You'd think that by now major political parties, national newspapers, and food franchises would have a handle on email. Of course, you'd be wrong. Cringely details how the Democratic Party, the Wall Street Journal, and Pizza Hut are pulling stupid email tricks out of their, umm, hats. Pop quiz: What do the Democratic Party, the Wall Street Journal, and Pizza Hut have in common? (OK now, be nice.) Answer: They all seem to be flummoxed by electronic mail. My own inbox has been filling with complaints about these three entities and the stupid tricks they’ve been pulling. To wit:Case #1: Longtime correspondent W. P. reports that, try as he might, he cannot get Democrats.org to unsubscribe him. When you send an unsubscribe request, they send back a 4-digit code you need to plug in at the site to confirm your request. W. P. tried several times and plugged the right code in each time (he sent me screen shots to prove it) but still got a “the code you entered is incorrect” error message. When I tried to unsubscribe, I got nothing back at all. When I tried to sign up for a new account (so I could unsubscribe) I got a “we’ll be in touch” screen. Then…. nada. Sure, you’ll be in touch — sometime before 2012, maybe. I understand things are a bit hectic for the Donkeys right now with the big convention hoo-ha in Denver, but isn’t this stuff supposed to be automated? Memo to Demos: Before you call for a national broadband policy (a good idea) maybe you ought to figure out how email works first.Case #2: Cringester S. C. offers up this gem from the Wall Street Journal e-newsletter. Quick, dump your Duke stock now! Just kidding. Please keep your Duke stock, because I’m going to short sell it.S. C. suspects Rupert Murdoch’s cost cutting is to blame. I suspect that whoever puts out the WSJ emails doesn’t actually read them and/or is hitting the sauce. If I worked for Murdoch I certainly would be. Note: When the lead of the article says “Do not publish” (twice) that’s probably a good clue it shouldn’t be published. Just a hunch. Case #3: Faithful reader D. M. is one of the thousands who received the following e-apology from Pizza Hut: You may have received an email on Wednesday that appeared to be from Pizza Hut with the subject line “Sports – 2 Medium pizzas, 1 one-topping and 1 specialty or up to 3 toppings”. We were testing new functionality that will better serve our customers. It was not the intent of Pizza Hut for this email to be sent to you. We apologize for any inconvenience or confusion this may have caused. But are they offering anything to make up for the gaffe, like a free soda or something? Don’t be silly. The Consumerist rakes the pizza chain over the coals for a) requiring customers who order online to opt in to marketing emails, and b) sending out unsolicited email apologizing for sending out unsolicited email. Remember: Be sure to try Pizza Hut’s new All Meat Special, now with extra Spam!Got more stupid email tricks to report? Post them below or email me direct: cringe (at) infoworld (dot) com. Software DevelopmentSmall and Medium Business