Schiavo's parents authorized a Christian Right mailing list broker to resell the personal details of those who had donated money to the "save Terri" campaign.
The parents of Terri Schiavo have authorized a conservative direct-mailing firm to sell a list of their financial supporters, making it likely that thousands of strangers moved by her plight will receive a steady stream of solicitations from anti-abortion and conservative groups.
"These compassionate pro-lifers donated toward Bob Schindler's legal battle to keep Terri's estranged husband from removing the feeding tube from Terri," says a description of the list on the Web site of the firm, Response Unlimited, which is asking $150 a month for 6,000 names and $500 a month for 4,000 e-mail addresses of people who responded last month to an e-mail plea from Ms. Schiavo's father. "These individuals are passionate about the way they value human life, adamantly oppose euthanasia and are pro-life in every sense of the word!"
Privacy experts said the sale of the list was legal and even predictable, if ghoulish.
"I think it's amusing," said Robert Gellman, a privacy and information policy consultant. "I think it's absolutely classic America. Everything is for sale in America, every type of personal information."
Executives of Response Unlimited declined to comment. Gary McCullough, director of the Christian Communication Network and a spokesman for Ms. Schiavo's parents, confirmed that Mr. Schindler had agreed to let Response Unlimited rent out the list as part of a deal for the firm to send an e-mail solicitation raising money on the family's behalf.
I'm sure that progressive organizations do the same thing. Still, ick.
Also, if you go to Response Unlimited's website, it's exceedingly hard to find the Terri list (I haven't had any luck yet), but easy to find a bunch of other curiously named offerings...
- GLORIA STEINEM'S WORST NIGHTMARE (I think we're living in it. But thanks!)
- CHRISTIANS WITH A HEART FOR ISRAEL (No comment)
- ALAN KEYES UNIVERSE (It's a different one than the universe the rest
of us live in!)
- CHRISTIANS SEEKING EXTRA INCOME (Jesus saves!)
- KEEP AMERICAN CHRISTIAN DONORS (from 1989?!?!)
Honestly...
