Surprise E-Mail From "Kill Obama?" Facebook Poll "Developer Guy's" Dad

By GottaLaff

UPDATE: There seems to be a lot of confusion here. If you follow this link, Jesse Farmer explains how the whole system works. Jesse is NOT the kid who created the poll, he is the man who developed the application for Facebook. Follow the link.

Remember Jesse Farmer? He's the developer of the Facebook Poll Application that hosted the "Should Obama be killed?" poll. That story got TPC a lot of attention (we broke it here, despite the lack of attribution from major bloggers, news sources), and it put Jesse smack dab into the spotlight.

That was back in late September. But today, to my surprise, I got the loveliest e-mails from Jesse's dad. He has given me permission to post them, along with a link to his Facebook page.

Here are the e-mails, which are about Jesse, but also about Robert Farmer's feelings about a few politically oriented issues:

I'm just putting this tip-o-the-hat out to you on this Internet
Machine, in hopes it gets to you and you understand that we here in
Michigan feel that FINALLY our country is getting back on the right track.

If it DOES get to GottaLaff....

Hello.

I am Jesse Farmer's Father and want to let you know I appreciate you
and what you've done and how well you treated / respected Jesse during
his recent "situation."

Being a "Child of the 60s," and politically active in a fairly
Republican Michigan, I have, over the years, experienced some pretty
unusual situations as far as any right-wing mentality that may get
bantered about "Up Here."

I was in almost constant TEARS during the Bush Administration and I'm
friggin' 59 years old!!

Next e-mail, after I responded to his first:

Our pride up here for Jesse abounds, but for me personally I am MOST proud of his political activism.

You gotta keep in mind that we live in 95% WHITE Northern Michigan [closer to Canada than ANYWHERE]. ** [...]

Anyway, growing up I had heroes and influences.. Influences, amongst others, were Tom Hayden [Port Huron Statement], John Sinclair, Michael Moore.

In fact John Sinclair & I STILL know each other.

Jesse grew up with THOSE types of ideas swirling ALL around....
In retrospect I see where he got his passion for politics.

When he was born I quit my career in which I was educated [so as to be with him DAILY when he was growing up] & started my two businesses that are still running strong...

Anyway. ..don't know why I'm rambling here.

...just wanted to acknowledge your reply. ..appreciate that.
The Internet Machine DOES work....

Bob Farmer

What a pleasant ending to a very unpleasant story. And he sounds like a great dad and a dedicated Progressive.

Thank you Bob.

VIDEO: I'm a believer--"A Star is Born! Susan Boyle singing on Britain's Got Talent 2009."

By GottaLaff

Please watch the entire video. Lerve. It. Tears:

High school un-cancels production of 'Rent'

By GottaLaff

Original post with all my usual commentary here. Happy ending here:

A controversy erupted when the Corona del Mar High School play was canceled over possible objections to gay content. But the principal has reviewed the script and the show will go on as planned.

At Corona del Mar High School, the show will go on.

After a flap that raised the ire of the gay community and ruffled feathers across the Newport Beach campus, drama students will be allowed to stage a production of "Rent," a musical about struggling artists in New York City.

"I never had a problem with the play selected" by drama teacher Ron Martin, Corona del Mar Principal Fal Asrani said in a statement released Wednesday by the Newport-Mesa Unified School District.

"The selection of our drama productions is his call. I just requested the opportunity to review the script before it was final. [The school] administration received parent concerns from a previous play and I wanted to be able to ensure my commitment to the concerned parents as well as show my support of the student production without any reservation." [...]

As the controversy filtered onto blogs, drama students and alumni of the 2,300-student school spoke out against the show's cancellation, which some said stemmed from intolerance. The musical deals with poverty, drugs and the impact of AIDS on gay and straight relationships.

Last week, Martin requested a rush copy of the toned-down version of the script, which he gave to Asrani on Monday. [...]

Newport-Mesa Supt. Jeffrey Hubbard denounced media reports of the controversy and criticism that the school was homophobic, citing human relations achievements at the school. [...]

Martin said, based on slurs he had overheard and offensive videos posted by students online, that he felt there was a problem with homophobia on campus and that he hoped "Rent" would help promote understanding.

And they sang and danced happily ever after.