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Subject: Fahrenheit 911

I just saw Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 911. I had to drive 30 miles to see it, because none of the corporate chain theatres near my home would carry the movie. This is a brilliant tour de force. The film is powerful, and it will rock America to the core. The right has done everything to stop this movie, but it has failed. Go see it -- everyone must go see it. Moore is able to connect the dots of the Bush cartel's activities in a cogent fashion. Also, he's an astounding communicator who is able to sift through some complex material and deliver it with a clear, easily understandable punch. Let's not kid ourselves about this -- Bush and his bully boys must be cowering in fear over this movie. This one isn't going away soon, trust me on this.

Donald P. Russo
Bethlehem, Pa.

Subject: Fahrenheit 9/11 Worth Your Money

Dear BuzzFlash,

I just returned from seeing the movie Fahrenheit 9/11 and would recommend it to everyone. It was great movie and everything that Michael Moore said it would be. I am amazed just how much the movie was trashed by the right wingers and pundits. Some who had not even seen the movie. I think it is a compelling documentary, and it is a pity that many republicans do not have the courage to go and see it, for it will surely open their eyes to many of the Bush administration's failures.

Dick Cheney shows his true colors once again...

About Dick Cheney's no-class behavior against Sen. Leahy on the senate floor; I think that he is definitely feeling the heat, and perhaps fearful that he is going down, big time. Cheney's gutter language is typical of this administration. Didn't Bush promise us that he is going to change the tone in Washington? Isn't this the administration who wanted to censure Howard Stern? What a big bunch of hypocrites.

Roseanne

Subject: Post-viewing crowd at Fahrenheit 9/11

Editor:

Would you believe that Denton, a city of 91,000, has not a single theater showing Fahrenheit 9/11?  The ultraconservative reputation of North TX appears based in fact.  Kind of disappointing for a college town.  To distribute Veterans For Peace brochures I drove south on IH-35 through Corinth to find the nearest venue showing the film in Hickory Creek.  I timed it so I was there to catch folks leaving at the end of the 8 pm showing on Saturday night.  As expected after the film, the audience was primed and ready.  I had a receptive crowd to work, with most thanking me, some saying no thank you, and several sticking around to discuss it further and ask questions about VFP.  No hostility was evidenced by anyone.  I took 150 brochures along with me and handed out 93 of them in about 10 minutes.  Doing so about 50 feet in front of the theater to let the exiting crowd open up a bit presented no problems.  Had I stayed there, I may have gone through all 150 brochures.  As it was, I pushed my luck when the exiting crowd thinned, and moved up close enough to the box office so I could hear what film folks for the next showing were asking to buy tickets for.  While thus targeting the next showing audience I drew the attention of the theater staff who politely informed me that they did not allow solicitation on their property.  I guess they missed whomever was handing out Kerry for President flyers inside the theater itself, as evidenced by everyone exiting Fahrenheit 911 having one in their hands?  No matter, I felt it was 10 minutes on the pavement and a half hour round trip drive well spent.  I still have 57 brochures left.  Maybe Grapevine tomorrow night?

Subject: F-WORD

Dear Readers,

I loved the cartoon in the Washington Post Sat.  A kid was at the blackboard in school having to write (1,000 ? times):

"I WILL NOT QUOTE THE VICE-PRESIDENT ON THE PLAYGROUND."

Will Cheney be fined for using bad language?

carolina

Subject: Electronic voting machines

Dear BuzzFlash,

Here is a fund-raising idea for you. Why don't you guys start marketing electronic voting machines with your own proprietary software installed? If you made public your desire to insure that John Kerry carries Ohio and sold a few voting machines in that state, I am sure the Republicans would scream like banshees for a law requiring a paper trail on all voting machines as well as a requirement that the software that runs them be open source. Even if you don't make money selling voting machines it might be the least expensive method of securing the vote. Besides being a sure method of achieving voting security, the reaction by the right ought to provide a lot of material for comedians and humorists.

R Franklin Stencil
Washington State

Subject: My view: Fahrenheit 9/11

P.S.: There was a deputy stationed inside the lobby and just outside the door for "F 9/11." She was not private security, but an on-duty, Harris County deputy.  She checked every person's ticket as they entered the 'screening room.'  Odd, I thought, for someone paid by the taxpayers to be performing this function while an AMC employee stood by.  On the way out, I stopped to ask why a deputy needed to be present.  Not surprisingly, there was already someone else asking her that question.  She told us it was to be sure that no one under 17 went in because it is an "R"-rated movie.  Having attended "R" movies at this theater and never having seen a deputy preventing underage attendance, the explanation did not hold water.  Personally, I believe the management must have received threats and requested police presence.  I told the deputy (a young, black female) that she needed to see the movie.  In response, she smiled and said, "I just watched with all of you.  It was great!"  The theater manager was standing nearby the deputy.  Each one in our group, and the vast majority of attendees, made a point to shake his hand and thank him for showing the movie.  He responded, "You're welcome.  It was a privilege."  The man was literally beaming -- I don't know what he was expecting from this Houston audience, but the feedback he was getting was great! 

Subject: Follow-up to Wild-eyed

Hi,

Here's a follow-up e-letter I received from the Bush-Cheney campaign about the Wild-eyed Coalition ad:

Dear Lisa,

On Thursday, the campaign launched a web video titled Kerry's Coalition of the Wild-eyed.  The video featured Democrats who support John Kerry making negative and baseless attacks against the President.  Interspersed in the video were segments of two ads that appeared on a website sponsored by MoveOn.org - a group campaigning for Kerry - in January.

On Friday night, John Kerry's campaign denounced our use of these ads, and called that use "disgusting."

The Kerry campaign says, "The use of Adolf Hitler by any campaign, politician or party is simply wrong."

We agree.  These ads, like much of the hate-filled, angry rhetoric of Kerry's coalition of the Wild-eyed, are disgusting.

Where was John Kerry's disgust when he hired Zack Exley - the man responsible for encouraging the production of these ads as part of a MoveOn contest - to run the Kerry campaign's internet operation? Where was John Kerry's sense of outrage when Al Gore, just yesterday afternoon, compared the Bush Administration to the Nazis saying, "The Administration works closely with a network of 'rapid response' digital Brown Shirts who work to pressure reporters and their editors for 'undermining support for our troops.'" Where was John Kerry's anger when Al Gore in May spoke of "Bush's Gulag"? Why has John Kerry not denounced billionaire and Democrat Party donor George Soros for comparing the Bush Administration to Nazis. Soros stated, "When I hear Bush say, 'You're either with us or against us,' it reminds me of the Germans. It conjures up memories of Nazi slogans on the walls, Der Feind Hort mit ('The enemy is listening')." Why has Kerry not spoken out against filmmaker Michael Moore who last October compared the Patriot Act to Mein Kampf.  "The Patriot Act is the first step. 'Mein Kampf' - 'Mein Kampf' was written long before Hitler came to power."

We created this web video to show the depths to which these Kerry supporters will sink to win in November.

Is this the Democratic Party of Franklin Delano Roosevelt who reassured his countrymen we have nothing to fear but fear itself?

No.  This is John Kerry's Coalition of the Wild-eyed, who have nothing to offer but fear-mongering.

Sincerely,

Ken Mehlman
Campaign Manager Paid for by Bush-Cheney '04, Inc

Just to clarify -- some time ago I subscribed to the Bush-Cheney campaign e-letter to aid my efforts in "intelligence-gathering" -- I'm a former intelligence analyst/Vietnam Era veteran and old habits die hard.

Subject: nonsense!!!

Maureen Dowd:  "Mr. Cheney has managed to change W. from a sunny, open, bipartisan, uniter-not-a-divider, non-nation-builder into a crabby, secretive, partisan, divider-not-a-uniter, inept imperialist." -- 6/27

NO!!! ABSOLUTELY NOT!!!

Maureen. You've been "taken in" by republican rhetoric and democratic reticence to call a spade a spade.

W's "sunny, open, etc." disposition prior to the 2000 election was an act to get middle-of-the-roaders to vote for him. Everything that has been done in this country since Bush was appointed to the White House cannot be laid on Cheney's doorstep. And everything that's been done TO this country does not make sense if we continue to see Bush as being on 'our' side.

Think about it. The 9/11 plot was hatched in 1996. Clinton was in power. Bin Laden did not want US citizens rallying around Clinton for 'protection' because Clinton was actually going after Al Qaeda! 9/11 was put into play after someone more sympathetic to their cause stole the election. By certain reports, Bin Laden and Al Qaeda could not have a better friend in the United States than George W. Bush!

Stop talking about Bush as if he were an innocent who was led astray by lousy advisors.

Dr. Wayne Dyer: "When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change."

A BuzzFlash Reader

Subject: This Week

I just finished watching George Stephanopolous on ABC's "This Week." What planet is this guy living on? He was vehemently arguing that things are going great in Iraq because the June 30 "handover" is proceeding as scheduled. The so-called handover will be a meaningless ceremony; a charade orchestrated by Bush and his minions. The fact that Bush declares that the handover has been a success means about as much as if I were to declare that the moon is made of green cheese. I can repeatedly insist that the moon is made of green cheese; perhaps I might even convince myself that it is. But, my assertions do not alter reality. In Bush's world, however, everything is structured according to Bush's narrow world view. What is sad, truly sad, is to see someone like Stephanopolous transmogrified into a whining little poodle for his masters at Disney. I guess a huge paycheck can turn a person's head around quite considerably.

Donald p. Russo
Bethlehem, Pa.

Subject: Bad Week for Bush

I was particularly heartened at the end of this week (June 20 through 26) when I mused upon some of the news stories of the week. It has NOT been a good week for Dubya:

Torture memos continue to make news…Ron Reagan bashes Bush on Larry King Live…Powell issues corrected report on terrorism showing a 20-year high…54% of Americans say invading Iraq a mistake…Another very violent week in Iraq includes a beheading…Federal prosecutor questions Bush for 70 minutes about the Valerie Plame leak…Court rejects FCC media ownership rules…U.S. withdraws its UN resolution to exempt U.S. soldiers from war crimes prosecutions at the International Criminal Court…Wolfowitz apologizes for calling reporters in Iraq cowards…Illinois GOP Senate candidate withdraws over sex club scandal…Clinton book has huge sales and draws huge crowds to book signings…Ditto for Michael Moore movie…Cheney loses his cool and uses the F-word on the floor of the Senate…Thousands turn out in Ireland to protest Bush visit...

A BuzzFlash Reader

Subject: Rich Bitchland and Fahrenheit 9/11

Good news!

I live in a very conservative area and am probably the only non-Republican on my street. Yet at 1:45 p.m, when I went to see Fahrenheit 9/11, the movie theater was packed.

It's also the only movie I've ever been to where people applauded and applauded when the film was over.

For the longest time, I've been dismayed by my fellow citizens. When faced with Bush's whoppers, I've heard folks say, "Oh, so what. Everyone lies." And yet, those same folks get Linda Blair head over Moore's movie and LOOK for things to pick apart. What is up with that?

Between the crowd this afternoon and their reaction at this showing, I have faith for the first time in a long time that (barring Bush stealing another election) we just might be ok.

Maureen Farrell

Subject: WHY?

Hitler Image Used in Bush Campaign Web Ad

By JENNIFER C. KERR, AP WASHINGTON (June 27) - Adolf Hitler's image has surfaced again in the White House race. President Bush's campaign contains online video, removed from a liberal group's Web site months ago and disavowed, that features the Nazi dictator.

WHY DOESN'T BUSH TELL THEM TO PULL THE THING OFF?

A BuzzFlash Reader

Subject: What the "W" in George W. Bush means

I thought you might find my "musings" interesting.  Hope you all have a great day:

The "W" in George W. Bush's name stands for "Wrong."

Wrong to give tax breaks of $100,000.00 to the wealthiest in the country while the rest of us got less than a tenth of that.

Wrong to tell the American people there was an Al Qaeda-Saddam Hussein connection, when there never was.

Wrong to try to make a connection between the 9-11attacks and Iraq.

Wrong to allow the Bin Laden family to flee the country shortly after the attacks on 9-11. 

Wrong not to pursue the strong Saudi connection to the attacks, since 15-16 of the 19 hijackers were Saudis.  

Wrong saying the Iraqi people would welcome our troops with open arms.

Wrong on WMD. 

Wrong on his environmental decisions.

Wrong to abandon the hunt for Osama Bin Laden. 

Wrong to abandon the Afghani people by allowing the hated Taliban to return to power there.

Wrong on the number of troops it would take to turn Iraq into a democracy.

Wrong on the cost, in both dollars and lives, of the war in Iraq.

Wrong about declaring "Mission Accomplished." 

Wrong to extend the tours of our military in Iraq, while cutting their benefits back here at home. 

Wrong to allow the Secret Service and local police to place protesters into so called "free speech zones" which are out of his sight and out of sight of the press.

Wrong not to speak under oath to the 9-11 commission that he created.

Wrong not to vigorously pursue the person who leaked the name of a CIA operative which put her and her contacts at great risk.

Wrong to label all criticism directed at him as political, while everything that he's done since Jan. 1, 2001, has been political.

Wrong to mislead the American people and the men and women who have been wounded and died in the wrong war against the wrong people at the wrong time.

A majority of Americans now realize that this man has made so many mistakes without accepting his responsibility for any of them, they've concluded that we would be wrong to keep him another 4 years.

Sincerely,

Neb Conner

Subject: Report from the TX Democratic Convention

Just got back from Houston and the TX Democratic Convention. The place was packed. The good news is that the attendance reflected a huge percentage of people who had never attended or participated in a political convention before. My husband talked to several young people attending a "meet and greet" at our hotel by a Democratic Congressman. Four were there as visitors who just wanted to see how the whole thing worked, but the fifth was a delegate. My husband asked how many of you are registered to vote? He was quite pleased to find out that all five, not just the delegate, were all registered and planning to vote in November. Just as an aside, I ran into several airline pilots who I have known forever. Never have I seen them at any political event, especially a Democratic one. For those of you who do not know pilots, the majority of the group is overwhelmingly Republican -- I always figured it was reflective of their military background. This time around every one of them were wearing Vets for Kerry buttons!

The crowd was enthusiastic, fired up and in 15 years I have never seen such energy -- even when our beloved Ann was in her first race for governor. John Edwards was definitely the hit of Friday night when he had to stop speaking for several minutes while the chant of "VP-VP" erupted. He just stood up there on the podium and grinned. He does have the nicest smile. His message was, there are truly two Americas. The one that the most affluent know and the one for the rest of us. He is right on target. His remark about the fish rotting from the top down has been widely quoted by the media. I would rather have had CNN and others quote another part of his speech. He said in reference to President Bush: " When asked if he [Bush) could think of any mistakes he had made, he said no. Edwards with that big grin said, "Well, heck, I can think of ten that I've made since I got up this morning."

At political conventions there are always tee shirts with quotable phrases. There were two that I saw that were really good -- one a bit off-color but funny which I will not repeat here, but the other was,"Where are we going .............. and what's in the handbasket?"  That one truly reflects how I have felt for the last 3 1/2 years. But after this weekend, I am beginning to be hopeful that the tide is turning.

Peggy in TX

Subject: Fahrenheit 9/11

Dear Buzz,

I brought my whole family to see Moore's movie this weekend, including my twelve year old and my sister. My brother had seen it the day before with his teenager. I was gratified to see that it was a family event. Lots of teenagers with their mothers. Lots of seniors.

By the commercials and previews that the theater ran, it was obvious that they had no idea what kind of crowd to expect. But they were prepared for some kind of a crowd. And a crowd they got!

There were times I would have liked the tone to have been a little stronger. Maybe an extra few words in the some of the voiceover sentences. But all in all it struck the right tone. Not nearly as angry as it could have been. It will make it easier for more people to see it. People were laughing, crying, gasping, and squirming in their seats. And what an incredible soundtrack! By the end of the film, just the sight of our "President" on the screen invoked uproarious laughter. I was embarrassed by the laughter. It struck me as sad. I am ashamed of our leaders and of where they have led us, and how they got us here.

As we walked out past a long line of people waiting to get in for the next showing, there was an unnatural quiet. Lots to digest. I left with a heavy heart. And what strange times we live in when it's up to Michael Moore to shine the light of truth. 'Lord Help Us' indeed.

Lexie

Subject: At last -- A real reporter!

Hi Buzz,

I sent this off to the Letters section of the Sunday Independent in response to an article at the end of one of your links: 

http://www.unison.ie/irish_independent/stories.php3?ca=9&si=1205976&issue_id=11064

Hello,

I must write to thank your country, the land of all of my grandparents, for still having reporters like Carole Coleman. Unfortunately, my country no longer seems to have any of her quality that are still employed by a news organ. TV interviews of this man are usually exhibitions of his arrogance punctuated by the abject groveling of the purported interviewer -- they all wind up as propaganda events. How enjoyable this has been!  

  All of our real journalists have apparently been kidnapped by aliens in the night and have been replaced with shiny, relentlessly cheery, look-alike corporate automatons -- Stepford reporters -- who are not programmed to follow logical paths of thought nor to question any responses they may receive. It was very refreshing and a great relief to know that the entire world has not disappeared into some Twilight Zone episode -- just us.   I copied a video file of this entire interview onto my hard drive and am showing/sending it to every one that I can find. That rude, testy, arrogant man has somehow become the 'Leader of the Free World' and is presiding over the conversion of my country into the biggest gulag on the planet.  He did this while posing as an easy-going, down-to-earth good ol' boy -- one of the bigger con jobs in our history.  The REAL George Bush is that nasty man snarling at a reporter who had the cojones to interrupt the maunderings of a would-be Emperor of the World.    Thank you again, Carole, for revealing that face to the world. The Bushies are soooo mad at you because they know what has happened. Keep up the good work.   I'm so proud to be a member of this particular tribe.

Subject: Thanks

Hey Buzz,

I went to see Fahrenheit 9/11 tonight. It's an extraordinary film, but I didn't learn one new fact. Thanks Buzz, for keeping this loyal reader so well-informed.

P. Coombs
Surrey BC

Subject: divorce records of fox news people!

well now we see the media is trying to get kerry's divorce papers, we didn't see you going all out for bush's records still on microfilm in alabama, and what about those harken records he said publicly you should look at and then off camera refused you access? while we are at it let's start looking at all the senators' and congressmen's divorce records.............Bet there is some pretty ugly stuff even by those holier than thou repugs. let's start looking at divorce of news people, i would love to see the divorce records of some of those sleazy fox news people!

A BuzzFlash Reader

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