|
Important Note: Because we can't always determine your intentions, we need to ask a favor of you when you send us email. If you DO NOT WANT YOUR EMAIL PUBLISHED in the Mailbag or in the Contributors section, please write "CONFIDENTIAL" in the Subject line or at the top of your email. That way we'll know it's just a comment to BuzzFlash. Additionally, if you submit a mailbag item and DO NOT WANT YOUR NAME associated with your submission, sign your email, "A BuzzFlash Reader." If you send email unsigned, we will post your name with your submission, or, if that's not available, your email name (not the full address, just what's on the left side of the email address). Please try and keep your word count under 500. We can only post a small percentage of what is sent to us. The opinions expressed in the Mailbag are not necessarily those of BuzzFlash. Thanks again for your email and your patience.
bush said in his speech today that he wanted the american people to start seeing his tax cuts on their pay checks--------did i miss something? when did he propose payroll tax cuts? could you ask about that?
ark
madison wi
Subj: CNN's One-Sided Spin on the News
Fellow BuzzFlashers:
Anyone else notice what's going on in CNN reporting?
A Republican is speaking and the speech is carried full and interrupted. The minute a Democrat begins speaking, the camera cuts him/her off and swings back to the news anchor, who recaps and elaborates on what the REPUBLICAN speaker just said. This is censorship, pure and simple. And they wonder why Americans are turning to BBC for balanced news about the U.S.
A. Arlen
Subj: If we survive that long, 2004 will be a champagne year for the world
Hi Buzz,
Better keep looking up, or you're liable to get hit in the head by Bush's falling popularity! The way I see it now, if two things happen, then he's finished as a president. He's probably finished anyway because of his bullying and arrogance towards the whole world.
(1) The dems make sure that the voting machines can't be rigged the next time. THIS IS A MUST, OR THEY CAN FORGET ABOUT IT! That little hacker job on the 22,000 machines in Georgia just before the elections should be enough to convince them of this.
(2) We go to war with Iraq. If we do, then the economy will be brought to a standstill in protest. See http://uslaboragainstwar.org/#111 If there's one thing that politicians fear, it's an angry mob.
If these two things happen, it's bye bye to this president, hello to sanity again. But we've got to keep up the pressure and continue to increase it. We must not relent or relax because of any victory. The voice of the people must grow, grow, grow... And it will!
A BuzzFlash Reader
Subj: Yahoo! I've got it!
Dear BuzzFlash,
Yesssss! I have it figured out.
Do you know why Bush doesn't care what the majority of Americans think? Quite simply, it is because the majority of Americans did not vote for him!
~ Cathy
Subj: Very Disturbing FReeper Post and Plans
Dear BuzzFlash:
Just saw a very disturbing post at FreeRepublic.com (pasted below). They plan to create a "Citizens for Fair and Balanced Funding" (CFBF) Committee, the purpose of which will be to "research" and "expose" "anti-American" corporations, foundations and individuals. Can you say witch hunt? Can you say harassment? Can you say brownshirt-ism?
Keep up the good work.
Kind regards,
Robert Williamson
Los
Angeles
---------------------------------
FReepers With Inquisitive Minds Needed
Citizens for Fair and Balanced Funding | 02/20/2003 | dware
Posted on 02/20/2003 12:08 PM PST by dwareDo you have an inquisitive mind? How about a background in corporate research? If so, and you'd like to put it to work for Free Republic, I would like to invite you to join the FR "Citizens for Fair and Balanced Funding" (CFBF) Committee.
CFBF conducts research into the activities, programs, funding and key individuals of the various groups & organizations that provide financial & other support to anti-American causes. A good example of an organization being researched is ANSWER & their parent organization, the People's Rights Fund.
In many cases, these organizations knowingly violate IRS requirements for non-profit 501(c)3 status by misrepresenting their purpose and/or activities to the IRS. In some cases, they also represent a deeper threat to the American way of life by supporting explicit anti-American organizations.
The purpose of CFBF is to expose these organizations, the corporations/foundations/individuals that derive certain tax benefits from supporting their causes and the individuals who run them. By doing so, it is our hopes that we can create a better balance in funding of other non-profit causes.
We need your help to accomplish our objectives. We are currently seeking individuals who are willing to volunteer as little or as much time as they choose to participate in the CFBF Committee. Members will be asked to conduct research into these organizations, rally public support for boycotts against their funders and garner support from various media outlets in an effort to expose the organizations for what they are in too many cases - anti-American.
Volunteers will be given access to a private forum where CFBF activities will be staged. They will also be given access to 1,000's of resources to help complete our objectives.
If you are interested, please FReepmail dware with your email address and FR screenname, or email your info to warehouse@gvii.net
Thanks for your time and help in this important matter. It seems a monumental task, but if history serves us here at FR, it CAN be done.
Subj: Money Buys Favor
Thank you BuzzFlash for providing a forum for people who understand that our (American) lives are no more important than the lives of others throughout the world.
It is so sad that the Bush administration had to bribe world leaders in order to have "allies" for its terrorist attack on the Iraqi people.
It is sickening that our corporate-supported media spends time talking about securing the Iraqi oilfields, but spends no time talking about the loss of Iraqi lives.
I pray for President Bush. As a Christian I pray that our President will read scriptures in the New Testament and choose to follow the path of Jesus rather than the trail of oil-soaked money. Please pray with me. The prayer of an innocent person can help a lot.
It is a sad fact that there are about 80 million people in our country that call themselves Christians. Unfortunately, our President seems to represent most of them because most Christians (99.99%?) don't want to follow Christ, they just want an insurance policy. Most of these Christians also call themselves conservatives though some call themselves liberals.
Now is the time to challenge the faith of President Bush and his followers. Any Christian who supports the military invasion of Iraq is a false prophet and their faith is weak, not strong.
I pray that God will have mercy on each and every one of us.
RRR
Subj: PBS Frontline
Buzz,
Just to inform you that Frontline was BLACKED OUT in San Diego. I got home from work, turned on PBS and saw a blank screen. I knew immediately what was taking place. Called PBS to complain and their mailbox was full. This is clearly more censorship in what used to be a free country. I am not shocked any longer. This unelected Bush cartel (and their rich contributors) will STOP AT NOTHING to lie and deceive the country. Unfortunately, most people are too stupid to pay attention as they are busy watching Millionaire, Survivor garbage and all that horse crap.
Keep up the great work,
Ken in San Diego
Subj: re-kpfk radio
Hi,
I just want to write to ask if any of your reporters or contributors have heard what radio station KPFK is reporting, I just caught a brief bit of a woman saying that gulf war veterans had gone to her to let her know that they ( american troops ) were the ones who started the kuwait oil wells on fire. she said to go to web site gulfwarvets.com to read more about it. I did but couldn't find it. has anyone there heard of this . she said it was important that the word get out about this. sounds important to me. I looked on your site but haven't found an article on it. just wondering .
thanks
nancy
f.
Subj: The Blair Switch Project
Hi Buzz
I agree with the Counter Spin column you printed. Bush/Rove needs Blair now but would not allow him to continue to cast a shadow on the Imperial Bush image. That is why Lott was so quickly dispatched, not for waxing nostalgic about the confederate but rather for trying to be a rival image. Bush must be propped up at all times. Nothing that could test his 'divine supremacy' will be allowed--nations and men included.
But where is the NRA in all this? Did the NRA not let us know that the right to bear arms is not only stated in the Bill of Rights but is also essential to prevent a tyrannical government from taking over? Does Heston's NRA really believe that this bunch will shred the constitution and allow citizens to retain arms?
Hello NRA! The chickenhawks will never allow an aroused citizenry keep their guns.
Hug your guns and kiss 'em goodbye.
Best
Cole...
Subj: Frontline
Dear Buzz -
Just finished watching Frontline: "The War Behind Closed Doors," and I wanted to share a few quick first impressions.
Bush is treated throughout as a thoughtful, honorable, articulate and serious leader. There were, among the talking heads, no nay-sayers: nobody had a critical word for Bush, or anybody on his staff. Nobody questioned the intentions or goals of any administration figure. There wasn't a moment of skepticism by anybody about anything. Everyone in the Administration was presumed to have honorable intentions - however much they differed on means or ends.
Bush is portrayed on the morning of 9/11 as champing at the bit to get back to Washington and speak to the nation on television. Cut to presidential helicopters arriving at the White House. No mention of Dubya's jetting around the country, trying to stay out of harm's way. No mention of the White House lie about a rumored attack on Air Force One. This little misrepresentation seemed to me emblematic of the cosmetic improvements made to the Bush administration by the filmmakers throughout this hour of Frontline.
We had beauty shots of Washington. We had bloodless fireworks over Baghdad. Sanctions were mentioned, but the catastrophic price being paid by the Iraqi people was not. It was all autumn colors and soft-focus photography. America's motives are presumed to be pure: we're just trying to spread freedom and democracy throughout the world. Trying to make dictators and tyrants shape up or move out. You'd never know that freedom and democracy are under assault by the Bush administration at home. You'd never know there's a peace movement out there. And nobody, anywhere, ever mentioned the word "oil."
The Bush administration seems to me capable of selling their war without the help of PBS. If this is the best Frontline can do, maybe it's time to retire the series and give Bill Moyers a second night.
Sincerely,
Fred Golan
Dear BuzzFlash,
I watched the Phil Donahue show tonight...it was enlightening, but so many idiots on it was disheartening at the same time. Jerry Falwell is a pseudo man of God who would follow George Bush into anything he wants, just because he is a republican. There were some dissenters, but as usual with the people who are making the most sense, they do not talk very much. The republicans have a way of drowning out all the people who are trying to make sense.
It is so amazing to me that people out here in American, who are for the war, incessantly bring up the 911 attacks asking "Do we want another 911"? Are we all idiots, do we think that Saddam and Osama are one and the same? The answer is yes! These people who follow this president have been so brainwashed that they think Hussein and Bin Ladin are one and the same. It kills me to hear them equate 911 with Hussein.
And, of course, they call anyone who disagrees with Bush, unpatriotic! It is so Infuriating! Of course, I have watched many of the same people screaming the same garbage when Clinton was president...only the opposite.
On the bright side, even though, I am not registered on the link, I see the Rob Reiner has come out and endorsed Howard Dean....Gee, I thought I was the only one who backed this man...others are taking notice Mr. Dean...and we still have a lot of time to go!
With all due respect, I think all of us were so cowed at the time of the attacks, that we were all afraid to say anything against Bush for fear of being unpatriotic. And, of course, sadly that was the plan!
Thanks for the information..........always.....Shirley, St. Louis
Subj: The Great Nation Builder
Bush the candidate....
Candidate Bush was adamant on one point that he made in rally after rally: "I'm worried about the fact I'm running against a man who uses 'military' and 'nation-building' in the same breath." (St. Charles, Mo., November 2, 2000)
"I worry a lot about running against an opponent who uses the words 'U.S. military' and 'nation-building' in the same breath." (Tampa, Fla., November 5, 2000)
-- Candidate George W. Bush in the second presidential debate, Oct.11, 2000
"Q: There's been-some people are now suggesting that if you don't want to use the military to maintain the peace, to do the civil thing, is it time to consider a civil force of some kind, that comes in after the military, that builds nations or all of that? Is that-is that on your radar screen?
"A: Well-I don't think so. I think what we need to do is convince people who live in the lands they live in to build the nations. Maybe I'm missing something here. I mean, we're going to have kind of a nation-building corps from America? Absolutely not."
Bush the President....
Full U.S. Control Planned for Iraq; American Would Oversee Rebuilding
Washington Post
Friday, February 21, 2003; Page A01The Bush administration plans to take complete, unilateral control of a post-Saddam Hussein Iraq, with an interim administration headed by a yet-to-be named American civilian who would direct the reconstruction of the country and the creation of a "representative" Iraqi government, according to a now-finalized blueprint described by U.S. officials and other sources.
Gen. Tommy Franks, the head of the U.S. Central Command, is to maintain military control as long as U.S. troops are there. Once security was established and weapons of mass destruction were located and disabled, a U.S. administrator would run the civilian government and direct reconstruction and humanitarian aid.
Dear BuzzFlash,
On McNeil-Lehrer last evening (2/20/03), I distinctly heard Rumsfeld say that "the problem with Turkey is that they have (or are) a democracy". And I thought, "yeah, and we aren't a democracy and that's our problem."
Keep up the good work, BuzzFlash.
Margaret
Subj: HOW MANY CHICKENHAWKS DOES IT TAKE TO DEFEND U.S.? No one knows...
...it's never been tried.
RE: "...George Will...[himself a consummate indeed half-peacocked New World Pecking Order Chickenhawk]...saw fit to include in his latest Newsweek column this joke: "How many Frenchmen does it take to defend Paris? No one knows, it's never been tried."
--Molly Ivins
ARTIST GENERAL'S WARNING: when Principle follows Money into Power, the soul of true leadership is lost absolutely.
"The administration gave me their word..."
BILL MOYERS: If you can't trust them, why can we?
SENATOR JOHN MCCAIN: I don't...I can't answer that, except to say that in 20 years around this town never...I've never had people break their word to me in this fashion."
http://www.pbs.org/now/transcript/transcript_mccain.html
RIGHT WING RED INC RISING / AMERICA FALLING
PROFIT DEPATRIATED
The HarkenHaliRon Martial Planners
IT IS EASIER FOR AN ARMORED DIVISION TO PASS THROUGH AN OFFSHORE LOOPHOLE than to convince the world that this war is waged without prompting from aggressively insidious corporate interests...
"At a time of war, at what point does subverting our national security in the name of profitability turn from ugly business into high treason?"
--Arianna Huffington:
The Bottom Line On Iraq: It's The Bottom Line.
The dots leading from Wall Street to the West Wing situation room are the ones that need connecting...
No one in the administration embodies this bottom line mentality more than Dick Cheney...
...Cheney's company chose to do business with Saddam after the rape of Kuwait. After Scuds had been fired at Tel Aviv and Riyadh. After American soldiers had been sent home from Desert Storm in body bags...
Clearly, our national interest runs a distant second when pitted against the rapacious desires of special interests and the politicians they buy with massive campaign contributions...
http://ariannaonline.com/columns/files/021903.html
T H E B U S H L Y L E G R O U P
Why on earth would anyone assume, FROM THESE OF ALL PEOPLE! that personal profit isn't hidden in the public equation of Martial Planning?
T R U E or F A L S E:
"The nation has learned over the years that it cannot entrust federal power and tax dollars to officials who can profit even indirectly from business ties while serving in the government."
--NY Times (ed. 12/3/02)
PLAN: TAP IRAQ'S OIL
U.S. considers seizing revenues to pay for occupation, source says --Knut Royce Newsday / January 10, 2003
WASHINGTON..."there are strong advocates inside the administration, including in the White House, for appropriating the oil funds as "spoils of war..."
http://www.nationinstitute.org/tomdispatch/index.mhtml?emx=x&pid=285
RECUSE ME?! DON'T BE... SILLY!
And, Just for the Record?...don't even ASK!
"I'm the commander see?...I don't feel I owe anybody an explanation..."
PATRIOTS FOR A FAIR CONTRACT WITH AMERICA
AGENDA: NEW BOUNDARIES FOR SERVICE TO SELF-INTEREST FROM THE POWERS THAT BE
SUNDAY SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE / Rob Morse 11/3/02
""Patriots for a Fair Contract with America" ...asks members of the Bush administration to agree that they won't profit from any military ventures for a period of five years after leaving office. Masley thinks that's the least we can expect of a group he calls "the Martial Planners.""
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2002/11/03/MN19057.DTL
THE LYIN KING:
Hear him Roar? in a Pig's eye!
BUSHQUAX@DUCKYLUCK.Desertion.Chennanigans.MediaTaleTuck
Subj: UN Inspectors say US WMD etc. tips are "garbage"
Dear BuzzFlash,
And still Bush, Rumsfeld, Powell, Cheney Inc. have no shame in continuing to propagandize for war. They even dare to claim that Iraqis will welcome US "liberators" with open arms, after no-one-knows-how-many other Iraqis have been murdered by US "shock and awe" tactics.
Decent people appear to have no power to affect this cabal. And where are any decent Democratic members of Congress? Are they all Gephardts, Liebermans, Daschles, Zell Millers? Why is there no motion of impeachment signed by all the Democrats in the House? Even if it were to prove futile, at least we could have a real, aboveboard, public debate on the issues of unilateralism, of withdrawal from international treaties, of negation of the Bill of Rights, of past and present criminal conduct (both determined by a court of law and as-yet-to-be determined) by officials of the Bush admin, and even of the 2000 coup d'etat.
Elaine
From CBS News
Inspectors Call U.S. Tips 'Garbage'Feb. 20, 2003
(CBS) While diplomatic maneuvering continues over Turkish bases and a new United Nations resolution, inside Iraq, U.N. arms inspectors are privately complaining about the quality of U.S. intelligence and accusing the United States of sending them on wild-goose chases.
CBS News Correspondent Mark Phillips reports the U.N. has been taking a precise inventory of Iraq's al-Samoud 2 missile arsenal, determining how many there are and where they are.
Discovering that the al-Samoud 2 has been flying too far in tests has been one of the inspectors' major successes. But the missile has only been exceeding its 93-mile limit by about 15 miles and that, the Iraqis say, is because it isn't yet loaded down with its guidance system. The al-Samoud 2 is not the 800-mile-plus range missile that Secretary of State Colin Powell insists Iraq is developing.
Subj: Sen. Hatch's remarks remind us all of the lengths to which the Radical Right will go to silence debate
Dear BuzzFlash,
"People For The American Way" have a campaign going to flood Senator Hatch with emails, calls, and fax messages, to oppose his use of the Senate floor to denigrate those Americans who voice any opinions contrary his and those of the right wing. The campaign is at this site: http://capwiz.com/pfaw/issues/alert/?alertid=1474626.
The following is a copy of the email I sent via this campaign:
Thank you for using People For the American Way Mail System
Message sent to the following recipients:
Senator Hatch
Message text follows:
February 20, 2003
[recipient address was inserted here]
[recipient name was inserted here],
Dear Senator Hatch, I believe that individuals who point fingers and claim that those who exercise their freedoms of choice and speech as 'un-American' are truly the ones who are not only 'un-American', but also extremely dangerous to all that America stands for. I believe that individuals with your mind set and that of Attorney General Ashcroft are on a course to deprive the American population of the basic freedoms and rights as set forth in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. You do not speak for me or anyone that I know, when you espouse your point of view that citizens who use their right to dissent and disagree are un-American or unpatriotic, no sir, if anything they are the individuals who are the most American as they are willing to be brave enough to stand up to the so called 'powers that be', much as our forefathers did.
Respectfully, in opposition to you,
Mrs. Marcia Booker
Subj: Bush must worship the AntiChrist
Dear Buzz,
According to Bush, his favorite philosopher is "Jesus Christ" and he is very sanctimonious about his piety. However, read the New Testament: every policy of the Bush regime is the opposite of what Jesus Christ preached. Does that mean that the "Jesus Christ" worshipped by Bush is actually the "Antichrist"?
Joann Olbrich
Dear BuzzFlash,
The hypocrites are at it again. Now they've eviscerated the new organic labeling laws -- 12 years in the making -- with one line in the spending bill. All because some Georgia republicans need to pay back a chicken processor who never wanted the definition in the first place.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2003/02/14/MN190565.DTL -- or just search yahoo or google news for "organic chicken".
r
Subj: News from Seymour Hersh on NOW with Bill Moyers
U.S. ALLOWED EVACUATION OF THOUSANDS OF AL QAEDA CORNERED BY U.S. TROOPS IN EARLY STAGES OF WAR IN AFGHANISTAN
New York, February 21, 2003 - On Friday's NOW with Bill Moyers, Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist Seymour Hersh reveals the stunning story of how during the war in Afghanistan, the American government authorized the evacuation to Pakistan of thousands of enemy troops trapped by U.S. forces - troops the Americans had surrounded, and were ready to kill. The problem, according to Hersh, was that the enemy units included not only Taliban and Al Qaeda members, but also some senior Pakistani military officers. Upon request from U.S. ally and Pakistani leader Pervez Musharraf, the U.S. government ordered its forces to create a safe corridor for the November 2001 evacuation. In a series of nighttime flights, Pakistan evacuated its personnel - but they weren't the only ones who got out.
"The initial plan was to take out the Pakistani military. What happened is that they took out Al Qaeda with them. And we had no way of stopping it," Hersh, who currently writes for The New Yorker tells NOW's Jane Wallace. "I also learned that maybe even some of Bin Laden's immediate family were flown out on those evacuations."
It was one year ago on February 21, that U.S. diplomats in Karachi received a videotape showing Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl dead. In NOW's interview, Hersh also contends that Musharraf deceived U.S. officials during a visit to Washington by claiming he knew that Pearl was alive.
" [Musharraf] was here about a week or so before it became known that Pearl was dead," Hersh says. "He was telling us that...he was sure [Pearl] was still alive. He knew Pearl was dead."
The complete NOW with Bill Moyers interview with Seymour Hersh airs Friday at 9 p.m. on PBS (check local listings).
Diane Domondon
NOW
with Bill Moyers
