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

Subject: Answer to GOP commercial

The GOP is running a commercial now showing John Kerry saying, "We can't fight communism everywhere," then showing Reagan saying "Tear down this wall."  We could turn this around on them by running Kerry's statement, then explaining Kerry was right because the Soviet Union fell without firing a shot or loosing one soldier. Ya'll are smart enough to do this.

John G.

Subject: Schwarzenegger

Love the site. Have been on the e-mail list for a couple of years now. I was wondering when someone might start looking into the fact that Arnold owes everything he has to the use of illegal drugs, mainly steroids. There is absolutely no way he would have attained the body size he did and win the competitions he did without the use of massive doses of steroids. Is this the kind of person we want our kids to look up to? When will he fess up and tell the truth?

Thanks,

Derek C Edwards

Subject: Re: 9/11 Panel must Interview Saddam

Why won't the 9/11 Commission interview Saddam themselves? The panel interviewed everyone in the Administration, but none of the prisoners, especially Saddam. Cheney has said there's a link, so the 9/11 panel has the right to interview him. Saddam is also now in US custody. Please report this and beg this question to your readers.

http://www.counterpunch.org/leupp06242004.html

http://www.counterpunch.org/brauchli06242004.html

Help stop the lies of the Bush Cartel.

Nigel

Subject: It's not what they say, it's what they don't say

Scalia, a Reagan administration appointee and close friend of the vice president, had said the duck hunting trip was acceptable socializing that wouldn't cloud his judgment. "If it is reasonable to think that a Supreme Court justice can be bought so cheap, the nation is in deeper trouble than I had imagined," he wrote in an unusual 21-page memo announcing his decision to stay on the case.

That's like the old joke where the guy asks the girl if she will sleep with him for a million bucks. She says yes, and he says, "Well, would you sleep with me for $5." She says, "What do you think I am a whore?"

And he says, "Yes we've established that, we're just haggling over the price."

Scalia's response implies that you can buy a Supreme Court justice. He also implicitly says the nation is in trouble and he has already imagined that it's pretty deep already.

In the end, it's great that the Supremes decided for Cheney. I have grown hoarse trying to convince some friends that the court is partisan. They have now established that as a fact.

John S.

Subject: Our Horseless Rider

Dear BuzzFlash,

Thanks once again for all you do...

Michael Moore has it right. Humor is the way to go.

You probably know that patiently arguing facts with anyone who voted for Bush is a waste of time. The more evidence of incompetence and corruption you lay on, the more these knuckleheads retreat into "I Believe" mode. They sincerely believe no one in the office of President of the United States could be like that, especially not a Republican, so they retreat into their cranial cave, their view illuminated only by the dim, blinding fire of denial.

So make fun. And not just of Bush -- make fun of them too. Point out that Bush is a pseudo-religious con artist of the Elmer Gantry sort, only not as smart, and they're the poor rubes he's taken to the cleaners. Of course, they probably won't know Elmer Gantry from Adam, but that's part of pointing out their vulnerability to being duped.

Saddam tried to kill his daddy, and he got even by conning the country that invading Iraq was all about self-defense. In Bush's world, Saddam turned down a plea for help from al Qaeda, which proves they had a "relationship." Over eight hundred American soldiers have died on the basis of that 'relationship."

His supporters fell for it and still take it seriously. How can they be taken seriously?

We shouldn't make the mistake of dignifying Bush with sincere debate. There are thousands of ways to point out that Bush is an idiot. Mock the man. Mock his supporters. Reduce him to the joke he is and anyone who supports him also becomes the butt of the joke.

It's a very wide butt.

Reduce the Bush presidency to simple absurdity. The more simple the better.

Ask Bush defenders where they're hiding those Weapons of Mass Destruction, and why they haven't told Bush where they are yet. Ask them when they're leaving for that vacation in Baghdad now that it's so liberated and democratic.

If they insist you get serious, don't fall for it. Instead, show them that Bush is the real comic. Memorize a few quotes: 

"Rarely is the question asked: Is our children learning?" "We ought to make the pie higher." "I know how hard it is for you to put food on your family." http://www.bushisms.com/index1.html

Now, using humor doesn't mean you can't show them you know what you're talking about. Point out the silliness of Bush's programs starting with the twisted goofiness of their very names. In Bush's world, names mean the opposite of reality.

Point out that "No Child Left Behind"' means forcing states to spend money on testing while laying off teachers to pay for it. "Clear Skies Initiative" means allowing more pollution into the air we all breathe to save money for Bush campaign contributors. "Healthy Forests" means cutting down trees for a profit so they won't burn. "Global Warming" is only real in countries that don't speak English so good as Yale-educated oil men.

Ask Bush Supporters (okay, call them Herr Nets if you insist) if they voted for him because of his tan lines and squinty eyes or because of his ability to speak in short soundbites. Ask them if they realize his "tax relief" is really deferred taxation, because the resulting national debt will have to be paid off WITH interest by somebody sometime -- that big joke is on our children and grandchildren.

Ask them which comic book hero Bush reminds them of, going after all those evil-doers from his easy chair at the ranch.

Ask them why a president who spends forty percent of his time vacationing on his ranch can't even ride a horse.

And don't forget to snicker while you're asking, and laugh long and loud when they sputter.

http://neologic.blogharbor.com/blog/_archives/2004/6/24/93837.html

Subject: please tell us bush did not say this to robertson....

BROWN: I want to ask you how you feel about the war in Iraq. And if God is calling this war a disaster, does that mean that he is actually opposed to it?

ROBERTSON: Well, I don't think God's opposed to the war, necessarily, but it was a danger sign. I felt very uneasy about it from the very get-go. Whenever I heard about it, I knew it was going to be trouble. I warned the president. I only met with him once. I said, You better prepare the American people for some serious casualties. And he said, Oh, no, our troops are, you know, so well protected, we don't have to worry about that. But it has been messy. And I think we're going to come out of it, though. I think we'll have a free Iraq. But it certainly has been a mess so far.

• Religion and politics
June 22: Pat Robertson talks to Campbell Brown about Iraq and the religion of Islam.
MSNBC TV

A BuzzFlash Reader

No kidding, Paul. The last six months were pretty "crucial" too. And the six before that...

What an idiot. Vote Dem and save your kids....

jj

Subject: The President on 9/11

During his photo-op at Booker Elementary on 9/11, after being told by Andrew Card that a second plane had struck the World Trade Center and that "America is under attack:"

The President told us his instinct was to project calm, not to have the country see an excited reaction at a moment of crisis . . . The President felt he should project strength and calm until he could better understand what was happening. (9/11 commission staff statement #17, p. 22)

With years to work on a convincing explanation, the sheer implausibility of this one is a measure of how undeniable the video evidence from that day is of Bush's failure of leadership on 9/11. It should be obvious that people must know that they are seeing the President reacting to crisis with "strength and calm" in order for his actions to reassure them. Since no one watching TV that day, and few in attendance, knew that the President had just been told "America is under attack," sitting and doing nothing could not possibly "project" a reassuring "strength and calm." In the situation that day, failing to act could only convey precisely the panicked indecision, the frozen, wooden bewilderment that comes through in video of the event.

The plain, inescapable fact is that Bush was tested as a leader on 9/11 and that he failed. Our Commander in Chief was told "America is under attack" and did not react, did not issue a single order to protect the country. All accounts and records of that day, now including the President's own illogical "explanation" of his conduct, bear this out.

Albert Clark, NY

Subject: Your Use of the Term "Insurgents"

Dear Buzz,

In your headlines, you refer, as do the U.S. corporate media, to Iraqi fighters against the American occupation of  Iraq as "insurgents." The term "insurgents" connotes illegitimate fighters against legitimately constituted authority. I would call them "the resistance," which connotes those who legitimately want to free themselves of foreign occupation, such as the French resistance fighters during World War II.

A BuzzFlash Reader

jesus god! last night on hard ball saxby chambliss said all these death threats only mean we are winning the war on terror. yikes! and bush tells pat robertson he doesn't need to warn the american people about casualties because our troops are too well protected. jesus god! these people are insane!

karen

[BuzzFlash Note: If being attacked means we're winning the war, then peace will mean we lost it. God forbid we lose the war on terrorism and our lives become overwhelmed with peace and prosperity. Well, Bush's god forbid.]

Subject: Book of the Month Review

Thank you for your "Independent Thinker" Book of the Month suggestion and review. 

Both the books and your review are informative, thoroughly enjoyable to read.  (Since I am a supporter and daily reader of BuzzFlash, I do purchase the books as a BuzzFlash premium.)

I am a frequent listener to your show and enjoy your books.  I am looking forward to your latest on Jefferson.  Thank you for keeping the liberal, non-corporate and "commons" thinking alive.

Wendy L.

Subject: Dept. of Homeland Security official has ties to incarcerated terrorist suspect

The policy director for the Department of Homeland Security's intelligence division was briefly removed from his job in March when the Federal Bureau of Investigation discovered he had failed to disclose his association with Abdurahman Alamoudi, a jailed American Muslim leader. Alamoudi was indicted last year on terrorism-related money-laundering charges and now claims to have been part of a plot to assassinate Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Abdullah.

After a flurry of interagency meetings, however, Homeland Security decided to leave the policy director, Faisal Gill, in place, according to two government officials with knowledge of the Alamoudi investigation. A White House political appointee with close ties to Republican power broker Grover Norquist and no apparent background in intelligence, Gill has access to top-secret information on the vulnerability of America's seaports, aviation facilities and nuclear power plants to terrorist attacks.

How secure is the Department of Homeland Security? (salon.com)

Subj: Re: Today's Top 5 Headlines on BuzzFlash.com

Dear Buzz,

I have to agree with other BuzzFlash loyalists. Does it make sense that the Saudis all of a sudden and accidentally found an Al-Qaeda leader in their midst after the beheading of an innocent man? Hell no! Since when have the leaders of Saudi Arabia become a credible news source? They knew exactly where the terrorists were. Bush can't find them, but I bet the Saudi royal family and friends could find Bib-Laden if they wanted to!

Loyal to BuzzFlash Always,

Linda McC.
North Wales, PA

Subject: Moore Film Violates FEC Rules? What about FOX?

Dear BuzzFlash,

If the FEC bans advertising for Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 9/11" -- arguing that "political
documentary filmmakers may not air television or radio ads referring to federal candidates within 30 days of a primary election or 60 days of a general election," there is only one response.

If this comes to pass, it is time that FOX News and the radio propagandists for Bush be put under the same standard. After all they are no more than an arm of the Bush political machine, and I would hope the lawsuits will fly!

‘Fahrenheit 9/11' ban?
Ads for Moore's movie could be stopped on July 30 (thehill.com)

Jim P

Subject: The Ace in the Hole at the DNC Convention?

Hi Gang!

It would cause blood to boil, tempers to flare, outrages to burst, pundits to pander...and send Republinuts in a tail-spin as with how to respond to it.

Can you imagine Ron Reagan being one of the key speakers at the Democratic Convention in Boston?

Perhaps Patti Davis?

Or even more damning to the current administration: Nancy Reagan?

I can hear it now..."I've come to talk to you this evening about the issue of healthcare and medical research in this country."

Jerry Peurala
Westfield, IN

Subject: Cheney tells Sen Leahy to FUCK OFF--literally!

Judy Woodruff just reported that Cheney, in an exchange with Leahy on the senate floor during a 'class picture' of the senate, told Leahy to fuck off/fuckyou (the fuck, which they called the F word, is substantiated--whether it was OFF or YOU, I am unsure), after Leahy commented that Cheney called him a bad Catholic. I am still looking for a print source, thought you would like a heads up in the event that you have a better search engine.

A BuzzFlash Reader

Subject: "I was duped"

Dear BuzzFlash:

I am, personally, extremely tired of hearing " I/we were duped...."

That has become the catchword of NO ACCOUNTABILITY for not paying attention!

Mary in Indiana

Subject: MoveOn sponsoring "Thousands" of House Parties June 28th-celebrate F911 showing!

Hi Buzz,

Hope you all know about the 'virtual' great get-together to celebrate Michael Moore's F911
documentary -- thanks to MoveOn. House parties will be everywhere. Sign up and join in. Let's all party and talk about the movie and toast a salute to the exit of gwb.

Maybe, we can get lucky and have gwb join in! He can dress up in his jump suit, you know the crotch hugger from his debut on the deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln. With a little coaxing we may also be able to get him to make an early start on his Mars space trip. That would cap a Great night. Oh! -- the wondrous sight of gwb skipping and hopping, smirking and swaggering to the Mars Shuttle, waving and pointing -- while the band plays his song (the theme from Gone With the Wind) "Going Home."

Have a nice trip, george.

Best
Cole...

Subject: White House bans staff from Fahrenheit 9/11

Campbell Brown has been filling in on Hardball the past several nights.

'Hardball with Chris Matthews' for June 23 (MSNBC)

BROWN: Real quick—we‘re almost out of time—but how—how—given how the Bush
administration is reacting to the 9/11 film, which is, you know, banning their staffs from going to see it or anybody...

HITCHENS: What?

BROWN: I know. Is it the right approach?

HITCHENS: I didn‘t know that. But, if so, then it would be something to add to my long list of
misgivings about the Bush administration.

THOMASON: And that will jump their grosses up.

HITCHENS: You can‘t fight -- I say in my piece, you can‘t fight one kind of stupidity and cowardice with another. It‘s silly to try.

BROWN: All right, we‘ve got to go. I want to thank you both for joining us, Harry Thomason and Christopher Hitchens.

Jackie N.

Subject: Thanks for the ammo

I received a letter from the Republican Party yesterday, with a lovely aren't-we-the-loving-couple-who's-ruining-your-lives-and-the-good-name-of-our-country portrait of Dubya and his Shadow enclosed, asking me for help and a donation. I promptly went to the BuzzFlash site, printed out several of the numerous daily articles that point out just what a truly tremendous job our Prez is doing, (increasing air pollution, decreasing the quality of  the jobs that are available, lying to us about the war, etc) which totaled about 40 pages, folded them up along with the contribution form (which I marked as having already given to the campaign of our next President, John Kerry) and returned it all in the no-postage required envelope which they provided. Which means, of course, they will have to pay the increased postage for the pile of reading material I sent them. Boy, that felt good.

God Bless America.

Donny in Atlanta

Subject: Laws dictated by party ties, class and finances

I find the current trend we are seeing daily on the news, you know the spots, a GOP person gets busted, but somehow it gets lazily excused, and brushed aside. After the horrors that were ordered to be carried out by misguided innocents in Iraq, by a ruthless, self-serving administration, that has used them, and deserted them as they deemed would best serve their own interests. Then big DICK gets caught in a bold faced lie, and attacks the anchorwomen questioning his flip flop on his previous story.

Ken Lay is convinced he will never be charged with a crime. The white house has consistently lied about the justification for war, and on and on. Notice a pattern? So apparently have the youth, at least the youth that I know, who now believe that there is one standard of law for the rich, and a weak excuse for a legal system for the rest of the nation.

The new emerging superstars are not rock stars, or athletes, they are the Ken Lay, Dubya, Cheney, et al. types who buy, bully, lie, and bend the law, science, and history until it conforms with their opinions, and desires. What a legacy this administration has to be proud of. Our legal system is seen as elite club, that punishes those who tell the truth, rewards liars, and thieves, and has a pathology truly of their own.

How sad it is that our forefathers, who placed a value on all Americans equally, and that generations of proud Americans fought and died to protect this important vision, have lost their fight. Now our young truly feel they are just biding time, until the government needs more fall guys, and their numbers are called, not to defend the country as much as fulfill Dubya's oily grandiose dreams. Not only has our beloved America suffered a disgraceful demise, and must be rebuilt, but so far it looks like the world's most spoiled, overindulged dry drunk, will have the last word on just how America dies.

The DNC needs to respond quickly, when I hear eleven- to fifteen-year-old children saying CEO crime is cool, because the law doesn't count if you're rich. I must ask, at what point do we step in and hold the rule of law to everyone equally, or have we really lost sight of what the American experiment in democracy was all about? If this administration succeeds with their plot to take over the nation, have a one-party rule, and just two classes of citizens, the have mores, as the shrub calls them, and the street urchins who carry them on their backs, then over two hundred years of history, and every accomplishment achieved by America, will become a moot point.

Let's hope justice has only been on vacation for the last few years, and will return to remind us, since we have all forgotten, what laws are for, who they are really supposed to protect, and just whose country this is anyway. Ours, not just the top 1%. Accountability now also must begin at home. I suggest the big white home on Pennsylvania Avenue to be the first home to be refurbished to its once great stature. The stain bush left on our flag, and our country, like Monica's blue dress, is right there in plain view. Will some Democrats, like Kerry, grow, buy, or borrow some balls soon? The neutered look went out with the Brady Bunch.

David R. Anselm, Jr.
(gravely concerned in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)

Subject: Bush and Ken Lay

As more of Enron's questionable tactics are revealed by audiotapes of employees joking about making more money off of grandmothers, please remind your audience of some excellent reading at:

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/bushlay1.html

The Smoking Gun archives are filled with chatty little notes between George W. Bush and Enron honcho Ken Lay, who prove in their own words the closeness of their partnership. I was disappointed that none of the Enron news coverage I read or saw mentioned these notes. Check them out for yourself and get an inside peek at the bonding between two key members of the right-wing ruling class. Then, the next time you hear the Enron people joking about ripping off little old ladies, remember how these two "leaders" placed profits above all other values in society.

A BuzzFlash Reader

BROWN: Welcome back to HARDBALL. I‘m Campbell Brown, in for Chris
Matthews, and we‘re back with White House communication communications
director Dan Bartlett.

Dan, I want to go back to the credibility question, whether or not the Bush administration has a credibility problem, because as articulate as you are, you didn‘t answer the question at all. I‘m going to play two sound bites from Vice President Dick Cheney...

BARTLETT: OK.

BROWN: ... when he was asked about whether the 9/11 hijacker Mohammed
Atta met with an Iraqi official in Prague. I‘ll get your reaction on the other side.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP - CNBC “CAPITAL REPORT,”JUNE 17, 2004)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You have said in the past that it was, quote,
“pretty well confirmed”...

RICHARD CHENEY, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: No, I never said that.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK. I think that is...

CHENEY: I never said that. Absolutely not. What I said was the Czech intelligence service reported after 9/11 that Atta had been in Prague on April 9 of 2001, where he allegedly met with an Iraqi intelligence official. We have never been able to confirm that, nor have we been able to knock it down.
(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: And then, back in December, 2001, Cheney had a more definitive sense of the meeting.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP - NBC “MEET THE PRESS,”DECEMBER 9, 2001)

CHENEY: It‘s been pretty well confirmed that he did go to Prague and he did meet with a senior official of the Iraq intelligence service in Czechoslovakia last April, several months before the attack. (END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: OK, Dan. I stole the juxtaposition from the Jon Stewart and “The Daily Show,”but I‘m going to spare you the commentary or facial expressions. How do you explain that?

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5277869/ (Hardball)

Subject: Cheney's losing it and How!

Dear BuzzFlash Readers:

Sources: Cheney curses senator over Halliburton criticism (CNN.com)

You know things are unraveling when the Vice President of the United States uses Picture Day in the Senate to chastise one of the Democratic Senators (Patrick Leahy) for calling him on an obvious lie spoken to the press. According to the article on BuzzFlash, Mr. Leahy reminded Mr. Cheney about his Halliburton connection and war profiteering, to which Cheney had no better comeback than to drop an F-bomb on the good senator from Vermont.

The Christian Liberal is in SHOCK and AWE. Such language by the second in command of our government! But then again, it's just a bunch of frat boys running the country anyway, isn't it? After cursing at him, Leahy should have told Cheney to step outside (since it looked like the VP was spoiling for fisticuffs, LOL -- my money would have been on Leahy, that's for sure!).

One has to wonder when a Vice President can lose his temper to the point of exhibiting a loss of professionalism and decorum, what's going on? I mean, the Supreme Court Lackeys just handed him a victory by ruling he can keep his records of his Energy Task Force meetings secret. However, the Lackeys also left themselves an escape hatch -- they returned it to the lower court for dealing. Maybe Cheney's not quite out of the woods.

Anyhow, one would think Cheney would be full of good cheer, but apparently, just as he clears the hurdle of not having to admit to the Western United States something that we already know or suspected (that Enron was gouging us with the energy costs in 2001), now he's being taken to task for his Halliburton connections, and so on.

As I've said, not too much gets past the Christian Liberal, but I'm scratching my head on this one! Cheney should know better to keep his composure if for nothing else, his heart condition. To go off on Patrick Leahy like that tells me that something more foul is going to surface if it hasn't already. My history tells me that only Harry Truman had a known potty mouth, and even he didn't direct it at a member of Congress (though Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon were known to drop an F-bomb behind closed doors in the Oval Office). What I'm seeing is contempt for the American process of government to the point of totalitarianism from the second highest official in the land, and it's very frightening to see. Are we supposed to be Stepford Wives and march in lockstep, no matter how foul it is?

Ashcroft and Rumsfeld are still trying to carry on with the lies they've told, even though they've been exposed. So are GeeDubya and Cheney. Maybe Cheney, with all his machinations, is feeling the weight of the house of cards he's built beginning to crumble in ruins around him. Ya' think?

Thirty years ago, Spiro Agnew had to hit the road before being thrown out of office for his antics. A few months later, Nixon quit in disgrace, for similar antics (after his "I am not a Crook speech -- which was worse than his 1956 "Checkers" speech) and between the two of them, they were the sons of Ozzie & Harriet compared to the Bush Cartel. Could history be repeating itself?

When we forget our past, we're doomed to repeat it. Till next time, fellow Buzz Flashers -- stay strong, stay focused, take charge and God Bless you!

Leutisha The Christian Liberal (and proud of it!)

I know Reagan's funeral is old news but I had a flashback when I saw this headline:

U.S., Allies Will Not Negotiate With Terrorists (foxnews.com)

That's not like the good old days, when Reagan sent the Contras money and CIA advisors while they were shooting school teachers and other humanitarian aid workers.

http://www.bigtimepatriot.com/default.asp?itemID=51

As a BONUS evil deed in the ''Iran-Contra'' affair, Reagan sold weapons to the already evil Iranians to pay for the Contras' terrorism.

Executive Summary (fas.org)

Kind of a terrorist twofer.

It also reminds me of the "October Surprise" when Reagan's campaign delayed the release of Americans held hostage by terrorists for the good of the Reagan campaign (never quite proven in court)

http://www.worldhistory.com/wiki/O/October-Surprise.htm

I could say that this proves Bush is no Reagan, but we know Bush sent some of Bin Laden's family out of the reach of investigators after 9-11 and redacted reports of connections between 9-11 and the Saudis, so maybe Bush IS in the Reagan mold after all.

http://www.bigtimepatriot.com/default.asp?itemID=79

Signed,

A BuzzFlash Reader and Big Time Patriot