Cell phone spam

I heard it was coming. It already has become as popular as poached liver overseas. But, so far, not one little half ring on my trusty Cingular phone until today. It happened about 4:oopm. Willie started singing "On the Road Again." There is a reason I have that ringtone. I answered. Nothing. I looked at the ID and it said "unknown." Finally, a little message started to play about the Republican cantidates in the local election and why I should vote for them. 1 minute. 2 minutes. 3 minutes. BOOM!

That's enough. I don't need a stupid cell phone call from the Republican party, even though I am one, telling me to vote for some of the lamest critters in the known world. Plus, those minutes are minutes I pay for, not the Republican party. They deserved a response.

"I would like to speak to whomever handles your telephone calling program," I asked the male voice who answered at the state party office.

"I guess that would be me," he answered.

"I am calling about your practice of spamming cell phones for local cantidates in the Lincoln city election."

"I am not sure that is us," he said.

"Well, the call was from the Nebraska Republican Party. Would that be you?"

"Yes, that would be us."

"So you admit you do that type of rude marketing?" I asked.

"Well, if you mean do we do telemarketing, yes we do," he said.

"Did you know it was illegal to make a telemarketing call and not have your organization identified in caller ID?" I asked.

"No, it isn't illegal," he answered.

"You're sure?" I asked.

"Yes, pretty sure."

"99% sure?"

"Yes, pretty sure."

"Well," I suggested, "let's try your knowledge with the Federal Trade Commission and see how good it is."

I hung up on him and filed the complaint. Even if you list your telephone number on the DO NOT CALL list, you can still be legally called by a political party. Nice touch from the lawmakers, don't you think? I am not sure they can make that call and not identify themselves on caller ID, however.

Most important, the call is even worse than a standard telemarketing call. It's to a cell phone and up until now, my cell phone had been spam free.

Just for that, I am going to vote Democrat this time. The Republicans have lost their class and have gone from steak to spam.