 |
|||||
|
November 6, 2003 |
|||||
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: Our Soldiers in Iraq Dear BuzzFlash, Am thinking the only way we will get out of Iraq is if the mothers and fathers of the children serving in the military start marching in front of the White House with photos of their sons and daughters - similar to what the Argentinean mothers did. They protested for years - gathering more and more mothers - and more and more media attention from around the world - until finally they caused a regime change. Sadly, that's what we need here. More and more attention to the killing of our youngest and brightest - the only one benefiting from this damn war is Halliburton and the like. Nate Roth Subj: Pro-Life President Bush says he wants to be known as the Pro-Life President. Actions speak louder than words. By their fruits ye shall know them. Allowing the oil and gas companies to pollute our water and land is not pro-life. Allowing playgrounds to be made from wood that contains arsenic is not pro-life. Defunding and underfunding schools is not pro-life. Dumping radioactive depleted uranium in the fishing grounds off the Washington coast is not pro-life. Exposing our troops to depleted uranium from the warheads of bombs is not pro-life. If fetuses in the womb get deformed from toxins in the water their mothers drink and bathe in, or from their father's radioactive bodies, and if the president and his personal friends are responsible, then what would you call that? A BuzzFlash Reader Subj: Where is Condi? How lucky for Condi Rice to take charge just before hell week. She has taken charge, hasn`t she? Just asking. Stephan Subj: Help me 'turn the screws' on CBS! Dear BuzzFlash, I'm a graduate student who studies media anthropology, and was shocked to hear that CBS had given in to the radical right's relentless pressure campaign by canceling their miniseries about the Reagans. As a media scholar, I am well aware of the right's efforts to deify Reagan as a man without faults, but I never thought they could bully the mainstream media into submission. Meanwhile, the Left sat back and watched; of course I sent my dutiful emails and even phoned CBS per MoveOn's mediawatch announcement, but it clearly had little effect. This isn't over; we need to take the fight to them. I have secured a URL and created a website called "Turn the Screws on CBS" at www.ScrewsOnCBS.com. Like the right's website, it has a petition for a boycott of CBS for this reprehensible and unprecedented behavior. But unlike theirs, engineered by a professional Republican political consultant, this one is truly a grass-roots effort. If we can't get them to change their minds and broadcast the series, at least we can make them pay a price for what they did, and maybe think twice next time. I already have scores of signatures from people in my university community, but I need the support of BuzzFlash.com and other nationally recognized media to spread the word. I hope you will help support this boycott effort, and help by publicizing the site. Sincerely, Gareth Barkin There are countless articles in BuzzFlash that show the corruption and ineptness of the Bush administration. Many of these article should be read by my less than adequate in the brain department friends. However, the constant references to Bush and the foibles of the Bush gang turn them off. I have found that by editing out references to Bush, the administration, and activities by liberal people, these article are received and comment on quite favorably. Perhaps, BuzzFlash needs to turn down the rhetoric a little bit and let the facts speak for themselves. Of particular interest is the lead article about Halliburton and the Gasoline in Iraq (today's lead story). This article is much more palatable to my Republican friends after I've "cleaned it up a little." David H Robertson Hello all, Wow - so proud to be a BuzzFlasher. Let's keep our own "jihad" going so we too can make CBS quiver. The letter writing campaign must be going well. I can't seem to get my letter through to them so it must be overloaded. My letter wasn't exactly what you would call polite or professional so I won't bother to post it. But I hope EVERYONE is bombarding them. What an outrage. How many unflattering movies and docudramas have been made about the Kennedys, which no doubt were hurtful to their families. But notice none of the Kennedys ever tried to interfere or CENSOR (let's call it what it is) because not only do they know about the 1st Amendment, they also fully understand its concept. This is so outrageous that I feel like my head's gonna explode. I wish that Letterman had taken that ABC offer because I want to boycott CBS forever and I wish everyone would. I love Dave, but unfortunately this takes priority. BOYCOTT CBS!!! And don't stop sending them letters - or calling them. Letters by snail mail if you have to. I heard some old Reagan operative on NBC this morning say that CBS cancelled the movie because it wasn't "fair and balanced" (Fox, please don't sue me!). Newsflash -- entertainment does not have to be fair and balanced. NEWS DOES. Suddenly they're worried about fair and balanced. Unbelievable. Besides - it was pure cowardice - not the desire to be fair and balanced. An outraged Barbara in NYC Subj: The Reagans AP blasts parading as news like "'Reagans' furor reflects larger battle" (LINK and elsewhere) exploit the issues to extol a president whose oil-soaked administration undermined long-range policies that would have developed energy alternatives, that put untold numbers of gas guzzlers on the highways through the use of fear, that perfected the art of torture through the US Army School of the Americas--on and on. The biggest reason this miniseries has been cut from CBS is that viewers might be exposed to history, connecting the dots between the names involved in Iran Contra and those running the Bush administration today. Who can bear to turn the tube on? But there are bright spots. Catch the series on Showtime, buy the DVD. And if you get Sundance, you can watch Greg Palast's "Unprecedented: The 2000 Presidential Election"
"The one-hour investigative documentary never before broadcast in the USA features Greg Palast's discovery of Katherine Harris' purge of thousands of Black citizens from Florida's voter rolls. Plus Vincent Bugliosi, John Nichols." Do be sure to give copies as Christmas presents to your Fox-loving brother-in-law. Deborah Conner Subj: Anthill Politics Dear BuzzFlash, There are rumors floating around Washington and the Internet that within the next week or so the US plans a massive air strike somewhere in the middle east. Observers in the Scottish Highlands have reported hundreds of US warplanes at the rate of one every 15 minutes, flying toward bases in Europe and the Mediterranean. The locals liken this display to that which preceded the bombing of Iraq in 1998, Libya in the 1980s, and the first Gulf War. Insanity? Certainly. Gasoline on the fire? No doubt. Unfortunately, the current administration makes these rumors believable. Bush needs to bomb somebody because his approval ratings are falling. When we are actively at war, the masses instinctively rally behind their leader. But on another level, Bush's invasion of Iraq was like a little boy stirring up an anthill: now he is suffering from a hundred tiny stings and likely to begin a panicked, enraged stomping. Pray that it's just a rumor. Jim Caddell Subj: I challenge George Bush to tour Iraq When the fire broke out in California, Davis was out there on the front lines, putting his money where his mouth is. Schwarzenegger was not. Some leaders are courageous. Some are merely dime store cowboys. Who among the Democratic candidates would be brave enough to go over to Iraq, talk with our troops and work to get them safely home? Kucinich would. Braun. Clark. Sharpton. Kerry. Gephardt. Who else? Graham would have gone. Clinton, Gore -- they would have. Jimmy Carter? FDR would have been there -- wheelchair and all. George Bush -- the Commander in Chief of our Armed Forces -- is definitely brave enough to attend hundreds if not thousands of Republican fundraisers on OUR time clock. He's obviously brave enough to tell the whoppers that sent our troops to war. But is he brave enough to actually go to Iraq and see firsthand the human suffering and devastation that he alone has created? And is he brave enough to attend the funeral of even one American GI? Best regards, Jane Stillwater, Berkeley, CA Subj: Mississippi & Kentucky Dear BuzzFlash: As a loyal BuzzFlash reader and a resident of the South for nearly 60 years I must make an observation about the Republican wins in the Governors races in Mississippi and Kentucky, WHO CARES??????????!!!!!!!!!! Living in the bible belt has taught me that almost every election in the South boils down to 3 things: 1.) Segregation. Southerners, for all of their, "I'm not prejudice" rhetoric, don't like blacks and resent the Democratic Party for it's support of Affirmative Action. Southerners also don't like Hispanics, Middle Easterners, French, Germans, Japanese, Chinese or Yankees. Democrats cannot win here. 2.) Guns, Guns everywhere. The south is a Utopia for gun lovers, gun sellers, gun users. Pickup trucks are adorned with fancy, usually filled, gun racks. Restaurants have animal heads and animal bodies popping out of the walls, they call them game trophies. There's deer season, dove season, quail season, rabbit season, turkey season. You name it, we have it. Every mothers child has a gun. Supporting gun control is the kiss of death in the South. Democrats cannot win here. 3. Religious zeal. Forget it if you support a woman's right to choose, gay rights or anything that they consider sinful, which by the way doesn't include adultery or premarital sex. They believe they are divinely connected and nothing will sway them from their commitment to "my way or the highway". Democrats cannot win here. Only one Southern state is in play in 2004 and that is Florida, because as my fellow southerners would gladly tell you, Florida isn't a real southern state because "Yankees" have taken it over. The Democratic party must forget the Southern strategy and concentrate on the rest of the country. Unless a candidate is willing to abandon the principles that define the Democratic Party, no democratic candidate has a snowballs chance in Montgomery. So forget the South and concentrate on those areas of the country that embrace life in the 21st century because the South is hopelessly stuck in 19th. Carolyn Subj: CBS Outrage This is one of the biggest outrages the rotten right wingers have done since the unjustified impeachment of President Clinton. And the network claimed they had checked out all of the material in the film and could vouch for the contents. I collected many facts concerning Reagan's legacy myself, most was from Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia several years ago. I was familiar with most of the derogatory information, but not all of the facts. Reagan was likely more uncompassionate than the present pResident. His son has declared that the part in the movie about those with AIDS wasn't true. The following statement from Encarta stated: "The administration also refused a commissions’s recommendation that there be a law to ban discrimination against victims of AIDS." Reagan was losing it mentally so bad during his second term that he had to have notes on everything, and Nancy started prompting him on answers to reporter's questions. The fact that Bush is patterning his administration after the failed policies of his hero's instead of his father's is further evidence that Repugs are only interested in policies which keep the rich and powerful's millions of dollars flowing into their coffers. I plan to forward a complaint to CBS and believe that everyone else who is outraged over this disgusting matter should do the same. I will not watch CBS in future. And CNN is just as bad. They were saying this morning that the Democratic Party is the Party of minorities and the poor. I say that the Democratic Party is the Party of all the people, not just the rich and powerful. We now definitely reside in a dictatorship. Any thing reflecting unfavorably on Repugs will be subject to censorship or worse. A BuzzFlash Reader * * *
Subj: Schwarzenegger plans fund-raising event Buzz, This is so disgusting, the Groper isn't even Gov. yet and he is begging for money. And digressing a moment, lest people didn't notice George came out here today and offered only a hug, no money, just a friggin hug to the people who lost everything. So the government has come up so far with 4 million, a drop in the bucket. Who the hell is voting republican yet??? Karen * * *
Subj: Castrated Broadcasting Service, CBS Dear BuzzFlash, All news articles on CBS pulling the Reagan mini-series and passing it off to cable remarked about the pressure they received from republican groups and the RNC... whi-i-i-i-I-ne! Since it has now been proven that CBS bows to public pressure, it is time to apply an unmerciful campaign against CBS and let's see if our pressure begets the same considerations. If I have it figured correctly, CBS would totally ignore 2 million letters and emails of objection. Imagine that! The way I figure, it wasn't just a few concerned groups of republican voters who threw a tantrum about the Reagan mini-series. It took bigger people and probably included committed advertisers on the series... we're talking corporate sponsors now. Getting the picture yet? There is a simple rule about TV that has been around since its inception. If you don't like an offered program, every TV comes with an off/on button. Shucks, now we have remotes and don't even have to get up to turn it off. We can advance to many other stations if we don't like a certain program. I guess the RNC and the tantrum throwers are not aware of the off/on buttons. I don't like Fox Cable. It is full of fabrications and hatred, so I refuse to watch it. You see, I know how to advance the remote around Fox Cable. The whackos and RNC took away your right to make the decision on whether to watch the program or not. They didn't want it on, so no one will watch it. The 11/5 mailbag carried several suggestions of boycotting CBS and/or their sponsors. Even though CBS will ignore letters and never mention them on their news hours, we cannot let this go without voicing our objections. I say bombard them with emails and letters. Let's watch who sponsors the same time slot the mini-series was supposed to air. The sponsors will probably be the same because of signed contracts. Then bombard those sponsors, letting them know that you will not stand for Commie-style tactics in the US. Let them know that this is America and not the Old Soviet Union!!!!! ~ Cathy Subj: More on Showtime and Reagan http://www.sho.com/site/announcements/current.do Thread over at DU says that they saw a flash on E! today saying that Showtime will show the Reagan film during a FREE preview week....and that they can show these things up to 25 times over the course of a month! If this is true, then it looks like another "O'Reilly backfires" sort of thing that happened with Franken's book. The Showtime site doesn't indicate anything about the free viewing, but it apparently has been reported on E! Sweet, sweet irony if true! Esp. if the original filmmaker, who walked away from CBS, is again involved...we shall see! Gloria when i see a 70 yr old woman living on less than 600 hundred a month dividing up a box of macaroni and cheese to make it last longer.......i don't mind seeing less money on my pay check if it helps that poor woman. but then i have true compassion, not fake compassion to get votes. randi in madison wi Subj: "I'm a conservative who agrees with BuzzFlash" I don't know why I was surprised to see that others view BuzzFlash as a left wing web-site (i.e.:CNSNews.com & the Reagans mini-series cancellation). I never thought about it because I've found this web-site to just be a "COMMON SENSE site". I actually consider myself to be quite conservative (morally and fiscally). I just recognize snake oil, snake-handlers and venom sellers when I see them. The group that's running the White House and our nation now are simply Nazi types who are destroying this country. It's amazing to me that it's not obvious to anyone with a third grade education that Gee Dubya is poison for America. My next premium order from BuzzFlash will be to honor the memory of Gertrude M. Jones. May she rest in peace knowing that we are getting out the word as best we can about Bush & Co. Dee Turner someone should make a movie about a fictitious country where the spoiled frat boy awol brat republican candidate lost the presidential election and five republican judges gave the job to him anyway. then show the republican dirty tactics to keep movies and actors they don't like off the screen and the intimidation they use to scare people. they show that fictitious president starting a war with 90% of the world telling him to slow down! all the secrecy, all the lies, yes a fictitious movie is the ticket. be sure and put a crawl on the screen saying it is fictitious. :):):):):) diane anderson Re: Freedom From Food, by Mary MacElveen An overlooked element of America's poverty is the impact of welfare repeal policies. Much about these policies have not been brought into the public spotlight, yet has had a tremendous impact on the working class majority. Under these policies, parents are required to work. There are a number of provisions that allow employers to pay these people minimum wage or less/no worker's benefits.What we have seen is that a factory (for example) will lay off a portion of its workforce, claiming reduced orders, etc. Yet within a short time, they bring in "welfare labor" to replace the laid off workers, but at a fraction of the pay. A little-known part of welfare repeal is a provision that enables social services to "take indefinite custody" of children if the parents become unemployed ("failure to adequately provide"). These parents have to take whatever work they can get, at whatever wages they are given, and don't have the option of refusing. Of course, the more welfare labor a company can get, the lower its costs, the higher its profits. The abundance of low-wage labor created by welfare repeal has diminished the leverage workers once had. If they try to go on strike, they are quickly replaced with welfare labor. A segment of those laid off workers will not find jobs, and will have to turn to the welfare department. Then they, too, will become subminimum wage workers, replacing laid off workers. These policies have already had a significant impact on the wages of the working class (i.e., the great majority of Americans) and the economy. Even though Americans proved to have little concern for our poor, they might want to consider the long-range impact these policies will have on the majority of the people. Diane we would like to know. we think the bush twins are 21, what kind of public service have they donated time to? have they ever held a job, maybe part time? also the people around him like karen hughes and the rest of his staff, what have their kids done in public service. with all the poor people dying for our country we just wonder what the rich kids are doing. shorty and co workers Re: Casualties in Iraq Dear BuzzFlash, Maybe I'm showing my age, but it seems to me it's time to start the chanting: "Hey
GW, what do you say? or "Hey
GW, what do you say? Signed, An Older and Wiser Patriot Subj: Halliburton TV Ads Hello folks: I want to let you know how much I appreciate your website. I would like to donate to it. Could you advise me if you accept credit cards? Halliburton: I've been home sick this week and have seen, for the first time today, Halliburton TV ads, at least one of which was on CNN. I saw the same ad twice. It is all soft, white light, fairy tale depictions of Halliburton serving our troops, with everyone smiling like they're a Disney employee or some fundamentalist zombie. The ad features primarily US soldiers and ends with a white soldier, on the phone, calling long distance, lips and mouth trembling, learning that his new born baby is a girl and then giving his fellow soldiers high fives. Some one should send this along to SNL so they can do a justified rip on this fraudulent piece of tripe that had me losing my lunch while watching it. Keep up the good work. Wil Rumble Subj: More outright deception by Cheney... Meet the Press, 09/14/03
James Zogby, 10/29/03
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1073049,00.html A BuzzFlash Reader Subj: The Reagan film shows how terrible his self-proclaimed protege is Dear BuzzFlash, What's the real reason that the Bushies don't want the Reagan film aired? Bushie is trying to be Reagan Junior instead of Shrub Bush Junior. This film would just show how far Shrub has missed the mark. Thanks BuzzFlash for carrying the ball for all of us. Margaret Waid, Ph.D. Subj: Anti-War Activists Should Get On Draft Boards The Selective Service Administration is recruiting people to sit on draft boards. It's not clear from the posting whether or not this is a recent call or a standing notice. Nevertheless, draft boards decide deferment cases. If the draft is reinstated, it would be good to have as many anti-war people as possible on these boards to be able to grant as many deferments as possible. To get through the screening process, folks would probably have to be people with conventional careers and upstanding records, especially military service. But bureaucracies like this are often not so closely monitored, so anyone reasonably clean-cut might be able to get on them. Even if our people got removed fairly quickly for being too lenient, it would give us some inside information and allow us to attack the arbitrariness of the process. See following link: http://www.defendamerica.mil/articles/sss092203.html A BuzzFlash Reader Subj: Ann Coulter Gender Bender I love the idea of the Ann Coulter Talking Action Figure featured in the BuzzFlash "Lighter Side" but was very disappointed when I saw it was not a very accurate likeness. The doll manufacturer neglected to include "HER" (???) Adams Apple she so prominently displays. P. Halpner, Key Largo Subj: Help with Diebold Please Everyone. Contact your local Dem State party headquarters and www.dnc.org and ask them what they plan to do about the computer problems with Diebold. a buzzer Subj: Sad Spin Dear BuzzFlash, On Buchanan and Press, a critic of Clark commented that Clark's appearance at the Rock the Vote Debates in a black turtleneck was not fooling the young audience into thinking he was "hip". I wonder if MSNBC's guest understood that Clark was not trying to be "hip", but that Clark and Kucinich were dressed in black that day because of the tragedy that happened in Iraq just prior to those debates. What a sad media spin. a BuzzFlash reader Re: Maureen Dowd's Death Be Not Loud Dear BuzzFlash: I saw a picture of Bush hugging a California fire victim yesterday. Has he even contacted any of the grieving families who have lost loved ones in Iraq? A BuzzFlash Reader Hey BuzzFlash, First the obligatory and ever so true thanks for the great work! And a quick disclaimer - I've given to Dean's political campaign. Now: Howard Dean was right if clumsy in stating the obvious. We need to work with those we find some disagreement with in order to accomplish the much greater portion we have agreement on. This is not only from me in the north to those in the south, but it works from those in the south to me in the north too. Having said that we should all relish every time the subject of Dean's Confederate flag remarks comes up. It gives us all a chance to highlight how the bushies are busy screwing everyone who isn't a fabulously rich Republican - west, north, east and south. So keep hammerin' on Howard all the rest of you - after all the Repubs won't do it because they know Dean can and will make inroads among their favorite constituency: the white southern male who gives the bushies what they want while getting shafted by the bushies the whole time. Rama O.A.
Schneider Subj: Ed Rollins Wants to Protect Us BuzzFlash, In a Katie Couric interview Thursday morning, Ed Rollins gave three justifications for the CBS cancellation of the Reagan dramatization: 1. "He was a beloved president." - Beloved by some, considered the most corrupt ever (until GW) by others. What difference does that make ? Adolf Hitler still has numerous admirers. 2. "He is still alive and has Alzheimer's." - A public critique of Reagan's performance as president is long overdue and should not be equated with the type of personal character assassinations that the Republicans inflicted on Clinton while he was still in office. Yes, the methods used by Republicans would be unfair. 3. "Young people are too dumb and have to be protected from distortions of the truth." - This is the most amazing statement of all. For years the Republicans have claimed that any attempt by Democrats to protect people from abuse was equivalent to calling them dumb. They have never been upset by the lies of Limbaugh, or Savage. And, it was their hero, Ronald Reagan, who did away with the fairness doctrine. An about face? Great!! Ed Rollins show you are consistent, go ahead and bring back the fairness doctrine! Ed Rollins show you are consistent, get rid of hate filled bigots abusing the public airwaves. Ed Rollins show you are consistent, go ahead and stop media consolidation! You will have my support. Larry, Subj: The GOP & the Confederate South Dear Buzz, I want to begin by saying that I am a classic, yellow dawg Southern Democrat like my parents, grandparents and so-forth dating back to Andrew Jackson. I would like to make some pointed observations about the GOP and the Confederate South, some the current group of Democrats have addressed, but most are points that have not been made. I'm from the south (Tennessee to be exact) and I graduated from the University of Tennessee and attended Ole Miss. I've seen this confederate issue, best symbolized by the Confederate flag, all my life. A large number of high schools in the south have some kind of confederate connection. I attended West High School in Knoxville and we were the Rebels. Ole Miss bears the same name and throughout the south there are colleges and high schools bearing the names of Confederate heroes and such. The first point I would make is this. It's not the confederate flag that drives southern politics. It's the freedom of choice. Southern Republicans beat Democrats on the flag issue because it's perceived as big government coming in and taking away something. So, the GOP does not endorse the Confederate flag. Why would the party of Lincoln? Rather, they campaign on the issue that Democrats want to make the flag illegal even when such is not true. In this manner, the GOP took the state houses or governor's mansions in South Carolina, Georgia, and Mississippi. These men could care less about the confederate flag and in most if not all cases, even despise the poor southerners who are hard working, loyal Americans, many trapped in low paying jobs and poverty. I think Al Sharpton, Howard Dean, Sen. Kerry, and especially John Edwards said it best when they spoke of voting ones interests. I agree. No southerner can look at the various government programs--whether they are educational, agricultural, or technical (like TVA) and honestly say let's get rid of them so that GOP millionaires and CEOs can save money. Alabama receives more federal dollars in aid, pork, and subsidies than any other state. I would guess that the South probably gets more federal dollars than any other region. At their core, these programs are Democratic in support and creation. For all the disparaging remarks that GOP candidates say of welfare and government programs, it has been Democrats who have saved the south. On so many issues, Southerners and Democrats agree. In the military, its Democrats who advocate and support spending for veterans, benefit programs, and educational opportunities--programs opposed by Republicans. For social programs and welfare, economic development zones, and business, it's the Democratic party that helps. Republicans however resent everything whether it's Sesame Street, the Pell Grant program, or prescription drug assistance. Their clarion call is "privatize" and "outsource". So let me call upon all Democrats to remember our heritage as Americans. Andrew Jackson founded our party and at its base, the confederate experience is part of our past. Every single southern man who embraces heritage and the old south must also recall that it was the Democratic Party that represented the South then from Jeff Davis of Mississippi to James Buchanan (15th president of the US). The watermark for statesmanship for our party is that of growth. The democratic party grew from the Confederate experience to embrace the American dream, to rebuild not only Dixie, but also former slaves, immigrants, working class families, and equality for all. There is progress in the South too, and hope. Each time a referendum is held on the flag issue in Miss., GA, and SC, the percentage that favors dropping the flag from the state flag increases. We need to confront Dixie, not shun it. No, I'm not saying we go back. Remember that line from Alabama's "Song of the South": "My father was a veteran, a Southern Democrat / Why can't a rich man vote like that?" What I am saying is that we want the solid south back, that we want to distinguish the core values that makes us all Democrats is something beyond Republican smear tactics and racebaiting for which the GOP are expert. Sure, there are old wounds from the flag experience, but we need each other. When Grover Norquist boasted about reducing the number of govt. programs and expenditures to something he could drown in the bathtub, he said it all. Thanks for listening and reading my rant. Tony Subj: They looted our savings The current SEC is Mr. Bush's baby. He appointed all five of its commissioners. [LINK] The agency's web site explains that its "primary mission …is to protect investors and maintain the integrity of the securities markets." It's been doing an abominable job of it. Geoff Click Here: Check out "Rage erupts over profiteering clause=The Hill.com=" Buzz, This is outrageous!!! They're sending a message that it's all right to be a war profiteer! If a thief steals, he should go to jail, but the GOP and the WH are giving them a green light to go ahead and steal because even if you're caught nothing will happen. Gigi Subj: Reagan/CBS/and the RNC When CBS caved at the threat of a boycott and in reaction to the attacks by the Republic National Committee it did not get off the hook. The Republic National Committee is now demanding of Showtime that they run the banner denouncing their own show. What is difficult to understand is why so much deference is paid to the threats from the right. Much of it is hype with little to back it up other than the implied threat of violence (as in Miami in 2000). For instance the Freepers were able to get an enormous amount of coverage during the peace and anti-war marches. The Washington Post in particular went out of the way to cover their counter demonstrations without revealing the numbers involved in those demonstrations. Here you had 10's of thousands of demonstrators for peace and only 100 or less supporting Bush, yet there was an attempt to give them equal attention and to hide the facts from the reader. What is most interesting about this is that the if one followed the Freepers at their web site you would find grandiose plans for mass counter demonstrations with tactics to disrupt the peace march and allegedly all designed by a patriotic Marine veteran. It was all hype. Even the patriotic Marine may have been fictional. He certainly didn't sound like a Marine. He sounded more like an ex cheerleader who avoided the draft (like Trent Lott). There weren't thousands coming from around the country to support Bush as he claimed. Even the claim of 100 showing up could be disputed on the basis of the pictures taken of the Bush supporters. The Republicans have a well organized and well financed reaction team that can at a moments notice mount a campaign against anything that threatens the images they are projecting. But it is a facade. Beyond a hard core of political operatives and mad dog rightists how deep is the threat? They mobilize the radio talk show hosts and the Fox cheer leaders. That generates noise. The rest of the media seems unable or unwilling to carefully examine what is happening. They report on it making it a real story and giving it a substance that it really doesn't have. But is there a real constituency ready to act? The Dixie Chicks suggest that the constituency is pretty shallow. Clear Channel and other right wing media organizations could stop playing their records and hold dj inspired demonstrations but when it came to attending their concerts and buying their records the fans turned out and cheered them on. One of the first concerts was in South Carolina a very conservative state, yet the Dixie Chicks were welcomed and applauded. The truth is that in the modern age it is possible to create a non existent reality and big organizations will respond to it, just as CBS did. If organizations such as FAIR and MOVE and the DNC had immediately come to the aid of CBS perhaps things would have been different. That still doesn't excuse the cowardice of the CBS executives. Thank you for another excellent report on a vital issue. Robert E. Reynolds, Orange Park, Fl Subj: Big Republican defeat in Suffolk county following the same in Nassau Newsday.com - End to Republican Era Good news in two republican bastions of cronyism.... heads up....watch Tom Suozzi Democratic Nassau Executive....an extraordinarily dynamic, intelligent good looking politician who may one day soon be running for governor of New York and maybe even POTUS. T. Friedman How ironic...........the women who betrayed her friend and secretly taped their private conversations gets a half million for invasion of privacy! can monica now sue that tripp woman for invasion of privacy? A BuzzFlash Reader Subj: Bush's repudiation of the death penalty Good evening, BuzzFlash. The following quote from G.W. Bush at a ceremony today appears to be the " compassionate Conservative's" repudiation for the death penalty:
Well, maybe not. After all, we can't believe much that emanates from W's mouth. The preceding quote was taken from the White House's website and was made during a ceremony during which W signed the ban on so-called "partial birth abortion." Another example of right-wingers talking out of both sides of their mouths. I'm sure he didn't mean to include alleged murderers in his sweeping statement about the right to life. That would repudiate his record of condemning dozens of people to death in Texas. Or maybe not. Perhaps W thinks he is the "Creator of life." Bill Taylor Subj: Intelligence Review: Republican and Democratic Panel Leaders Take Feud to the Senate Floor In today's NY Times' INTELLIGENCE REVIEW (at: [LINK]), the leaked memo that had the Democrat's planning to use their right to hold an independent review that would questions aspects of the intel failure that seemed to be orchestrated by Executive branch members (read CHENEY et al). In an attempt to portray righteous indignation, the Republicans say, "MY GOD! How could politicians plan to use investigations to pursue a political agenda?" Can anyone say "Clinton" to these born again political virgins? More to the point, the Republicans are totally in control of this. If they agree to allow the investigation to also question members of the Executive Branch, the Dems will be precluded from holding minority hearings next year. That's all the Reps have to do. But, as they refuse to allow written questions to be submitted to anyone working for Bush, the Dems have a right to hold separate hearings. Even the Reps admit that. This whole thing comes down to the Reps covering for Cheney, so Cheney's meddling with intel doesn't get verification, and the timing of the Dems independent investigation. And, if the Bush admin DIDN'T meddle in the Iraq intel, what are they so worried about? Can somebody tell me why the Dems, who are not being listened to in committee, owe it to the Reps to hurry their own investigation so the damning evidence doesn't conflict with Bush/Cheney electioneering? Jack Ballinger Have we ever gotten a breakdown of WHAT illnesses caused 4,500 troops of 6,000 US troops to be evacuated from Iraq? LINK to GRAPH of Casualties by State Note: graphic does not include the 6,000 troops sent home because they were sick, and it does not include the 27 or so killed and 60 injured in the past 48 hours. A BuzzFlash Reader Subj: More Junk Science from the Bushies Dear BuzzFlash: Here is a link to an AP story on how the Bushies' radical agenda trumps any scientific evidence. This particular article relates to the study on management of the Missouri River. Upstream states want the flow to be returned to a more natural, seasonal ebb and flow, which would be good both for endangered species and for the recreational industries that depend on the river. The Bushies are apparently siding with downstream states (represented by Sen. Kit Bond, R-MO), who want the river to be managed according to an outdated, 40-year-old model, to aid a dwindling barge industry -- which generates income only a fraction of the upstream recreation industries, not to mention being harmful to endangered species. Here's the link: LINK And here is another one: LINK Chris S. Subj: Helpful Hints from Dubya's Web Site I just checked out the George Bush "W'04" campaign web site. I found some really interesting stuff that I thought many BuzzFlash readers might find useful. Simply go to the attached link and enter your zip code. It will give you the names, times and phone numbers for all the conservative talk radio shows, both local and national, available in your area. It even includes talking points and call-in tips. I don't know about the rest of you, but I plan to give some of these fine, upstanding GOPers a ring. Nice of them to make it easier for all of us. [LINK] Ever vigilant-- Demelia Subj: military Closures Dear Buzz, This is a real must read. One of the things that the idiots in charge do not understand it that the commissaries and base stores also provide the money that makes other recreational facilities such as the base theatre and base bowling alleys possible. All the government really provides is the land on which the building stands and probably the parking lot maintenance. I do not know about heating and cooling but generally the commissaries and base stores are self supporting. Commissaries have low prices because of bulk buying. If the government wants to close them it is to save pennies and to inconvenience the soldiers. A BuzzFlash Reader, a military brat who was born in the military, raised in the military and married military and raised my children in the military. Subj: F.Y.I. I don't know if you know this or not, but yesterday, I was in my house all day long. I had on various cable news stations, I am a news junkie. At the minimum of at least one every hour, on every different station, Halliburton was running commercials. These commercials said how Halliburton helps countries in conflict, it also feeds our troops and offers them means to communicate with their families at home, they end it by saying 'Halliburton, helping our troops'. What they neglected to add was they did it at a cost to the U.S. Taxpayers of billions of dollars. Money would be well spent to counter these commercials saying how the only reason Halliburton is helping our troops is because we are paying for them to do so. They made themselves sound like the benevolent friend of the U.S. military. It was sickening, and the first shot in the attack on those who question this Administration and it's sweetheart deals with friends. Sincerely, Vera Lofaro |
|||||
 |
||||
| DAILY BUZZ | ||||
| INTERVIEWS | ||||
| ANALYSIS | ||||
| MEDIA LINKS | ||||
|
Unless
otherwise noted, all original |
 |
|||
