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Subject: Morning of 9/11

I can't believe I'm about to say anything that could be construed as supporting this government (and really, I don't think I am) but no one seems to be mentioning one other aspect of what happened that morning. The President was in the loop, was immediately taken to safety and was immediately making decisions - it's just that Bush isn't the President. And in the urgency of the morning, President Cheney forgot to tell people to go scoop up the figurehead. Oh well, it WAS a busy morning, after all!

Terri Avalon

Subject: It changes the answer you get

A lot of press is being given Bush's 'yes or no ultimatum' to Kerry regarding going into Iraq knowing what we know now.

Maybe Kerry's spin doctors should point out what Colin Powell replied when asked the same question:

Below is a Snip from 'Bush Must Go' by Bill Press

Glenn Kessler of the Washington Post (2/2/04) asked Powell if he would still have recommended an invasion, knowing Iraq had no WMD:

"I don't know because it was the stockpile [of WMD] that presented the final little piece that made it more of a real and present danger and threat to the region and the world." "The absence of a stockpile changes the political calculus. It changes the answer you get."

Bram

Subject: Um....

All of a sudden all over the TV this afternoon I have been seeing republicans say things like Kerry is losing his cool, does not have the temperament to be president and can't control his anger.................um, excuse me, didn't we see this just four years ago when they tried to convince us McCain was a mental case?

A BuzzFlash Reader

Subject: swiftboat gate.....

In the event that anyone is interested, there is an important Federal election going on in this country. From the headlines one would think that there was a conspiracy of both Republicans and Democrats to hoodwink the voters into forgetting the pressing, world-changing implications of this election, while we focus on thirty-year-old events that have absolutely nothing to do with today's pressing issues.

Ok, I'll bite. Where are the companions de gere of G. W. Bush? It seems to me that veritable legions of fellow Air National Guard folks would have popped out of the woodwork by now, to verify some facet of Bush's alleged military career? There must be at least one person who can stand up and say: "yah, I was his co-pilot", or, "I cleaned his teeth", or, "I lived with the guy on the base, where we were stationed, and from where we scrambled daily, defending the Gulf of Mexico from Vietnamese fighter squadrons"? This question burns almost as brightly as does the question of how he won his first election?

Michael Heinichen

BuzzFlash,

Why doesn't John Kerry display his Discharge papers at all of his speeches, and ask the other side do the same?

Show picture of the pilot that just wanted to learn how to fly, but not land. This should have sent up a red flag right now, also show GW sitting in the classroom where he was safe, an scared to death. GW is more interested in his golf swing than worrying about the poor people, which he has no knowledge how the poor people live, and doesn't care.

Also show the amount of time GW has spent away from the WH during his time in office. A months vacation when they knew that there threats against us.

A BuzzFlash reader

Subject: I saw you had a Jon Stewart, The Daily Show, link. Did you see this one?

Hi BuzzFlash,

I saw you had a Jon Stewart, The Daily Show, link.

Did you see this one: "Robert Novak -- Jon reveals conservative columnist Robert Novak to be a "Douchebag of Liberty."" I don't know how to get the URL from the windows media player. It is the list of available video streams though.

I like the dialog at the end:

Novak: "...sends devastating message unless it is effectively refuted:

Jon: "...because in this country when a scurrilous charge is made against you by people you are guilty unless you prove otherwise. That's the way it works. Kudos Mr. Novak. Douchebag of liberty"

I want to get a t-shirt that says, "I get my real news from The Daily Show" with Jon Stewart :-) What do you think? I'd tell Comedy Central or Jon if there were a link.

Thanks,

Peg

Subject: John Kerry Hero

Hi BuzzFlash

My husband was a Korean Vet. on the front line, and saw action.
My father came straight from Italy, went into the service for America.
My husband's father fought for America, at the same time.Saw action!
We have brothers on both sides of our families who fought for America.
My sister also served her country, America.
Uncles,and cousins, of both sides our families served, America.

Will one day liars like the swift boat scum, lie about our families and lie about their records, in serving this country, America?

These paid off liars, are unpatriotic, unAmerican and put all who served their country, the USA with honor, in question.

Records show John Kerry is a Hero. Records show Mr. Bush was no where to be found, at the same time. How can these fools get away with this chicanery? Money!

So tired of this dirty power play buy the republicans. They stole our votes, now they are trying to still our honor. Is there no end to their bullying?

Yes! November 2nd 2004, vote!

Angie...Phila

Subject: a new name for the "swift boat liars" club

You should start referring to the swift boat liars as the "shrimp boat" liars....because they are lying in support of their AWOL hero, Forrest Gump Bush.

Sincerely,

Anna Ray in Fresno

Subject: Why didn't Thurlow give back his medal?

Dear Buzz,

Larry Thurlow, anti-Kerry swift boat veteran, claims there was no enemy fire in the battle for which John Kerry was awarded a Bronze Star for rescuing a fellow swift boat crew member from the Bay Hap River in Vietnam.

But Larry Thurlow was awarded a Bronze Star for his own "bravery" under "fire" on the same occasion; his medal citation specifically describes "enemy small arms and automatic weapons fire" directed at "all" of the five swift boats in the area at the time.

It is difficult -- if not impossible -- to believe Mr. Thurlow, having been awarded a Bronze Star, never read the wording of his citation that specifically stated he was under "enemy fire." Are we supposed to believe this navy officer, in the thirty years since, still has never once read the wording of his medal's citation?

And if Mr. Thurlow did read the citation's wording, which he now says is a lie, why has he never until now mentioned that fact -- or given back his medal and informed the Navy he was awarded the medal under false pretenses?

Sincerely,

Lois

Subject: Sometimes things really scare me

In my eighty years on this earth I have seen many things that distressed me -- wars, World-Wide depression, starvation, among them. I have seen things that chilled my soul and made me want to run for cover, but I don't recall many instances where I was actually frightened by what I saw.

That was not the case as I watched Crossfire on CNN, Thursday, August 19.

One of the guest commentators on the show was Bey Buchanan, sister of Pat Buchanan. I had always looked on Bey as being the more leveled headed between the two of them, and being a woman of nice features that placed her above the average.

That, also, was not the case as I watched her on this TV show.

She started out making an argument against Kerry and for Bush in a civil manner, but as she continued her voice and her facial appearance changed until by the time she got to the point of saying that Kerry had spent $73-million on TV ads attacking Bush with lies, lies, lies and more lies, everything about her changed as she ranted. Her facial features, her demeanor, her voice -- everything changed to become totally evil. The skin tightened around her mouth and her eyes squinted to focus her vision. The look in her eyes, the tone of her voice and everything about her frightened me to the point where I wanted to cover my face to protect myself from the poisonous venom which I expected her to spew forth like a Spitting Cobra. The woman scared me more than Linda Blair could possible do in The Exorcist. Why?

The only explanation I can come up with is "hate." With those people this is not a case of who is right and who is wrong, it is just about who is bad and who is good. Everyone opposing them is bad and is subject, and worthy, of all the hate that they can engender. Her action and appearance epitomized this for me. Scary!!

Bill Sybert
Dallas, Texas

Subject: Silver Lining

As utterly detestable as these lies by the John O'Neill/Karl Rove Swift Boat slanderers may be, there is one salutary effect I see arising from this whole dust-up. Kerry has finally decided to go after Bush the same way he decided to go after Howard Dean last December and January. Kerry can be quite formidable when he finally gets snapped out of his complacency. It was starting to appear as if Kerry was viewing this Karl Rove machine as something he could deal with the way he would approach a debate on the Yale University Debating Squad (of which he was a member). Sorry Senator; as you're seeing, you're up against a bunch of hard core reprobates who are gutter slime fighters. They will do anything, I mean anything, to advance their interests. They are unabashed about their methods. They never apologize for anything. Just ask John McCain and Max Cleland. Fortunately, Kerry now seems to have seen the light. His campaign aides are faxing off immediate responses to news programs, within moments after a Republican slanderer appears on the program. Stephanie cutter's comment about the My Pet Goat reading was wonderful. Kerry has filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission, alleging that the swift boat liars are being puppeteered by Rove and Bush. Granted,the FEC is a paper tiger, but that's not the point. Kerry is now taking the fight to Bush's door. You have to be on the offensive at all times; defense doesn't work. He has decided to play offense. Hopefully he will keep it up. Even Chris Mathews, the newly-minted Republican quisling, seems to be genuinely ticked off by the swift boat liars. His hit job against Michelle Malkin, an unhinged Republican shill who poses as a writer, was a beautiful moment indeed. As BuzzFlash pointed out yesterday, The New York Times has definitively put the lie to any posturing on Bush's part that he is not behind the swift boat liars' efforts. My prediction is that this whole issue will be turned around and turned against Bush. The situation remains clouded right now, but within a fortnight, it will be totally resolved in Kerry's favor. In the meantime, Democrats have to continue launching incessant barrages to every possible opinion maker within the media; I mean faxes, letters and e-mails.

Donald P. Russo,
Bethlehem, Pa.

Subject: Letter to columnist Kathleen Parker

8/21

Hi Buzz,

Thought you'd like a copy. As always, thanks for all you do.

* * *

8/19/04

Ms. Parker:

I read your column "Kerry's past is too good to be true" with distaste. Swiftboats Veterans for Truth' has been debunked as a PAC ploy, and probably better called "Swiftboat Veterans for Deceit."

You say Mr. Kerry "sought Purple Hearts for minor wounds, at least one of which was self-inflicted.' Later in the same column, you say you are reluctant to second-guess anyone's wartime performance. No you're notyou're calling Mr. Kerry a liar. Actually, your bald statement that one of the wounds was self-inflicted is probably libelous. I'd love to see you prove that statement in court. You go on the say that Kerry has a "studious pursuit of power and an insatiable need for attention.' I can think of no more cold-blooded pursuit of power than the recent right-wing grab of the White House and I can think of nothing more pathetic than the so-called leader of the free world so afraid of criticism that his audiences are now hand-picked so they don't hurt his feelings with nasty questions.

You go on to criticize Mr. Kerry's defining moment, because he may not have been in Cambodia. I visited my brother in Colorado in 1983. He took my family to an Indian ruin called Hovenweep and told me that it was so remote that no one was positive what state it was in. In the last 20 years, Virginia and West Virginia settled a long-running border dispute and set a boundary between those states. I wish that Kashmir and Pakistan had settled their border dispute as well, but they haven't. Point being that even now, some forty years after Mr. Kerry's tour of duty in Vietnam, there are still many areas on the planet where the lines aren't clearly drawn.

In the rest of your rant, you continue to vilify Mr. Kerry, as far as I can see, simply to make your point that his past is too good to be true. Maybe the real point here is that you and so-called pundits like you are so busy trying to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear that you no longer recognize real decency, real strength and real leadership. You are stuck defending a deserter. Are you going to do a column highlighting Bush's medals, his defining moment, or his whereabouts during his Texas National Guard service? To fast-forward to the here and now, are you going to write a column that details Bush's flip-flops, spoonerisms, malapropisms, vagaries, and outright lies? Or why he sat in a Florida classroom for 7 MINUTES while our country was being attacked? Or why he flew to Nebraska instead of Washington DC? In ancient times, the general had a standard-bearera soldier who held the banner over the battlefield. The general stood by the banner and stayed there no matter how the battle went, even to his own death. That's what a leader does -- he doesn't run and he doesn't hide. Kerry proved himself over the last forty years. Bush could've, but he didn't. You can write till your pen runs dry, but any attack on Mr. Kerry's honor and any defense of Bush's is false.

M. Robbins

* * *

The column appeared in my local paper 8/18

Ms. Parker's address is:

Tribune Media Services
435 N. Michigan Ave
Suite 1400
Chicago IL 60611

Subject: Swift Boat for Liars

The Washington post has just released information they received under the "Freedom of Information Act". This information shows that Larry Thurlow, an out spoke critic of John Kerry's and a member of anti-Kerry, Republican front organization called "Swift Boat Veteran For Truth". Thurlow's own military record is strong evidence that a more appropriate name for this so-called veteran organization would be "Swift Boat Veterans For Liars."

Thurlow's own military record state that his boat as well as John's Kerry's boat came under fire at the moment Lt. Kerry rescued James Rassman from certain death by pulling him out of river. Mr Thurlow's military record is proof that he is not telling the truth.

Thurlow stated that Kerry put himself up for a Citation The truth is,Lt. Rassman put Lt. Kerry up for the "Silver Star". it was reduced to a "Bronze Star."

The Republican's cannot win on the issues, so they must lie and destroy to win, and how could I forget steal-ask Al Gore about that one.

Mark Cutelli

Subject: Florida Absentee Ballot Warning - Urgent

This is happening in Florida, but all absentee voters should be careful!

Check Postage Requirements for Absentee Ballots

We have heard from a Florida voter that returning your absentee ballot by mail may require more than just 37 cents, regardless of what the official instructions say. Make sure you check at the Post Office before you mail it in any state.

http://www.votersunite.org/info/postage.htm

A BuzzFlash Reader

Subject: Swift Boat Liars

Well, I thought I'd read enough of the Swift Boat liar story. I agreed with the journalist who said it was the equivalent of the Scott Peterson national distraction obsession and I balked, decided to refuse to read another word.

But the editor of the Chicago Tribune, William Rood, who spoke up on behalf of Kerry and the other men in the operation that gained Kerry his silver star lured me in.

It was a very compelling story. Which is why I then wrote him a long letter asking that he reconsider his decision to not speak of this again. I told him his words will only reach a relatively few readers who, since they read, already know the agenda of the Swift Boat Liars. I asked him please not to leave his story to be bandied about on television as hearsay. He should stand by his own words, his own story! Shine a light that can't be refuted or avoided.

CNN, as I am forced to watch at the gym, even put thrice divorced Rush-drug addict-Limbaugh on to back up the Swift Boat liars!

What won't tv stoop to? Which is why it's vital that William Rood tell his own story and face these Bush dissemblers down.

Please write an editorial on this, and perhaps exhort BuzzFlash readers to contact William Rood and ask him to relent on his stance that he will never speak of this again. Asking him to again serve his country when he feels he's done more than enough may be tough, but no one else can do this but him.

Robyn Su Miller
Quincy, MA

Subject: John Kerry

The same caliber of people who spit on our soldiers coming back from Viet Nam are still spitting on PRESIDENT KERRY (like the looks and sound of that) today. Kerry had the guts to go to the HILL and try to stop that senseless war. I was against the war too, and I deplored those american's who spit on our soldiers. and they are still spitting. It was the liberal thinking people who got the country to see the truth. I've read you should pray for your enemy and the truth will be revealed, so let's all start praying for our enemy, george bush, who is stripping us of our american freedoms.

carolina

This is a copy of a letter to the editor...Shreveport Times...Shreveport, Louisiana.

* * *

Letter to the Editor-Shreveport Times-8/21/04

I agree with republicans who say voters should use common sense in electing our next president. But I don't agree with their idea of common sense.

People who question John Kerry's medals while ignoring George W. Bush's use of family influence to completely avoid serving in Vietnam are not exercising common sense. Kerry earned five medals in Vietnam including the Silver Star for bravery in combat. Now the so called "Swift Boat Veterans For Truth," a Republican-financed crew of right wing partisans, are claiming the United States issued bogus medals to Kerry. And Bush, who supported the Vietnam War but wouldn't fight in it, refuses to condemn their lies.

If Republicans really had common sense they would ask serious questions about the silence that will live in infamy. For over seven minutes on 9/11 after being told a second plane had hit the World Trade Center Towers Bush sat mute in a Florida classroom listening to children read a story about a pet goat. He wasn't "projecting calm" as the Republican spin machine claims. Look at the frightened expression on his face in the video. While Americans were dying he sat there frozen like a deer caught in the headlights and asked for no further information about the terrorist attacks for over seven minutes. Bush knew this country was under attack but because the event wasn't scripted he was unable to move until his handlers figured out what to do. His location was public knowledge yet he remained at that school for over twenty minutes endangering the lives of every child who was present. That's not common sense. It defies common sense.

Bush is "all hat and no cattle". We need a Commander in Chief who can react immediately to a crisis. John Kerry reacted thirty years ago when he took his Swift Boat into enemy fire to rescue a soldier in Vietnam. He has the shrapnel and the medals to prove it. After learning that the United States was under attack would Kerry have sat motionless for over seven minutes in that Florida classroom listening to a goat story before getting up and doing his job? If you have common sense ask yourself that question before you vote in November.

Jerry Harkness
Shreveport, La.