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Subj: Bush Doesn't Read Newspapers?

Dear BuzzFlash,

I just read your link to the story about Bush not reading papers; instead, he relies on his aides to spoon-feed him about what's happening in the world. I think this is because he CAN'T read. My mother and I can remember back years ago when his mother Barbara Bush publicly stated that her son George had difficulty reading and that's why she supported literacy programs (or something to that effect). If George W. Bush has educational learning problems, maybe even being dyslexic, I think this would greatly impact his ability to gather information and ultimately make informed decisions. In other words, he's not smart enough to be president. I wish someone at your website would check on this, because this small ancient tidbit that we remember has stuck in my mind and makes me believe that a whole group of greedy, selfish, neo-conservative jerks have used someone "not so bright" to make very bad decisions for this country.

A BuzzFlash Reader

Subj: Dubya Flexes His Muscles! Hoo-Hah, Baby!

Now tale of the reported White House irritation with "leaks" has ITSELF been leaked, as witness the follow paragraph (forget O Henry---you couldn't INVENT irony this rich):

From Knight-Ridder (emphasis mine):

Bush told his senior aides on Tuesday that he "didn't want to see any stories" quoting unnamed administration officials in the media anymore, and if he did, there would be consequences, a senior administration official who asked that his name not be used told Knight Ridder.

So now they're leaking the story that he doesn't want any more leaks! Oh, I LOVE it!

Joanne G Murphy
Skokie, IL

Out of Palace Court Stenographers Indeed!

Hello BuzzFlashers,

Beth Hunter's editorial hits the nail right on the head. The vast majority of Americans do get their news from stenographers. Therein lies one of the biggest challenges we face today. A lack of information which has lead to an uninformed population who, as a consequence, are uneducated about what's going on in their own country and the world. I started seeking news outside the mainstream pretty much when GWB was sElected president. After the Supreme Court appointment, followed by complete silence from the media and opposition party, I realized that there's a whole story out there that's not being told, and maybe never will be told. And a while after 9/11, that feeling was totally cemented. I'm particularly struck by Beth's description of the way we all continue with our lives - go to work, cook, TV, and all the rest because lately, I've developed a malady and seem to really have to force myself to keep doing these things. Hell, I can barely pay attention to the Yankee-Red Sox playoffs so I know something's really wrong. It could be that it's sinking in deeper and deeper that our democracy does not run on autopilot, just as Beth notes. But at one time, I think we all thought it did. I think that's what we thought democracy was - a secure way of life. I also very much relate to that now false notion that all of the battles were behind us, but now I realize who were we to think that?

It doesn't take that much digging to get the real news. Most people's excuse is that there's no time. But then how do WE find the time? I'm pretty sure you BuzzFlashers have busy lives, so I no longer accept that as an excuse. I'm one of the lucky ones with a full-time job, yet still can read through BuzzFlash and pump out about 20 emails, letters, or phone calls a day to vent about whatever injustice happens to be bothering me on that particular day. I know of so many, like you BuzzFlashers, who work tirelessly and yet I'm sure you have other things to do, too. I think it's more likely that people just don't have the interest. But here's another reason for their lack of knowledge that disturbs me the most. I work among seemingly intelligent and educated people, but when I try to share news from BuzzFlash or other informative sites, they almost wave me away, as if to say "if it's not in the New York Times or Washington Post, then it's probably just left wing fringe news." And while I find people coming to me in shock over things they are reading now in the NYT or WP, I explain to them that I read this stuff a year ago on BuzzFlash. Yet still they think it's not real news until it's coming out of Tom Brokaw's mouth or on the front page of the WP. I have been trying to wake people up as I know all of you have, and it's not as easy as it sounds. And because it is so difficult, we have fallen down that hole that Beth speaks of. How do you stop people from watching Fox News, or listening to Rush, among the other toxic fools that try to pass their bile off as news? Those are very powerful forces to fight because people who listen to that garbage are "true believers". Of course there are those who are uninformed through no real fault of their own, and will listen to reason. But there are not enough of them. But we've got to keep trying.

Thanks for listening.

Barbara in NYC

Subj: The Bush Stump Speech

I watched another Bush campaign speech in Calleefornia with Arnold today. It followed the usual formula. We are winning the war, the economy is improving, we are moving forward. The usual cheer leaders were in the crowd, screaming approval with every pause. I hope and pray for survival in Nov. 2004.

Harold Martin

Subj: Bush and Arnold

So Bush says that he has a lot in common with Arnold. Does this mean Bush is going to get off of the morally righteous kick, or what?

mev

Subj: O'Reilly's Current Spins

O'REILLY's current spin is that the personal destruction going on right now (18 new books "attacking (Shrub)" and the LA Times reportage of Ahhhnuld's gropings) is just too extreme and hateful to be tolerated, and that he himself is the prime target of the "Far Left", which, going by his wingnut rantings, means anything DemocratIC.

When callers or viewers have dared to challenge him by bringing up how CLINTON was---and is----savaged for years, his spin is that the LA Times articles on Ahhhnuld are how the Far Left got even for CLINTON. Yeah, right, like the two years of FAKE impeachment trauma, besides 6 or more years of "investigation" are equal to a few newspaper stories on Ahhhnuld, who, by the way, has now dismissed any remaining questions with, "Old news."

But, as hard as it is to believe, there is MORE spin from O'REILLY, on the subject of LIMBAUGH's possession of ILLEGAL (not "prescribed") drugs, he says that LIMBAUGH will not, and should not go to jail "because he's not a danger to anybody but Liberals". Tell that to any minority member who went to jail for far less than what LIMBAUGH has been in possession of. Tell that to Tommy CHONG.

Yes, O'REILLY is an "Independent", all right.

John Garza

Subj: Wash Post is Censoring Boondocks this Week

washingtonpost.com: Hmm. I went to find a link and found this message online where the comic would normally be:

"The Washington Post has decided not to publish this week's Boondocks strip. The comic will return to washingtonpost.com Oct. 19."

But here it is on Yahoo.

Gene Weingarten: Oboy. I hate this. Yes, we've decided not to run Boondocks this week because the story line seems to be an ad-feminem attack on Condi Rice. (Liz, please link to today's strip, which clears up the confusion.)

This one is interesting, and I have not asked our comics people why they dumped it. On one hand, I'm tempted to say that if we let Johnny Hart blather and drool and fulminate all over the page, we might as well let anyone else say whatever the heck they want.

But that's a copout. I am not in the office, so I have not seen where McGruder is taking this storyline, but based on today's offering alone, I don't think I would have cut it. It's very strong and opinionated and quite mean, and it presumes something I don't know (that because Condi Rice is unmarried she does not have a man she loves) but it seems like reasonable and defensible political commentary. And Lord knows, I'd like to encourage McGruder to get back his edge.

I wonder if The Post would have been quite as prim had the subject of this strip been a single man and not a single woman.

A BuzzFlash Reader

Subj: A BIG Thumbs up for Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell

Did anybody catch Hardball on Wed. Oct 5th?

Chris Matthews was discussing the Iraqi "problem" with Sen. Mitch McConnell and another Senator. (My spelling could be off a little bit on Mitch's last name.)

Mitch, (who looks like death warmed over since I saw him last month on another show) was doing his best to tow the line on those Republican talking points for the whole Iraqi fiasco.

Mitch talked about, "how great everything is in Iraq", "because [he] was just there" and, "[he] saw it personally".

I did not want to hear the same (lame) Republican talking points all over again and I was just about to go raid the fridge when Mitch said something to the effect of how happy the people of Iraq are that the U.S. troops were there. Then he almost killed me with laughter as he said, "...people were smiling, waving, and they were GIVING ME THE THUMBS UP..."!

Apparently, Mitch is so totally unaware of Mideast culture that he did not even grasp that when someone in the Middle East EITHER hits something with their shoe (or gives you the thumbs up sign), that is the American equivalent of being mooned and being "flipped the bird" (a middle-finger salute)!

Whew, I am glad I was not actually eating yet because I would have gagged on that one like Bush on a pretzel.

SOMEBODY in the State Department PLEASE send this supposedly "informed" U.S. Senator one of your, "World customs for dummies" handbooks before he goes back and starts putting his arm around a woman in a hijab for a nice photo-op or he starts lifting up their veils to talk, "face to face" about their issues!

What a CLASSIC Republican mind.
(Sharp as a sponge.)
(Nyuk, nyuk.)

Sincerely,

Dean A. Doepke
Wautoma, Wisconsin

Subj: Another Idiot Stumps for Votes

Dear BuzzFlash,

I can not believe the Bush Administration has let another idiot out to stump for votes...

Lt. General William "Jerry" Boykin, general leading the hunt for Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein, has repeatedly told Christian groups and prayer meetings that President George W. Bush was chosen by God to lead the global fight against Satan.

[LINK]

No you idiot, it was the United States Supreme Court that chose President Bush!

...and whatever happen to the American military concept of political neutrality which in the past it considered itself banned from by constitutional interpretation and convention, and by the American officer's own conception of his duty and role? What the hell are they teaching at West Point?

BuzzFlash Reader,

Amanda

Subj: Hero's Wife Loses Benefits

Aloha BuzzFlash

I thought you might check out this story I saw on Honolulu TV last night.

This guy pulled a diplomat out of the middle "target" vehicle and replaced him with himself, and then died because he was willing to put himself in harm's way. Result? Wife undergoing cancer treatment loses all medical benefits.

Check it out.

http://www.khnl.com/Global/story.asp?S=1482935.

I'm going to khnl website and forward the article to you.

I wish I were rich so I could could help finance your incredibly important work. All true patriots thank you.

Aloha

Kit Ebersbach
Honolulu, Hawaii

Subj: TX Emergency Rooms

As of November 1, 2003, Texas emergency rooms will no longer be required to treat sick children or adults if they have no money or insurance, except in cases of imminent death, and they cannot be sued if this policy results in death. On the night of 10/15 - 10/16 the Clear Lake Regional Hospital turned away a woman with a baby running a 103.4 degree temperature and referred them to us, a 501 c3 non-profit medical/dental clinic which is struggling to stay in operation. We learned today that the Texas Department of Health would not fund us again this year ( they never have) even though we are the only 501 c3 non profit medical/dental clinic in operation among a population of over 200,000 people in a Federally designated medically underserved region. This region is medically underserved because the people cannot afford medical care.

A BuzzFlash Reader

Houston Area

Subj: Banned Boondocks!

OMG. The Post are such dweebs. Those Condi Rice strips have been hilarious!

(sigh) On an even sorrier topic, I guess both the curse of the goat and the curse of the bambino still hold.

~~robyn su

Subj: Posts for 10/17

One of the links ("Bush is Going Way off the Deep End. . .") tells me to read the entire article. I was almost unable to do so because of the third 'graph, which reads:

"Bush told his senior aides Tuesday that he "didn't want to see any stories" quoting unnamed administration officials in the media anymore, and that if he did, there would be consequences, said a senior administration official who asked that his name not be used."

(Emphasis added.)

Are parody sites really necessary? Seems like the Administration does a fair job of parodying itself.

Regards,

C S Lamont

Subj: Rush is a Jackass

One of Rush's most valuable attributes, which becomes undeniable through the current revelations, is that Rush is the greatest liar in modern times. He has been a dope addict for at least 4 years, probably more, and dope addicts lie every day. They lie to and mislead their spouses, friends, and business associates. For Rush, that included 20 million Americans who were led to believe he was, among other things, not a junkie. And if he would lie about that, what else would he lie about? I'd like to know if his daily rants were conducted through a drug induced stuper. It makes sense now that he would cling to the monologue format, void of debate, unchallenged and without the need for factual support. The ramblings of a mad man. The guy is a fake, a fraud and a criminal and conservatives are stupid to make excuses for him. And if they think he is going to return from recovery all healed in a month to assume bizzness as usual, they're smoking dope.

Tom Funk
BuzzFlash reader

Re: Friedman

Today for me, marked a day in journalism history. In his NYTimes editorial today 16-Oct-03, Thomas Friedman said to Vice President Dick Cheney, " if you are going to give a major speech on Iraq to an audience limited to your own supporters and not allow any questions, that's not news-- that's an advertisement, and you should buy an ad on the Op-ED page."

I waited all day to see whether BuzzFlash would post his editorial, and was so heartened that it was posted under the caption "has he(Thomas Friedman) finally seen the light?"

Kudo's to you BuzzFlash. I am gratified that your editorial heart is big enough to have recognized an angry mea culpa on Mr. Friedman's part when you see it. Give him praise, yet space. He may yet still revert to his comfort with this administration and that it is cool to: hate the French, invade other countries on hearsay, and be a total, rage-inducing nincompoop talk show guest in general. In the past, I must admit, it has given me joy, but the small mean kind, to have criticized Mr. Friedman's opinions.

Today, all that has changed. I am going against caution and want to offer Mr. Friedman some heartfelt appreciation (even though I may yet get burned), and tell him "brother, I don't know what you been smoking, or doing, but UUU BEE DUH MAN. GET ME SOME OF THAT STUFF, whatever it is. Pass it around, man. You been to, you know, sensitivity training? You crack me up! Telling Dick Cheney, "Get an add on the OP-ED page," because he wants no questions asked. You are too much. Give me more of your stuff. Man, it be about time already.

Yes, brother, you have seen the light. PRAISE THE LORD!

A BuzzFlash Reader

Subj: FOXNews.com - Politics - FBI Raids Philadelphia Offices of Mayor Streets' Assoc

Will the Justice Department bug Karl Rove's office? Is the offense that the FBI is investigating in the Philadelphia Mayor's office as serious as the intentional exposure of an undercover CIA agent? They'll bug a mayor's office but they won't come clean on 9-11. The commission can't even get its document request answered, let alone any cooperative criminal investigation into the Saudi role in 9-11. Could it be that this stunt in Philadelphia is part of a politically motivated effort to influence the next mayoral election? Could it be that the lack of anything similar in the ROVE INVESTIGATION or the 9-11 INVESTIGATION signifies a similarly politically motivated effort to influence the next presidential election? HMMMMMM. There is something really wrong with the administration of justice in our country when extremist zealots can enact their own prejudiced agenda for crime and punishment. It's funny how SATAN isn't even mentioned in the criminal code. But Satan is as useful as terrorism in perpetuating the finer points of a "religious" bias that is a facade for simultaneously condoning and condemning old school political patronage. Since Satan and terrorism are concepts, they can be manipulated to justify any deranged policy whatsoever. I predict that the military will locate and kill or apprehend Saddam Hussein, with the Christian God's help of course, just prior to the 2004 presidential election, and that Bush's buddy, bin Laden, out of respect for his Saudi friends, including bin Laden's extended family, shall never be apprehended.

http://www.foxnews.com/printer_friendly_story/0,3566,100356,00.html

Chris McFarland

So Arnold says Bush is now an "ally" of California. Gee. I remember a day when a President was honor-bound to serve the interests of all the nation's states - blue or red.

I don't fault Californians who mistake the Bush Administration for a hostile foreign country, what I don't get is how Arnold could now think of Bush as an "ally", considering the record, and everything that Bush, Cheney, Enron, Reliant, Duke, et al have done to destroy California's economy.

For his part, Bush called Arnold a "fine, strong leader". Pardon me for asking, but what the f*** has Arnold led?

Rosamond d'Orlaque F.

[BuzzFlash Note: Perhaps he leads other actors in off-camera molestations. Just a guess.]

Subj: Fake Heroes, Real Heroes

Dear Buzz

Did you ever wonder why the same media that constructed the Jessica Lynch hoax wilfully ignores a real act of heroism and credits every two bit badmouthing source against an authentic hero? Here's a story not made by the Pentagon: [LINK]

"At the end of the first week we had a tragic accident on Mount Igman, near Sarajevo. [Three members of the team] were killed when the French armored personnel carrier in which they were riding broke through the shoulder of the road and tumbled several hundred meters down a steep hillside."

It is not until one reads Holbrooke's book, To End a War, that one finds out that after the APC went off the road, Clark grabbed a rope, anchored it to a tree stump, and rappelled down the mountainside after it, despite the gunfire that the explosion of the APC set off, despite the warnings that the mountainside was heavily mined, despite the rain and the mud, and despite Holbrooke yelling that he couldn't go. It is not until one brings the incident up to the general that one finds out that the burning APC had turned into a kiln, and that Clark stayed with it and aided in the extraction of the bodies;

--

http://www.mwo1.com/clarkbushjp.jpg

Leah

Subj: The Untouchables

Dear BuzzFlash,

Below is an excerpt from Paul Krugman's 10/17 New York Times article entitled, The Sweet Spot:

[George W. Bush is like a man who tells you that he's bought you a fancy new TV set for Christmas, but neglects to tell you that he charged it to your credit card, and that while he was at it he also used the card to buy some stuff for himself. Eventually, the bill will come due -- and it will be your problem, not his.]

When Bush was still governor and running for president, a News Reporter asked about the financial repercussions of a decision Bush had made that would negatively effect Texans well into the future. Bush's answer to the reporter? "By that time, I'll be long gone!" I'm sure he meant Untouchable.

~ Cathy

Subj: Suggestions

Dear BuzzFlash:

--Which is the more accurate term? The Iraq War or Bush's War.

--Here's what should be the Democratic mantra, repeated endlessly:

from the speech by Sen. Kennedy:

"All the administration's rationalizations as we prepared to go to war now stand revealed as double-talk. The American people were told Saddam Hussein was building nuclear weapons. He was not. We were told he had stockpiles of other weapons of mass destruction. He did not. We were told he was involved in 9/11. He was not. We were told Iraq was attracting terrorists from Al Qaeda. It was not. We were told our soldiers would be viewed as liberators. They are not. We were told Iraq could pay for its own reconstruction. It cannot. We were told the war would make America safer. It has not."

Jim P

Subj: Hmmm

So Rumsfeld is defending the right to freedom of speech for war generals, even if their speech undermines our overall security? [LINK]

I assume, then, there will be no reprimands for those brave soldiers in Iraq that were heavily critical of the administration and their frequent lies and inadequacies in the news media, right?

Marc L. Lippincott
Austin, TX

Subj: Citation for Cheney quote

Dear BuzzFlash:

I think you might like to post the following quote from Dick Cheney. The source is below, in case you want to check it.

"If we’d gone to Baghdad and got rid of Saddam Hussein –assuming we could have found him –we’d have had to put a lot of forces in and run him to ground some place. He would not have been easy to capture. Then you’ve got to put a new government in his place and then you’re faced with the question of what kind of government are you going to establish in Iraq? Is it going to be a Kurdish government or a Shia government or a Sunni government? How many forces are you going to have to leave there to keep it propped up, how many casualties are you going to take through the course of this operation?"

It's in Freedman and Karsh's "The Gulf Conflict 1990-1991," p. 413. The footnote attributes it to BBC Radio 4, "The Desert War - A Kind of Victory", 16 February 1992.

A BuzzFlash Reader

Subj: Great Newsday Column

Billmon (http://billmon.org/archives/000791.html) directs us to an excellent piece, "Bush & Co. Use the Orwell Sales Strategy" by Newsday columnist, former Bush I administration staffer, and former supporter of Bush II James P. Pinkerton. Mr. Pinkerton, once a Dubya supporter, has seen the light in a big way. He writes:

Bush insists that America is following a ‘clear strategy’in Iraq, but it’s about as clear as a kaleidoscope, as explanations and rationalizations rotate in an endless jumble.

And yet despite the best efforts of America’s would-be Ministry of Truthsters to bedazzle and bamboozle the American people, the plain light of reality seems to be shining through. According to a Gallup Poll released yesterday, a majority of Americans, for the first time, disapprove of the way Bush is handling Iraq.

Of course, the administration won't give up without a struggle - including its struggle against reality, which has an awkward way of bleeding into their happy talk. In the meantime, someone needs to write a sequel to 1984. It would be called 2003.

Check it out. As Billmon says, "It’s a withering, eloquent, take-no-prisoners attack on the administration and its mindless puppets in Congress." [LINK]

Btw, glad to see you haven't killed yourself in the wake of the latest epic Cubs choke. I'm starting to believe that goat shit. And now I see Boston is blowing a 3-run lead in the 8th inning . . .

Frederick Rhine
Chicago, IL

Subj: How Bush Co. will keep people enlisting in the military no matter how bad it gets in Iraq & Afghanistan

I just read this Salon article on how the military is utilizing hip hop culture to encourage African-American teens to enlist and was particularly struck by the following quote:

"What has hip-hop been used for? To market mainstream capitalist culture," says Werner. "The contradiction is that mainstream capitalist culture is what's keeping those kids who need the military as an escape poor. The capitalist system wants to create a desperate labor market. It wants to create a situation in which a whole lot of people with real talent are so damn desperate just to make a living that they're not going to think about the terms on which they're offered that living. You're signing up to perpetuate the same system that put you in the position where you had no alternative except to sign up."

I believe this is true not just for African-Americans but all Americans. I believe there is a method to the Republican's madness in trying to gut overtime pay laws, block an increase in minimum wage, totally get rid of minimum wage, lack of funding for No Child Left Behind, attacks on women's reproductive choice including methods of birth control. If they keep the poor poor and reduce the middle class by bad education and bad pay there will be no way out except the military. I also believe that in general they want us to be dumb, too dumb to realize we are being lied to and exploited, too dumb bother to vote or vote for pretty talking heads, too exhausted from working multiple jobs to really care who is president. As a good friend of mine once said to me they found out during the Vietnam war that educated people question and are willing to fight back for the truth.

The Article:

The Army be thuggin' it
The military is teaming up with hip-hop bible the Source to recruit black urban kids with pimped-out Hummers and off-da-hook merchandise.

http://www.salon.com/mwt/feature/2003/10/17/army/

Maya

Subj: U.S. Starts Iraq 'Good News' Offensive

To: Rep. George Nethercutt

Did you really say "U.S. press was missing the real story. - The story of what we've done in the postwar period is remarkable.. It is a better and more important story than losing a couple of soldiers every day."

Nethercutt, you are disgusting!! These are human lives you dismiss as 'unimportant.' Not to mention the thousands of innocent Iraqis who have been murdered as a result of this illegal and immoral war. Why don't you go over there as a soldier instead of the pampered tourist if you think "the loss of a couple soldiers every day" is insignificant. And take every member of your family along to fight.

I am sure that the families of those "couple of soldiers" killed "every day" would find a story of peace on earth "better and more important" than one about their loved one's death.

T Quigly

Dear BuzzFlash,

I would like to know. If we elect a democrat in 2004, could that President overturn all those executive orders by Bush to keep so much stuff hidden from us including the papers that were supposed to be released in 2000 from the Bush Sr. Years? Could we find out who is on that energy list? Could a Democrat President declassify all the embarrassing stuff they labeled classified even though it has nothing to do with national security? Gee if all that stuff could come out......2005 could be fun!

DA