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October 16, 2003 |
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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 400. 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.
Subj: See the TX Redistricting Map Go to this url: Click on the bottom link (HB 3 as enacted etc). You'll get a good map of the new TX redistricting to post. Margie Subj: I'M SO GOD DAMNED MAD!!!! OH MY GOD! DID YOU SEE SIXTY MIN 2 ? HOLY SHIT! IF THIS WERE THE CLINTON PEOPLE THE WHOLE GOD DAMN BUNCH WOULD BE REMOVED FROM OFFICE! I HAVE NEVER SEEN ANYTHING LIKE THIS IN MY LIFE! THESE THUGS SAY WHATEVER THEY WANT! ONE LIE AFTER THE OTHER AND PEOPLE ARE SCARED TO DEATH TO CALL THEM WHAT THEY ARE, LIARS! THIS IS WORSE THAN WATERGATE COULD EVER BE! HOW MANY PEOPLE HAVE DIED FOR THIS WAR? JESUS GOD! I AM SO PISSED OFF I CAN'T STAND IT!!! THESE BUSH PEOPLE ARE THUGS!!!!those very brave people on 60 min better be careful now! these bush people do not like anyone to disagree with them. DIANE ANDERSON Subj: Putting Party Before Country I sent this to my Republicon senators. It will be ignored as have the previous dozen or so... Michael J. Fowler ----- Original Message ----- From: "Congress.org" <cs@capitoladvantage.com> Thank you for using Congress.org Mail System Message sent to the following recipients: Senator
McCain Message text follows: Michael
J Fowler October 15, 2003 [recipient address was inserted here] [recipient name was inserted here], If I had cancer, and used marijuana, I could go to federal prison and have all of my possessions confiscated under federal law. If I were President Clinton, and made whoopie with a consenting intern, I would be impeached for high crimes and misdemeanors. BUT---- If I were a right-wing talk show host and abused prescription narcotics, the government would rush to my aid with tender understanding. If I were President Bush, and one of my senior aides committed the treasonous act of exposing an American undercover operative, putting her and her contacts in mortal jeopardy, and possibly ruining that agent's career, it's immediately forgotten by my government, and consigned to the back pages of the mainstream media if mentioned at all. That pretty much sums it up. Would you mind, as my supposed representative, explaining why this is? I feel that I and my fellow citizens deserve an explanation. Sincerely, Michael J. Fowler, Firefighter/Paramedic (retired) Subj: 'late night' bias for sale to best bedroom bid Duh......is it a surprise who owns NBC ......and who wants the huge contracts from the pentagon,...... and who enjoys the corporate welfare and tax cuts,..... and who enjoys a lax media control agenda, ....and pays Jay Leno???? GEE? NO, G E A BuzzFlash Reader * * *
Subj: CA Press Release 10/12 Just thought you might be interested... Here in California, Governor Gray Davis has been busy signing bills, making appointments, and issuing press releases (much to the dismay of the incoming governor-elect who asked that Governor Davis not act on anything). On October 12, 2003, Governor Davis issued a separate press release on a noteworthy topic; legislation was signed that provides greater protections for women in sexual harassment cases occurring in the workplace. [LINK] Sends a strong message to the incoming administration; hopefully Arnold and his transition staff will all receive copies. Sincerely, A BuzzFlash Reader in Sacramento, California Subj: Half a Nation of Dim Wits Dear BuzzFlash, I have come to the conclusion that we are indeed a nation of dim wits. At least one half must be. I am referring to the fact that looking back at the 2000 elections, and the recent gubernatorial elections in CA, the voters seemed badly misinformed and totally ignorant when it comes to choosing their leaders. It amazes me that despite admitting to the allegations of groping, inexperience, and yet to be defined policies, the people of CA blindly cast their vote for the Gropernator. As for that squatter in the white house, we (the other intelligent half) knew just what a disaster he would be, and look at the state of our nation now, we are in a terrible mess made by this miserable failure. We saw this coming didn't we? Perhaps the dim wits have been watching Faux news for too long!!! They continue to swallow the garbage fed to them. A BuzzFlash Reader Subj: 2004 Campaign Beware Voters: Pat Buchanan was on tv the other night arguing with a women from a gay and lesbian organization about legalizing same sex marriages. He said that this will be a big issue in the 04 elections. I think that they will use this issue as a smokescreen to sway mainstream voters to their party while dancing around the most pressing issues of this country. Thanks Dave from Mn. In re your caption Stop Sniping at Each Other Boys! Hey, Dean and Kerry, Keep Your Fire Aimed at Bush. 10/15, I would ask that you consider applauding the fact that Democrats can have honest disagreements among themselves without faking a lock-step, uniform facade. Democracy is messy and contentious but compare that with the overkill of the Bush Campaign engineering remote attacks on John McCain, with its attendant false rumors and disgusting personal attacks on McCain's character. Primary races are family fights, and not fun, and they make me impatient, too. But when Democratic primary candidates challenge one another's records, that's legitimate. It's not sniping and it's not bickering. Sincerely, Rosamond Subj: Subject: Aura-rat-o-cat That regurgitated photo of "Saint George the Draggin' Nay-sayer" was in circulation some time last year. After seeing a few different versions in our local paper no less than 4 times, I finally (as did others) had to write in and say enough was enough. They had it twice in the front section, and once each in the lifestyle section and the business section of all places. They desisted from using it after it was soundly ridiculed. I can't recall exactly when it was, but it was around the same time that a Sunday BC strip was promoting the rudderless wonder as our Captain, thanking God for sending Bush our way to guide our sinking ship. Another pathetic attempt to make a silk purse out of a sows rear. Now, if the cherubic chicken hawk could actually slay one of those nasty dragons (osama, saddam, omar, anthraxer, treasonous dirty trickster, etc.) then maybe some saintly consideration might be appropriate. Maybe Saint Patty might be a more accurate reference. After all, at his feet he has a nest of snakes willing to follow him anywhere while spreading their venom and hissing their hate to all who disagree. Yt Cai Subj: Why Do They Vote Republican? Dear BuzzFlash, Grocery clerks in Southern California are on strike to maintain their medical benefits. The Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority mechanics are also on strike over medical benefits. The Los Angeles Times exit polls last week indicated that 48% of voters in union households voted FOR the recall and 42% of voters in union households voted for Ah-nold. Go figure. A BuzzFlash Reader in Santa Monica Subj: Transcript of Greg Thielman on 60 Minutes Hi BuzzFlash, Can you post the transcript of the 60 Minutes interview with Thielman? This unbelievable interview was a damning indictment against Bush and his administration. Who can question that Bush started a war based on a calculated series of lies? I hope this story can be replayed for the many millions of Americans who did not see it tonight. Our new hero is Greg Thielman. Thanks for alerting us to this story. Judy Munro-Leighton Subj: Still wondering where WMD's are buried? It's official that no WMD have been uncovered in Iraq and, as the Bush Administration goes into its usual soft shoe shuffle to distract the wayward attention of the US public, the opportunity arises for the mainstream media to stand up at last and speak the truth - as Helen Thomas has aptly put it - about the worst President in US history. It's time at last to pinpoint all the false statements and unproven allegations that led up to this most cynical, useless, arrogant, mindless, and perilous war in memory. As a small example, let us recall that Mr Bush insisted on the following two mutually contradictory statements: a) the UN inspectors have been in Iraq long enough and have had ample time to find Saddam's WMD; since they have failed, we must go in ourselves and do the job; and b) Saddam Hussein has refused to allow the UN inspectors into Iraq in the first place; therefore under UN resolutions we have the right and duty to invade and force him to comply. And here is the result of our invasion: with no regime left in Iraq to put obstacles in its way, the US inspection team has been less successful than the former UNSCOM teams in finding the weapons. That Mr Bush has been allowed to get away with his bald-faced prevarications for so long is a powerful indictment of the US media which gives the lie to its self-styled status as the world's "free" press and the 4th estate of the US Constitution. Rather, it is another "interest group" not much different than Energy or Timber which has allowed itself to be used for its own corporate interests. Is it too much of a conspiracy theory to suggest that there is something buried in the desert of Big Media's own board rooms nearly as lethal to the Republic as Iraq's alleged WMD? Frank Ventrola Subj: Halo Shot. Not the First Time. Dear BuzzFlash, Thank you for bringing that barfworthy "Bush as Christ" photo to our attention. (LINK) This isn't the first time such photos have graced the media, but they are certainly getting better at it. Here's one from the campaign trail in February, 2000: [LINK] And another from November 11, 2002: [LINK] And then there were the more down-to-earth Mt. Rushmore shots: [LINK] And of course we all remember the heroic photo of our commander in chief standing on the deck of that aircraft carrier in his shiny flight suit, crotch stuffed with rolled up socks.
Just out of curiosity I did a Google image search on "Clinton." There are a few formal portraits, a lot of unflattering news shots, and even more caricatures. You just don't seem to see unflattering Bush photos any more.
Jim Caddell Subj: Letter to the Florida State Attorney Inspired by a comment and an address provided at http://www.atrios.blogspot.com, I wrote the following letter to Barry Krischer, the State Attorney for Florida. Please post this to inspire your readers. While I personally hate our country's draconian drug and forfeiture laws, they ARE the law of the land and should apply to EVERYONE. If enough people write, we may get Rush's property confiscated and see his big ass thrown in the slammer. Brendan Skwire ------------------------------------------------------ Barry E.
Krischer Main Telephone
Number: (561) 355-7100 Dear Mr. Krischer, As a Philadelphia resident, I know a lot about the tragedy of oxycontin trafficking and its effects on the community. Here in Philly, we lost many young people in our poorer neighborhoods when "hillbilly heroin" started making the rounds: we lost these people to overdoses and to the bullets that inevitably come with increased drug dealing. With that in mind, it is imperative that you prosecute Mr. Rush Limbaugh under the drug trafficking statutes, as you would any other citizen found in possession of a large amount of Oxycontin (oxycodone). If I'm not mistaken, the articles I have read in the NY Post, the Washington Post, and elsewhere describe crimes such as conspiring to deliver unprescribed narcotics across State lines. This is a Federal felony. According to MSNBC, he was sending his drugs across state lines via Federal Express. This is also a felony. Mr. Limbaugh seems to have criminally coerced his maid to acquire these drugs, by threatening to fire her. Such behavior cannot be allowed to stand. In addition, I strongly urge that you invoke our nation's forfeiture laws, which require no conviction: it is clear from the articles I have read that Mr. Limbaugh used his cars and home to illegally procure these controlled substances. I will be forwarding the email to others concerned about the moral decay of our country. As Mr. Limbaugh himself has said, "And so if people are violating the law by doing drugs, they ought to be accused and they ought to be convicted and they ought to be sent up." Indeed. Mr. Krischer, in America, there is no one more equal than anyone else. Mr. Limbaugh must be prosecuted to the full extent of the law: his celebrity is of no consequence. I look forward to your response on this matter, and will call early next week if I don't hear from your office. Brendan
Skwire Subj: Bush Photo Dear BuzzFlash, Did anyone see the magazine The Nation this week? The cover was of Bush with a looong Pinocchio nose. It was so great, I am sorry I didn't buy it. I will try to get it tomorrow if it still is on the stands. That should negate the Jesus photo's. Moneecat [BuzzFlash Note: You can see the cover at The Nation's web site.] Subj: Idea for an editorial To Whom it may concern; As a concerned citizen who enjoys your site, I thought you might enjoy this idea for an article. The story broke yesterday that Donald Rumsfeld plans to cut 100 military bases to streamline the military. However, republicans have been using the fact that Clinton closed several bases during his tenure as a rallying point to support their position that the former president was anti-military. Perhaps you could find quotes from Gingrich, Malkin, Will, or even members of this administration where they made that very argument and put it all into a comprehensive piece demonstrating their hypocrisy. It would be especially good if you could find quotes in that vein from Mr. Rumsfeld himself. Just a suggestion. Sincerely, J. David Core Subj: Nightline nails! Hi Mark, You should get a transcript on your site of Ted Koppel's Nightline show tonight. He "interviewed" White House "communications director", Dan Bartlett, and absolutely nailed him to the wall. It was a sight to behold. Ted basically said that if the White House would start telling the truth to the American people they wouldn't be upset about the press coverage of Iraq. Finally things may be turning around! Rob Subj: Is the World Better Off? Dear BuzzFlash: When it comes to issues of war and peace, there seems to be is a deeply ingrained consensus in America that "the ends justify the means." Perhaps it's the corrosive, realpolitik posturing of our media punditocracy that entices so many of us into thinking "rationally" about war, and setting our feelings aside. At any rate, the assumption that ends justify means shields us from taking a humane perspective on the costs of war, and prevents us from considering how much worse off we all are when the lives of real human beings are obliterated by the violence of armed conflict. Perhaps someday we will reexamine our belief that the ends justify the means, and begin to "feel" the issues of war and peace differently. But for the time being, the ends will continue to justify the means for most Americans, providing a thick layer of defense against certain truths that can only be perceived emotionally. For those folks we have no choice but to proceed rationally if we want to change minds--if not hearts. And that means that "benefits" must be measured against "costs." Over and over the Bush administration tells us, "the world is better off with Saddam Hussein out of power." Okay--let's concede that point. But has anyone asked if the world is better off by the "removal" of thousands of Iraqi's who have died as a result of this war? How have we been made better off by the termination of their lives, by their absence from this world? Try answering this question slowly--giving to each life the focused attention we give to Saddam's. Is the world better off without the American, British and coalition soldiers who have died in Iraq? Don't hasten to judgment, but consider: each life--gone. And what about the casualties--is the world better off with each one of those? One by one, consider how much better off we are with these wounds. Of course the answer is, we've not been made better off at all by these losses, but worse off. These are some of the costs of war (there are of course others...). Now, weigh these "costs" against the "benefits" of Saddam's removal. Real benefits, to be sure, but the question is, "how much benefit?" Up until recently, the Bush Administration account has prevailed in public discourse, and that account has sought to persuade us that the benefit has been immeasurable--that's where the mushroom clouds and similar threats have been so useful to their argument. And as long as such pre-war exaggerations of Saddam's belligerence continue to control our perceptions, many Americans will continue to swallow the line that the killing and violence in Iraq have made our world "better off." Only when those exaggerations are finally dispelled can we begin, as a country, to mourn what has in fact been the immense (I cringe even to say it) "net loss" that the world has suffered over these past months, and acknowledge our full complicity as American citizens in what has happened in Iraq. To that end, I call upon Congress to pursue a full inquiry into the Bush Administration's public campaign to go to war in Iraq. Only when the truth about Saddam's perceived threat to the world is unmasked for the distorted depiction is was will we begin to recognize the gravity of what these times have wrought, and begin the slow process of healing. And perhaps someday we will do a little more thinking with our hearts and feeling with our minds so that we can avoid such thoughtlessly cruel policies in the first place. Mark Sawyer Subj: In case anyone doubts it . . . http://www.snopes.com/politics/quotes/limbaugh.asp
A BuzzFlash Reader Sent to: bob graham <bob_graham@graham.senate.gov>; shelby <senator@shelby.senate.gov>; Rockefeller, Senator (Rockefeller) <Senator@rockefeller.senate.gov>; portergoss <Porter.Goss@mail.house.gov>; flatimesunion <tuletter@jacksonville.com>; sptimes <letters@sptimes.com>; tampa tribune <tribletters@tampatrib.com>; orlando sentinel <insight@orlandosentinel.com>; miamiherald <heralded@herald.com>; GainesvilleSun <voice@gvillesun.com>: Subj: The continuing mystery of Capt. Speicher As a Korean war vet I remember the stories of the marines bringing back the dead in the retreat from the Chosun Reservoir. I read about the Israelis refusing to make deals with Hezebollah unless a navigator or his body is returned. He was lost in 1986. Last night on CH 25, First Coast News they reported on a DOD meeting this weekend at the Marriott Hotel, Jacksonville, where they will update families on those missing from our other wars. FCN interviewed a family member of someone lost in NAM, someone apparently considered to be dead and proven so. But there was no mention of Capt. Speicher. Once again Capt. Speicher is disappearing. He is fading into the past. A war over with he seems no longer needed to justify it. Please do not abandon him again. If he did survive then he was abandoned in 1991 in order for there to be a neat wrap to Gulf War I. If he did not then he has perhaps been cynically used to help justify a war of aggression in 2003. We owe it to Capt. Speicher, as well as all the missing, to find out what happened. His story needs an ending. Robert E. Reynolds, Orange Park, Fl Subj: Ain't Happy!! The troops aren't happy ....and who can blame them? When the Commander-in-AWOL lies to them about their mission and tells the enemy that is shooting at them to "Bring Them On!...Hell! I would be damn mad, also. http://www.msnbc.com/news/980954.asp?0cv=CA01 Cary Subj: Valerie Plame Is it just me, or has anyone else noticed that the Valerie Plame outing has been swept under the rug? There has not been one mention of it in the last couple of days! The Bush propaganda team has done it's job well. Daniel Subj: Why haven't Osama Bin Laden & Saddam Hussein been found? Is the Bush regime protecting them? Do you think they'll be "found" right before the '04 election?... Would
the Bush regime actually stage a "capture" in order to win
an election and stay in power? Should this conspiracy theory be brought
to light now and discussed, just in case it's true? Jane Al Gore should look no further than BuzzFlash to find out how to format and present his anti-FoxNews liberal news network. BuzzFlash is fun-to-read, exciting, timely, but with a liberal bent--perfectly what we need on TV to offset Fox News. Vip Malixi Subj: Nikita Bush Dear
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