September 3, 2004
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 SEPTEMBER 3, 2004 BUZZFLASH MAILBAG. CLICK HERE FOR PART 1.
Subject: Swift boat sister-in-law LTE
Below is a link to today's letters to the editor in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. It includes a letter supporting John Kerry from the sister-in-law of the dead third swift boat captain in Kerry's group. The text of the letter is included in this e-mail.
A BuzzFlash Reader
Subject: 4,000,000 Congratulations
I never doubted it would happen.....why are we on the scary side right now?
You are likely the only people who know....Why does Kerry not come up side of Bush and cheney and Miller...and McCain...with a two by four...
Just wondering...........Shirley st.Louis
Subject: Who is running anyway?
I think we should all send an email to the Bush/Cheney campaign and the RNC asking them who the republican presidential candidate is, George W. Bush or Ronald Reagan.
A BuzzFlash reader
Subject: Deluge pitiful Zell with e-mail!
Buzz Flash faithful,
Send your messages of condolence to Zell Miller. He is lost and forlorn, having only anger to buttress himself in his aging years.
I told him that he is a bigger flip-flopper than George W. Bush.
Here is his page for e-mail:
http://miller.senate.gov/email.htm
Hugh Conrad
Subject: From 'Honor in Service' to servicing the big GOP lie.
I've always had the utmost respect for our nation's military officers. Except for rare exceptions, these are men and women of exceptional honor, integrity, sacrifice and sense of service. When our marines and soldiers are on the battle field, all politics goes out the window, and it isn't hard to understand what's important in that situation.
But I must say, I was very disappointed tonight as I listened to General Tommy Franks speak at the Republican National Convention. Disappointed, not because he chose to support President Bush in this election. That's his choice as an American citizen. What disappointed me was that he chose to stand before America, talking as a soldier to soldiers and all, of such things as honor, integrity, strength - things which any good soldier knows about first hand. Using the platform which he was afforded, he chose to repeat discredited GOP lies about President Bush's record of support for our troops.
How could he, with a strait face, tell all of those soldiers listening, not to mention the rest of us, that the president has done all he could for our soldiers and their families when church groups and hometown communities have been forced to take up collections just so their serving loved ones would have the proper body armor? How could he say that and face himself when the president tried to cut hazardous duty pay for our troops at the very moment they were dodging bullets in his ill-begotten war? How could he say that and face himself when the military families back home have been forced to become beggers, driven to near destitution, because they aren't receiving their pay checks on time - sometimes delayed for months? Each and every one of those unforgivably late checks was pre-paid in full with the blood of heroes.
No, I'm sorry, but I know better. I paid attention and took notes through the whole affair that is the Bush presidency and the Iraq war. I know the facts and the truth and the lies-o-many, and no amount of blind partisan GOP propaganda will change that or convince me of something I know to be untrue. When a general is reduced to repeating lies to bolster the image of his candidate of choice, what does it say for the quality of the truths that could be told for the same?
A BuzzFlash Reader
Subject: She knows her place?
"I think Laura Bush is the most elegant first lady we've ever had," said Trudi Dickert, a delegate from Virginia. "She is ... a Southern lady in many ways. She knows her place."
That place would be as an elegant lump in his bed because she is about that interesting. How old is Trudi Dickert? I don't like her very well, but Nancy Reagan at least occasionally had a thought separate from Ron. She is more elegant than her mother-in-law because she also occasionally disagreed with the party line. If elegance is directly connected to no opinions of her own, she is more elegant than Hillary.
If you want true southern elegance and a brain with original thoughts, it would be hard to beat Lady Bird or Mrs. Carter. Pat Nixon was okay in a really bad situation with another un-necessary war. Jackie Kennedy makes Laura look and sound like chopped liver.
I'll have to agree she is the only one in my lifetime who "knew her place" which is the defender of anything stupid he does. Submissive to the extreme when he has sent nearly 1000 kids to their deaths.
NO:
C heney
A shcroft
R umsfeld
B ush
Speak up or they assume you agree!!! ABB
Karen Webb, Moore, Ok.
Subject: Kerry Fights Back
Hello BuzzFlashers!
Kudos to Kerry for a strong statement. But thumbs down to USA Today's weak close to that article:
"Bush served stateside in the Texas Air National Guard. Cheney received five deferments and never served in the military."
Bush "served" stateside?? I think in deference to Kerry, USA Today should have expounded on Bush's missing year or 17 months or whatever it was. The above statement gives Bush much more credit than he deserves.
Keep it up BuzzFlash!
Lyn
Subject: 9/02 Mailbag/Christmas Story
To Cathy who compared Karl Rove and W to Scott Farkas and Grover Dill in the Christmas Story movie: Your analogy was more correct than you realize. When Dill the toadie runs away he shouts, "I'm gonna tell my dad!" How many times do you think Little Georgie Boy Dill has said that?
Anne Keb
Corona, CA
Subject: Freeway Blogger
Hi,
I'm glad to see that you linked to www.freewayblogger.com at least twice in August. With your 3,961,409 reader sessions this past month, BuzzFlash has a unique opportunity to help the Freeway Blogger spread the word about how ordinary citizens can reach other ordinary citizens about why we need to get out of Iraq.
He's planning a sign "blitz" on September 7: http://www.freewayblogger.com/press_release.htm
I hope you will do a publicity blitz on this.
Thank you,
Gail Jonas
Subject: Just an idea
The next time the Fast Boat morons make a claim regarding John Kerry's Vietnam service, respond with a simple challenge:
"Here is John Kerry onstage at the Democratic Convention with crew members he served with in Vietnam. We challenge George Bush to give us a photo op with any enlisted personnel he "served" with during his time in Alabama. Just one will do and the dentist doesn't count. We're still waiting."
Just a thought. Keep up the good work.
" Election 2004 - no buLsh"
-Greg Forest
Subject: Another Voting Fiasco Waiting To Happen
Hi BuzzFlash,
Air America Radio was in New York, during the Republican Convention.
The author, Bev Harris, was a guest on AAR, who showed the people watching the show in NY, how the administrator "thinks" they are the only person that can get into the black box voting tabulator.
This administrator goes through the normal "front door" method, in which he or she needs a user id and password.
However, there is a "back door" access method in which ANYBODY can get into the voting machine, look at the counts and change them for his or her candidate. No ID or Password is needed.
The women that wrote the book, demonstrated in less than 12 seconds, how she was able to get into the machine and rig "yet another" election.
The audience of Air America, where the show was being broadcast, along with the regulars on the show, had their jaws dropped down to the floor, as the announcer described.
There is a website with a pdf book on the scam these machines will cause. It is at: http://www.blackboxvoting.org/
Any guess as to which states are going to be using these machines? If you said Florida, Ohio, Michigan, Arizona, California and any other "Key State", give yourself a front role seat pass to our next The Supreme Court case, where you can see another fiasco in the making.
Tom Wieliczka
Subject: Rove’s VP McCain
Yep, here we go. Your reader named Cathy in very few words said it all regarding a forthcoming “October Surprise”, euphemism for another K. Rove special. A few months back when McCain and Bush hugged and made nice and McCain, apparently of miraculously strong stomach and conveniently selective memory, began to vomit forth the praises for our leader, Bush of such striking valor and character, the one and only capable of pursuing our war against terrorism, etc., I knew immediately that promises of things of great significance - big money, big position, big power - had been made and the authentic Vietnam hero became what one becomes when one makes love for money and stuff. My first thought was that he would be offered the spot of vice president on the ticket, and now I’m all but certain of this typical Rovian ploy, especially since carefully reading John Dean’s very specific rundown, WORSE THAN WATERGATE, on the secrecy regarding how very ill Cheney was and is. He could be the bypass poster boy for a beginning. Now I have also recently heard tiny little rumblings about how he might not be that good for the ticket anyhow. Doesn’t much matter - I assume one official doctor or another will be allowed to release the truth, more or less, about how the state of his health will not permit him to serve his nation further, and so.... There you have it. The snarling and arrogant and secretive liar/thief will go - sort of - though I suspect he’ll be tucked permanently under the Oval office desk, or something. And even if he should commit his only truly patriotic gift to this country and die, then they’ll pump him full of formaldehyde and still stuff him under that desk. But meanwhile, you got McCain right up there - their very own Vietnam hero, genuine, to counter the Kerry one - won’t even need those Swift Boat creeps any longer. And McCain cast a long shadow that can easily encompass our little smirking simian and McCain, well, he brings moderation, and truly, compared to Cheney he’s downright liberal. And so it goes All very cynical, all having nothing much to do with the well-being of this nation and its people. When many years ago Joseph Welch, attorney, asked Joseph McCarthy if he had no sense of decency, even then I thought that it was a very dramatic question without much meaning. Of course he had no such sense, and our present circle of kleptocrats have even less.
Norman Weinstein
NYC
Subject: Watching the Protestors
I saw some of the clever signs, behind Joe Scarborough's show....and one that caught my eye said: "Clintons lie didn't kill anyone"...Glad someone thought of that one.!
Larry Gatlin was there...he has not just now become a smartass....he was always a smartass...that is the main reason he never made it in Nashville!!...It is not just that the brothers are getting older...they are still harmonious....but, Larry was always a smartass. I remember the first time I ever saw them at Six Flags, here in St.Louis. They once had a Country Music Fest every October...and had stars at the 'Old Glory Theater' and we noticed a shortness from him with fans...he was not very nice when someone wanted an autograph...and he was small time, then and never really got big time. I didn't know about it, but he apologized to whomever it was from the stage...saying there was a time when they just did not want to be bothered with those things....makes me wonder some time, how he ever got to even make a living at the game...even though he and his brothers were like all family groups....very harmonious!!
Walter R...what a great idea...i laughed out loud!!!
Scott from Denver, is it not hilarious that we, the viewing public, many times know more than those people who are supposed to be news people? Great to hear that someone finally pulled Tom Delay out of the public life...I hope he never gets to come back!
David....I had two uncles in the second world war...both got purple hearts...both wounds were , while not minor, no lost limbs.....but, the nightmares they both lived after service....was so horrid. One lost his battle with the bottle in his early forties, after losing two wives, and checked into a motel and shot himself. The other, was an alcoholic all his life...had a stroke at 70....and was never really well before that! War is hell........the second world war was hell...Korea and Vietnam were hell...and Iraq is the worst!
It is and has always been a shame that the higher ups in this country...administration and their kin...rarely have to go....and live with the bad dreams...can anyone of us imagine what they see?
Shirley..........St.Louis
Subject: Under Bush's Watch
I am tired of hearing the Republicans repeat again and again and again, "This President has kept us safe, we have not had an attack since 9/11". IT WAS UNDER THIS PRESIDENT'S WATCH WE WERE ATTACKED TO BEGIN WITH! What other President can claim that honor? ( Remember, Pearl Harbor was not our state in 1941.) Someone needs to get that buzz out there.
Thanks for the great site!
Larry
Subject: PENTAGON INSPECTOR GENERAL CONTACTS SECRETARY OF THE NAVY ABOUT KERRY AWARDS
Dear Buzz,
I am forwarding this item that was emailed to me from Judicial Watch.
I am so pissed I could scream! I think what people are doing is deplorable!
A Loyal Buzz Fan Forever!
Sharon Carlton
Bellevue, Nebraska
ps I hope you print this item, and maybe all buzzers besides my self, would write to these bozos!
[BuzzFlash Note: That press release is so full of holes, it's painful to read. They say, "The Combat “V”device is never awarded with the nation’s third highest award for heroism." On Kerry's DD214, item #24, it states, "Silver Star with Combat 'V.'" End of story. Here's the contact page for Judicial Watch. This is a fishing expedition aided and abetted by the Bush administration. Their goal is not the truth, but to muddy the waters with their lies just enough that some people will question the truth. It's pure Karl Rove.]
Subject: Under Bush's Watch
I am tired of hearing the Republicans repeat again and again and again, "This President has kept us safe, we have not had an attack since 9/11". IT WAS UNDER THIS PRESIDENT'S WATCH WE WERE ATTACKED TO BEGIN WITH! What other President can claim that honor? ( Remember, Pearl Harbor was not our state in 1941.) Someone needs to get that buzz out there.
Thanks for the great site!
A BuzzFlash Reader
Subject: Why did I turn it on?
I flipped the TV on during Bush's speech and the only thing I heard was a misrepresentation, to put it mildly.
If every commentator on every network doesn't have John Kerry on tomorrow then they should at least ask Bush the differences in the $87 Billion bill Kerry voted for and the one he voted against because they weren't the same bill and Bush knows it and is lying like a dog.
He said the bill was for body armor and such. Ask the bait and switch king what it has been used for because a lot of it is un-accounted for. Parents are still having to buy and send body armor.
Make him tell the truth Matt or you are nothing more than a face in a suit. We know you and Katie are willing to sacrifice thousands of kids to keep your jobs, but is it worth it?
Every time another US soldier dies think of the ways you could have prevented it by asking un-scripted questions. You cowards, you let at least 974 kids die for a lie just to keep your jobs.
NO:
C heney
A shcroft
R umsfeld
B ush
Speak up or they assume you agree!!! ABB
Karen Webb, Moore, Ok.
Subject: Letter to the Editor - Bush's Speech was Lame
GOP conventions have sure changed over the years. There's a lot of things you don't hear about anymore that the Republicans used to at least give lip service to. What you don't hear is the words Balanced Budget anymore. They no longer talk of Paying off the National Debt, Where is the Social Security Lock Box. We are not debating what we are going to do with the surplus like we were 4 years ago. The only new idea he introduced was federal funding of churches.
In spite of all the talk of terrorism and 9-11 - not once did Bush mention the name of Osama bin Laden. That tells me that Bush isn't serious about getting the guy who actually attacked America. We have a president who can't identify the enemy.
He talks about our soldiers confronting terrorists - but the terrorists aren't in Iraq and never were. Our soldiers were sent to fight in the wrong country. All in all - Bush's speech was pretty weak compared to the other speaker like Democrat Zell Miller and the pro-choice liberal Republicans who dominated the GOP convention. If this is a poker game - Bush is playing with an empty hand.
Marc Perkel
San Francisco, CA
Subject: Diplomats And Military Commanders For Change
No finer example of the cable media bias can be found than to contrast how they've handled this Swift Boat nonsense with how they handled the group of diplomats who came out against Bush back in June. You may not remember so here's the story:
http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/06/15/bush.criticism/
The group called themselves Diplomats and Military Commanders For Change. They were comprised of 27 former diplomats and high-ranking military leaders who had come together to announce that they felt Bush was on the wrong course and should not be re-elected. There were Democrats and Republicans in the group, including a former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under Ronald Reagan.
The group got coverage for about a day. A few were interviewed, an article or two ran in the paper, and then the group was dropped. Compare that to the Swift Boat guys, led not by a distinguished diplomat or former general, but an attack dog from the Nixon administration. This group doesn't have 1/100th the credibility that the other group had, yet look at the imbalance in the coverage. Shameful.
Maybe Kerry needed a Karl Rove to find someone who would give that group money so they could make a commercial, like the Swift Boat guys did.
Anyone remember this group? You can thank the media if you don't.
Lance Collins
Subject: Campaign Work in Swing States
I have been out canvassing and registering 8 times this summer. I have passed out BuzzFlash articles after F/911. The canvassing has been mostly with the Oregon Bus Project(Busproject.org) which canvasses all over Oregon in swing districts on behalf of local candidates. It is believed Oregon has finally turned blue. Are there any other innovative projects like this one in other swing states? Are there any canvassers from Wisconsin, Ohio, Missouri or Pennsylvania with any tales of hope they'd like to share? Are we going to win this thing? Is America Coming Together?
Passing out Intervention Magazine's article (Intervenionmag.com) "Bush Wants to Be Your Shrink" (detailing how Bush's "New Freedom Commission on Mental Health" will be recommending mandatory mental health testing and treatment for all Americans) to Republicans gets quite a reaction. I think I turned 2 or 3.
R. David
Goldberg
Vancouver Wa.
Subject: Bush's Brain ... A Documentary About Karl Rove.
Go see the scariest horror film of the year starring George W. Bush and Karl Rove. Learn who's really behind the Swift Boat Veterans' ads.
This Friday marks the Los Angeles theatrical opening of BUSH'S BRAIN, a explosive new documentary film that introduces the country to Karl Rove, the man known as "Bush's Brain", the most powerful political figure America has never heard of.
The film chronicles the history of the Karl Rove-George Bush relationship and reveals Rove to be the Wizard of Oz behind the curtain, the man who is pulling the strings in the current White House.
BUSH'S BRAIN is a must-see. It is a primer on Rove's political shenanigans for the past two decades. After seeing it, you'll have a far deeper understanding of how the White House and the Republicans operate and how they will approach the campaign in the coming months, leading up to the November 2 election.
The film opens this Friday, September 3, at the Laemmle Sunset 5 in West Hollywood, the Laemmle Town Center in Encino and the Laemmle One Colorado in Pasadena. I urge you to go out on opening weekend to see this very important motion picture.
A BuzzFlash Reader
Subject: Stealing the RNC Convention Thunder.
Hi Gang!
How astute, how clever, and of perfect timing.
John Kerry waited until Shrubya finished his episode of plethoric verbal diarrhea.
As soon as Shrubya was done...Kerry attacked and attacked forcefully indeed.
The Thuglicans can say what they want but Kerry has been on message and has not wavered from it since day one.
I'm still giggling over the line, "RNC - Really NOT Compassionate."
Kerry's blasting them with a taste of their own medicine.
I've also noted that during the course of the RNC Convention that all manner of newscasters started in on the Thuglicans - Blitzer, Matthews, Olberman, and even (gasp) Scarborough - on the attacks the Thuglicans were launching into for the entire four days.
Think these guys may have had enough too?
Jerry Peurala
Westfield, IN
Subject: The Beatitudes
Hey Buzz:
I'm not a Christian, mainly because of some of the despicable people who claim that they are, but I have great respect for a lot of their Book. I've read it all, from beginning to end. I wish more Christians, like the present inhabitant of the White House, would, but then we know he doesn't like to read. Someone please, read this part to him. For God's sake. I think that the Beatitudes, in the Gospel of Matthew, the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount, are some of the loveliest words in Christendom:
* Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. (Verse 3)
* Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. (Verse 4)
* Blessed are they who mourn: for they shall be comforted. (Verse 5)
* Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after justice: for they shall have their fill. (Verse 6)
* Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. (Verse 7)
* Blessed are the clean of heart: for they shall see God. (Verse 8)
* Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God. (Verse 9)
* Blessed are they that suffer persecution for justice' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. (Verse 10)
Let's compare and contrast:
Verse 3 Poor in Spirit? Nothing poor about the Bush spirit.
Verse 4 Meek? The man is the embodiment of arrogance.
Verse 5 Mourn? He doesn't mourn. Hasn't been to a single soldier's funeral.
Verse 6 Justice? Real justice, not Texas style. Tell it to the innocent bombed-out Afghanis and Iraqis, and those at Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib. Look at who he's appointed to seek out justice - John Ashcroft.
Verse 7 Merciful? Does anyone remember how he mocked Karla Faye Tucker?
Verse 8 Clean of heart? No heart blacker than his or Cheney's. How dare he even suggest that he hears or sees God?
Verse 9 Peacemaker? Like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz? What a tragic joke.
Verse 10 Suffers persecution for justice' sake? How about persecutes the already suffering for his own political sake.
For those who truly believe in the Word, the evidence is clear: The Son of the "higher" Father would despise George W.
A BuzzFlash regular who, just this once, wishes to remain anonymous.
Subject: Andrew Sullivan does not support Bush
I don't check out his site often, but I have a gay brother-in-law, and Andrew Sullivan baffles me how he can be a republican. Anyway W does not have his vote.
Check this out:
I CANNOT SUPPORT HIM IN NOVEMBER: I will add one thing more. And that is the personal sadness I feel that this president who praises freedom wishes to take it away from a whole group of Americans who might otherwise support many parts of his agenda. To see the second family tableau with one family member missing because of her sexual orientation pains me to the core. And the president made it clear that discriminating against gay people, keeping them from full civic dignity and equality, is now a core value for him and his party. The opposite is a core value for me. Some things you can trade away. Some things you can compromise on. Some things you can give any politician a pass on. But there are other values - of basic human dignity and equality - that cannot be sacrificed without losing your integrity itself. That's why, despite my deep admiration for some of what this president has done to defeat terror, and my affection for him as a human being, I cannot support his candidacy. Not only would I be abandoning the small government conservatism I hold dear, and the hope of freedom at home as well as abroad, I would be betraying the people I love. And that I won't do.
http://www.andrewsullivan.com/ (at the bottom of that post)
Steve Pejchl
Subject: Miller's Rant
Hey Buzz:
To Zell Miller's rant:
"It has been said so truthfully," said Miller, "that it is the soldier, not the reporter, who has given us the freedom of the press. It is the soldier, not the poet, who has given us freedom of speech. It is the soldier, not the agitator, who has given us the freedom to protest."
I'd like to add:
It's the soldier, not the AWOL Guardsman, who should be given the keys to the White House.
Patty Coombs
Surrey BC
Subject: Omissions in Bush's Speech
I caught two glaring omissions in Bush's acceptance speech.
Bush said: "I believe the most solemn duty of the American president is to protect the American people. If America shows uncertainty or weakness in this decade, the world will drift toward tragedy. This will not happen on my watch."
Clearly he meant to say, "not on my watch again."
We all witnessed, and suffered the horrifying consequences of, Bush's complete failure to protect us in 2001. The bipartisan 9-11 Commission report makes it clear that Bush ignored repeated warnings about impending action. The video of Bush on the morning of 9-11 shows the real man -- not the face of "courage" or "steady leadership," but instead a scared man, uncertain, weak, waiting for his instructions.
The second omission was the absence of Osama bin Laden in the speech. Bush did say, "Three days after Sept. 11 I stood where Americans died in the ruins of the Twin Towers. Workers in hard hats were shouting to me, 'Whatever it takes.' A fellow grabbed me by the arm and he said, 'Do not let me down.'"
Bush has let us down. He didn't even bother to repeat his promise to bring justice to the 9-11 families and the American people. In 2001, Bush didn't use America's strength to get bin Laden. He wavered and let Afghan warlords give bin Laden an out. Then, having not finished the job, Bush took a disastrous detour to get Saddam instead. Three years later bin Laden remains at large. I can't forgive Bush for this failure.
Jim Jensen
Seattle, WA
Subject: Military Votes
Dear Buzz. Loyal BuzzFlash Readers, AND You-Who-Are-Supposedly-On-The Fence,
After spending weeks trashing John Kerry and the other Purple Heart veterans and troops now in Iraq and around the world, we read today that those same soldiers will not even be allowed to vote anonymously?! So, not only do they have to dodge bullets and bombs in that God-forsaken quagmire of George W. Bush's making, they are even denied the satisfaction of VOTING?? When they are sacrificing their lives, their limbs, their families, their futures for all of us, they can't even receive the benefit of a placing their simple vote? My God this just makes my blood boil.
I guess the Republican-owned company that will receive these soldiers' faxed or email votes will just throw away any vote NOT for that group of warmongers in OUR White House?? WHAT?????
JOHN KERRY AND JOHN EDWARDS: YOU SHOULD BE SCREAMING BLOODY MURDER ABOUT THIS!!
To now deny our troops the ability to place a vote and have that vote be placed privately and securely is unconscionable. Our "government" has sent them there without the proper equipment, cut their pay to their families, cut their education benefits for their children, under-funded their health benefits when they are injured, and worst of all have NEVER ONCE GREETED A SINGLE COFFIN OF THE ALMOST 1,000 WHO HAVE DIED........ now they are taking away their ability to privately VOTE!!!!!!
Well, we've seen this week, with the Purple Heart band-aids at that disgusting "convention," that NO ONE in this country: not the poor, the children, the elderly, the sick, the minority groups nor anyone except for Rich White Republican Men are beneath the contempt of this bunch.
They must be really really desperate. And that makes them really really dangerous.
Everyone must vote to get them out of office. Those who are "swing" voters....place YOUR vote for the soldier who will not get the chance.
elaine in Petaluma
Dear BuzzFlash:
On your September 2, "Mailbag" you've posted a moving, and angering, missive from "Michele W" who claims in her e-mail to you to be writing from Germany. I've copied/pasted it below. It was moving to read about her sense of honor, and her tenacity trying to get to the bottom of the scandalous and cowardly mockery of all Purple Heart recipients by Republican thuggies at their 04 convention. It was angering to read about the rude, unprofessional, craven, GOP bureaucrats she had to deal with and suffer through.
By the way, having twice worked on Capitol Hill, once for a Democrat and once for a Republican, and having worked in a Governor's office, I can attest to and corroborate Michele's understanding that the proper way to handle a constituent call (or any call for that matter) is to take the message, help immediately if possible or practicable (as often as not, this is difficult if not impossible to do) and politely inform the caller that the message will be passed on to the appropriate person for review and follow up. That's just "Phone Etiquette 101."
Since BuzzFlash has Michele W's email, I request that you please respond to her, give her encouragement, and let her know how proud so many of us back "in the States" are of her and her compatriots.
Please pass on my personal regards to her and her fellow Sons and Daughters of Liberty. They humble me.
Richard R. Newton
Subject: Tom Raum's Report on the RNC
I'd like to comment on Tom Raum's statement today, "Bush served stateside in the Texas Air National Guard during the Vietnam War era, while five student and marriage deferments kept Cheney out of military service. Kerry, who has served in the Senate for the past two decades, has made his own Vietnam combat service in the Navy a centerpiece of his campaign."
John Kerry may NOT have been forced to make his combat service a centerpiece of his campaign had he not been aware of a certain book and campaign that was already in the works by the Swift Boat Veterans opposing him long before he made his DNC speech. All politics can get dirty, but I doubt many could factually argue that the Bushies' campaign tactics new and old are not some of the most vile this country has ever seen. Bush will not get his hands dirty, so his minions are at the ready to pounce on any opportunity to detract from the real issues because if this election were about issues, Bush could never win!
John Kerry was forced to go on the offense. Unfortunately, it may have not been forceful enough. Great damage has been done to a man who honorably served by a group who has been discredited over and over again. John Kerry served. He volunteered. He stood up for his convictions. Bush and Cheney supported the war BUT REFUSED TO GO. How can we let men like this continue to lead our country?
I weep. I am afraid. If there is a God, may He or She forgive us and help us. If George Bush wins re-election, I do not know if there is any hope left.
Jacquelynne
Millinor
Andover, MA
Subject: zell miller (semper fidelis?)
how sad that the democrat? senator from kentucky zell miller chose to speak at the republican convention and mentioned being a marine. obviously he forgot the two words ingrained in every marines heart. semper fidelis. (always faithful)
al fiorini-national
president 4th marine division association
al & diana
warren, michigan
Subject: President Bush as our "parent"
BuzzFlashers,
In the Boston Globe on Thursday Andrew Card, Bush's chief of staff, was quoted as saying that the President sees America "as...a 10-year-old child."
Here's the link to the story.
Here's a letter I just sent to the Globe, Sept 3.
To the editor,
"It struck me...that this president sees America as we think about a 10-year-old child...." (Andrew Card, Chief of Staff, Sept 2, p A27)
This White House opinion of the national intelligence and maturity would explain why they would have us believe that the ongoing chaos and violence in Afghanistan and Iraq is making us (and the world) "safer." Or agree that huge tax cuts for the rich, burgeoning deficits, increasing poverty (especially among children), and anemic job growth add up to a "growing economy." Or see how shirking military service (Bush and Cheney) and sending troops into battle inadequately armed (Iraq) is "supporting our men and women in uniform" and license to smear the characters and reputations of decorated veterans Senator John McCain (2000), Senator Max Cleland (2002), and Senator John Kerry (2004).
Real adults who want a president and not a daddy will think for themselves before they vote in November.
Yours truly,
Colleen J G Clark
Cambridge, MA
I agree completely with Richard Ross of Fairfield CT (mailbag Sept 1) that we all need to be reaching out by trying to get letters published in our local papers. I keep trying to do my part with modest success - maybe 1 in 10 published in the Globe or the NYTimes.
I also especially like the links that BuzzFlash readers contribute.
Subject: The Calvary May Be Approaching
From Todd Gitlin:
A key passage from today's article by Warren Strobel on the Knight Ridder wire ...
Several U.S. officials and law enforcement sources said Thursday that the scope of the FBI probe of Pentagon intelligence activities appeared to go well beyond the Franklin matter.
FBI agents have briefed top White House, Pentagon and State Department officials on the probe in recent days. Based on those briefings, officials said, the bureau appears to be looking into other controversies that have roiled the Bush administration, some of which also touch Feith's office.
They include how the Iraqi National Congress, a former exile group backed by the Pentagon, allegedly received highly classified U.S. intelligence on Iran; the leaking of the name of CIA officer Valerie Plame to reporters; and the production of bogus documents suggesting that Iraq tried to buy uranium for nuclear weapons from the African country of Niger. Bush repeated the Niger claim in making the case for war against Iraq.
" The whole ball of wax" was how one U.S. official privy to the briefings described the inquiry.
Read the whole thing.
A BuzzFlash Reader
Subject: Bill Clinton
President Clinton is in the hospital....going to have a heart bypass tomorrow...has been in the news for the past half hour to hour.
It is very much in the news....you forget just how much this country loved the man. It was great, even at midnight, to see Kerry and Edwards stand up to the jokers in the White House.
Shirley..............St. Louis
Subject: Shrub's Convention Speech
The cable yakkers are drooling over Shrub’s speech, while they admit the complete disconnect between him and the content.
But they have hit on a point, which is that the Repukes are all about externals: Appearance, presentation, settings, make-up, costuming, decorum.
That’s why Repuke actors APPEAR so convincing: They know about packaging. The way RAYGUN would spout lines from movies he wished he had starred in, and stood in front of DEAVER’s hundred U.S. flags, and spoke what others wrote with trained conviction, and how he dressed in coat and tie for the Oval Office, and how he insisted that the press corps raise their hands and wait to be called on.
Same with the Repukes that followed and Shrub. Spontaneity is verboten. Put the ugly realities of a demonic, anti-democracy, anti-people agenda into focus-group-screened pretty phrases, and presto!-----a Shrub event.
As LETTERMAN says after running a devastating clip of Shrub: “He’s a cute boy, ain’t he?”
So don’t worry about a speech, Dems. It’s ephemeral, like that bug that lives its entire life in 24 hours.
John Garza