September 8, 2003

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Subj: Down with Lieberman

Dear BuzzFlash,

How dare Lieberman go on those debates and campaign for Bush. He lied and said "the Bush recession will be followed by a Dean depression". There he goes again bolstering Republicans. The sooner he is off the stage the better. Write to Joe and tell him to go ahead and switch parties since he really campaigns for Bush all the time and has since day one.

mv


i hear all these republicans saying the democrats running for president are making a big mistake by attacking such a popular president. helloooo, remember 2002? now the dems who represent us know we will not vote bush light!!! by the way, the day after clinton was impeached his job approval numbers were 20 points higher than bush's are now.

diane


Subj: Tom Delay "celebrates" 9-11

Today on the house floor Tom Delay in a Freudian slip talked about a 9-11 anniversary "celebration". He and other House members tried to cover the slip. But since Delay needed 9-11 to launch his ultra right agenda, the 2nd 9-11 anniversary is obviously a "Celebration" event in Toxic Tom's warped mind.

John, Bloomington IN


Dear BuzzFlash,

Thank you for all that you do in the interest of democracy and fairness. It's amazing that Bush's followers cannot see the truth about this incompetent human being. Their thinking mechanisms seem to have been disabled by their religious convictions...and they do believe that Bush is a messenger from God. They justify everything that has happened since he was handed the Presidency by the Supremes...from the fraudulent Florida voting results (that was God's way of confusing the average "Joe-Blow", so that "His" will could be done), to the current state of the economy and the wars in which we are engaging. These "Archie Bunker" types justify everything that is done in the name of the Bush Administration with quotes from the Bible. Surely, the God that I know and love, does not expect any of us to blindly accept dictums passed along by human beings whose only interest is power and control over the entire world. I have a friend who is a "born-again" and as soon as Arnie announced his candidacy for Governor, he said "he's my man", without knowing a thing about where Arnie stands on the issues...but he is backed up by the "born-again Republican community"...and that's enough for him. His position is typical of the average Republican fanatic. They are American terrorists. They are like Al Quaida and Taliban...they do not think, they just do what they are told without questioning. And they expect the rest of America to blindly accept whatever the Bush Cartel is doing...to not accept this administration's actions, is anti-American according to them. Fundamentalism, fanaticism in any form, is terrorism. This appears to be a part of the "dumbing-down of America". Federal support of the Arts has been virtually annihilated...teaching in our schools to a test, is another aspect of disabling a healthy, well-functioning mind. Teachers in California have not time to indulge the questions and personal pursuit of education by young minds...they have to stick to the "standards" as they are called in California. I have worked in the classrooms as a performing artist and find that the environment is heavy with a militaristic energy as the teachers stroll through the classrooms making sure everyone is sitting quietly and not talking out of turn. This, from second graders? The control of America by the Bush cartel has gone too far. We must DO something about this and not be afraid to speak out.

Jody Holly, Redlands, CA


Subj: California Debate

BuzzFlash,

About the ridiculous idea of letting the candidates get the questions ahead of time, I have a more efficient idea--why even bother to ask the questions during the debate, just let them answer! This appalling idea only goes to benefit the only person who didn't show up at the unscripted debate and got egged instead! Make no mistake, Ahhnold and Bush are cut from the same cloth!

Adela Hall


Subj: Bugsy DeLay?

Dear BuzzFlash,

Browsing the net I saw this question: Does the Elite Force Bush doll wet?

Also, just saw DeLay. How's this nickname: Bugsy DeLay? A bunch of bugs must have crawled into his ear and brain when he was an exterminator, and made him crazy, like Bugsy Siegal, the Capone-era thug. Sort of fits, doesn't it?

Jim P


Subj: Zinni, the Powell-Pentagon fiat that we go to the UN - is there a military coup brewing?

Dear Buzzers,

Zinni's speech today, combined with the Washington Post story of Wednesday about how Powell and the Pentagon had presented Bush with the demand he go back to the UN, has started me wondering just how deep the military discontent goes. And how might it get channeled? It all starts to look more and more like the spectacle of first century Rome. First we had Caesar, now do we have a rebellious Praetorian Guard?

Here's that Zinni story, by the way. It's worth posting again, this time as a top story!

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines03/0905-01.htm

John Woods
San Diego


Subj: The Clintons

Dear Sir or Madam,

I am from Germany and I don't respond to an article of yours. But perhaps you can answer a basic question. Why do the Americans, at least a significant proportion of them, hate the Clintons? As Europeans we could understand if Pres. Clinton was disliked because of the Lewinsky Affair and other Affairs when he was governor. But there is no reason to hate him, because he didn't hurt anybody. This is extremely valid for Mrs. Clinton. US-Conservative websites follow her up with real hate implying she is a kind of witch.

Thanks,

Dietrich Woltmann
(Federal Republic of Germany)


Subj: Hutton inquiry's transatlantic echoes

Buzz,

The Hutton inquiry has caught the attention of the US media but parallels between the plight of Tony Blair and George W. Bush have yet to be drawn.

The similarities, however, are striking. The prime minister is defending his use of intelligence on Iraqi weapons to justify going to war and the president has come under fire for the erroneous assertion that Saddam Hussein had been trying to acquire uranium from Niger.

[LINK]

A BuzzFlash Reader


Subj: What comes around, goes around

BuzzFlash,

As soon as Bush commandeered the presidency, he thumbed his nose at the rest of the world.

I need not bore you with the miles of links of what he did. The mailbaggers are well aware because they read and keep up on what Bush has done thanks to BuzzFlash. It is quite simple to figure out a simple man. Bush put on a huge campaign to preemptively invade Iraq. He nearly had to be hog-tied to take the campaign to the UN. Once the UN took a look at Bush's provocation for invading Iraq, a majority said whoa, give inspections a chance to work. They were not convinced. Many countries in the UN were leery of Bush's intentions and they were 100% right.

Then foreign countries stuck to their convictions and in his greed, Bush forged ahead without them. Now Bush is standing in quicksand. Everything needed for another term is in shambles. And he does not have the armed forces or $$$ to see Iraq through. Flag-waving Americans are finally beginning to ask questions that go unanswered. Welcome to the club, Flag wavers! Like the quickness of a laser gun, Bush is zapping government programs without your knowledge to help pay for HIS venture. He has made everything good about this country a thing of the past.

Now the nose-thumber is trying to raise a sense of "world patriotism" from the same countries that were thoroughly nose-thumbed. Bush thinks he's dealing with people as dumb as Americans. He thinks that he can manipulate the UN as easily as does the American media. Essentially, the s.o.b. is thumbing his nose at the UN once again and they know it. He has made a big mess of Iraq and is campaigning for the UN to clean it up! The audacity of this monster! Don't look now Bush, but those UN countries know you better than you know yourself. You are not dealing with and deceiving Americans now. The countries that count have their thumbs positioned at the tips of their noses. They are waving their fingers at you. They are giving you a dose of your own medicine and who can blame them?

~ Cathy


Subj: Rush on ESPN

I, for one, am happy to have Rush talk about football. At least when he misleads people in that arena to think that his team will win, people don't die or get maimed for life. I, for one, hope Mr. Windbaugh takes the gig full time and leaves that hate radio show behind.

Marc L. Lippincott
Austin, TX


Subj: Linda

Dear BuzzFlash,

I read with interest, and had read it before, about the phoney buglers at funerals for the war dead. When my brother died in Viet Nam, 1968, he was buried in the small town that we lived in as kids. It was the most beautiful thing ever...in our grief we did not ever notice at the time...but the Bugler at the time had gone down into a glade at the edge of the cemetary...and the sound was almost haunting.

I remember so much now...that I think I didn't even want to remember back then. It is horrific, when we cannot even afford real buglers anymore for our war dead... so much has changed....it is too bad!

Shirley.............St.Louis


Subj: Inside Scoop Technique

BuzzFlash,

Eric Harrington in the September 5 th Mailbag is on to an important issue. The allegations against Wen Ho Lee were first made on right-wing talk radio. I had a conservation with a true believer at the time who saw me reading an article in the Baltimore Sun paper. He asked me what I thought. I said, based on what I was reading there is little evidence to support the acquisition. Then he lambasted me for reading a left wing rag of a newspaper and proudly proclaimed how he had known about this months before and it proved Clinton was an ass. The fact that he had heard it first, convinced him it was correct. The fact that several years later Lee was exonerated will have no effect because in that time he will have heard so many other "inside scoops". I am convinced that this a well thought propaganda technique that needs to be exposed.

It is not necessary to give hours of public airtime to Adolph Hitler protege's to have a democracy. Quite the contrary. We are in extremely dangerous territory when so many madman can spout their lies with no accountability.

Larry,
Maryland


Subj: Lie Detector

Hey Buzz:

I think your lie detector for President Bush is a good idea.

Remember that now they have those lie detectors that simply go by the tone of one's voice. It's a voice-based lie detector. So get one of those for his speech on Sunday night, and watch the needle dance and jiggle.

On the other hand, Bush could be such a sociopath that he is able to fool the machine, and maybe even himself. But it is worth a try.

Steve


Subj: Bush popularity down - here come the terror alerts

Buzz,

Well, well, Bush doesn't know what to do about the fact that there are just as many people out of work now as during the Great Depression, or the fact that he has lost control of Iraq, so here come the terror alerts, which he isn't doing anything about since he abandoned the hunt for bin laden long ago.

mev


Subj: Blueprint is Coming True

BuzzFlash,

http://politics.guardian.co.uk/iraq/comment/0,12956,1036687,00.html

As mentioned in your link, many of the recommendations of PNAC blueprint are coming true. Two of the scariest are now fact. Every Republican I talked to a year ago thought it preposterous, left wing propaganda to say the administration planned to develop new nuclear and biological weapons. But, there is no doubt anymore:

http://www.commondreams.org/views03/0709-06.htm

http://www.thebulletin.org/issues/2003/so03/so03kelley.html

Why aren't these Republicans upset?

Larry,
Maryland


Subj: Jobless rate drops? Sounds like Enron accounting to me

Dear BuzzFlash,

Let me see if I've got this straight:

The Labor Department reported Friday that the economy shed another 93,000 jobs in August, yet the unemployment rate dropped from 6.2 to 6.1 percent.

How can this be? Well, the devil is in the details, of course, and the answer is revealed well inside of Saturday's New York Times story reporting the statistics --

"The Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics determines the unemployment rate through a monthly survey of 60,000 households. If respondents say they were unemployed in the week before the survey, they are asked if they are actively looking for work.

"Only those actively searching for a job are counted as unemployed. Those who say they would like a job but are too discouraged by the difficulties of finding one to search actively are no longer counted as either employed or unemployed."

"No longer counted" since when? And why? Are people out of work but not seeking a job (no doubt discouraged because the jobs just aren't out there) any less unemployed than jobless people who keep trying? Why are the former "no longer counted" in the unemployment statistics? What's the distinction?

This sounds like Enron-style accounting, with losses kept "off the books" to mask the true picture. Or like an administration spending $1 billion a week just for military costs in Iraq (not to mention the billions more needed for Iraq's reconstruction) with money not even counted in the federal budget.

Though I don't support Sen. Joseph Lieberman's presidential candidacy (agreeing with characterizations of him as "Bush Lite"), he was dead-on with this assessment of the latest unemployment numbers:

"At this rate, there will be only one job left to cut by November 2004: George Bush's," Lieberman said.

A BUZZFLASH READER


Subj: voter fraud to favor GOP

Dear BuzzFlash,

I read many articles of how the GOP plans to defraud voters even more than they did in 2000. The only question is how do we prevent it?

Any ideas?

Mari


Subj: Having Bush instead of Gore in the White House has cost Americans approximately $39,233 each...so far!

BuzzFlash,

Oh God, I hate math. But let's give it a try. Here's a thought-problem for you: Suppose Al Gore was in the White House now instead of George Bush? How much money would America have saved in the last three years? And how much money has Bush cost us so far?

Let's start with the Afghan war. How much did that cost? "$50 billion."

The war on Iraq? "Hard to say. $100 billion?"

Jobs lost? "2.5 million jobs times approximately $30,000 per job equals what?"

Gifts to friendly weapons manufacturers and oil execs? "Put down $10 billion although it's probably more."

The Israel/Palestine foreign policy debacle costing the lives of 700+ Jews and 3000+ Muslims? "$20 billion and counting."

If Al Gore had been in the White House in 2001, he would not have ignored the many pre-9-11 warnings. How much did 9-11 cost us? "No idea."

Cost at the gas pump? "50 cents per gallon. 25 gallons per car. 100 million cars." I'm out of my league here.

Tax benefits to the rich? "$50 billion?"

I don't know what other costs Bush has accrued. Utilities deregulation pyramid schemes leading to the California disaster and the Great Blackout of 2003? FBI surveillance of our libraries? Anthrax vaccines? Pension plan gouging? Selling off our national parks? Vote tampering? Extra jails? What's all that add up to? I'm not Einstein. You do the math. $980,750,000,000? Close enough.

Now divide that by 250 million Americans. What did you get? I figure that not having Al Gore in the White House has cost every man, woman and child in America at least $39,233...so far.

That seemed like a lot of bucks to plug into a "what if" alternative universe situation so I ran my figures past noted economist Robert Zimmerman. Here's what he had to say: "Remember that there will be interest on current and projected deficits, over $1 trillion over the next 20 years. The costs of new terrorist attacks emanating from the new hatreds resulting from Bush's action -- incalculable. Continuing and future costs of the Bush military build-up -- trillions. Plus you have to add in reduced contributions to our economy from small business as a result of Bush's focus on giant corporations and also our reduced opportunities for legitimate foreign trade resulting from hatreds fueled by Bush military adventurism. Your list, this list, and the entire list are absolutely mind-boggling."

Regards,

Jane Stillwater, Berkeley, CA


Subj: Cheney's Halliburton payoff

I am puzzled why people keep mentioning the million dollars a year that Cheney still gets from Halliburton. Around 2000, ABCNews reported that " Halliburton said its board had approved Cheney retaining options allowing him to buy 1.16 million shares of Halliburton at prices ranging from $21 to $54 per share."

Currently these options are "under water" = worthless.

If Cheney maneuvers Halliburton stock price back to $55, his payoff would be more like $10 million per year.

-- Clark Brooks


Subj: CNBC Bush Interview

Did BuzzFlash or anyone see that interview with Bush on CNBC? It was another bait& switch where the admin decided to do an interview on Friday night when people aren't watching!!!!

This guy does not know what the hell he talking about.

Julie


Subj: rating Yahoo news articles

Dear BuzzFlash,

Yahoo News http://news.yahoo.com/

Each article comes with the option to rate the article as highly recommended or not. Usually there are only about 300 people who rate the stories. I'd like to suggest BuzzFlash readers take a couple of minutes each day to highly rate the "liberal" stories. I've noticed that the higher rated stories appear closer to the top of the various categories & I know there are way more than 300 BuzzFlash readers!

Perhaps in this small way we can be heard.

Linda


Subj: Showtime's 'DC 9/11' Is A Shameless Bush Booster

All I can say is thank you!

Having Bush say:

"People can't have an AWOL president!" is hilarious. Did Chetwynd realize that the "People" do have an AWOL President? One who skipped a whole year of his military service and got away with it?

Great article!

Robert E. Reynolds, Orange Park Fl

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A33336-2003Sep5.html


Sent to: Gov. Dean <info@DeanForAmerica.com>; Richard Gephardt <gephardt@mail.house.gov>; John Kerry <info@JohnKerry.com>

Subj: Is Governor Dean the only one with any courage?

How about a campaign to thank Governor Dean for having the courage to speak out about the Republican attacks on our democracy?

How about letting the other candidates know that unless they show some courage we won't be supporting them.

Is Gov. Dean the only one that realizes what is at stake in this election?

bob reynolds, orange park fl

* * *

"I believe the right wing of the Republican Party is deliberately undermining the democratic underpinnings of this country," Dean told a news conference.

"I believe they do not care what Americans think and they do not accept the legitimacy of our elections and have now, for the fourth time in the fourth state, attempted to do what they can to remove democracy from America."

[LINK]


Subj: Bush BIPOLAR?

Dear BuzzFlash,

It was with great interest that I read the posting questioning if in fact Bush was bipolar. I myself am bipolar and during the campaign I saw many things that caused me to question if he were bipolar or at least manic. I was in fact convinced enough that I attempted to contact the reporter from The New York Times that covered the Bush campaign (in hindsight, perhaps I should have considered another publication).

Besides what your reader pointed out, his sudden decision relatively late in life to stop drinking. Alcohol and bipolar or mania do not mix well and alcohol mixes even less well with most of the common drugs for treating bipolar disorder or mania. There also is his tendency to mix two words together -- the disease or the drugs will often cause you to be unable to pronounce the word you are looking for. Even more frustrating is that fact that a bipolar or manic patient will often loose their thought mid-conversation. Bush is painted as someone who delegates - this could very well be cover for a manic's inability to deal with detail.

These are just a couple of more items from the perspective of a patient. I agree with the previous writer's conclusion that this makes him virtually incapable of holding such an office. To do so, if he is either bipolar or manic, his medication must have reached a point of having completely stabilized him even under extreme pressure and I believe this impossible to accomplish at today's level of understanding of either of those diseases.

Debbie Marcia
Woodstock, GA


Subj: Ashcroft in Norfolk

This was announced to the public at the last minute....I am amazed and happy that this newspaper even mentioned the protests.....I was there.....we had protesters all the way around the block and the reaction to us by people driving and walking by, as far as my experience, was completely positive....(in a navy town!)

Ashcroft visits Norfolk to tout Patriot Act [LINK]

Connie


Subj: US Senate Race 2004

I may be going out on a limb, but...very interesting that senator Graham's seat is up for grabs, but K Harris had interest until not being killed in a not air crash, then not interested. Now congressman Foley is dropping out of the race for personal reasons. Almost like saving a last minute bid by Jeb, just until he can deliver FL again to W as gov then quit gov to go senate. Win-win, w is pres, Jeb is repub senator, keeping harris and foley repub seats and Graham out of work, as well as republican lame duck gov. Crazy, no?

a BuzzFlash reader from palm beach county


Subj: Powell confirms Bin Laden airlift from America

BuzzFlash,

Did you guys see Meet The Press? Powell confirmed the secret Saudi airlift from America after 9/11, but said he had nothing to do with it. Other people were in charge of it. Damn. I thought they'd been denying that? I wonder if the 9/11 families know?

John Westermann, author of Exit Wounds, High Crimes, The Honor Farm, Sweet Deal, Ladies Of The Night, teaches at Stony Brook University. http://www.johnwestermann.com


Subj: PS: The rather obvious timing of today's big story

One more thing: Isn't it ironic, as Morisette would say, that this video just happened to be "found" and released on the morning of George W. Bush's critical presidential address?

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/09/07/nyregion/07TAPE.html

I find the timing terribly interesting. Got to get people worked up again, get them all so emotional that they'll submit to his version of reality this evening.

T.


Click here: Ex-Envoy Criticizes Bush's Postwar Policy (washingtonpost.com)

This story is on page 14.

"The great thing about The New York Times and The Washington Post is that you never know where you'll find a front page story."

I.Z. Stone


Subj: Economics 101

Dear BuzzFlash,

I'm an average person with no college degree making a simple observation.

1. We all know that Reagan's trickle down theory didn't work, so why are we trying it again?

2. I think the reason it doesn't work is obvious. If you give lot's of money to the ultra rich who already have more than they know what to do with during poor economic times, they're going to hold onto it because of their paranoid desire to protect what they see as "you can never have enough". Also, there's no demand created for them to hire because the poor don't have any money to spend.

Conversely, if you give the money directly to the poor, well guess what? They don't have a choice, they have to spend it because they are simply trying to survive! Therefore creating demand, therefore causing the rich to hire people to meet that demand.

It just seems so damned obvious to me.

Not to mention, the rich are simply giving the looted rebates back to Shrub's election campaign. It's obscene! It's economic violence!

Recall Bush!

Sincerely,

A BuzzFlash Reader


Subj: Slogan for Dems this Campaign

BuzzFlash,

I just finished reading Al Franken's new book and after reading about the accidental meeting between Al Franken and Barbara Bush on an airplane during her son's campaign, it occurred to me that there was a campaign slogan just waiting to be used by the Democrats in this coming Presidential election.

If I recall correctly, Al mentioned in his conversation with Barbara that he noticed her son, George, often laughed by moving his shoulders up and down while at the same time saying, "heh, heh, heh." He noted that it was something comedians might hit upon to characterize her son in the future. Well, taking offense Barbara retorted to Al, "I'm done with you," and dismissed Al with a wave of her hand.

Well, I suggest borrowing Barbara's words on campaign signs that tell her unelected son, President George W. Bush, that "Americans are done with him," and then have a hand waving in manner that indicates he is being dismissed. Wouldn't that be something to then have all these people in October carrying signs in Washington, D.C. with these waving hands on them that say, "We're done with you Bush, hasta la vista!" I borrowed that last part from Bush's favorite candidate for California governor of course. Just an idea.

Keep up the good work guys!

An avid reader,

Nancy Weant
Sedalia, MO


WHERE WAS BUSH WHILE JOHN KERRY WAS GETTING SHOT AT IN VIETNAM FIGHTING FOR HIS COUNTRY? OH THAAAAAT'S RIGHT, HE WAS AWOL. :):)

pass it along to all you know.

A BuzzFlash Reader


Subj: "DC 9/11"

Dear Buzz,

What sort of Rank Propaganda is this -- it shows they have no shame at all. After seeing clips of the upcoming show all I wanted to do was find the Barf Bag. Personally, I believe that Bush and his Cartel have a Hate for this country that will not stop. Destruction is all we have seen from the Great Uniter and his henchmen. I see that they are just now getting around to mentioning the Saudis that were given unfettered passage out of the country when everyone else was grounded, but none of the politicians asking why this was allowed and by whom. So many questions and so many people hiding their heads in the sand. Personally, I have the flag flying upside down in the back window of my car and a big picture of Bush with the wording "Bush Lies Cost Lives," since I have put it there, about 6 months I notice most of the static I get is from SUV owners. Keep up the good work, you are not alone.

Robert D.
Daily American

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