Regular readers will know how much we like all things robotic and how fascinating and revealing the interaction between human and machines is (about both).
But this practice surely ranks as an abuse of the technology: imagine you answer the phone to hear a recorded voice saying...
"Hello. I'm calling for John McCain and the RNC. You need to know that Barack Obama has
worked closely with domestic terrorist Bill Ayers, whose organisation bombed the US Capitol, the Pentagon, a judge's home and killed Americans" [from the Guardian]
Leaving aside the interruptive aspect of cold-calling (something I thought we'd learned to avoid...) and the automated nature of the call (again, why would that be a good idea? I've had at least one such call every day I've worked from home the Bank of Desperado and their friends recently, offering me loans to pay off my supposed debts), I struggle to see how this counts as honest, decent or fair. Or something we want to teach non-democratic nations?
Might this be another case of needing a touch of that nasty regulation stuff...? Even the Rumour Warriors at WOMMA might agree, I reckon
BONUS: Letterman challenges Sen McCain on his connections here