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

Subject: Regarding Krugman being "almost alone" among columnists

I wait for Krugman's columns with impatience; he's my favorite.  However, Bob Herbert, who is also published by The New York Times, is almost as good.  His angle is different, as he comes from the social viewpoint, but his insight is as good as Krugman's.  Do you think you could get an interview with him, too?

If you haven't done so already, you awtta read today's article, "Failure of Leadership" (NY Times).   It's hard to decide whether Krugman's or Herbert's article today is better.

Heidi Monson

Subject: Letter sent to CNN 8-6-04

Dear CNN (Chicken Neocon News),

I find it very telling how you make no secret of your support for the Chicken Hawk party by proving you're the Chicken media. You will air a whole attack ad against John Kerry that BOTH political parties said should not be aired, but then you're afraid to air George Bush with his truth telling words while signing a defense bill, which was all over the Internet?

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story...

You will soon become obsolete with your predictable, boring, Bush propaganda news, over and over!! I really enjoyed the one-minute airing of John Kerry's convention speech as opposed to 5 minutes of some professor screaming about John Kerry's convention speech. Now, that was news!! Your pro-Bush/anti-Kerry news is reeeaaaalllyyy getting old... Why don't you air more Fear Factor news? Crank up the Terror!! SEVEN terrorists stories are not enough.

Signed: When Will Democracy Mean More Than Your Paycheck?

Subject: Could Ridge possibly be fearmongering??

Regarding timing and/or motivation of Ridge's terror alerts: I haven't seen this simple question asked: Do Ridge's high-profile press conferences have ANY purpose whatsoever? Can't he just phone up NYPD with the relevant info? Why is it so critically important that the public knows? Think of all the advantages of not making a big public deal with terror alerts:

* Skeptics can do better things than question the timing of the alert.

* Ridge's office can do better things (well, if they have any) than respond to the skeptics.

* If there is indeed legitimate intelligence behind the alerts, it's better not to reveal to the enemy what info we've picked up!

* Terrorism is more effectively fought by low-profile operations acting on shared info -- not by a panicked public.

* There wouldn't be any "crying wolf" phenomenon to worry about (unless it was the same city whose police force was constantly being put on higher alerts).

* Communication between Homeland Security and a city police dept. can be perfectly frank; the distinction between "we're REALLY concerned this time" versus "we're not so sure, but we'd rather be safe than sorry" can be easily made. This also helps prevent any "crying wolf" effect. even better:

* less fearmongering.

* no opportunities to praise the so-called "president's" so-called "leadership" in a major press conference.

Oops! I guess these last two answer my original question!

Michael,
Orlando FL

Subject: Bush has his nerve going after Kerry

Of course it is Bush who is going after Kerry and attacking his military service. The GOP is behind it and unless Bush denounces this ad, he is condoning it. What a coincidence that the Kerry attack ad is paid for by Perry, a builder in Texas. Of course it is Bush behind this. If not, then he should decry it. There they go again. Chickenhawks are attacking veterans. How dare they question anything Kerry did while in Nam. Where was Bush? AWOL.

mev

Subject: anyone notice?

Didn't anyone notice? Even the 9-11 commission wondered why Bush just sat there reading My Pet Goat for seven minutes.... The White House said Bush told the 9-11 commission he sat there to portray calmness. So if the 9-11 commission thought it odd, why shouldn't we? When we saw that second plane hit, we knew this country was under attack. We didn't sit and wonder about it for seven minutes.

Kate Johnson
Tampa, FL

SUBJECT:  Bush/Ridge CYA gaff blew covert operations in Pakistan and UK

Well, the witless wonders struck again.  After the public outcry over their latest "cry wolf" escapade, Bush and Ridge decided they had better practice some CYA (that's "cover your ass" for the uninformed).  So to tamp down the uproar heard from the public when it learned that the "intelligence" the alert was based on was 3-4 years old, they decided they had to throw some red meat to the peons.  Lo and behold, it was announced with great blares of trumpets that Khan had been apprehended in Pakistan.  Oh, never mind that his arrest had come at least a week before, they treated it as if it just happened.  It's kind of like the "intelligence" was 3-4 years old; no, it was updated in January, oh gee, maybe the files were just opened in January; then it was no, the files were updated in April; then it was no, the files, at least one of them, was "probably" updated in January.  Seesaw, seesaw.  Ahem.  Flip-flop, flip-flop.  Reminds me of a dying fish.  Anyway...

Very late on Friday after the good little citizens had either gone to bed early a la our man Dubya (think James Coburn as his silliest incarnation of an action hero here), or gone out running the traps (drinking and carousing), word leaked to the New York Times that Bush/Ridge blew TWO, count them, TWO sting operations -- one in Pakistan and one in the UK.  The "Pakies," as Dubya likes to call 'em, had to hustle Khan to a safe house a couple of days ago for his own safety because he had been phishing his former Al Qaeda buds, and now they were on to him. Omerta be damned.  While in the land of the queen across the pond, the Brits had to make daring daytime raids -- including at least one high-speed chase (really and truly) -- to nab 12 Al Qaeda suspects that they'd been surveilling in an active, ongoing investigation.  At least we know they got at least 12 of the suspects; who knows how many they would have nabbed but for Bush's political ambition.  Now what was that he said about holding leakers accountable....ah...oh, never mind.

Now we hear that one of the UK's grabs is suspected of assisting in the 9/11 plot, and Bush/Ridge/Ashcroft are now trying to extradite him to this country.  Good thing the Brits are quick on their feet; he could easily have slipped away.  Somehow the blame for the intelligence failures pre-9/11 seems to be misplaced on the CIA/FBI.  I suspect the blame lies higher up yet.

But, oh, our "fearless leader" is so decisive, so strong, so -- fundamentally inept.

SherAn

Subject: Why Bush will be successful in stealing the 2004 election...

The writing is on the wall. Bush has been successful all week attacking Kerry on his Vietnam record; but let's look at the facts, or what seems to be very close to the truth:

Bush: AWOL, cocaine felony arrest? (loses flight status for drug use), alcohol and drug user while in the guard -- cannot finish (goes AWOL) his obligation with the Guard.

Kerry: Volunteers for duty in Vietnam, comes under fire, is decorated for meritorious service.

Yet, as we all know, the attack on Kerry's Vietnam record is effective - though chocked full of lies, etc. So, there you have it. Bush goes AWOL, loses his Flight Status probably because of drug use, and Bush ATTACKS (successfully I might add) Kerry's Vietnam record!!

There is no way Bush is going to allow the transfer of power. It won't happen. When a person who has gone AWOL, loses his "flight" status because of drug use, can successfully ATTACK in the news a person who served in Vietnam gallantly, well, what's one to think? (do I hear fascism?)

Fran
DuCharme Cloquet, MN

Subject: Getting the job gone

Kudos to Cathy from Friday's mailbag. I also have been working on republican friends and the facts are our best tool for disarming the Bush mass deception weapon.

One of the most telling is the seven minutes Bush sat dumbfounded in Florida. He flunks by their own standards.

Keep up the good work and let's redefeat Bush in 2004!

Backwoods Buzzer

Subject: Hypocrites of the Week--Well Chosen

Hey Buzz,

Yesterday for the first time, I clicked on your Audio link and listened to some of the Hypocrites of the Week. Very good job! Dick Cheney and Jack Ryan, among others, would've been my choices, too, for Hypocrite of the Week. Gotta go pack for a move next week, but I'll be back. Not a day has gone by so far for this proud dem without a visit to BuzzFlash! I've been telling all my democrat friends and family to surf on over to you. You guys are the greatest!

Jake A. Joehl
Chicago

Subject: 7 minutes

Could it be that GWB waited seven minutes.......cause they were bringing him NEW pants?????

JUST ASKING

Subject: A link for you

I just posted this at Democratic Underground and thought you might like to see it.  Enjoy.

You may not see this anywhere else since it's such a small paper from a small island. The Bush spends a great deal of time on this island which is over 80% Republican. It's the playground of the very wealthy where they say the billionaires are crowding the millionaires out of the housing market.

But amazingly, this year  Kerry is only very slightly behind Bush in donations. We were there last month and could not believe the number of Kerry stickers we saw and my husband noticed someone had scratched "Bush" under the stop in a stop sign. I hope you'll read the whole story as there is lots more!

Kerry garnering nearly half of island political contributions (Boca Beacon, Boca Grande, FL)

It's www.bocabeacon.com if you want to see the whole paper and get a feel of things.

Lawrence

Subject: all are liars?

the anti kerry ad by those republican vets is basically attacking and calling all the men who were on the boat with kerry a bunch of blatant liars. how do they feel about that?  i also think bush is behind the ad, just like he was behind the attack on mccain in 2000.

kate

Subject: Wall Street Joke on Bush's Job Numbers

The joke among the Wall Street traders today, famous for their gallows humor: 

"Fewer jobs were created in the entire month of July than the number of people who will be inside Madison Square Garden for the GOP convention at the end of August."

Kim B.

Subject: fox news...to the media

I had to go over and stay with my elderly father-in-law last night. the man is one of those right wing nut jobs who keeps his TV on fox news all the time because they back up his beliefs. however, i have to tell you, i had no idea how bad they are! they actually were saying things like the liberal media is misleading the country on the economy, they are twisting the numbers. One guy said the economy is better than when Clinton was in office but that the liberal media picks and chooses the numbers they want to report because they want people to think the economy is bad.   that news station is insane!  I was so happy when his nurse showed up this morning I damned near kissed her and I'm not gay!

Diane Anderson
Miami FL

Subject: Bush "gaffe"

Tune in! This man has brain damage from drug and alcohol abuse. Listen carefully and you will come to suspect that a lot of these "gaffes and malapropisms" are in actuality Freudian slips. Think about it. He is a monstrous liar, and he knows it. The mountain of prevarications is becoming increasingly difficult to conceal and support. The truth will out, and one way it has of getting out is in the slip of the tongue, which is connected directly to the unconscious. (Is there anything really conscious in there??)

A BuzzFlash Reader

Subject: Swift Boat Vets attack

I thought I would pass this along to you, just in case you haven't heard about it. I don't know if you want to alert the readers of BuzzFlash or not, but, I had to share this with you.

"MMFA investigates: Who is Jerome Corsi, co-author of Swift Boat Vets attack book?" (mediamatters.org)

From linked article:

Corsi is also a frequent participant in FreeRepublic.com's online forums, posting under the pseudonym "jrlc" since 2001.

On August 6, Salon.com's Joe Conason documented links between Swift Boat Veterans for Truth and the conservative online forum www.FreeRepublic.com. Conason noted that the designer of the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth website is Robert A. Hahn, a director of the Free Republic Network, a conservative activist organization affiliated with FreeRepublic.com. Scott Swett, who is listed as the webmaster of the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth website, swiftvets.com, also appeared on FOX News Channel host Sean Hannity's August 5 radio show to discuss the group. Swett posts frequently to FreeRepublic.com, using the pseudonym "Interesting Times," and is also a director of the Free Republic Network. The wintersoldier.com website to which Swett has contributed articles is a project of the Free Republic Network.

I love Buzz! Thanks for your patriotism!

Sincerely

Mary C. Tropeano

Subject: Sandy Berger

Hi BuzzFlashers,

This morning (Friday) I was listening to the Diane Rehm show on NPR. She does her weekly News Roundup with three media types, reviewing current news events. One of the topics discussed was the fact that Sandy Berger had been completely exonerated from the phony charges against him relative to the National Archives documents he allegedly stuck in his socks. And, with the exception of a Wall Street Journal paragraph in section D, page 6 a few days ago, not a single major newspaper or broadcast media reported him being cleared of all charges. In checking Google, I noticed several blogs reporting this, but no major news media reported it. Seems the repugs were ready to sic Ken Starr on Sandy for this terrible crime against humanity and it made national headlines. Now that he has been cleared, not a word! What's even more troubling is that even John Kerry distanced himself from Berger when the news broke of his alleged awful crime.

This man, who has been a loyal and dedicated public servant, has had his career ruined. The more I thought about it, the angrier I got. Obviously the "liberal" news media will not come to his aid. So, I'd like to suggest the following: How about all us BuzzFlashers sending emails to the Kerry campaign requesting that Sandy Berger be reinstated as an advisor to Kerry on national security issues? Additionally, Kerry should make the announcement in a national news conference, thereby restoring Berger's career as the brilliant public servant he is. And, when the repubs scream at the top of their lungs, somebody in the Democratic party can point out that it was a repug leak occurring 10 months ago that started this whole sham. That should really piss them off.

Howard from Phoenix
(If you want your vote to count, use an absentee ballot.)

Subject: Question No One Will Answer

Something has been bothering me since the 911 attack. Since President Bush's visit to the school in Florida was widely publicized pre 911; why is it they did not evacuate the school when learning the country was under attack?

How were they to know the school (with the president in it) was not also a possible target? Why were precautions not taken for the safety of the children? Bush just sat...and sat...and sat there. This is very perplexing to me. Why was this fact never brought up? I have written to many media people and not one has responded.

Terri Collins

Subject: My letter to Swift Boat Veterans for Truth

Sirs, Your recent attempt to smear John Kerry in your appalling TV spot, must have Goebbels and his fellow Nazi propaganda experts cheering you from their graves. We Landlocked Veterans for Kerry were thrilled when John McCain so roundly denounced your virulently partisan garbage. That you would stand behind an unelected, untreated alcoholic, yet-to-be-disproved Air National Guard AWOL, and pathological truth spinner, speaks volumes. In less than 88 days, all America (and the world) will see how badly your smarmy gesture backfired.

Respectfully

C. Robert Holloway, Senior, Veteran (never saw combat)

Subject: Cheney letter

Hey BuzzFlash,

Slate just posted a piece on a letter Cheney wrote 12 years ago when he was Secretary of Defense opposing a plan for an intelligence czar, much like what the 9/11 Commission is now proposing. It appears to be purely a case of turf protection.

The Slate article is here:

http://fray.slate.msn.com/id/2104867/

And the letter PDF it refers to is here:

http://www.fas.org/irp/congress/1992_cr/cheney1992.pdf

Tim Skeers

Subject: bush at minority media. Question on native American sovereignty.

Hi BuzzFlash,

You simply have to get a video excerpt of bush answering the question of native American sovereignty at the Unity minority media conference. His answer so clearly reveals how incredibly stupid and unqualified he is to be president. A large number of people in the audience could be heard laughing at him. It was on C-span yesterday. You simply have to post this excerpt. It is the single most damaging footage of bush I have ever seen. It should be made into an ad. For the first time bush is talking to a skeptical audience and being asked unfiltered questions. Thank you.

http://www.majorityreportradio.com/weblog/archives/000581.php

Jef

Subject: Bob Herbert

Dear BuzzFlash:

I enjoy receiving the BuzzFlash bulletins.

However, I am bothered by one thing you said in your interview with Paul Krugman: you referred to him as "the only journalist in America who doesn't appear to need an eyeglass prescription..."

While I read Krugman regularly and agree that he is a fine journalist, I think you are wrong in saying he is the only journalist without blinders, etc. Among mainstream columnists, Bob Herbert, who also writes in the NY Times, is every bit as sharp and good as Krugman.

He deserves your praise as much as Krugman. I think you owe Herbert an apology for slighting him!

BobTripp
Reston, VA

[BuzzFlash Note: Perhaps a little hyperbole on our part? We stand corrected, and our apologies to Mr. Herbert. We do, however, post nearly everything Herbert writes.]

Subject: Turning Corner

Buzz:

It appears Dumbya's right when he said we're turning a corner. Unfortunately, we're slamming into a brick wall.

Brian

Subject: The electoral count

Electoral Vote Predictor 2004 is an excellent website to visit; its link is http://www.electoral-vote.com/

However, when you click on such states as Wisconsin, Minnesota, Nevada, and so on, be prepared to be upset by the fact that the polling for these places shows close races, and more often than not one Ralph Nader possibly threatening Kerry's lead. Maybe the fools - some of them less foolish than cynical are no doubt right-wingers out to destroy opposition unity - are just horsing around. But I consider Nader basically more morally challenged than Bush and handlers who are what they are, short and sweet. They may lie about what they are, but their lies are so utterly obvious that it's almost as if they know it doesn't really matter what they say.

Nader, on the other hand, a man really of limited issues, is an autocratic boss who cannot be questioned, a millionaire (lite but pretends not to be one), an arrogant and self-serving spoiler first class whose ego has a voracious appetite even unto cannibalism; in brief, he is a destructive moral cretin who knows better. But then maybe he really doesn't know better. Maybe he's more pathologically immoral than the thugs now ruling and ruining us, or maybe - who knows, really - he's getting paid off - lots - by some distant underlings of Rove and company and thus has a most practical and strategic mind. In any case, you needn't visit a stable to see a horse's ass.

Norman Weinstein
NYC

Subject: Al-jazeera

You guys ARE aware, aren't you, about what is going on with Al-jazeera and the limiting of free speech and news coverage in Iraq? With journalists being shot at, and now Al-jazeera being shut down, what do you think is going to happen over there?

http://www.registerguard.com/news/2004/08/08/a2.int.aljazeera.0808.html

http://english.aljazeera.net/HomePage

Rita Stanley

Subject: FLIP FLOP

Buzz:

Air America has Dumbya flip flopping between saying he wants to be the war and peace President.

Brian

Subject: Below the belt

The radical right raises its ugly head again with their disgusting, dirty, lying ad. They can't win an election based on the issues or their record.

Below the belt  (Guardian Unlimited)

RB

[BuzzFlash Note: Thanks. We like this article.]

Subject: Nothing New and No Surprises

Hi Buzz and all you Flashers:

The self acclaimed pundits on right wing tv and radio, in conjunction with the RNC and the Bush campaign, will continue to pontificate and prevaricate on every issue dealing with Senator Kerry. In their frenzy to ravage the Democratic party, and its presidential candidate, they will not hesitate to resort to any means to accomplish that particular goal. This has been their method of attack since the Nixon campaign against Humphrey, and they continue to use it today because, like then, they have a candidate with no character and little substance, and because they have no valid issues upon which they can base their campaign. Why should we be surprised at what we are hearing and seeing. Just more Bushit!

Wynn Spell
Clute, Texas

Subject: Please read this/president

Dear BuzzFlash-

Here is a link I found of a transcript of a town hall meeting where the president was taking questions from a live audience broadcast on CNN in December 2001. This link is from the white house website. This really exposes a huge lie and no media talked about it. When asked how he felt about the 911 attacks, the president said on live tv that he watched the first plane hit the towers on a television before he went into the classroom.

First, there was no live broadcast of the first plane hitting the towers.

Second, the official media story has always been that the president was told in the classroom after the second plane hit. Here is a big slip up that points to a huge lie. Did the president watch the event on closed circuit tv (because they all knew) and then slip up on national tv? And here is the slip up, still posted right on the white house website----why wasn't this in michael moore's movie? Why wasn't this talked about in media & why would the president continue with his book reading after he watched a plane hit the towers on a television? Go to the above white house link and scroll down towards the bottom----- here is what you will find.

Q: One thing, Mr. President, is that you have no idea how much you've done for this country. And another thing is that, how did you feel when you heard about the terrorist attack? (Applause.)

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, Jordan. Well, Jordan, you're not going to believe what state I was in when I heard about the terrorist attack. I was in Florida. And my Chief of Staff, Andy Card -- actually, I was in a classroom talking about a reading program that works. I was sitting outside the classroom waiting to go in, and I saw an airplane hit the tower -- the TV was obviously on. And I used to fly, myself, and I said, well, there's one terrible pilot. I said, it must have been a horrible accident. But I was whisked off there, I didn't have much time to think about it. And I was sitting in the classroom, and Andy Card, my Chief of Staff, who is sitting over here, walked in and said, "A second plane has hit the tower, America is under attack."

www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2001/12/20011204-17.html

A BuzzFlash Reader

Subject: How dare they attack Kerry's service

I admire John Kerry for VOLUNTEERING to go to Vietnam. This guy came from a wealthy family, he could have stayed in school, but he chose instead to go to that hellhole! As far as him speaking out against the war, that was his right as an American, you may have disagreed with what he said, but isn't that what we were fighting for in Vietnam, "to protect free peoples," which includes freedom of speech? Also, we weren't there, we don't know what he saw, and I'm sure it was the worst thing imaginable. By him and the other people speaking out against the war, he saved a lot of lives. Imagine how many young men would have been sent over there if he didn't speak out.

It's funny that these so called "Swift boat Veterans for truth" didn't actually serve on any of the boats that Kerry was on. It just goes to show you what a weak little man GWB is, that his sheep have to try and knock someone else down in order to prop him up. If these people really wanted to seek the truth, they would try to find out where GWB was for the last five months of his National Guard service. Here is a famous Bush Quote about Vietnam.

In fairness, Bush has been candid about why he enlisted in the Air National Guard. Like many young men of his generation, he wanted to avoid Vietnam. He told one reporter, "I was not prepared to shoot my eardrum out with a shotgun in order to get a deferment. Nor was I willing to go to Canada. So I chose to better myself by learning how to fly airplanes."

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4114162/

Kimberly D.
New York

Subject: Swift Boat and the media

WOW!! If only CNN, FauxNews, NBC, ABC, CBS, MSNBC, the print media and the right wing radio shills for the GOP, spent just 1/100th of the time looking into George Bush's military record instead of giving credibility to these swift boat nut cases. I believe they are afraid of what they will find. How anyone that has ever put on a military uniform to serve and honor our country could vote for George Bush is beyond me. Rather then saluting Kerry for his duty, he is questioned, accused and vilified. Why isn't the outrage directed where it should be: at Bush's far less than stellar answers to his service?

Bob Lambert
Northridge, CA

Subject: Snaky Secrets in Florida . . . ?

NADER ASKS TO ATTEND RNC CONVENTION: In letter written to RNC Chair Ed Gillespie on Aug. 2, independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader requests credentials to attend RNCC, "to observe... as well as to report on the Convention"... According to Nader spokesman Kevin Zeese, Nader has not heard a response from Gillespie yet.

Does he think because the GOP funded his petition drives in various states so that he could draw votes away from John Kerry that they would welcome him with open arms at the convention in September?  Puleeze!  Oh, poor Ralph is confused, perhaps delusional. 

SherAn

[BuzzFlash Note: You can read this news snippet in this Google-cached version.]

Subject: Why the buzz about Kerry's medals?

Why are the Democrats allowing this crap to drag on about Kerry's medals or his time in Vietnam? Hell...he did go!! Bush dropped out of the Texas Air National Guard, didn't he? Why haven't the Dems or Moveon.org or some group for Kerry simply produced a simple commercial that says, " at least Kerry showed up....did Bush?" This is so crazy. Kerry stated a long time ago that the Repugs are capable of anything....they fight and lie like school yard bullies. They also stay on point: liberals hate everybody, Kerry flip flops on the issues, Kerry is the most liberal man in the Senate, etc.....(This afternoon on CNN, I heard Bob Novak spin a very light question concerning how American athletes will be treated in Greece, into an anti-liberal, "liberals are the ones who hate" rant! ) This is not just another campaign to many of us. If Bush wins, it will insure the end of a way of life in the USA as many of us have known it. Bush/Cheney are about destroying the middle class. Most of us don't have the funds to move to another country. This is a serious election folk! We all must do our part.

D. Turner
Atlanta

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