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August 27, 2003 |
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Subj: The Bushies The Bushies just can’t quit. During the last senatorial campaign, they went to Georgia & used Ralph Reed to demonize a Vietnam hero congressman as unpatriotic, they went to Missouri & turned the full force of the presidency against the widow of a former congressman, they went to Louisiana& used Karen Hughes to accuse Mary Landrieu of being unpatriotic because she waited too long to vote for the Patriot act, now they have turned the full force of the Republican "reelect George" machinery (including Karen Hughes) to elect an inexperienced actor as governor of California.. When will it end?Harold Martin Subj: Columbia Report The report drew parallels between NASA management problems now and at the time of the 1986 Challenger disaster, which also killed seven astronauts. "By the eve of the Columbia accident, institutional practices that were in effect at the time of the Challenger accident -- such as inadequate concern over deviations from expected performance, a silent safety program, and schedule pressure -- had returned to NASA." Hmm...what does 1986 have in common with today? Republican cost cutting administrations, perhaps? Marc
L. Lippincott Subj: Where's the Program? Dear Buzz, Thanks for the autographed offering of Joe Conason's new book. As soon as I finish "War Is A Force That Gives Us Meaning" I'm going to dig right in.... What I'm writing about is something I don't read or hear of, and that is this: Not only did Iraq have NO weapons of mass destruction, there's NO evidence of any weapons of mass destruction PROGRAMS! I mean, Bush doesn't even mention "programs" anymore. Why isn't this being discussed on every news program in the world? Mike Kress Sent to: hardball@msnbc.com <hardball@msnbc.com>: Subj: Ann Coulter on Hardball Come on, Chris Matthews doesn't know how many times Ann Coulter has only been on Hardball? I find it incredulous that Chris claims he would be surprised if she was on once, when a Nexis search indicates more than a half-dozen visits. What's Chris trying to do, prevaricate, befuddle or become a revisionist? If he attempts to revise history, the Bush administration will be upset. Come on Matthews, can't stop yourself? Gotta make something up to stop Conason even though you know it can be easily checked? Do you think you're just dealing with Limbaugh dittoheads? You know, there's a large streak of McCarthy running up your back -- maybe that's why you're sweet on Ann? Mick Subj: Question from a Perplexed Reader Dear BuzzFlash, I'm perplexed by the news that more American soldiers have died in Iraq since the former governor of Texas declared an end to major combat operations than died when the war was in its full video-game glory. Since we're no longer engaged in major combat operations, we must be involved in minor combat operations. But how can more American soldiers die during minor operations than major ones? Aren't minor operations briefer and less riskier than major ones? How can a minor be bigger than a major? How can our mission be accomplished when it isn't? And just what the heck is our mission anyway? Just asking... Jon Krampner Subj: Jerry Falwell and the Ten Commandments "Tho' shalt not------------" I had to smile while I watched Crossfire last week when the lovely Janeane Garofalo (I would like to hear more of Janeane) was cohosting with regular Tucker Carlson. Yes, there was guest Rev. Falwell spouting his self-righteous monologue so no-one else could talk. I suggest that the good Reverend check out those Commandants before they are removed from the Atlanta courthouse. He needs a refresher course, and should pay particular attention to the Commandant that says "Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor." My mom and religious teachers impressed on me that this means not to tell and spread lies about our neighbors, meaning anyone..I am referring to the video "The Clinton Chronicles" the reverend published, back during the Clinton years and sold 150,000 copies profiting $200,000 accusing President Clinton of rape, murder, drug busting, etc. I often wonder how Rev. Falwell justifies this in his heart and mind while he preaches and says he lives by the Word of God. I'd like to hear someone call this to his attention sometime during one of his many appearances around town. But then again I guess LIES are the in thing -- gotta keep up with the trend setters. BuzzFlash, what a great site, A fan Subj: Googling Bush Works! Dear BuzzFlash, First thing this morning, I read Maureen Farrell's article on Google searching for George Bush. Then I saw Bush on TV, speaking to the VFW, talking about how much he's raised Veteran's spending. Then I did a search on "Bush and Veteran's Administration." This is the article that came up first: http://www.commondreams.org/views03/0328-11.htm Needless to say, the article explains exactly how veterans are being screwed by the Bush chicken hawks. Googling George works! Investigative journalism at its finest! RV Scheide Sent to: MSNBC <cable@msnbc.com>; Hardball <hardball@msnbc.com>; joe@msnbc.com <joe@msnbc.com>: Subj: Balanced I'm glad MSNBC gives us the "impartial" focus groups of Frank Luntz. With statements like: "His communications skills are that powerful," said GOP pollster Frank Luntz afterward. "Holy s--. This guy may be just the next Ronald Reagan." How could we ever doubt Luntz is FAIR & BALANCED -- just like Fox News. Why has MSNBC turned into nothing more than a GOP propaganda outlet? Its not that I don't enjoy the delusions of MSNBC's rightwingnut guests, who along with the odd Moonie-Washington Times hack thrown into the mix, are entertaining, but I would like to see some balance. Joe Scarborough's show is little more than a GOP infomercial with about the same level of honesty. Hardball isn't much better with the usual panel consisting of 2 conservatives and 1 liberal. Where's the balance? I guess with ex-NY post editor Nachman in charge its no wonder MSNBC is more like that Murdoch run propaganda rag. It seems that Joe with fellow Conservatives Armey, Noonan, Luntz are modern day Goebbels, Matthews is the Catholic who turns a blind eye to the Reich and MSNBC is GOPTV. thank you, stevie
gardiner Subj: It sickens me to see veterans of WWII clap for Bush Buzz, It sickens me to see veterans, most of whom seemed to be of WWII generation, clap for Bush. I can only guess they do not know Bush's military record or life history. These veterans are so blinded by unquestioned patriotism based on their life experience and beliefs, they cannot see George W. Bush for who he really is. And here they are clapping at the same time that George W. Bush supported reducing payments to military personnel serving in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere and to their dependents. My guess is that most of them do not know this. They clapped even though the promise of complete health care coverage is no longer kept. Karen/WI BuzzFlash,
There were no terrorists in Iraq before shock and awe. Most of them were from Saudi Arabia. It's sad to see the General hasn't figured that one out yet, though this soldier's question is a valid one: “Sir, who is attacking us?” The soldiers were told they'd be welcomed by Iraqis. However, they are being run out of town in various parts of the country, depending on the condition of the infrastructure and how many civilians we shot. I fear our soldiers are vulnerable to another Beruit-like attack. A BuzzFlash Reader Subj: Mass Graves in Iraq BuzzFlash, Bush and
his cronies keep referring to the discovery of mass graves found in
Iraq if though that proves why the invasion was necessary. Have they
ever figured out where are the grave sites of the many thousands of
Iraqi people that were killed as a result of all the bombs that were
dropped on this defenseless country? Just wondering!!
James Epperson Subj: Oliver North is Insane BuzzFlash, I've been watching Hannity and Colmes a lot recently (I'm a glutton for punishment), and tonight's show had perennial felon Oliver North as a guest. Of course, he was defending the Iraq war as part of the war on terrorism, and told Alan Colmes that it was worth it because we haven't been attacked since 9/11. Colmes responded that North was playing a shell game with the facts, and that the war actually increased terrorism. It hasn't rained here in months, and I drive a sedan. Obviously, my choice in automobiles affects the weather. That's Ollie's type of twisted logic. Vishal Subj: Just Wondering Dear BuzzFlash: What if: Back last fall, instead of focusing on WMD and terrorism, Mr. Bush had gone to the American people and said this: "I think we should go in and take out Saddam Hussein and liberate the Iraqi people from a brutal dictatorship, giving them a shot at freedom and democracy. I should also tell you that, at a minimum, it will cost nearly 300 American lives and at least 100 billion dollars we don't really have, and require the commitment of 150,000 or more troops for years. But I really think we should do this." I wonder what the polls would have told him. And, just for grins, what if he added "In the meantime, we will have to back-burner Afghanistan and the search for Osama Bin Laden, and let jobs and the economy slide, and in the end, I am pretty sure we will really piss off most of the Arabs and Muslims in the region." I wonder what the polls might have told him then. I can certainly guess. I suspect the American people would have said, "What, are you CRAZY???" Just speculation, of course. Mike Cromer Subject:
Candle Poll
Dear
BuzzFlash. I
wrote to you some months ago about why I could not remove the Christmas
candles from my home's windows. Those candles still burn every night
in hope that the troops will soon come home and that our nightmare
is soon brought to an end. I
have noticed in my travels up and down the east coast and in the three
neighboring states that I travel to frequently, that more and more
candles are burning in windows. The
thought occurred to me that we need to get everyone that wants this
madness to end, meaning the war and the tearing up of the Constitution,
to put candles in their windows. My thinking on this is that if the
people who take those so called pulse of the people polls and the people
who pay for them, suddenly saw home after home in community after community
in state after state with candles burning in their windows, they would
see the truth about how the majority feels in this country. They
could no longer hope that they could just keep showing us a poll taken
in a selected area at a selected time on a vague question and use it
to keep us from learning the truth and having hope. Imagine the impact
this would have as people drive down neighborhood streets and see this
display of lights of hope. I'm sure the media would not be able to
ignore the fact that the people are awakening and beginning to show
their unity in this way. Maybe,
just maybe, if we all get together and do this, we can bring this nightmare
to an end by showing those who seek this new world order, that we are
not fooled and that we ARE INDEED AWAKE! LIGHT
A CANDLE OF HOPE AND PLACE IT IN A WINDOW NOW AND KEEP HOPE ALIVE! Mike
Andrews Subj: Wesley
Clark vs. The White House BuzzFlash, Yesterday,
26 August, General Clark mentioned on Phoenix' KTAR radio (620 AM)
that unnamed White House officials (perhaps the same who "outed" Valerie
Plame?) attempted to get CNN to fire him during February, apparently
because he refused to back the official White House position on Iraq.
CNN didn't buckle to the pressure, amazingly enough, and the General
continued as a consultant until June, when he departed on his own terms
to explore the possibility of a presidential bid. It hardly
seems likely that the General would lie about this. He still maintains
that he hasn't even decided whether to run for the presidency, so there's
no political hay to be made from such an allegation (yet, at least). On the other
hand, the whole thing bears all the familiar characteristics of the
White House's "silence by intimidation" tactics, and certainly
deserves investigation. Just a word
to the wise at my favorite political website. I know you'll get to
the bottom of this. Regards, PJ Moulton Subj: Another
Antagonistic Bush Comment
Dear
BuzzFlash,
"Our
military is confronting terrorists in Iraq and Afghanistan and in
other places so our people will not have to confront terrorist violence
in New York or St. Louis or Los Angeles." What a
lunatic! Does this man honestly think that terrorists are not capable
of action on multiple fronts? They have a track record of demonstrating
their ability to attack on many fronts, in multiple countries, killing
multiple Americans, both here and abroad. Keep the
Bush quote in mind for the future. On the surface, Bush's comment at
the Veterans Conference sounds harmless. However, his statement is
just as volatile as "Bring 'em on." We know that macho-strutting
Bush comment resulted in increased assassinations of our military men
and women in Iraq and the bombing of the UN compound. Bush's latest
statement may very well incite another attack on US soil. And don't
forget, security experts say one certainty is that terrorists will
try again and that the US is almost as vulnerable to terrorist attacks
as it was before 9/11. ~ Cathy Subj: Spy
chief undermines key plank of case for war Snip... John Scarlett,
chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee, which was in charge
of compiling the Iraq weapons dossier, revealed that the alleged
threat related not to long-range missiles, which could hit the West,
but "battlefield mortar shells or small-calibre weaponry" that
did not threaten Britain or even Iraq's neighbours [LINK] End Snip... Chewgababy Subj: Voting
Machines Dear BuzzFlash: I can answer
Cathy's question regarding the voting machines, at least how we were
supposed to do it in Maryland. Each voting machine was supposed to
be hooked up to a battery pack, plus to a "master" voting
machine at each precinct. These were supposed to ensure no vote was
lost, even if there was a power outage. Trouble
is that many of the Election Judges hooked up too many machines to
one battery, in part because the manual and later written directions
gave different maximums. Or they didn't hook them up to the battery
at all. In our precinct
for the Primary last year, no cords were available to hook each machine
up to the "master" machine. As Chief Election Judge, I called
my significant other to bring us as many cords as he could find while
our assigned tech expert, who was honestly doing the best job he could,
tracked down our missing cords. He and I were told don't worry about
hooking up the voting machines as long as they were plugged in to the
battery. Where were our cords? Somewhere in the back of a Ryder truck
traveling around Maryland. My understanding
is the cyber "que" isn't really an issue as much as untrackable,
self-destructing programming code which will automatically change certain
votes and then disappear without a trace. This could be done by district,
random individual votes, individual machines, time of day (some types
of voters are more likely to vote at different times of day), etc.
This could be pre-programmed or by hacker attack, so Republicans should
not feel the technology is all on their side. The above
are just a few reasons I am actively working to support the Holt Bill,
David Dill's www.verifiedvoting.org,
and writing to everyone to get them to understand--IT DOESN'T MATTER
WHO THE DEMOCRATS RUN AS CANDIDATES IF THERE IS NO PAPER TRAIL. So, Cathy,
keep asking your questions. The answers are leading at least a few
states to postpone buying the new machines and/or institute paper trails. Pat *
* * Subj:
Voting Machines Dear
BuzzFlash, RE: Voting
machines Since
electronic voting machines are set up without paper trails, I ask
these questions again... What would
happen if a large section of the country had a power failure on an
election date? With no paper trails, how could voters be sure their
votes were counted? And wouldn't votes held in cyber que be easier
to manipulate? ~ Cathy Subj: Body
Counting BuzzFlash, I noted
with sadness this week's watershed moment in Iraq, when the number
of U.S. personnel killed exceeded the so-called "major combat" period.
What I'm wondering about is why, even though nearly every day we hear
reports of one or more dead Americans, we're never informed about the
numbers of Iraqis and others who are being killed? From the beginning
of this mess, the death toll of their soldiers and civilians has been
very fuzzy. I would like to see those deaths reported as a measure
of the mayhem we are visiting on that beleaguered country. At what
point will the toll of this war exceed the destruction that Saddam
himself was responsible for??? Is there
some parallel universe here in which one Iraqi life does NOT equal
one American life? A sad American, Becky Miller Subj: CNN's
Fuzzy Math On a CNN
segment today, a graphic showed the 138 pre-May 1st American casualties
and the 139 post-May 1st casualties, and added them together. The problem
was that they added up to 177 total deaths by their count. I am not
a mathematician, but their cumulative figure is off by ONE HUNDRED
SOLDIERS. Was this
bad math or another attempt to cover up Bush's mess? Vishal Subj: news
flash: Ambassador Wilson implicates Rove in outing of CIA agent About 3/4
of the way through the video found here: "I'd
like to see Karl Rove frogmarched out of the White House." http://www.house.gov/inslee/meetings.htm Cheers! Doug Subj: A
Buzz Reader Commentary: Steroid Nation BuzzFlash, Reading
all of the press about Arnold Schwarzenegger's steroid use really has
me wondering. A few weeks ago the articles about Bush's annual physical
exam reported that in the last year Dubya has put on about five pounds,
with no increased body fat. His spokespeople went out of their way
to point out the increase was all sheer muscle. And then when you read
about his near religious devotion to long and rigorous daily workouts
with a personal trainer -- and frequent workout partner Karl Rove,
who is presumably also trying to tighten up so he can look more combat
ready -- the dots all start to connect. Could Karl Rove be shooting
steroids up the Royal Bush Tush? And maybe getting a hit himself? And
Rummy is so out of control and filled with Global Road Rage. It wouldn't
surprise me in the least if he is also getting a pump in the imperial
gluteus maximus -- maybe with a Viagra booster. Let's face it...the
GOP could be turning America into a Steroid Nation. To kick off Ashcroft's
new anti-Narco Terrorism campaign, wouldn't it make sense to do comprehensive
drug testing of Bush and all the Neocons? Just Asking.... David, Los
Angeles Subj: BuzzFlash
Reader commentary about the NYTime's "liberal" slant Hey Buzz,
did you hear about yesterday's big Howard Dean rally in NYC? If yes,
you didn't read about it in the NYTimes (try the search). Here's a
letter I sent to the editor (which is guaranteed not to be published
-- you see, they only publish letters which "refer[s] to an article
that has appeared within the last seven days"). [LINK] *
* * To the
editor, Do you
have no coverage whatsoever of yesterday's Howard Dean rally? Did you
ever give that first Washington DC peace rally the coverage it really
deserved? Are you
still trying to pass The NYT as unbiased or have you joined Fox News? Did you
notice the news reports that the Guardian is considering publishing
in the US? I wonder why they think there is a market opportunity
here? Curious
to know why I cancelled my subscription (despite Paul Krugman's and
Floyd Norris' columns)? A BuzzFlash
Reader Subj: BuzzFlash.COM
MENTIONED IN 'ELY ECHO'(CLASSIFIEDS???!!!) & SP TIMES (OPINION) 12:26 pm
[LINK] From the
Ely Echo "Classifieds" page: ANNOUNCEMENTS DVD MOVIES
NOW AVAILABLE at Music Outfitters. Now renting DVD Player! New Hours:
Monday - Saturday, 10 a.m. - 8 p.m. SATURDAY
NIGHT AA: 8 p.m. Open/Non-smoking. Masonic Hall. 31 E. Chapman St.
6/18 RTC TAKE A
MOMENT TO LEARN the truth about America! www.BuzzFlash.com or www.democracynow.com
or FSTV 9415 satellite TV (Free Speech TV) EE 7/21-8/25 [LINK] SP Times
Opinion Page On Aug.
14, as reported on BuzzFlash.com and elsewhere, the president stated
that we have time to examine the grid and determine whether or not
it needs to be modernized. "I happen to think it does and have
said so all along."In June of 2001 Democratic Rep. Sam Farr
of California added an amendment to the appropriations bill to provide
$350-million worth of loans to energy companies to modernize the
nation's power grid. The White House lobbied against the amendment
and the GOP controlled House voted it down three separate times,
first in the Appropriations Committee then in the House Rules Committee
and finally on the floor of the house.As we all know, our president
wouldn't lie. He must have just forgotten. -- Neil
A. Hilmer, Weeki Wachee Thank You
One Million Times Over! Dear Buzzflash
-- I have been
meaning to write for a long, long time to say THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH
for your insightful and gloves-off COVERAGE of the crap that is REALLY
going on in this country. When you invoke the ire of the Weekly Standard,
you know you have arrived! As an American
and a PROUD LIBERAL, I am doubly proud of YOU GUYS for all you are
doing to keep people like me SANE. To my husband and I, the rape and
pillage of this great country by the right-wing scumbags like Bush,
Cheney, Rumsfeld etc is all too obvious, and it is appalling how the
mainstream media just look the other way. Add screeching, insane (but
perfectly blow-dried) harridans like Ann Coulter to the mix and you
are asking for a replay of Nazi Germany circa 1938. Concentration camps
for liberals? Hey, why not? I'm sure Annie-baby would be first in line
to put on her black SS leathers and apply 50,000 volts to the crotches
of those who disagree with her and the Imbecile-in-Chief. Keep up
the good work, the wonderful and courageous work, that you are doing.
I hope I can contribute soon, but it won't be this week because I already
gave the discretionary part of my paycheck to Howard Dean's campaign.
I am a devoted follower, and I say, GOD BLESS BUZZFLASH!!!! Regards, Linda Wiggin |
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