June 9, 2004
The opinions expressed in the Mailbag are not necessarily those of BuzzFlash. Read the BuzzFlash FAQ for info on submitting to the Mailbag.
Hey --
I don't see the fact that Time & Newsweek chose the exact same photo of Reagan for their covers this week as simply an act of chance. I'd argue it underscores the lack of diversity in thought in our consolidated media. Not only do we all have to read from the same script, but apparently we now all have to see the exact same image.
Shameful.
-- Jake
* * *
2 Weeklies' Covers Separated by a Common Reagan Picture
June 8, 2004
By DAVID CARRDespite having millions of images to choose from, the editors of Time and Newsweek have chosen the same photograph of Ronald Reagan for their covers.
Subject: Would you trust George Bush to plan your family vacation?
George Bush is such an irrational choice for the leader of the greatest country in the world that it's hard to quantify.
Here is a way you might think of it. If George Bush was in your family, would you let him plan your family vacation (assume you had to pay for it yourself, not using the Bush family fortune).
Wouldn't you worry that George Bush would promise Disneyland and you would instead end up in Needles, California? And you would end up there without planning for sunscreen or a snake bite kit? And he would put it all on the credit card and be gone before the bill came due?
Wouldn't you worry that you wouldn't be able to trust anything George said? Or that actually George's friends would plan your trip and he would just say he did?
If you wouldn't trust him to plan your family vacation, you really shouldn't trust him to be President of the United States of America.
Signed,
A BuzzFlash Reader
Subject: The Reagan Papers
Customarily, a president's papers are made public, twelve years after he leaves office. I wish someone would address this subject, why did Bush put the Reagan papers in a " lockbox?"
Tom Sklarski
Garfield, N.J.
Subject: Comparing Reagan to Bush
I'm somewhat disturbed by the lack of sensitivity of Republican comparing Bash and Reagan. I was never a Reagan fan - but I don't see the comparison. Reagan would never have fabricated a fake war and got over 800 American killed. Reagan would never have allowed rape, torture, and murder at Abu Ghraib Prison and then try to cover it up. Reagan didn't have contempt for law and honesty the way Bush does. And - Reagan was a whole lot smarter than Bush. Why Republicans want to disgrace Reagan in this time of national morning by comparing him to Bush is a mystery to me.
Marc Perkel
San Francisco, CA.
Subject: Reagan on 10 dollar bill? puke!
Are you aware of Grover Norquist's Reagan Legacy Foundation. he just told Judy Woodruff that they'll get Ronnie on the 10 dollar bill by the end of the month. sickening. replacing founding father Alexander Hamilton.
A BuzzFlash Reader
Subject: Reagan on the Dime?
BuzzFlash say it isn't so!!! Or on the $10 or $20! I don't want to look at his face every day!
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=...
- Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif., a speechwriter in the Reagan White House, plans to introduce a bill to put Reagan on the $20 bill, replacing another venerable Democrat, Andrew Jackson.
- That would join a previous proposal, by Rep. Mark Souder, R-Ind., to provide for dimes bearing the likeness of Reagan.
- The office of Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said he would pursue an idea he has pushed for several years, placing Reagan on the $10 bill now bearing the visage of Hamilton, the first Treasury secretary.
- Chris Butler of the Ronald Reagan Legacy Project, which has the goal of seeing a Reagan commemoration in every American county, said its top legislative priority is the $10 bill. He noted that money can be changed administratively without congressional action, and suggested that Reagan dimes could join, rather than replace, FDR dimes.
Lisa H.
Subject: Reagan on the Ten Dollar Bill?
It has already begun.
Repuglicans want to put Reagan on the ten dollar bill. That's ok, it's not worth ten dollars anymore anyway. But how about if we make it in really bright colors so it can look even more like worthless, overinflated, banana republic funny money. Maybe with some references to Latin American death squads thrown in, just for a touch of reality.
Ruth Lopez
Orlando, FL
Subject: Re: Independent story on G8 summit security, 2000 body bags, etc.
The body bags have been shipped in, locals are running scared, and foreigners are being arrested and deported. Organizers of this week's G8 Summit are taking no chances with security.
>>>> At Beachview Books, a gathering place for embattled, vociferous liberals, attitudes are is less gung-ho. Larry, editor of The Great Speckled Seagull, a "semi-underground" periodical, is a gentle radical who wears a cowboy hat with a feather in it and carves weirdly beautiful faces in the island's trees. He has just heard a rumour that 2,000 body bags have been delivered to the clapboard Chamber of Commerce across the road from the bookstore. This intelligence is passed around like a joint at a fortysomething party, a delicious whiff of recreational danger. Five minutes later, one of the island's fire chiefs drops by, fresh from a briefing. It's not a rumour. The body bags are here, together with a refrigerated lorry to take away the corpses. "I liked it better when it was a rumour," says Larry.
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/politics/story.jsp?story=529162
A BuzzFlash Reader
Wow! If I didn't know any better I'd almost think they killed ole Ronnie off for political purposes. Besides, how else could they get Nancy to shut up about all that stem cell crap. I'm sure that was getting politically inconvenient, too.
Suzanne F.
Subject: Reagan Supporting the Military
Dear Buzz,
Another blast from the Reagan past, my husband was in the military when Reagan got elected saying he would give the military a big pay increase. Well, he did give an increase on base pay but took back a lot of allowances or bonuses that make up for things such as hazardous duty, flight duty, etc. So base pay rose but the overall take home pay stayed the same, plus or minus a dollar or two. But the end effect of this game with smoke and mirrors was that base pay rose and that is what the retirement is based upon. Men retiring from that time have a higher retirement pay, and they have had to go to a complicated formula and a lower percentage to compensate for Reagan's ignorance.
A faithful BuzzFlash Reader.
Subject: Included in Reagan's legacy must be the following
Comparing Reagan and Bush. Hint...guess who looks worse?
I never thought I would actually feel that something about Reagan would make me feel he was any good at anything. All the time the media and the Republicans, and those idiot Reagan Democrats were gushing over what a great communicator he was I remember wincing every time I heard him speak, feeling the embarrassed anticipation of hearing him give himself time to think by answering all questions with "Well...," and then say something innocuous like repeating Nancy's whispered, "We're working on it'."
One of the smartest things he used to do (for him and his blind followers) was cup his hand to his ear and claim he couldn't hear anything, and, of course, to never be exposed to an impromptu question from the media.
But now, in sharp contrast Reagan does come across as a great communicator because George is now our selected president. George who must e-n-u-n-c-i-a-t-e every word carefully, loses the message if someone doesn't put a (pause) prompt where a comma normally goes in what he's reading. Reagan was good at swinging his head around while he spoke seeming to include the entire audience in on some secret but shared joke, while Bush bobs his head up and down between his shoulders and just smirks making us think he's got a secret in which the joke is on us. He turns his eyes to the side monitors before turning his head. And I must admit, Reagan had his lines down and memorized much better than Bush. A side effect of his acting discipline, no doubt, knowing his lines. At that time I didn't appreciate Reagan's acting style much, until now when I have Bush to compare him to. Bush by himself is a bad communicator, but in comparison with just about everybody else, he's the worst communicator ever.
Remember when Sam Donaldson could always be heard yelling very pointed over the noise of the rest of the reporters? That made Sam famous, though he turned out to be a disappointment when they gave him a show. But in those days Sam asked the hard questions American's wanted the answers to. I don't recall Reagan ever answering a single question Sam asked. Ever.
Among all the hoopla the right is feeding us (perhaps in anticipating carving his likeness into Mt. Rushmore) I think that within Reagan's legacy must be included the following: Aids. He ignored it for years, letting it spread into one of the most devastating world killers, in spite of the begging of the gay community. It was a homosexual disease. So what? Next!
Homelessness. When he was Governor of California his 'fiscal responsibility' cuts shut down mental institutions which resulted in the mentally ill being released into the streets to fend for themselves. To this day it's common to see crazy people like the famous 'bag ladies' who no one can approach because the only way they know how to defend themselves is to be aggressive. We've all become accustomed to the homeless man who stands in the middle of the street and screams obscenities, and to the smelly pile of filthy rags huddled in doorways, asleep, or maybe dead. Who cares. There are too many to care about anymore.
And now we have Arnold Schwarzenegger, another republican actor who is rich and never needs to worry about his bills, who wants to cut even more services to those who can't survive without them. Where will those children be in 20, 30 or 40 years? Who cares. We'll get used to them just like we've gotten used to those filthy homeless people. Meantime, Arnold and his family and his greedy Republican friends will be even more wealthy. Why should they worry what happens outside their gated communities?
Judith Foster,
Berkeley
Subject: Reagan v. Bush
The nostalgia for the Reagan administration can only be explained by its contrast with the current Bush administration. Reagan's doubling the deficit looks almost quaint viewed next to Bush's economic toboggan ride from huge surpluses to the largest deficit in history. Reagan "ended the cold war" (well, perhaps the failing Soviet economy had just a little to do with it) and invaded a Caribbean island no one cared about, while Bush started two hot wars and exponentially increased our enemies worldwide. Reagan told us catsup was vegetable, Bush told us Iraq posed an immediate danger. Reagan said "tear it down," Bush said "bring 'em on." Reagan sold arms to Iran, and Bush sold us one lie after another. I suppose with George Bush and his " achievements" to play against, even Ronald Reagan can look good.
Albert Clark, NY
Subject: Good Article
RE: Jobs, Jobs Everywhere and Not a Job to Find - Norma Sherry
Thank you for including Norma Sherry's article in BuzzFlash. She said a mouth full and she certainly knows what she's talking about. Incidentally, we are about to bury a president who handled high unemployment in similar manner. I can still see Reagan on the news with a newspaper in his hands telling the American people that there were plenty of jobs in the classified section. Of course, he dared not tell what kind of Help Wanted ads were in most US papers. There were plenty of bamboozle types ads which included their 1-800 telephone numbers. Those ads wanted you to fork out $40 of what you had left in your savings account and send it to them. Those who responded sadly found out that the ads were come-ons. Other ads were for 15-20 hrs. per. week night shift Janitors, Fast Food restaurant workers. 90% of legit ads in my home town newspaper were minimum wage, no benefits. Reagan like Bush did not count those who had exhausted unemployment benefits and had plain, old given up. And wasn't it Reagan who was staunchly against raising the minimum wage?
Bush is a clear example of history repeating itself when it comes to hiding the actual unemployed in this country. And rumor has it that there has been discussion about putting Reagan on the ten dollar bill. Imagine honoring such a man who caused so much financial pain for American families. I speak from experience. I can testify to the fact that he caused extreme financial pain in my family. Isn't that the job of the Pope?
Reagan would be more honestly honored with his image on a revival of the 2 cent piece. I will be listening to old cassette tapes of favorite pop artists this week, mainly because I am so burnt out on Reagan over-kill coverage. I wonder if the Pope knows that the republicans and corporate media are canonizing Ronnie all week.
~ Cathy
Subject: Jobs, Jobs, Jobs
Am I just a dumb Canuck -If you created 250,000 new jobs and your unemployment rate is still 5.6% (which it has been for the last three months) you must have also lost 250,000 old jobs, otherwise the unemployment rate should have come down; even a miniscule percent; It sounds to mean that they are only reporting the good news without giving you the actual calculations, which would indicate that nothing has changed, and the American press is being complicit with the Government again.
Audrey
Nanoose Bay Canada
What is this crap, about putting Reagan's picture on the 10 dollar bill? Put him on the trillion dollar bill. That's where he put the deficit.
Clair M.
Subject: Congratulations, AL!!
Dear Buzz -
Here's some good news, in the midst of the Reagan diatribe of misinformation!
Arbitron shocker: Franken beats Limbaugh
Boy, talk about burying the lead. In its Monday profile of the new liberal talk radio network Air America, the New York Times spent so much time dwelling on the financial woes that have reportedly plagued the start-up company that it wasn't until the 15th paragraph that readers learned this bombshell: Talk radio novice Al Franken's new Air America show beat conservative kingpin Rush Limbaugh in New York City where the two go head-to-head every weekday afternoon from noon to three o'clock. That's according to preliminary Arbitron rating estimates for April.
Heard in New York on WLIB-AM, whose ratings were virtually non-existent prior to switching over to Air America's programming earlier this year, Franken and the rest of Air America's 10 a.m-to-3 p.m lineup grabbed a 3.4 rating among listeners age 25-to-54. By contrast, Limbaugh who has been the most highly rated political talk show host in America for the last decade, and who is heard in New York on talk radio powerhouse WABC, lead the station to just a 3.2 rating. There's more (although the Times forgot to mention it): Among listeners 18-to-34, Franken and WLIB won in a knockout, garnering a 2.9 ratings share compared to WABC's dismal 0.4 showing.
N.E.
Riley, Florida
Subject: Coffins
According to the Bush Administration pictures of coffins are:
a. ok if it is Ronnie Reagan's, it is political asset
b. forbidden if it belongs to a fallen soldier, it is political liability
Jane B.
Subject: Reporters Gone Crazy at the G8
I was coming home from the dentist today, jaw out to here, and I am quite sure I heard a story about a bunch of reporters, being fed the story about Reagan's timely death, yeah timely,....and John King...and some more reporters, dropping their mics...and running to find out the story!...The station we were listening to...reminded us how important it was for every station to GET THE STORY FIRST!!! Hell, I knew that....I just wish there were some film of this happening...or someone out there who might have seen it.
All I have heard since returning from my trip...is Reagan....Reagan...and more Reagan.
Help if anyone can...!
Shirley St.Louis
PS...there is nothing I love more than seeing reporters make asses out of themselves...and they do it occasionally. 'Scuse me, more than that, I love to see Television stations and republicans make asses out of themselves!!!
Subject: Inhofe's moral bankrupcy
"I have to say I'm probably not the only one up at this table that is more outraged by the outrage than we are by the treatment. The idea that these prisoners, you know they're not there for traffic violations. If they're in cellblock 1A or 1B these prisoners, they're murderers, they're terrorists, they're insurgents, many of them probably have American blood on their hands, and here we're so concerned about the treatment of those individuals." --- James Inhofe, (R) Oklahoma
Senator James Inhofe’s statement is more than just a defense of the indefensible. It is a contemptible display of utter moral bankruptcy. Never mind that he is just plain wrong on the facts regarding the guilt or innocence of the incarcerated, 90% of whom it is estimated were wrongly detained. Inhofe argues, in affect, that two wrongs make a right. In so doing, he dismisses the rules of international law, of human decency, and the Christian dictums of how a Just War should be fought.
The Senator had a constitutional obligation to objectively investigate the circumstances which led to this incredibly destructive episode. He instead chose to testify and to excuse this wretched chapter in American history. I guess the pull of partisanship and the illusion of American Exceptionalism was too much for him to resist. And for him to decry the “politicalization”of the issue is ridiculous to the point of ignorance. Tell me Senator, just how in a Republic are we to redress such an issue but through the political forum? The very problem IS political. Instead, Inhofe advocates leaving the matter to the Nobles Oblige of the Bush Administration.
As a citizen and a proud American, I can’t begin to tell you how offensive I find it that one of our leaders would espouse such an abhorrent position with all its ignoble implications.
As your employer, Senator, let me tell you have grossly failed in your duties. If you do not understand the simple concept that American forces DO NOT ENGAGE in such behavior, regardless of circumstances, than you are unfit for office! Being an American means holding ourselves to a higher standard. We can not permit our institutions, be it the military, or administration apologists such as Inhofe to subvert or otherwise diminish those standards. If we do, then we cease to be an America worth fighting for.
Where does responsibility for such damnable actions lie? Where do our soldiers get the idea that they can commit such acts with impunity? Look in the mirror, Senator. The evil lies within you.
Jay Bagi
San Francisco, CA
Subject: How much does the Reagan extravaganza cost taxpayers?
Just wondering--does anybody have any idea how much this weeklong funereal extravaganza for Mr. Ketchup-is-a-vegetable-when-it-comes-to-school-lunches-for-poor-kids Reagan will cost American taxpayers in this time of unprecedented national debt and economic instability?
TJ, Nashville
Subject: Full torture memo now available online!
from democraticunderground com posts................
Full torture memo is available online! [bet the JAG corps folks leaked this baby]
think Ashcroft perjured himself today, not to mention committed Contempt of Congress.
Ashcroft refuses to give the memo to the Senate investigating committee and infuriates the Senators, who only know about it through the newspapers, and now it is online!!! I am rolling on the floor!!!!!
go to
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5166951/site/newsweek [takes a loooooong time to load]or try this link
This one is the 52 page PDF from Michael Ratner on Air America he said this one has four extra pages that are real damning -
http://www.ccr-ny.org/v2/reports/report.asp?ObjID=0Shrzgi8q7&Content=385It is the beginning of the end.
It's No Mystery Why They Wanted To Keep It Secret
This is a MAJOR leak of a VERY embarrassing document. A lot of the questioning today makes sense in light of this. The Dems knew this was coming and set up Ashcroft today. It will be very scary if there are no consequences in light of this memo and Ashcroft's testimony.
......It's damning as hell and puts the whole thing in chimpy's lap because he's the ONLY one who has the authority to OVER RIDE international law according to the memo...It's HIS authority that makes the bending of torture rules possible according to this memo...HE KNEW AND APPROVED AND HAD TO PERSONALLY AUTHORIZE IT OR OTHERWISE IT COULDN'T HAVE HAPPENED.
<< June 8 - A memo classified by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld in 2003 explores ways of conducting interrogations in the war on terror that would allow guards to evade future prosecutions for torture. In a series of minutely argued points that appear designed to evade restrictions on abusive interrogation techniques, the memo concludes that “excessive force”is illegal only when it is “malicious and sadistic.”It also argues that treatment of prisoners should be defined as torture only when "the infliction of pain" is an interrogator's "precise objective.">>
-----------------------------
This one is the 52 page PDF from Michael Ratner on Air America he said this one has four extra pages that are real damning -
CCR OBTAINS INTERNAL PENTAGON REPORT OUTLINING FRAMEWORK FOR USE OF TORTURE
http://www.ccr-ny.org/v2/reports/report.asp?ObjID=0Shrzgi8q7&Content=385
-------------------------
A conspiracy to commit treason,...to intentionally seek means of violating the constitution and laws of this land,...is worse than unconscionable,...it is freakin' evil.
A BuzzFlash Reader
Subject: Buzz--About Reagan.
Dear Buzz:
We'll be forever in Reagan's debt...
Joe Bacon
Los Angeles, CA
Governor Jeb Bush announced a $2.4 million entertainment industry financial incentive fund that will attract increased film and television production into Florida.
Governor Jeb Bush vetoed legislation that would have authorized $1 million for seed money to attract investment in alternative energy research and development earlier this year.
chris mcfarland
boca raton
Subject: Bumper sticker
I would like to see a bumper sticker that reads:
BUSH IS GOD
That's playing into his way of thinking.
But seeing it in print would at least promote thought (maybe) in the rush-sean cool-aid drinking people. Some might ask themselves, is he really? What would a real christian think?
Carolina
Subject: Kast Resignation
WHAT ARE THE BIG WIGS AT THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY DOING ABOUT THE ABOVE...AND THIS MATTER IN GENERAL. THEY HAVE THEIR 'SNOOZE' BUTTON ON AGAIN AS PER USUAL....JUST ASKING?????? THEN WE WONDER TO OURSELVES WHY WE HAVE THE RALPH NADER'S OF THIS WORLD !!!!!
Colette
Miller
Wellington
Fl
Subject: Reagan Funeral
Heard on the radio this morning that Pres. Clinton and Pres. Carter were not asked to speak at Reagan's funeral. Don't know which paper was reporting this.
A BuzzFlash Reader
Subject: The Reagan Years, Don't Remind Me!!!!!
June 9, 2004
I just heard Tom Delay say that Reagan was not an amiable dunce, but a fearless, intellectual warrior. Well, after looking in the mirror everyday, I don't doubt Delay could identify a dunce, but "amiable is a rather foreign word for the "hammer" of the mean-spirited, egotistical branch of the GOP.
Reagan was amiable and not a dunce, although he was rather disconnected some of his first term and most of his second term, but "fearless, intellectual warrior"? Grenada comes to mind.
I'm about to go back a re-do my recollections of the Reagan "Me, and only me" years, which I attempted to put down in my early writing years. My protesting, angry years really kicked during the 1996 election when Bob Dole stated that Clinton's first term was the most corrupt first term in history.
I turned 34 in 1980 and I remembered Reagan's first term, but I remembered it a bit different than some of my peers, George W. Bush, for instance. During the Reagan years Dubya lead 3 oil companies to bankruptcy, gave up drinking and invited the Texas Ranger fans to watch him urinate to prove that he is just one of the folks.
You don't believe he said it? Check out page 71 of the Current Biography, 1997 issue. There are a lot of quotes from a Time Magazine profile from the July 31, 1989 issue.
He often attended home games at the Arlington Stadium, making a point of sitting in the stands, rather than in the air-conditioned owner's box. "I want the folks to see me sitting in the same kind of seat they sit in, eating the same popcorn, peeing in the same urinal," he told Laurence Barrett.
Dole spurred me into action, but I had no Internet access, in fact I had no computer. I used primarily the second of the Yearly Almanac that points out not-worthy happenings each year and a couple of other sources, none of which are particularly partisan in nature.
It is pretty long so I am going to go back and re-do and shorten parts and send it out in sections. I think I shall call it, "Thanks, but no thanks for the memories, Ron." I am now at the library because my computer gets tired as easily as I do.
I don't want anyone to think I am picking on the dead. It is his policies I have the most problem with and not his amiable nature and no one ever described his co-horts, who are still trying to wreck my life, as amiable. Reagan is the one who sent Rumsfeld to make nice to both Osama and Saddam.
NO:
C heney
A shcroft
R umsfeld
B ush
Speak up or they assume you agree!!! ABB
Karen Webb, Moore, Ok.
Subject: GREAT QUOTE! OF THE DAY!
Today's last word is from Howard Zinn, from 'Failure to Quit'
"Civil disobedience is not our problem. Our problem is civil obedience. Our problem is that numbers of people all over the world have obeyed the dictates of the leaders of their government and have gone to war, and millions have been killed because of this obedience. Our problem is that people are obedient all over the world in the face of poverty and starvation and stupidity, and war, and cruelty. Our problem is that people are obedient while the jails are full of petty thieves, and all the while the grand thieves are running and robbing the country. That's our problem."
SO DO WHAT I DO...F...OBEYING!
PEACE OUT, TRUTH OUT, DEB, NYC, PLANET EARTH
Subject: Oops, I forgot one more question
Dear BuzzFlash,
Someone asked me the following question. Since Washington, DC is the most surveilled city in the World, and since the Pentagon must be very important and must have lots and lots of video cams running 24/7, how come we never see any video footage of the airplane hitting the Pentagon? Wouldn't that be a RNC Kodak moment for W? Just asking, n'est-ce pas?
Larry
Hi Buzz,
I've been listening for days about Ronnie's witticisms and sense of humor.........but you have to also give credit where credit is due concerning Dubya's being comical at times.......Remember?....Remember when he went to Stevie Wonder's concert...... and being seated in the front row....he waved to Stevie as he walked on stage..........Now I think that was comical.....DON'T YOU?.......heh heh.
Genie