Stupid E-mail Watch: Now Biden’s Calling Me Names

One result of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama’s choice of Sen. Joe Biden for his vice presidential running mate is that now I’ve got two of the top politicians in the land calling me stupid.

Last February, news came out that Obama’s e-mail signup form allows registrants to put anything they want in the “name” fields and register anyone’s e-mail address with no confirmation mechanism. The flaw has resulted in some pranksters forge-subscribing others to Obama’s list under insulting names.

For example, anti-spammer Edward Falk got an unsolicited e-mail from Obama's campaign calling him StupidSpamSucker SlutFace, according to a post on his Spam Diaries blog.

To test Obama’s signup form, I registered as Stupid Poopyhead. It worked. Obama’s been calling me Stupid ever since. Barack and I are apparently on a first-name basis, so there’s no need for Mr. Poopyhead, or any other such formalities.

True to form, when Obama’s campaign broke the news in the wee hours of Saturday morning to e-mail registrants that he had chosen Biden for VP, as usual, he addressed me as “Stupid.”

“Stupid --

I have some important news that I want to make official,” the message said. ”I've chosen Joe Biden to be my running mate.”

I’ve become used to Obama calling me Stupid. It’s kind of like a term of endearment. I asked him to do it, after all.

But then on Sunday came an introductory e-mail from Biden.

“Stupid --

I'd like to thank you for the warm welcome I've received as the newest member of this campaign,” said the message.

Excuse me. Mr. Biden? I don’t ever remember telling you it was OK to call me Stupid. Only Barack calls me Stupid. To you, it’s Mr. Poopyhead until I tell you otherwise. Got it?