BuzzFlash Mailbag - April 26, 2004

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we have a hard time just reading a newspaper and sending an e-mail on this thing.(a computer) :):):) but we would like to see someone who knows how to make a picture of the white house and what it would look like with over 700 flag draped coffins spread out on the white house lawn. then each time someone else dies ad another. that does not even include all the innocent civilians who have died for bush big man image. then they should saturate the Internet with the picture.

The coordinated Republican (Scarborough, Buchanan, et. al.) outrage at Tammy Silicio's nerve in snapping a picture of U.S. servicemen's flag-draped coffins in Iraq left me wondering: where was the anger and what was the difference when the Bush '04 campaign included an image of a flag-draped firefighter at ground-zero in it's recent commercial blitz?

Deputy Undersecretary of Defense, John Molino, said, "Quite frankly, we don't want the remains of our service members who have made the ultimate sacrifice to be the subject of any kind of attention that is unwarranted or undignified." (re: NY Times, 4/23/04, "Pentagon Moves to Stop War Dead Photos' Release")

Does this mean the firefighters' deaths were lesser sacrifices that somehow became more dignified when G.W. approved their cameos in his re-election bid?

Last night Joe Scarborough could hardly contain his disdain for Ms. Silicio, and even hinted at likely political motives behind her behavior. Through a friend, Ms. Silicio said she took the picture to show families here the respect their loved ones' remains received en route to Dover Air Force Base. Her motives were pure, her concern genuine, her heart sincere. I can see how Scarborough and his ilk would have trouble understanding that.

For purely political reasons George Bush included a flag-draped firefighter in his commercial. He faced no outrage on the right and even plans to get re-elected. For purely unselfish reasons Tammy Silicio sent a touching, and, yes terrifying, picture home. Her good intentions earned her and her husband pink slips. Now that's outrageous.

For those concerned about electronic voting lacking a paper trail, I have a suggestion. Someone with the means, such as George Soros, needs to buy a company that manufactures touch screen voting machines that have no paper trail. Once the Republicans fear that the other side might also steal a few elections, we will be surprised at how quickly the "paper trail bills" move through congress.

I have *some* hope about the November elections (if they turn out to be real elections –I hope they don’t concoct a new “threat”and try to postpone the elections!) …

I have a computer consulting company that caters to the senior population, so I have many contacts with the 60+ set here in Florida.

Yesterday, I was at the home of a nice woman in her 80’s who happens to be a life long Republican -- you know, the *real* ones –the people who believe in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

In the course of our conversation, she asked if I voted and I said “Yes, of course I do.”I try not to initiate any political discussion, because I am there to help them with their computer issues, but I will discuss politics if I am asked. Well, she asked if I knew about a politician called “kukinik or something like that, because I want to write him in for President”. I smiled to myself and corrected her, saying “It’s Kucinich (http://www.kucinich.us/) and he’s still running for the nomination.”She was a little confused until I explained that he’s a Democrat and is still vying for the nomination.

“Well, anyway …”she says, “my friend said I should vote for him and I read about his policies and like what he says. I don’t like Kerry …my catholic newspaper has his voting record and I don’t like it. I’m going to write that fellows name in on the ballot.”

Well –at least it’s another vote that Shrubby is NOT going to get this time around!! I wonder how many other disenchanted R’s are out there!?!?

I don't have the time to contact all the members of your respective body's individually, nor can I list all the trespasses committed by the Bush administration and the House and Senate Republicans. You both know better than myself what they have done, and continue to do on a daily basis, so I appeal to you as our party's leadership to stand up to them now, before its too late.

I cannot put into words the depth of my concern and downright outrage at the repeated abuses of our citizens, our Constitution, and our standing in the world community by the current mis-administration and the rest of the Republican guard. What will it take before we hear from you, our party's elected representatives, that you will absolutely refuse to stand for these travesties of justice any longer? The Nation cannot sit back and pray that John Kerry will win in November in the hopes that he will be able to begin to correct these wrongs. From Bush on down this is the most CORRUPT group in government since Boss Tweed and Tammany Hall, only its taking place on a national level.

I am truly, truly concerned for our country's future and the future that my three small children will inherit. As an American I've never known such fear. Terrorists are a predictable danger. I have no clue what outrage will next be committed by my own government! Please, Congresswoman Pelosi and Senator Daschle, stop playing nice. Do something soon. History books yet written and the American people will hold both of you responsible for how this all ends up.

I have learned how to silence my republican party sheep friends when they tell me about the mass graves in Iraq....I simply ask them if they are referring to the ones Bush/Cheney have created with the illegal invasion or the old ones (while poppy was in power) allegedly Saddam made.

If the US re-introduces the Draft, does that mean that georgie porgie would have the opportunity of completing his long deferred military service?

This bunch of "new democrat" republican-lites is pretending to be a bunch of progressives. I guess the utter non-showing of their man Joey boy in the democratic presidential primary was an eye opener for them.

not to mention a prominent link at the top of the homepage to the "Progressive Policy Institute".

There’s a lot of talk about the coffin photos. Previously, I thought another BuzzFlash reader had a great idea, but I haven’t seen it again.

Create replicas of these coffins equal to the number of U.S. military fatalities (810 right now). Spread them all out on Pennsylvania Avenue or another public location. This will make a great picture and if done right, will show that anti-war activists honor our fallen soldiers even as we want the survivors to come home now.

If someone starts organizing this, I will contribute some of my hard-earned cash. Let’s do it!

"...."Ms Wilding said an injured mother and two children had told her they were hit by US gunmen as they tried to leave their house.

She also said she met an old woman, shot in the abdomen, who was still clutching a white flag.

Dr Obaidi also said he had seen the body parts of a family in a bombed-out house: "There were seven women and five children. I saw the head of a child away from the body. Only one girl, aged four, had survived," he said.

Gen. Sanchez said civilian casualties were "absolutely regrettable", but were a fact on a "battlefield of this nature in an urban environment".

Gen. Kimmit, also blamed militants who "hunker down inside mosques and hospitals and schools, and use the women and children as shields" for the civilian suffering."..."

It sure sounds to me like we are shooting anything that moves (WHETHER or not it is someone going to seek safety in a religious building, a hospital, or a school)!

ALL of these buildings you speak of are internationally recognized bomb shelters for Pete's sake there General, but you are obviously saying that you are targeting these civilian buildings of safety simply because a "militant" or two may be in there!

For the record General, if a foreign Army is someday laying siege to your own city in the USA in an internationally illegal war that you just do not want even to be part of and you gather your remaining undead family members (and your pistol) in a room for what might well be your last moments on Earth, just who do you think is "shielding" who?

You said nothing about these "militants" holding hostages (because there are none right General)?

Are you also telling us General that the USA with it's proud history of posse's and Cowboy's and gun-fighting is unable to surround a building, shut off the water, and force these "militants" to come out since your basic training taught you that a human needs to drink every 3 days?

I do not doubt for one minute that Dubya has heard God's voice telling him he is ordained to bring freedom to all of the oppressed people of the world for . God spoke to him immediately after telling one of his fellow Texans to drown her five children. Then a little later God told another Texan to stone her two children to death. One of these women in now incarcerated for life and the other is in a hospital for the criminally insane.

Who says that crime doesn't pay? ask John Negroponte, future US Ambassador in Iraq, if it pays or not.

What about Ahmed Chalabi? Currently receiving $340,000 monthly from our hard earned money despite that all the information he furnished Cheney and Rumsfeld was erroneous. This after being convicted of stealing over $300 million from the Petra Bank in Jordan. In 1992, a Jordanian court convicted Chalabi in absentia of charges of embezzlement, fraud and breach of trust. The court sentenced Chalabi to 22 years in prison.

Commentary: Chalabi's road to victory ... Chalabi is still on the Defense Intelligence Agency's budget for a secret stipend of $340,000 a month. ...

After Bush, Cheney, and Rumsfeld told Prince Bandar, “you can take it to the bank”, I wonder if he did. It sure would be interesting to check out the stock market during the days and months after the revelation and before the war…who bought and sold what and when….Just wondering. Do you reckon some Congressional committee could check it out for us?

"The Bush administration's plans for a new caretaker government in Iraq would place severe limits on its sovereignty, including only partial command over its armed forces and no authority to enact new laws, administration officials said Thursday." NYTimes 4/23/04

So the puppet Iraqi Governing Council will be dismantled, but all the laws it enacted and those enacted by Paul Bremer, can't be touched by the new " leaders" of Iraq. That's "full sovereignty," Bush-style.

"Mr. Grossman was also asked what would happen if the new government wanted to adopt a foreign policy opposed by the United States, such as forging close relations with two neighbors, Iran and Syria. The United States, he replied, would have to use the kind of persuasion used by any American ambassador in any country." (ibid.)

I think he meant "by any American ambassador backed-up by an occupation army of 140,000."

sovereignty with limited power is like when i was a kid and my third grade teacher said she was going to grade papers and i could be in charge of the class. :):):) also i see kerry's medals are under attack....how many medals did bush get in the vietnam war? oh, thaaaat's right, bush has never been in a war. never had bullets flying around his head, never saw his buddies get blown to bits. what a pathetic piece of garbage he is.

In the past, besides my book orders, I ordered your postcards, "Bush Lied." My son, who is active duty in the US Navy (one of three active duty right now), was home on leave, and we took a cross-country trip, but spent most of our time in Texas. While traveling, we had a GREAT time dropping the cards wherever we went. The best place of all was when we hit Crawford, Texas. We had a great time pretending to be interested in the people who were standing to get their picture taken with a cardboard statue of King George. All the time, we 'errorized' the town and left a whole stack of your cards on all the post card racks, bathrooms, wherever we could...

Anyway, you do a great job. I've been reading the Buzz for a very long time, and you do this country and free speech proud!! Heavens, I think I might even have been one of the original 34.

Do you think we will be seeing any books or movies about him bringing his mistress into their home with his wife and kids there?

Weighing in and wondering about the Catholic church policy of some of its clergy to refuse communion to politicians who support abortion. Is that policy the same as those that support the death penalty, as some conservative Catholic politicians have?? Is this policy true for those that support the killing, accidental, and otherwise, of Iraqi citizens in an illegal war of death and injury? Is all this acceptable in the eyes of the Catholic church, as long as the victims are of another faith?? Just wondering...

As regards the latest from Novakula, on the possible Senate shutdown by Frist: If Frist closes down the Senate, blaming Tom Daschle for their "woes" many things can happen:

One would hope the DNC is noticing and crafting a gigantic campaign response, at every level, for every level. Played right, this could be sweet for Dems. However, there's the rub: Will. I don't mean that sad, strange little man, either.

Jesus God John Kerry! Put together a team of attack dogs to go after these rattlesnakes Bush has let loose on you! They are spreading the poison! Pick a VP! One who can chew them up and spit them out while you stay above it all! The Bush people do not fight fair, they do not have rules! They are street fighters and will kick your ass if you refuse to see that!!!

Auguste Rodin would never have used George W. Bush as the model for his famous sculpture, "The Thinker," a man sitting naked on a rock with his hand on his chin and his arm propped up by his knee, while apparently deep in thought. In George W. Bush, we have a fine example of the uncluttered mind. Consider this wonderful quote he gave the other day on the deteriorating situation in Iraq: "We've got tough work there because, you see, there are terrorists there who would rather kill innocent people than allow for the advance of freedom," he said. "That's what you're seeing going on: These people hate freedom, and we love freedom, and that's where the clash occurs." Here is a statement luminous in its simplicity and clarity. It is foreign policy as fairy tale, understandable by kiddies and adults alike.

It is, in short, a no-brainer. Meanwhile, the coffins return in increasing numbers.

Maybe, as befits a man who managed to avoid the temptation of mental effort, he is able to express perfectly what the average Americans are thinking, or not thinking, as it were. His decisions are not based on facts, but premises.

He evidently leaves the brain work to those more inclined, the Dick Cheney, and the neocons, who believe this country can succeed in Iraq where powerful forces have failed in the past. That, like all the rest, is another no-brainer.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1202335,00.html
Bring out your dead
Pictures of flag-draped coffins could kill Bush's re-election hopes
Mark Lawson Saturday April 24, 2004 The Guardian
American elections are frequently a duel between two photographs. The candidate tries to find the right picture, the snap which encapsulates his campaign: the young Bill Clinton shaking hands with JFK, or Ronald Reagan with his hand on his heart in front of a flag. His opponent hopes for the emergence of the wrong picture, the snap they didn't want on the poster: Gary Hart with a floozy on a yacht; Michael Dukakis looking like an Action Man model in a tank.

Subject: America's Monumental Heritage - National Wildlife - National Wildlife Federation

Seems Dubya failed to tell the truth/left this part out of Earth Day speech. Bring on the bull-dozers let's strip mine Nat'l Parks! I've actually been to Mesa Verde and some of the cliff dwellings were open to tour if you could get up to them. They were amazing, but if Halliburton can make money...

http://www.nwf.org/nationalwildlife/article.cfm?articleid=81&issueid=11

Greg

Subject: Images of Dead Servicepersons Returning From Iraq

The following is the lead letter in today's [April 24]Los Angeles Times, you might consider publishing. It shows that Bush and the Pentagon have lied that the families of killed servicepersons do not want these photographs on their return shown because they want to preserve their privacy:

Thank you, thank you, thank you for printing on the front page the picture of flag-draped coffins at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware (April 23). Americans need to see more of these images in order to weigh the cost of the war in Iraq. What you showed was scarcely 1% of the actual number of young Americans who have come home in coffins such as these. My dear son returned home in a flag-draped coffin nine months ago, and his return was shrouded in secrecy. The Army would not give us information on when he would arrive at Dover. We were also told we could not be at the Burbank airport when he arrived. The Pentagon says the secrecy is to protect the privacy of the families. Nonsense. Please continue to lift the veil of secrecy that surrounds the return home of our dead loved ones.

A BuzzFlash Reader

Subject: more about Tillman

I know you have Tillman articles on your site, but this is the biggest story to hit AZ in years. This fellow must have been a tremendous person. His coaches are shedding tears on TV. They had two hour-specials on him here in Phoenix. John McCain and Jon Kyl have spoken several times about it. This has shaken people up about the war like no other.

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0424tillman-appreciation.html

Henry

I like to see a photo of the coffins with Bush in front of them saying: "Bring 'em on..."

Just got back from Amy Goodman's Minneapolis stop on Amy Goodman's "Exception to the Rulers" tour. Thought you'd like to know, the MC quoted from the BuzzFlash interview with Amy in his intro. Nice to get some props, eh?

Yes, let's bring back the draft.....but only if the first to be drafted are Jenna, Barbara, Prescott, and oh yes, Nichole. They all share the last name "Bush". Just a thought.

It seems that "P"resident Bush considers the release of photographs of flag-draped military coffins a family privacy that should be respected. "America knows full well that our men and women are serving brilliantly both in Iraq and around the world but the sensitivity and privacy of families of the fallen must be the first priority a Bush puppeteer said.

Gee....I wonder what was depicted in a Bush CAMPAIGN ADD a month ago in which he used the tragedy and death of 9-11 to boost his approval ratings?

Bush forgot what he himself practices. Payoffs!!! Woodward says that the plan for after the war was not followed. The Iraqi army was disbanded and if $200 million had been given to the Iraqi army to pay salaries every 3 months, Bush might have gotten away with the claim that there were weapons of mass destruction, when there are none [unless they have since been planted.]

Here Bush, Cheney and their cohorts are master of the "payoff" for favors to get things done. Turns out they are cheapskates, amateurs, bumbling idiots, murderers who caused the death of thousands for revenge and oil.




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