Submitter’s comments: A mayor of a California town (Los Alamitos) recently sent an email with a picture of the White House lawn filled with watermelons and the words, “No Easter Egg Hunt This Year” to some of his friends, one of whom found the picture offensive. Because of the email, the mayor resigned. Here are the details for my foreign readers who may not be aware of the racially inappropriate stereotype.

Vincent Flanders’ comments: I wonder what kind of web site the mayor used in his election campaign? Hmm. Do you think it uses web standards, that its HTML validates, and is aesthetically pleasing? Of course not. I take great comfort in the fact that this site qualifies as an over-the-top web site. As I state in Over the Top” — An Industry With Sucky Web Sites

The definition of an “Over the Top” industry is just like the definition of pornography — you know it when you see it. Over-the-Top sites generally deal with philosophy, religion, politics, etc., but they’re generally not mainstream.

I don’t mean to imply that over-the-top web sites are racist. It’s just that when you see one, you should take whatever they’re preaching or selling with a grain of salt — until that day when someone says, “The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was when his web site convinced the world he didn’t exist.” (My homage to The Usual Suspects.)

Elect Dean Grose