The opinions expressed in the Mailbag are not necessarily those of BuzzFlash. Read the BuzzFlash FAQ for info on submitting to the Mailbag.

Subject: Conscription

Dear Buzz:

Need more soldiers for the war in Iraq and Afghanistan? It's unfair to extend those who have already completed their obligated term of service. Instead let's draft this year's crop of prep school graduates. It's simple, economical and socially just. They have precisely that quality we desire most in a soldier--a total devotion to the status quo.

Dwight Menard

Subject: Letter in May 31 Stripes remembers Bush's lack of military service

"Check your facts"

This is in response to the letter "Bush met guard requirements"...

The letter writer accused the editor of not checking basic facts and stated that claims of President Bush's invisibility in the National Guard are based on the comments of one commander two echelons above Bush.

The letter writer also listed the specifics of attendance records and that guardsmen require permission of their commander to miss a drill and then must make up the time.

I respectfully ask the letter writer to check a few basic facts. Perhaps he wasn't aware of the times in which Bush was supposed to have served. There are a number of firsthand accounts of the Vietnam era and service (or lack of service) in the National Guard.

If the letter writer doesn't have the time or energy to read an entire book, I refer him to the Feb. 10 column by Richard Cohen in the Washington Post.

Cohen said he was in the National Guard during this era, and he admits he was a "deserter" during his time in the National Guard.

He avoided reporting to duty for two years and, like Bush, he got paid for meetings he didn't even attend. Also, like Bush, he received an honorable discharge.

And as to Bush's "service" here are some "facts":

Between May 1972 and April 1973, there are no flight logs or attendance sheets to verify Bush's service. Bush does not appear in unit photographs. He is not listed on the unit roster.

Bush was paid for the first weekend of May in 1973. Yet two officers signed a report that same weekend stating that Bush had not been observed with his unit during that period.

Bush was not present to sign his discharge papers.

A number of people in Bush's unit were told to look out for him, but he never showed up.

Angela Cerrito
Aviano, Italy

Forwarded by A BuzzFlash Reader

Subject: Local Artillery Guard unit of over 300 soldiers was deployed to Iraq at 3 am in the morning, Memorial Day.

Dear Buzz, 

At 3 am Monday morning, Memorial Day, my local Army National Guard artillery unit of over 300 soldiers was deployed to Iraq.  In small Southern communities, anytime we have a local military unit deployed we honor their departure with a parade down Main St.  The local city government puts up the flags and citizens wrap big beautiful yellow ribbons around trees lining Main St signifying a safe arrival back home.   3 am in the morning?  Why all the secrecy? Just asking.

Nancy Lynn Nagy (TN)

Subject: OH CANADA!

Dear Buzz,

I just want everyone to know that Lion's Gate, the distributor of Michael Moore's film "Fahrenheit 911," is Canadian owned! THANK YOU CANADA! We thank you from the bottom of our hearts in that you will be providing a great service to all the American people who are being silenced by these right-wing neocons. God Bless you all.......I knew Canada was a great country, and friends wonder why I want to go and live there! I love you guys!!! You're great!.....Ok, I'll get off my soapbox now and shut up because I'm ranting again........but I just can't help it! Finally people who have the cajones to stand up for others! I love you.

Kerry in 2004! A Loyal Buzz Fan Forever!

Sharon Carlton
Bellevue, Nebraska

ps....Tonight I can get a restful night's sleep.. : ) And when I say my prayers tonight, I'll say a special prayer for Michael Moore for making this movie. Thank you & God Bless....

Subject: Bush's Lawyer & Tenet's Resignation

Does anyone see a connection between Bush's consultation with a lawyer regarding the Valerie Plame grand jury investigation and then the sudden resignation of George Tenet? Does Tenet know the person(s) in the White House that leaked the info to Novak and the only honorable thing to do is to bail ship? Or is there something else I'm missing? Just a few simple questions.

David Naugle
Minneapolis

Subject:  Bush consults private attorney over CIA leak probe (CNN)

Related to your earlier linking: I wonder if G.W.B. spent more time having "...'discussions' with a private attorney in connection with a federal grand jury investigation into who leaked the identity of a CIA operative..." than he spent with the 9/11 commission? Also, I wonder if he was able to have these discussions without needing Cheney by his side?

James Y.

Subject: Tenet's Resignation

This strikes me as so weird.  I've been listening to NPR's "Talk of the Nation" this afternoon as they have expert after expert explaining that George Tenet is resigning because of financial pressure --exactly those words -- because his son is graduating from high school. 

No doubt Tenet is overdue to cash in -- he's owed big time by this administration. But in a country where the minimum hourly wage is five bucks and change,  don't tell us that the Director of the freaking CIA is looking for a better job so that he can afford to send his kid to college. 

Libby Hicks

Subject: ?

Q: Yes, with Chalabi. THE PRESIDENT: My meetings with him were very brief. I mean, I think I met with him at the State of the Union and just kind of working through the rope line, and he might have come with a group of leaders. But I haven't had any extensive conversations with him.

Why Does Bush Need a Lawyer? (Washington Post)

DIDN'T BUSH SAY ALMOST THE SAME THING ABOUT KEN LAY? :):):) AS THE PHOTOS STARTED POPPING UP...:):):)

A BuzzFlash Reader

Subject: Tenet's family

Dear Buzz,

Am I being paranoid, or was George Tenet sending a hidden message in his stated reason for suddenly quitting as CIA chief:

"It was a personal decision, and had only one basis in fact: the well being of my wonderful family, nothing more and nothing less."

George Tenet Resigns As Director of CIA (AP)

Might we construe "the well being of my ... family" to hint that possibly--just possibly--someone ordered him to resign--"or else." (hint hint:  the safety of his family).   Is this as farfetched as it sounds--or is it just the times we're in, where I don't trust anything I hear from Washington anymore, to be an honest statement of what's really going on.

Sounds like Bush is getting off again, making Tenet the fall guy.  Please tell me I'm wrong.

A BuzzFlash Reader

Subject: On bush and outing wilson's wife

If the president had knowledge of the Wilson's Wife outing and allowed it to go through, doesn't that make him guilty of conspiracy to treason? And if it was an ongoing criminal enterprise (aka an illegal war with war profiteering) couldn't we seize the assets of Bush and Cheney et al due to RICO laws?

Jeff H.

Subject: Bush "jumped ship" resource page....

Hi.

In the light of the Tenet resignation, it might be interesting for you readers to get a better perspective of the number of people in the Bush administration who have 'jumped ship' to date. The media has paid almost no attention to this phenomenon - and one at a time, resignations almost seem insignificant. No way. The list is impressive:

http://www.tvnewslies.org/html/jumped_ship.html

Peace.
Reg

Subject: Iraqi Liberation

To BuzzFlash and its readers:

I have a question that maybe someone has an answer to. Bush says we are going to bring democracy to Iraq and the middle east. My question is this. If the war was to liberate the Iraqi people and free them from an evil dictator, as Bush now seems to be saying it was, it seems that we have done that. But, has anyone thought to ask if the Iraqi people really want a democratically run society? If we force democracy upon these people, aren't we in turn becoming exactly what we are supposed to be there to eliminate? Are we not becoming the dictator instead of the liberator? Just a thought.

Wynn Spell
Clute, Texas

Subject: Nancy Pelosi 

Subject: My Letter to C-Span/Washington Journal

Hi Buzz and my Buzz Friends,

This is a letter I wrote to C-Span/Washington Journal this morning regarding their having MoveOn.Org on, and some other guests this past week. It was refreshing to have some time for the liberal left, and though they say they give "equal" time to conservatives and liberals, many of us know that is simply not true.

I sure wish someone in BuzzLand would be able to follow Washington Journal every morning from now until the election to accurately chronicle just how often and how much time is devoted to the "liberal" vs "conservative" side. Maybe like Gloria LaLumia does, or maybe even she might like a change in this Election Year of something to monitor, I would love that!?   When WJ does have "liberal" types on they often seem to give them less time, or "pair" them in a "debate" with conservatives who "shout over them" or interrupt them.   Sure wish some Buzz friend could take on a weekly statistic type review of the names, times, and topics on WJ from now through the Fall , or share it with a friend to do.   Anyone else able to or interested in a "Washington Journal/C-Span Watch"?   (Let's let them know we are out here and are holding them accountable!)

Hi all,

Could you, please:

Have both of MoveOn's founders back on each month until the election, perhaps at an earlier morning time segment in WJ?

Re-air this segment sometime this weekend?

I wish these two could have been on WJ on Sat or Sun, but I guess those times are reserved for the AEI or Heritage types?

Finally, I loved Peter Singer (this whole topic and perspective, which is huge, but doesn't get much air-time/focus on other main channels was so refreshing and different; also the lady from Vermont who is VP on the Socialist ticket, but I swear some of the phone callers (from the Conservative Right, no less) were extremely verbally abusive to both of them, especially that guy that calls all the time from Fink Texas, calling her a "stupid old woman," should have clearly been cut off abruptly and quickly. C-Span is thus complicit in allowing verbal abuse to its guests, and when that is allowed, even passively condoned, it will continue to get worse as the Election nears, especially from the Right, and even appear to give permission for other more vulgar comments to sneak in, usually from mid-20's males who love Free Republic and are proud to be a Freeper.

I wish WJ could announce a new policy, which allows opinions, disagreements, even emotional discourse toward the other side's opinions, but will not allow verbal abuse, name-calling toward WJ's guests, or they will be cut off immediately. It is just going to get worse through this summer. Usually, it seems it is toward only those who have a modicum of liberal opinion, as was evidenced this past week.

Betsy Lyde, M.Ed., LPC, LMFT
Sherman, Texas
(a progressive Presby. liberal arts college town of 35,000... nearby Fink, Texas, is about 15 population, including the lazy dogs and stray cats, and a little bait and tackle place in the road on the way to beautiful Lake Texoma, and probably has only transplanted retired extras from the movie "Deliverance" living there. Its name was made popular by the wonderful, late Steve Allen on his old comedy shows in the 70's, when Fink's population was then about 17 dangerous and truly stupid rednecks. When I was growing up, going to the Lake Texoma with my high school gang, my parents, and my friend's parents, mostly college professors, always warned us not to stop in Fink for any reason, whether to get gas or ice, just don't stop. C-Span, don't let that weirdo from Fink take anymore airtime from others who are waiting, please! He's just inhaled too many paint fumes to take up everybody's time monthly, both guests and viewers.)

Thanks,

Betsy (retired public school teacher, who knows there was no "education miracle" in Texas at all; that was all a Karl Rove campaign 2000 hoax)

Subject: God's Blessing

Dear Buzz,

I was brought up in the church and have often heard a request for God's blessing. Now we don't need God. We just ask for George Bush's blessing.

Harold Martin

Subject: Tenet resignation

Ok, here we go again.  Bushy praised Tenet today, but wait until Tenet writes a book about this horrible administration.  Well, you now know the rest of the story. 

carolina

Subject: Can't hide Chalabi

Here is a photo on the White House website, ostensibly to highlight Laura Bush's "special guest," Dr. Adnan Pachachi, President of the Iraqi Governing Council, during President Bush's State of the Union Address. The photo can't hide the other "special guest," Ahmed Chalabi.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/rele...

Whoops.

Bill G.

Subject: Re: Your Afternoon Buzz

You better believe it the Republicans wanted Mr. Tenet out. They are trying to place the blame on someone for Bush's mistakes. So they are using Mr. Tenet as a scapegoat for giving Bush the wrong intelligence for going to war in Iraq. Everybody knows this was Bush's decision, along with Cheney and Rumsfeld.

A BuzzFlash Reader

Subject: WWII comparison

Well, of all the nerve - comparing the Iraq (Terror) war to World War II - the only comparison Bush can make is that Germany invaded Poland under the guise of Freedom and democracy (thereby starting the War) and he, Bush, had America invade Iraq under the guise of freedom and democracy. I don't know if he appreciates his "comparison," because most folks that I know (60 years and older) picked up on this immediately.

Audrey
Nanoose Bay, Vancouver Island

Subject: Well, if this don't take the cake.

Bush to Give Pope Presidential Medal of Freedom (Reuters/Yahoo News)

Yeah, but the president thinks that Rumsfeld has done a great job lately, too. (Don't get too cocky, now, John Paul!)

Sorry, but if this insult to America 's intelligence isn't a cynical ploy to get votes, I don't know what is.

Like Bush is some expert on anything, let alone freedom...God, I haven't laughed so hard at a Bush headline in a long time.

Warren O.

Subject: Re: Voting Machine Paper Trail is a Paper Tiger

BOY-O-BOY!

David Jenkins, programmer, in the BuzzFlash Mailbag of 6-3-04, has pinned the tail SQUARELY on the Dubya! Who in their right mind actually thinks this band of criminals will automatically just "up and move out" of the White House, even if they are "legally" voted out? - HAH! - FAT CHANCE!

Do they even understand the concept, or definition of, or have any respect for, "legality," or "the law"? I think NOT! If so, they most certainly have NOT demonstrated it during the last 3½ years!
Even their "in-our-pocket" cohorts in the highest court of this nation have lost sight of it!

THEY HAVE NO INTENTION OF RELINQUISHING POWER - NO MATTER WHAT IT TAKES TO REMAIN IN OFFICE!

That deserves repeating: It matters NOT if we LEGALLY vote them out on Nov. 2, they are DETERMINED to remain in power - REGARDLESS of the facts!

They have worked way too long, and far too hard, to respect the wishes of the citizens, this late in the game!

After all, why should they even dirty their BEAUTIFUL MINDS about what the lowly (UGH!) "people" want?

Should the vote tally not be in Bush's favor, there will be another "sneaky little maneuver" pulled from the bottom of Karl Rove's "Big Bag of Dirty Tricks" to bend the rules, and keep "Our Gang" in office, and The Supremacist Court will again obediently back it up - you can bet your tax refund on that! (ALL of it!)

That is, if we even get to HAVE an election - all it takes is one measly little Executive Order - one piece of paper with Dub's signature - POOF! - GONE! - "Officially Suspended" in the name of "National Security" without ever being "approved," "confirmed," or "voted on," by Congress, or anyone else! - Hello, Martial Law!

That's why it is SO important that we: IMPEACH THE BUMS NOW! - WORRY ABOUT VOTES, LATER!

GET MAD AS HELL, AND TAKE BACK OUR COUNTRY, WHILE THERE MIGHT STILL BE A CHANCE - OUR LAST CHANCE!

BUSH > OUT THE DOOR IN 2004!

nerdeaux in Idyho

(any bets on how many "mysterious" fatal airplane crashes occur before Inauguration Day, January 2005?)

Subject: Tenet and Pavitt Resignations

Subject: New CIA Head?

Now I've heard that Porter Goss (R-FL) is being considered for the new head of CIA? Now that's really frightening. As a Floridian I know about Goss, and he's a scary dude. Follow this link to see just what he's been up to, and I'll bet BuzzFlash readers will be as freaked as I am!

http://www.issues2000.org/FL/Porter_Goss.htm#Civil_Rights

N.E. Riley, St. Petersburg, FL

Subject: Liberals

We need a long list of achievements attributed to liberal thinkers. This is to counter those idiotic e-mails that run the internet by conservatives. I will start with #1.

If it wasn't for liberal thinkers, women would not be allowed to vote!

DEMOCRATICS for DEMOCRACY

Carolina

Subject: Slightly Amusing Thought

I thought it a bit amusing that today possibly for the first time in history that the most loved and the most hated men IN THE WORLD actually met and talked on mostly peaceful terms. (Bush and the Pope of course ... you can guess which is which.)

Larry P

Subject: Iraq Death Toll is **600*? !

Another lame attempt by the bu$h admin and the media to skew the death toll numbers from Iraq (they REDUCE the total number of dead (which is now at what - 823 or so?) by stating that the number *killed in action* is 600) God. What a blatant attempt to mislead the public!:

ABC:Four U.S. Troops Killed, Iraq Combat Toll Hits 600

http://www.abcnews.go.com/wire/US/reuters20040604_191.html

June 4, 2004 - BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Four U.S. soldiers were killed when their vehicle came under attack in eastern Baghdad Friday, bringing the number of Americans killed in action since the invasion to 600, the U.S. military said.

A BuzzFlash Reader

Subject: We All Would Like to Know . . .

Well this is interesting. Who picks who the news stations go after? The networks are attacking this Soros guy with a vengeance, Fox news sounds like they want to strip him naked, pour sugar all over him and tie him up in the sun next to a red and hill. We all were just wondering if Bush has any donors who are rich? By the way, what happened? We thought republicans liked rich people? Fox news is financed by a very rich man, Fox news is basically Bush campaign headquarters. So should Soros just by a network and pretend it is news, would that be ok? :):):):):):):):):):):)

Diane Anderson Miami, FL

Subject: Heads Up Material

Just passing this along. CNN just spoke with their reporter in Rome. He had clips of protestors firing something like paintballs at the hotel Bush is staying in and when they hit, it looked like blood oozing down the hotel windows and stone.

You must get the pics of Laura and Georgie's meeting with the Pope. GW has a look on his face that is priceless... like someone passed gas, ha. The look is in response to the Pope, essentially telling him off about Iraq and Abu Ghraib. More priceless is Laura Bush's face... kind of like, "How dare he!"

Good luck on finding the pic expressions. I guarantee that they are rewarding!

~ Cathy

[BuzzFlash Note: We couldn't find a photo that matched what you described, but we were wondering why Laura Bush dressed like she was attending a funeral.]

Subject: Al Gore was Right!! CIA Director George Tenet Takes His Advice and Resigns in Disgrace

Hello BuzzFlash and all BuzzFlash readers,

I encourage all BuzzFlash readers to pose the following question to any Right Wingnut we know:

So who is 'losing it' now?

For all the recent invective from the Right Wing pseudo-psychiatrists about Al Gore 'loosing it', 'cracking', 'being deranged', 'going insane', etc., at least one member of GeeDubya's inner circle has taken Gore's advice and stepped down.

CIA Director George Tenet has not-so-gracefully announced he is leaving in July, citing personal family reasons (don't they all?). Tenet was front and center in the Iraq WMD mess, claiming that the nearly decade old 'intelligence' he used indicated that it was a 'slam-dunk' that Iraq had significant quantities & stockpiles of WMD's and WMD production capabilities. He is also knee deep in the Chalabi/Iran debacle, the source of the Iran intelligence mess most likely from the CIA. Especially since Chalabi was the pet of the Neocons who are driving these failed policies, Tenet had no choice but to leave.

Imagine the anger that Al Gore feels given the condition our country is in, compared with what he and the previous administration worked so hard for eight years to create. He has every right to call for the resignations of those responsible.

Al Gore has been proven correct. These clowns have screwed things up so badly there is no choice but for them to simply get out, and finally someone in this administration has taken heed.

The sudden silence from the Right Wing is deafening.

Are they indulging in a little self-analysis, perhaps?

Warmest Regards,

GK, a Fervently Loyal, Devoted and Proud Liberal BuzzFlash Reader, who vehemently urges Condoleeza Rice to suddenly gain a conscience and follow Tenet's lead.