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

THIS IS PART 2 OF THE AUGUST 25, 2004 BUZZFLASH MAILBAG. CLICK HERE FOR PART 1.

Subject: 527 Ads

Subject: Swift Boat

Dear BuzzFlash

Tell America to WAKE UP!!!! The only reason that the Swift Boat Ads were put on the air was to stop MoveOn from putting their ads on especially during the Republican Convention!

They knew that they would piss off Kerry supporters with their ads. Bush's people tried to get MoveON dismantled a few months ago - it didn't work. This must have been their second idea.

A day ago Bush said that ALL these ads should stop. How dumb does he think we are!!

The trouble is that most Americans will never figure it out. (Sometimes I wish I were as dumb as a rock - life would be easier)

Connie Dirig

Subject: Money Talks

If I had Theresa Heinz Kerry's money I would make the Shifty Boat Liars and Bob Dole's lives a living hell with constant libel suits and have them in court for the rest of their sorry lives.

Pisces

Subject: Bear False Witness

Why hasn't anyone directed Bush and the Right wing to this very important bible verse, which is also one of the ten commandments. Every day I question the "christianity" of these X-ians.

Mark 10:19 - Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Defraud not, Honour thy father and mother.....

I'd say just on this note alone they are all going to hell. If I die and see Bush I know I will have been sent to hell.

P Jones
Mesquite

Subject: Scary people!

I am so afraid the bush people know they can't have bush lose this election because they know all of the ugly things they have done in the past four years will come to light. The whole world will know. I hope Kerry knows how dangerous the bush people are and has taken security measures. I think those people will stop at nothing to get what they want! they are very scary people!

Sharon in Memphis

Sent to Joe@msnbc.com; foxnewsonline@foxnews.com; comments@foxnews.com ; janet.alshouse@foxnews.com ; bret.baier@foxnews.com ; afterhours@foxnews.com ; bruce.becker@foxnews.com ; david.brown@foxnews.com ; warstories@foxnews.com ; jerry.burke@foxnews.com ; meade.cooper@foxnews.com ; jim.eldridge@foxnews.com ; tim.gaughan@foxnews.com ; catherine.herridge@foxnews.com ; foxmagazine@foxnews.com ; keenan@foxnews.com ; myword@foxnews.com ; norvell@foxnews.com ; michele.remillard@foxnews.com ; marty.ryan@foxnews.com ; ontherecord@foxnews.com ; jay.wallace@foxnews.com ; robert.zimmerman@foxnews.com:

George W. Bush was photographed wearing a ribbon he did not earn

Dear Propaganda Media,

I think this should be the topic of interest that should be talked about over and over for the next 2 weeks. Let's find out who saw Bush getting these awards and who didn't, then let's ask Bob Dole if he was there. And then find the reports documenting these awards. Then get opinions from past presidents and Bush's band of brothers, and let's just keep repeating this over and over.....

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discus...

George W. Bush was photographed wearing a ribbon he did not earn We can clearly see that in this picture, George W. Bush is wearing an Air Force Outstanding Unit Award and a Small Arms Expert Marksmanship Ribbon, however, on line 24 of his ARG22 National Guard discharge form, George W. Bush has NO awards listed:

Now, here in another picture where his father is pinning lieutenant bars on his shoulder, George W. Bush is again wearing the Small Arms Expert Marksmanship Ribbon:

Signed: When Will Democracy Mean More than Your Paycheck?

Subject: Why in God's Name . . .

The tape with george bush telling a room full of millionaires that they are his base..................

Why in God's name aren't they using that in an ad and playing it over and over in the poor areas of the red states so they red necks with the iq's of a cucumber can see it?

Km in SC

Dear BuzzFlash:

It is hard not to notice how the print media with their investigative reporters have done a pretty good job of debunking the swift boat lies.

however, the cable news channels have a sly way of keeping it going by acting as if (hey we are not saying we believe it, we are just asking if it is possible if it is true) they know very well it is not true. but then scandals are good for ratings. i also recall bob dole talking about how we have to stop all this mean spiritedness in politics, then attacks Kerry with a pack of lies, then he tells Kerry he still likes him but this is hard ball. Hope no one ever likes me that much!

Kate

Subject: Thanks Maureen!--but you left out John Lind, CEO

Dear Buzz, Maureen Farrell's article today (8/24/04) on the dangerous ideology of a host of far-right religious spokespersons is excellent. Thank you Maureen for gathering all this insanity into one place--it's clear that our democracy is in trouble...and may soon be a theocracy if these extremists have their way in November. One name I didn't see is a Mr. John Lind, CEO of the supposedly "nonpartisan" but screamingly pro-Bush website, www.presidentialprayerteam.org. Can you share with readers any info regarding his past and present (carefully veiled, no doubt) relationships (or that of his board members and other supporters listed on the website) to the Republican party in general and to the Bush administration in particular? The new "Pray the Vote" campaign http://www.presidentialprayerteam.org/praythevote/ which is mailed out to "millions" of Christians who are asked to send it to other people and, even more troubling, designed to be downloaded and distributed in churches to unsuspecting worshippers throughout America prior to the presidential election, is especially disturbing.

The principle of separation of church and state--will this soon be merely a quaint ,outdated principle that was instigated by heathens such as Thomas Jefferson and now corrected by moralists like Jerry Falwell, James Dobson, Pat Robertson, and Billy/Franklin Graham who swing the vote towards their pick for the White House? Will our children and grandchildren laugh as they read about this old-fashioned notion, in their carefully censored history books, as they learn about America's early years as a sinful democracy, rather than its ultimate destiny as a righteous theocracy (a fundamentalist Christian theocracy, of course)?

I wonder how manipulating churchgoers's votes by organizations that use presidential-looking seals and banners, and give the impression that they are nonprofit, is constitutional, really...

Thank you,

C. Pennington
Chesapeake VA

Dear Ms. Farrell,

Your August 24th piece is a masterpiece of cautionary wisdom. I’ve sent it to all on my political list and intend to follow it up again with the insistence that they must, absolutely must read it. I suspect most of the malevolent fools you write about neither know nor truly understand what our founding fathers, largely deists, were all about. The simian Mr. Bush certainly fits this category. But there are others, brilliant, informed, articulate, like Antonin Scalia, who do know better and are actively intent on destroying the quintessential nature of this society, or what we thought that nature to be. These people you list and briefly describe are ultimately Nazi lites; they are a threat to all of us and to the world at large. We are a nation and a world in damned deep trouble. Thank you for your brilliant expose.

Norman Weinstein
NYC

My 17 year old grandson read in the paper this morning that unmuzzled dogs were used on teenage prisoners in iraq, making them urinate on themselves. From the mouth of a 17 year old. "Bush is not fit to be a security guard at the mall, much less commander in chief!"

Diane Anderson
Miami FL

Subject: Damned if you do...damned if you don't

Dear Buzz,

While I think it commendable that it has oft been pointed out that BuzzFlash was one of the first to instruct John Kerry to define himself or be defined, it truly is of little relevance when dealing with pond scum. Listening to the pundits this weekend say, “Fighting back is only hurting John Kerry more than GW,”reminds me that you can’t have it both ways.

Kerry and his surrogates have attempted for months to define his vision for America. We all know that the Swift Vets’ad is only intended as a distraction. That is all it can be, because even by the usual GOP lie standard, there was no way this pig was ever going to fly.

And now, we have pundits reminding us that to fight back will only hurt John Kerry. These are the same pundits who cried for weeks that the Kerry campaign was not responding to the mudslinging. Damned if you do, damned if you don’t. And now, the typical “rewriting of history”that GW and his minions have brought to a science. We are now told that one reason the BuSh campaign refuses to disavow these ads is that “the Kerry campaign is the only group that has questioned GW’s record of service.”Please. This ranks right up there with “He wouldn’t let the inspectors in, so we decided to remove him from power.”

But we all know the lie isn’t really what is important. What is important that coupled with revelations in the Peterson trial, Michael J. appearing in court, and the “Swift Boat people,”we have managed to sweep under the radar the endless bloodshed in Iraq, the constant bombings and other indications that worldwide terror is up and the precursors of a full-blown recession on the horizon.

As BuSh so famously opined in May of 2003: “Mission Accomplished.”

Mark in Tokyo

Saw a funny idea for a democrat's bumper sticker not long ago:

DEMOCRATS ARE SEXY
WHO EVER HEARD OF A PIECE OF ELEPHANT.

Terry

Subject: "Clueless Bush" on today's BuzzFlash

August 24, 2004

Below from BuzzFlash.com Main page August 24, 2004 3:00 PM NY time

Minutes of Silence That Should Live in Infamy: As Americans Leapt to Their Deaths from the WTC, Bush Sat Cluelessly in a Florida Classroom, Endangering the Lives of the Children Around Him, Until His Handlers Could Figure Out What to Do With Him

Dear BuzzFlash:

There is more information, now, about the Bush betrayal:

In the year before September 11, 2001, U.S. Fighter Interceptors, in conjunction with FAA and NORAD procedures, were dispatched 67 times to check on U.S. Commercial aircraft in U.S. airspace.

All U.S. Field Commanders could order Fighter Interceptors.

In June 2001, the Bush administration changed these procedures. On September 11, 2001, only three people in the United States could order U.S. Fighters to Intercept Commercial Aircraft: George Bush, Richard Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld.

They all failed to act.

The day after September 11, 2001, the FAA  NORAD were back to their pre-Sept. 11operational instructions.

Paul J. Landis
"Stop Bush Now"
Tuckahoe, NY

Subject: I Used To Respect You Senator McCain

Dear Senator McCain,

I USED TO respect you, and send you contributions from Connecticut.

But now, you are going to the lowest lows by backing President Bush and speaking for him at The Republican Convention.

This is THE SAME PRESIDENT BUSH who SLIMMED YOU and your Family's REPUTATION, by telling voters in South Carolina that YOU had FATHERED A BLACK CHILD. You were accused of being associated with a "Fringe Group" of Vietnam Veterans by George Bush.

You know darn well that you ADOPTED your black child, and I applaud you and you wife for doing such a beautiful thing.

You know darn well that you had no association with the "fringe group".

But now, Bush is bringing back a war that he and Cheney (along with many others) did not even serve in, and making JOHN KERRY into a SLIM BALL.

This is the same John Kerry that YOU went back to Vietnam with, to find missing POW's and MIA's.

That, along with the facts that media is finally proving Incorrect, is turning into yet another SLIME JOB by the BUSH TEAM.

Re-think about speaking at The RNC Convention and being PRO-Bush (ie: putting your arm around him like nothing ever happened).

I never served in Vietnam, or in any war, due to my lumbar palsy since birth, 50 years ago. Lugging 15 pounds of braces on my legs and walking with crutches prevented me from serving.

I have always respected EVERY Veteran, and I also have a LONG MEMORY. I'm sorry you appear not to remember how you were treated by The President you are supporting.

Sincerely,

Tom Wieliczka

Subject: Well THAT Explains It!

I contacted the writer of this column and asked him to send the piece to you guys. I hope you will give it careful consideration if and when he does. You have a question on the home page now asking why Bush doesn't dump people in regard to Abu Ghraib. This column answers that question, about Cheney, at least. The writer feels Cheney is a seat-warmer for Jeb in 2008. Pres. Bush doesn't want a V.P. with presidential aspirations, so he will never dump Dick.

I really can't stress, as a Florida resident, how bad for this country a Jeb presidency will be. I hope you guys will start early keeping tabs on Jeb and letting people know he is not just W. with a brain. He's really, really nasty.

Thanks.

----------

From: Patricia Ponder
Date: Wed, 18 Aug 2004 13:10:35 -0400
To: Jon Ponder
Subject: Well THAT explains it!

Very interesting theory put forth in a column by a local writer in our independent weekly (which is not available online). It's about why Bush is standing by Cheney as his vice president.

"Other Republican vice presidential nominees such as Jack Kemp, George H.W. Bush, and Bob Dole all had serious presidential ambitions of their own. [Note: He discusses Dan Quayle separately but of course, D.Q. also ran for president.]

We all know that Cheney isn't going to run for president in 2008. Even if he was in perfect health (and he isn't), Cheney just wouldn't be an attractive candidate for the top spot. So Bush should drop him and groom a successor, right?...But what if Bush wants to keep the field open for 2008? And what if he wants a specific Republican to be the nominee in 2008? What if he wants his little brother, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, to be his successor?"

The column is accompanied by a cartoon of a city in wreckage and a mangled car with a bumpersticker that reads, "Bush IX in 2024."

I am telling you guys, the only thing worse than George Bush is Jeb Bush. If think you've seen snarling arrogance before, just wait. One of W's saving graces is that he's so stupid. Jeb is a rocket surgeon in comparison.

Subject: RE: Bush uses out-matched bully strategy on Kerry...

Something about the way Bush responded to calls from Kerry to repudiate the Swift Boat Smear ads was kind of bothering me. I knew the fact that he tried to make the issue a repudiation of ALL ads was a bit tricky but I couldn't identify what he was getting at.

Then I recalled the tactic from my childhood. I was a younger brother and my older sister used to pick on me and push me around (not sadistically, just normal sibling stuff). Then when I grew bigger my sister, and it was time for payback, my sister declared "we're too old for that stuff now". She was in fact correct and I never got my payback. It was not a big deal in my life (although I still recall how it happened out many decades later).

Let’s translate this tactic to the current situation. Bush allows vicious attacks on Kerry's record. Bush knows that his own record is open to much worse attacks on his time served (or not served) in the National Guard. So Bush (through his surrogates) puts a vicious smear on Kerry. When Kerry finally fights back (and Kerry is in a position of power here since Bush's military record is a real weak spot), and Kerry ends up in a position to pound Bush with attack ads about Bush's lack of service to the country, suddenly Bush says (paraphrasing here) "we're too mature for that NOW, we should stop these attacks".

If Kerry were to agree to stop such ads, than Bush would have got his smear in and would be safe from reprisals in kind. If Kerry doesn't agree, than Bush can claim Kerry isn't "mature" enough to stop using these kinds of ads.

Once again Bush relies on Junior High level strategy to try and gain control of the country for four more years. I’m not sure how Kerry should respond to this strategy, but I lean towards the fact that the more people know about Bush, the less likely they will be to vote for him again.

http://www.bigtimepatriot.com/default.asp?itemID=158

signed,

A BuzzFlash Reader and Big Time Patriot

Subject: Going to New York?

Dear BuzzFlash,

So, Mayor Bloomberg and the city of New York have denied permits for any protests in Central Park and the courts have upheld their un-American decision!

I suggest that anyone going to New York to protest should bring a copy of the only permit they really should need... The United States Constitution!

Bloomberg and his ilk should move to Iran where there is no freedom of speech. I'm sure they'd be a lot more comfortable there. As for me, I believe in America where free speech is one of the cornerstones of our democracy. Down with Bloomberg! Long live the United States of America!

Rob Moitoza
U.S. Navy Veteran/Musician/Activist
Seattle, WA

Subject: David Ignatius' column in the Washington Post

I just completed Ignatius' column in the Post entitled, "Dangers of Defaming a War Hero". I for the most part agreed with it but felt it downplayed many things. Two things he wrote upset me and I wrote the following email to him:

* * *

Two things, Mr. Ignatius:

1) You write, "Bush has gotten a pass partly because he's seen as a likable, decent fellow."

Huh? What was that again? A likable, decent fellow? Mr. Ignatius, I don't where you are living, but all the people I know and most of the people I read about think this is the worst, most corrupt, indecent president we have ever had in office. I predict he will enter the history books as a war criminal. Bush has gotten a pass because of devout cronyism and pandering to the Christian right.

2) You conclude, "At some point, the public may ask: Have you no sense of decency, sir?"

The public MAY ask? Have you ever attended a protest rally against this president? Do you know of the level of protest being planned for the NYC RNC? Do you mean the minority of the public who voted for him in 2000 and will vote for him in 2004, when either he will lose or he will steal the election again? Oh my goodness, Mr. Ignatius, please go back to sleep inside your make-believe world. Stop writing columns.

* * *

Michael Mitchell

Dear Sir.

It's to bad there is not some way to get people out of office based on their performance.

Example:

Nothing but lies to the American people ever since they have been in office.
Depleted a large surplus that could have been used for something for the American people.
Plus now have gone into a very large deficit.

There has to be some way to evaluated their performance like any employee. They have literally raped the country.

What they have done should be grounds for impeachment and put in jail.

Sincerely,

Bob Frost
Austin, TX.

Subject: Ritter, Blix

I seems to me an opportune time to remind people of the warnings and advice given to the Bush Administration by Scott Ritter, Hans Blix and Mohammed El Baradei. Ritter, a former Marine Intelligence Officer, had served for several years as chief inspector for UNMOVIC. His impassioned Jeremiads about the non-existent WMDs were trashed and ridiculed by the administration and the mainstream media. Miles O'Brien of CNN did a real trashing job on him.

Hans Blix was dismissed in a most insulting manner by the Bush Administration and the parrots in the mainstream media. Mr. Al Baradei, respected and renowned nuclear scientist, was laughed and jeered at as an incompetent.

Now the Bushites claim that NO ONE offered any credible evidence to indicate that the WMD had been destroyed or simply didn't exist. Ritter, Blix and Baradei told them and the world but no one would listen.

David R. Wilcox
Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Subject: Sign Theft in Pensacola

Hey Buzz,

Wanted to let you know about the massive theft and vandalism of Kerry/Edwards signs in my hometown of Pensacola, Florida. Here’s a link to the newspaper article.

I was born and raised in Pensacola, and I’ve been quite surprised at the large number of Kerry/Edwards signs that have appeared in the community. Add that to the fact that George W. Bush visited Pensacola along with John McCain a few weeks ago, and it suggests to me that the Bush campaign is not doing as well in “conservative”Northwest Florida as they would like to be. Not that the panhandle won’t go for Bush this time. The question is, will Bush gain enough votes in Northwest Florida to offset votes in other parts of Florida. Or, conversely, will Kerry get enough votes in Northwest Florida to cut into some of the votes that Bush might otherwise have counted on getting.

Only time will tell. In the meantime, I know who I’ll be voting for, and I’ll also be keeping an especially close eye on my own Kerry/Edwards sign.

Tom Garner
Pensacola, Florida

Subject: I have read Kerry's 1971 speech.

I am 58 years old and wrote to several guys who were serving in Vietnam and I read most of them before he said in letters written home. I also heard a lot of the same from one of my favorite people who called me about twice a month for years in the middle of the night screaming about things he had to do in order to follow orders or instruction.

In his case, as a troop truck driver, he was force to drive so fast and so reckless under fire that guys got "dusted" off the truck daily and he couldn't stop to get them. Dusted was when they were shot off the truck or fell off the truck. He could also not stop and endanger a truckload of guys to stop for the injured along the road. How bizarre that he could see their faces for a decade or more after he got back.

There was nothing in Kerry's speech that I hadn't heard from guys returning which was what Kerry was doing. He was reporting what others had seen and I got news for you news guys awful things happen when people are forced to continue fighting a die for a lost cause in order to fatten the pocketbooks of weapons manufacturers and the all war industries.

The only war industries anxious to stop Vietnam or this one is the medical industry. This war was based almost totally on lies or exaggerations. The Bush family will make millions with the Carlyle Group (weapons dealers) as they have in possibly every war since America has been here.

The wars are always started by politicians of some stripe and they are extended by politicians. If it hadn't been for the returning anti-war vets Nixon would have continued Vietnam for decades. I don't know that he made a lot of money, but leaders in the weapons industry did. What would tank manufacturers do without war, make plow-shears.

The number of guys my age who came back as basket cases is astounding and now the Bush administration is cutting their benefits and their access to health care. I can't imagine any soldier who has been to war, wanting to start another pre-emptively, which isn't what happen, except in a few cases like Colin Powell.

Kerry was giving examples and he never said all US soldiers did those things. Bring our kids home and not as basket cases. I volunteered at the VA Hospital in Houston in 1969 or 70 and I could only take it about 3 months. I came home a basket case everyday I went because of the waste, the absolute waste of my generation.

I hope every where Jenna and Barbara Bush go and say what a nice guy their dad is, they are asked if it is okay to kill 1000's of their generation. This war is on a killing track ahead of Vietnam.

Get them out of there and all you guys who were in Vietnam and saw what went on, need to step up and slap the crap out of the guys who want this one to continue and they know very well the same things are happening out of frustration in this one, look at the prison situation. I guarantee there will be guys coming home who will face being told if they are good soldiers just to forget and they won't be able to.

By the way, I am scared to death to call my friend because I am afraid all these ads denying that atrocities happen in Vietnam will have him a basket case again. His sons are of draft age and I have two nephews who are. The war machine isn't going to get them without a fight.

Let the Bush twins fight in this one, but they won't and none of their rich friends or cousins will either.

Karen

Subject: Latest CNN re swift boat veterans

I heard on KGO radio, Ray Taliaferro, that CNN has uncovered a Nixon tape of O'Neill, the swift boat vet attacking Kerry, saying that he had been in Cambodia. After lying with the vets to say no one in Vietnam combat ever made it into Cambodia including himself and Kerry.

A BuzzFlash Reader

Subject: "Talking Points"

I am in complete sympathy with your outrage concerning the SBVT allegations against John Kerry. But I also agree with Joshua Marshall's suggestion-"the country is looking to fire George W.Bush." "But fundamentally, every day of this campaign that isn't spent talking about the sluggish economy & the President's debacle in Iraq is a day wasted, a strategic failure for the Kerry campaign." BuzzFlash should heed this advice. Concentrate your articles on the economy & Bush's WAR in Iraq.

+PEACE+

Peter V.Anania
Ellicott City,MD

Subject: Signs

Dear Buzz,

This has made my day! In the headlines section, there's an article on the FREEWAYBLOGGER.COM and I think ALL buzzers need to do this! Some of the signs are fantastic! Starting today, I'm going to get the cardboard,paint,wire hangers, and duct tape and start doing what people all over this country are doing to get the word out! One statement hit like a sledge hammer....."I only spent $35.00 in supplies and millions read the signs I posted".

Since we can't rely on the media to give us 'real' news, I figure this is the next best thing! They even tell you how to do it, and getting around barriers, etc.

Come on Buzzers, lets do it!!!!

A Loyal Buzz Fan Forever!

Sharon Carlton
Bellevue, Nebraska

Subject: Swift Boat Scumbags

All I can say is --

While John Kerry was In Country
George Bush was Intoxicated

Thanks... Shelly Elter

Subject: Being wrong doesn't seem to matter

You would think that it would eventually be demoralizing to be a conservative and always be wrong. Right wing rags and loudmouths are furiously spinning the lies of the Swift Boat bozos as fast as they can, and they still can’t keep up. I have to wonder if conservatives ever reflect on the fact that they are on the wrong side of just about every issue—no WMDs, no active Iraq nuclear program, no success in stabilizing post-war Iraq, no prayer in public schools, no reversal of Roe v. Wade, no amendment banning gay marriage…The list could go on forever. Conservatives seem to live in a parallel universe where black is white and up is down and it doesn’t matter if anything they believe in actually becomes real. I can be wrong about some things, but if I was wrong about everything, I think I might take a closer look at my world view.

JPA
Minneapolis

Subject: Thatcher

Hey Buzz:

Gee, reading about the indictment of Mark Thatcher reminded me of another famous leader's son, who holds a similar track record in leading a debauched life of failed business endeavors fraught with legal entanglements. In fact, the two sons seem to share an interest in overthrowing govts where oil is to be had (Iraq and Venezuela spring to mind...). Hmmm, now what's his name... it's right on the top of my tongue... George something... is there a W in it??? Yeah, yeah, George W.... Help me out here.

A BuzzFlash Reader