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November 17, 2003 |
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Subj: CNN "monitors" Condi Rice Dear Buzz:What's wrong with this picture? Bush gives upbeat "We're making progress" campaign speeches on his frequent fundraising jaunts and it is covered in its entirety. Today, Condi Rice was answering questions from reporters when CNN abruptly cuts the coverage and says something to the effect that "we'll MONITOR her talk and get back to you if anything important happens." Hey CNN, maybe we'd like to watch the whole thing and make our OWN decisions--like maybe your coverage omitted an important question and we'd like to hear her response. We don't need you to edit for us. Hey CNN, where is the follow up coverage of the Wilson/Plame leak? How's Ashcroft's investigation coming along? Anyone? Why are you interviewing the FORMER CIA director and not the CURRENT one? Why must we be subjected to endless "opinions" of retired military generals about what's going on in Iraq--could it be maybe the Coalition won't let the press in up close to give us a first-hand account and your only option is to display on screen a darkened street in Iraq accompanied by a sound track of rockets bursting while your reporter guesses about what's going on with Operation Iron Hammer? Please. In lieu of "real news", must we be subjected any longer to the day-by-day (almost hour-by-hour) doings of the Kobe Bryant, Scott Peterson, Rosie O'Donnell and Sniper trials, interviews with lawyers or people on the steps of the courthouse--over and over and over and over, ad nauseum. Who monitors the monitors, I wonder? Guess I'll have to go to the Internet to find out Condi's answer to that question. A BuzzFlash Reader Subj: Sean Hannity Yesterday on the Sean Hannity radio show he had a senator call in and i do not recall his name he was calling about this dog and pony show that is going on he said that there is also 12 republicans that also are against these 3 judges Sean asked who they are and the senator said he could not say but that he needed Sean's help the get the message out. Sean said no problem he was good at getting LEAKS out of the White House and when he finds out he will have his listeners call and write their senators. I think this is awful that this senator has Sean do his smear campaign and isn't it against the law to get LEAKS out of the White House? Please someone check into this I am so tired of Fox taking over everything. It was around 4pm est. Thank you. Jeff Subj: Not in Vain Mom Well, one thing we know for sure- the good folks at Bechtel, Halliburton, Raytheon, in fact ALL of President Cheney's old pals, will be extra generous to the parents come Christmas time. I'm sure that the checks are in the mail. "We went to Iraq and all we got was this lousy t shirt" T shirts and baseball caps are available now- and there is a special bereavement discount for families of Oilition forces killed or wounded in action.
David Rubinson http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/14/opinion/14OHAN.html Letter to the Editor of New York Times: (re: above link) To the Editor: The authors of this chart leave out one very important statistic - the number of civilian casualties in Iraq, which grows larger every day. While I know that our government does not engage in counting civilian deaths in war, it baffles me that in a war to "win hearts and minds" in the Arab world, people do not take into consideration the fact that Arabs are watching the lives of large numbers of people, including women and children being lost everyday. The connection between that and the rise of hostilities towards Americans in Iraq is hard to miss. It is difficult to understand why it plays no role in in determining the authors' cautious optimism about this war. Barbara in NYC Sent to: 'DittosRush@RushLimbaugh.com' <DittosRush@RushLimbaugh.com>: Subj: Welcome Back! Rush - So glad to hear that you have avoided the 28 months in the State Pen that you should have received - not to mention the many years of Federal time you would have received had you been a poor person instead of a rich loudmouth. Welcome back. I look forward to hearing you justify (1) the new-age feelgood treatment you received at your cushy little "rehab center"; (2) why you're free and Robert Downey Jr. had to go to prison; (3) why you shouldn't have been arrested for possession, distribution and use of controlled narcotics; and (4) why anyone should continue to listen to you. Very sincerely, John D.
Burns Subj: Friday Update from Sacramento Here in Sacramento they have begun constructing the inaugural barrier around the State capitol building. Two blocks will be shut down for three entire days to construct the secure barrier/exclusion zone (complete with metal detectors), hold the short ceremony, and dismantle the barrier. I assume they are taking a cue from the pres., if you block out regular people you can have a perfect photo op with your campaign contributors rather than have it tainted by a counter-rally or protest. I really wonder how much security of this magnitude will end up costing California taxpayers. I work a few blocks from the State capitol and I can only imagine how chaotic things will become. I felt pretty awful after the election, but now that the transition is actually taking place I feel even worse, especially after seeing the appointments that have been made. You see...I am woman who happens to be a California state employee; soon I will have to walk into my office building where a photo of Governor Groper will hang in the lobby and mock me on a daily basis... Sincerely, A BuzzFlash Reader in Sacramento Subj: 9-11 Betrayal The 9-11 Commission will have betrayed the American people in its final report by having allowed the White House to edit documents before turning them over. I have so said in a letter to the chairman, Thomas Kean. I would invite BuzzFlash readers to do the same. His address:
A BuzzFlash reader Subj: Limbaugh and a Morals Clause Buzz -- In the old days, you know Woodward and Bernstein, some enterprising reporter would have found out by now if old Rushbo has a "Morals" clause in his contract with Clear Channel. The kind of clause that says..."you're fired if you use illegal drugs, have sex with children or otherwise bring discredit on the corporation..." Not one reporter has delved into this and of course they never will...but somebody knows...somewhere there just has to be a reporter -- not a news reader -- who wants to shine the light of day on this. Probably not...they're afraid to find out who outed Joseph Wilson's wife...well, it was just a hope that someday the "news" media will actually report the news... Tony Mac Subj: 30 Hour Republican Game The bush administration may be a lot of things but they NEVER do anything without purpose. Lets look behind the headlines at their latest actions. 1. The Memo: Republicans make a mountain out of a mole hill on stolen internal memo. Results: Sen. Frist shuts down the Intel Committee’s work on Iraq Intelligence. Bye bye White House, state department, DOD and CIA documents. Office of Special Plans slides even if the report is complete maybe next spring. 2. Senate Calls for 30 Hour marathon. Democrats still haven’t figured that Bush does not want these people approved. Then he has to explain to the public why he put these idiots on the bench. Bet they were close to a deal on Estrada before he "pulled" out. The republicans eat up a bunch time as Congress nears the big break, meanwhile 3. In the House, Tom Delay has LOCKED OUT the democrats from the conference meetings on the Medicare/Drug Bill and the democrats can't even write a letter. Down the stretch time running out cause we don’t want to work over 28 hours per week, the democrats rant and rave over some minor issue, but to support our Seniors the dems do not block passage. President Bush signs bill as Christmas present for seniors. 4. Sometime late February or early March the Democrats "discover" some really nasty stuff buried in the Medicare bill that is a windfall for the pharmaceutical companies and really sticks it to the Seniors. Dems hold big press conference and cry oh they didn’t tell us can you believe that. Issue is dead along with cheney’s papers the fake niger documents, the Office of Special Plans. Gotta go, time for Easter break. I find it amazing how easy it is for bush to run game on the dems and libs. I would say everyone better get ready for four more years of this garbage, because right now for Bush and his crew this is really child's play. "This is Dan Rather at CBS. We Interrupt Howard Deans acceptance speech to bring you the latest update on Operation Free a Duck for Damascus. At 5:00pm eastern time today the House and the Senate overwhelming gave President Bush authorization to invade Syria if he really really thought it was necessary. The democrats in a show of unity all signed a letter to President Bush to please please tell the congress and the American public how much the war with Syria would cost. At 10:00pm the first bombs were dropped on Damascus. Because of these rapidly changing events we will rebroadcast Howard Deans acceptance speech at 2:30am eastern time. Check your local stations for changes, and remember to stick with CBS for all your latest spin on Operation Free a Duck for Damascus. This is Dan Rather, goodnight." Paul Maciekowich
Subj: More NO MEDIA ALLOWED (hello pilot speech re: Lynch rescue) http://www.macon.com/mld/macon/news/local/7248865.htm Is this STRANGE or WHAT????????? LeBrun said Marine Maj. Craig Kopel told them before giving the speech that he would not speak if any members of the media were present. They said he did not want his name or photograph printed, though his name was in a news release announcing his appearance. Kopel was scheduled to speak to junior and high school students. LeBrun said Kopel would "get in trouble" if he spoke to or in front of the media. Mika Subj: Judge Moore So now that Judge Moore has been removed from the state court what are the odds that Bush will nominate him for the federal bench? Supreme Court maybe? Karen Subj: Ambien Hi BuzzFlash, So Colin Powell, and *doesn't everyone* take Ambien on the GWB ship of fools team, are on drugs! This is just one more, no no for everyone else, but these dangerous madmen (and women) who decided they knew best for America and the world. Rush Limbaugh should be brought to trial on having someone buy him drugs illegally. He out and out broke the law! Pure and simple. Powell and his gang of thugs have no business being in the jobs they have stolen, if they have to resort to drugs to sleep at night. They are popping drugs like candy, and then telling America to sit tight, they are making all the right decisions. No way! Common side effects of Ambien are: Daytime drowsiness. Dizziness. Lightheadedness. Difficulty with coordination. These people are living in a haze, and know not what they are doing. They all have to go. Rush to jail, the others out of office. A BuzzFlash reader and supporter. Subj: SCORE TWO FOR OBSTRUCTIONIST, PARTISAN MINORITY! Hello once again,
Peter THANKS TO THE OBSTRUCTIONIST PARTISAN MINORITY Subj: McPresident I chuckled further to McDonalds' dismay regarding the inclusion of McJob in the new Webster's Dictionary. Whereas many Americans are stuck in McJobs, all Americans are stuck with a McPresident. Keep up the good work. Mike HELP, Bush is offering BIG tax refund - buying 04 election. How do we fight this? A BuzzFlash Reader The article below deserves a link for the following quote alone:
Of course it isn't the U.S. press pointing out this disturbing little stat...
Blake Subj: bush's REAL plan for America re: Out of the picture on the abortion ban Is there any way you can post that picture of bush signing the abortion ban bill surrounded by those big, fat, idiot white men. I'm showing it to ANYONE who will look and telling them that this is the REAL face of bush's America. His future "vision" of America does not include our children, women, blacks, hispanics, etc., NO ONE!! bush's "America" is only concerned with big, fat, "white men only" corporate GREED!!! A BuzzFlash Reader Subj: Bad News I can tell every time I look at a newspaper what shape this country is in today. In the local Killeen Daily Herald (Texas) edition the front page covers the increase in bankruptcies, how the food pantry desperately needs donations due to the number of families they are supporting increasing from around 700 families last year to nearly 1300 this year. Then there is the war -- yes, it is still war -- in Iraq being stepped up to fight the insurgents. And the fighting is still going on in Afghanistan with people getting killed. We don't hear much about it any more, guess there isn't any good news there, or not as much as in Iraq. And the article by Rumsfeld: US must "outlast" the threat in Iraq. It isn't only the threat by the insurgents, the people are calling for the US military to leave. Even those this administration picked to be their agents. Bush says the US military will stay in Iraq until Saddam is caught. Well, if it takes as long as it has taken to find Osama then it may be a long, long time. And then there is the editorial about the 'catastrophic compromise' over the prescription drug bill saying "Before this current session is done, we could have a new entitlement that is unneeded, unaffordable and potentially ruinous for both Medicare and the economy." I will only say that all I disagree with is it is unneeded, but agree with the rest of the statement. With the disastrous fiscal policies of this administration it may destroy both Medicare and Social Security. Oh well, Repugs have always hated these entitlements as nothing but pyramid schemes. A BuzzFlash Reader Subj: Hope Every day I come to BuzzFlash in hope of seeing that the bush bums have been arrested, I guess I'll just have to wait some more. R.E.W. Subj: Bush in London Tits, ass and Bush......Bush gives an interview to ....The Guardian? No....The Times? No.....The Telegraph? No....The Independent? No....Bush gives an interview to The Sun, a Murdoch rag well known for the topless bimbos on page 3 and lurid stories about the Royals, and UFOs . . . CLASSY!! http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A43228-2003Nov14.html BTW I wonder what Ashcroft thinks of all this? http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/10/20031025-1.html Jas Subj: a thought on the 30 hour senate debate How obvious is it that the introduction of cots, mentions of coffee, etc... are all a big media photo op?? All the senators have living quarters within driving distance of the senate. They don't all have to be there all the time. I think they only had to speak in 30 minute intervals. Did anyone use those cots and/or beds? Why would they need to? Why were there cameras there to record the beds being made, etc... Why couldn't the senators stay at home and only arrive for their allotted speaking time, then go home and sleep in their bed? It seems like an elaborate plot to make it look like the repubs stayed up for better than a day to "do the right thing" and fight for these judges. I bet no one slept in those cots or needed to. Why would they? I would love to see footage that remained trained on the cots/beds to see what happened to them or who used them after the photo op. I would bet that Rick Santorum didn't stay there for 30 hours and sleep on a cot. I bet nobody did. Just a thought. A BuzzFlash Reader Subj: Selling premanufactured public opinion after a night of cookie baking Dear Buzz, I chuckled when I read of the polling shenanigans that Frist's website was pulling with the ballot stuffing and the question flipping. I haven't said anything before, but now would be a good time to let you know that something similar happened here in Kentucky over a local newspaper poll question asking which candidate for governor the reader was voting for. This was during the last couple of days of campaigning between Ben Chandler and Ernie Fletcher. I watched the poll one night, which initially had Chandler leading Fletcher. Over the course of the night, votes were coming in like clockwork for Fletcher every half-minute or so for the whole night. By the next morning, the poll had registered about 3000 votes overnight for Fletcher. I noticed that the website was using cookies to determine if the computer had cast a previous ballot, which meant that if the cookie was removed, one could vote again! Delete cookie-vote-delete cookie-vote... all night long is what some juvenile mind was doing. He or she really thought they were going to pull off a good one. I notified Chandler's campaign and they got in touch with the paper. The next day, the poll was proceeded with a notice that "someone" had figured out how to cast multiple votes and had run up orders of magnitude more votes than any previous poll question had ever generated. They restored the results to pre-hack levels, put up a message begging the parties to, in essence, play fair, but did nothing to fix the poll security hole. I really got a laugh thinking how pissed off that poll hacker must have been after spending the whole night deleting cookies and re-voting, only to find out that all that hard work was erased! :-) I know it was a person doing it and not a script because the votes for Fletcher were coming in at the same rate which I could delete the previously stored cookie and then re-vote. A script would work much faster. Its too bad the newspaper wouldn't go through the trouble to secure the poll with an IP check or something similar. Anyway, I guess the point is that these polls are less than useless in gauging public opinion because there are usually little or no safeguards in place to keep a single, determined person from skewing the results as far as they want to. When you have the likes of Frist and his flunkies swapping the question to match whichever answer is in the majority at the moment, you just have to laugh at the stupidity of their antics. It shows about as much intelligence and maturity as renaming French fries to freedom fries. Juvenile...utterly juvenile. They're not too terribly intelligent, but they do have some entertainment value. Z. A BuzzFlash Reader Subj: Idea from Democratic Veteran. Jo Fish came up with this idea (last paragraph) at Democratic Veteran. What do you think? Operation Frequent Wind II So Condi has come out and said it...
Is anyone else visualizing a Huey hovering over a building while they push planes off carriers and babies are thrust into the arms of Embassy Marines? Those who forget the past...etc... During the RNC Lovefest next summer, someone should hire the Jumbotron in Times Square and have it list the names of all the soldiers killed and wounded in Iraq while the convention is going on, 24/7 all week. That might put a damper on their sprits a bit. A BuzzFlash Reader Subj: Lieberman Senator Joe Lieberman is totally out of control and, I would submit, he has become nothing more than a stalking horse for the Republicans. Someone in a position of power and influence in the party, e.g., Ted Kennedy, Bill Clinton or Al Gore, needs to talk to this man and tell him to just go away. He doesn't have a hope or a prayer of winning the nomination. Rest assured, VCR's are running at the RNC headquarters, and Ed Gillespie and Karl Rove are are licking their chops over every one of Lieberman's slurs against his fellow Democrats. This material will surely be used in TV commercials by the Republicans next fall. Donald P. Russo
Buzz, Nobody does "catty" quite like the Brits. And don't you just love the title -- "Bush's Flying Circus....."? This is such a waste of money to fly this moron to Britain so the Boy King can get his photo-op with the Queen. And it just irks me as to how much this "flying circus" is going to cost the American people. And what an embarrassment he's going to be to all of us! Gigi Subj: A "deal" in 9-11 investigation Why does there have to be a DEAL between the White House and the commission investigating 9-11? What is WRONG with the American public that they aren't screaming at the top of their collective lungs for NO DEAL, WE WANT THE F'ING TRUTH????? A "deal" is what what lawyers, politicians and car salesmen make. THE TRUTH IS WHAT WE SHOULD DEMAND WITH NO "DEALS" ABOUT ANY OF THE INFORMATION. I am so disgusted by this despicable administration AND the cowardly rest of the bunch who have allowed this tragedy to go unsolved, uninvestigated, and unpunished. elaine in petaluma Subj: Feith is not neith Not sure if you’ve heard yet but FAUX is saying a “TOP SECRET”memo leaked from the desk of Dougie Feith saying there is at least a five year connection between Osama and Saddam. And of course he just happens to be on C-Span all weekend saying how well we did going to Iraq. FAUX even went as far as to say “who could have leaked it”and “how will this affect the presidential elections”. How low can you go? Larry Parker Subj: Reserve Soldiers Having Pay Problems http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/1103/111403t1.htm http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d0489.pdf Army National Guard soldiers are getting screwed in a new way: they're having trouble actually getting paid. It's bad enough their combat pay is getting cut. Now they can't even collect it. Imagine having to fly from Uzbekistan to Kuwait to resolve a pay issue. And then coming under enemy fire in the process! eric ps: the govexec.com newsletters are a great way to keep tabs on the Pentagon and Homeland Security agency. Subj: I wonder why they wait so long to tell us? Dear Buzz,
Jee, another lie exposed. I wonder why they wait so long to tell us? And it's funny how they wait until the weekend when no one is paying attention. Last night my friend and I were at a local restaurant having a couple of drinks when the hostess announced over the loud speaker that there was a Sgt. from the Army in the room who was home from Kuwait on R and R. They asked us to give him a round of applause for his service. Everyone did, but it wasn't a hearty applause. Something you would expect from the "Patriotic South". It was very quiet, reserved and very short-lived. It seemed no one wanted to be bothered with this or to have to think about a war in Iraq on a Saturday night when they themselves were having a little R and R. (I secretly hoped that it was because People felt ashamed for not standing up to Bush and his war that is killing so many for no reason. But my hope was as short-lived as their applause.) I fear the masses have become even more complacent. Good news for GW Bush and his War in '04. Nancy Lynn Nagy (TN) "at which point the occupation ends" Ah.... we've DEFINED the end of the occupation.. like Bush DEFINED the "end of major hostilities". Doesn't mean the troops come home. Doesn't mean our guys and gals and the Iraqi men, women and children stop dying. The words OCCUPATION, and OCCUPYING FORCE don't set the right tone going into an election year now do they? Look for a new BANNER and a nice photo-op.
Note also: "It also reflects the difficulties that the members of the governing council have had in drawing up a constitution, especially over the issue of the role of the clergy in a new democratic Iraq." What? Having a little trouble getting radical evangelical Christian dogma inserted into the Iraqi constitution are we? A BuzzFlash Reader == == == == == == ==
If this can be shown to be an accident, this is the opportunity Bush will take to visit a funeral and talk about sacrifices. Accidents will happen, after all, and it could just as easily have happened at home. With no ground fire to explain, he can speak freely on all the things that make us doubt his policies abroad - like, what happened to the war on terror? Just random speculation. AOL News - Military Probes Copter Crash in Iraq Juan Subj: "The timing is ghastly" Of course, blowing a hole in Tony Blair's political boat will help put Conservatives in control in Parliament. Is this visit more of Karl Rove's diabolical meddling or is this just the gang that couldn't shoot straight and doesn't like to be warned when it's screwing up?
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