BuzzFlash presents Barbara's Daily BuzzFlash Minute
exclusively on BuzzFlash.com

A collection of insightful ruminations, reflections, and rants on the events of the day (with the exception of the weekend). Come visit each weekday to see what's pushing Barbara's buttons.

May 19, 2006

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“Law enforcement officers have ample experience with gadgets that monitor who's calling whom. But those require police to convince a judge they will yield information relevant to an investigation. In this program, here's what the government has to show: nothing.”  With a whole lot of emphasis on NOTHING!  There’s no terrorist to be found in the data mining of mom and pop Americans. Monitoring telephone calls, or your use of the Internet, only provides the NSA and the Bush administration with such benign information as to who, where, and when you’re calling or logging on to your political party affiliation, your health, your banking, your credit info, your accountant and/or your CPA, your insurance, your pharmacy, what charities you feel worthy of a donation, your religious affiliation, your educational interests, your friends and relatives, and your everyday interests, etc., etc., etc.! No big deal here, no problem with them knowing everything there is to know about you, me, and every other person in America----the big deal and problems lie in WHAT EXACTLY IS IT THEY PLAN TO DO WITH THAT INFORMATION NOW THAT THEY HAVE IT???

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Saving the Internet, and especially BuzzFlash, as the only source of news Americans can really trust is of the utmost importance and should be the first priority of any patriotic person who truly cares about freedom and democracy!

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If Judy Miller thought this story would redeem her, Stephen Engelberg, and the New York Times, IT DOESN’T!  As a matter of fact it only makes things worse having known all along, the Bush administration had been warned and chose to go on vacation rather than do something about it, and not releasing the information to the public goes beyond the pale.  For God’s sake after 9-11 every time the Bush administration denied having had any warning that terrorists were going to strike, Ms. Miller and Mr. Engelberg knew it was lies and they chose to remain silent!  Judy Miller and Stephen Engelberg not only failed journalism, they failed the American people, and aided in paving the way for a senseless unnecessary preemptive war in Iraq!

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Russ Feingold is my kind of man, he’s got the leadership backbone we Democrats have been looking for.  "'If you want to leave, good riddance,' The Senate Judiciary Chairman, Republican Arlen Specter, told Wisconsin Democratic Sen. Russell Feingold, who refused to participate because, he said, the meeting was not sufficiently open to the public."

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Believe me when I tell you, if they had caught one terrorist by “data mining” mom and pop telephone calls here in the United States, the Bush administration would have “declassified” the information in a heartbeat, if for no other reason than to make political hay while the sun ain’t shinin down on George!  If they move mountains of National Guard personnel to our borders in an effort to increase his poll numbers, just imagine what they would do if they captured a terrorist! 

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Over the last few months George Bush has been out and about everywhere desperately trying to raise those sinking poll numbers, and I have come to the conclusion that considering him a “regular guy” just may have been right and it’s only the category within the term “regular” that was wrong.  Rather than the “regular guy” you’d like to have a beer with, after listening to him repeat some of the same old tired words and phrases, after watching his usual performance, I’ve come to realize that yes he does remind me of the BS’er that lives next door, down the street, and around the corner!  He’s so full of false bravado and braggadocios BS, he reminds me of every guy I’ve ever known that I hate to see coming and I would do anything to avoid!

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In an attempt to discourage anyone actually going to the theater to see, “The DaVinci Code” without seeming to do so, Fr. David O’Connell said the movie was “boring,” a statement he reiterated in every way possible during an interview on CNN. It became more than obvious and downright silly, especially when the good Father’s efforts included, “The church can't keep a secret for two minutes, let alone for 2,000 years.”  Uhh, Father, just in case you’ve forgotten, there’s that horrendous matter of pedophile priests, the church seems to have been able to keep that secret for a very long time!  See ya at the movies!

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While the Repuglicans would like Joe Q. Public to believe they are the only Party with “moral” values, the team of Rudy and Ralph way down in Atlanta, have proven that Repuglicans will do anything for power and money!  And in some of the more honest circles, that’s called prostitution!  “CROWLEY: … what else could either of them get out of this, Wolf, but a little political boost for both of them. Ralph Reed, as you know, is the former head of the Christian Coalition, who wants to be lieutenant governor in Georgia. He gets a marquee player in Giuliani, who will help him raise money for what looks to be a to-the-wire primary fight. And Giuliani, who's thinking about running for president, gets the attention of Reed's core supporters, which is to say culturally conservative Republicans, something the pro-gay rights, pro-abortion rights, pro-gun licensing former mayor of New York is not … Reed, who brought Giuliani in because his rock star status draws attention and cash.”

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As I read over the transcript of Air Force General Michael Hayden’s opening statement for the Senate Intelligence Committee’s confirmation hearings, I continue with that nagging knowledge, it’s been three and a half years, the Patriot Act, spying on millions of Americans' private lives, millions of dollars, governmental reorganization, an eternal war, a whole lot of rhetoric, and Osama is still running around making videos and planning attacks, as free as a bird!

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