October 13, 2004
The BuzzFlash Mailbag
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 OCTOBER 13, 2004 BUZZFLASH MAILBAG. CLICK HERE FOR PART 1.
Subject: "A Patriot Act" by Mark Crispin Miller
Dear BuzzFlash,
Thank you for offering "A Patriot Act" by Mark Crispin Miller as a BuzzFlash premium. I watched it last night and was floored. I highly recommend it to all BuzzFlash readers.
As the world seems to descend more and more into a surreal nightmare of events I never thought I'd see in America, I have had one question that keeps echoing in my mind. Why? Why would people do this, act this way, have such complete disregard for our Constitution, our rights, our freedom?
"A Patriot Act" answers that why.
I am tired of being labeled a conspiracy theorist for seeing the cohesive actions behind the right-wing radical movement. There is a movement, it is purposeful, and it is very scary. I think that it's important to have a greater understanding of it in order to fight it. Take a look at this DVD.
Thanks, BuzzFlash, for everything!
Jillian Perkins
Portland, OR
Subject: Hang in there
Alert: Anything having to do with Sinclair Broadcasting on the internet is bogged down [poll voting, opening local station websites, etc.] Please tell Buzzers to be patient and not give up on registering their complaints. I suspect that both right wing bloggers and left wingers are telling their people to register their opinions and that is the reason for slowness and inaccessibility to the places that count. You also need to put up the FCC email addy for complainants.
[http://www.fcc.gov/contacts.html]
A BuzzFlash Reader
Subject: Tony Peyser cartoon
I realize that Mr. Peyser was trying to honor Christopher Reeve's memory, but it ignored one little-known fact: Christopher Reeve was an atheist. After an injury where most people turn to religion to try to find a way to explain away how this could happen to them, Mr. Reeve remained an atheist. He is a model for everyone, not giving into superstition, and facing his problems head-on instead of blaming them on an invisible, unprovable being. Christopher Reeve was a man of principle, he was courageous, he was the one, true Superman on screen and in life. But he never believed that he would walk again anywhere but on this Earth.
Jeff Kleist
Subject: Sinclair Broadcasting
Given that the program to air on the Sinclair stations is slanderous, why would John Kerry personally, and the Democratic Party collectively, not try to file a Temporary Restraining Order in federal court to prohibit the stations from airing the broadcasts? Does a broadcast have to be aired before such a suit could be filed or can it be pre-emptive? Given that the piece is put together by the same group that brought about the Swift Boat Veterans' claims, it is a given that the program will continue in the same vein, and therefore it is reasonable to assume that the program will be equally spurious and damaging to Kerry's military reputation.
S. Beene
Dallas, TX
Subject: W's rectangular bulge
Do you all recall the book, The Terminal Man, by Michael Crichton? So maybe current technology hasn't lived up to the novelist's level or maybe one too many trips over the mountain bike handlebars have damaged W's subcutaneous router, so Rove has to go with an external router. Or perhaps they have all but given up on W's ability to listen in one ear while talking anyway and the little box is a miniaturized, solid state cattle prod. Control of which, would of course, be delegated to Condi.
All Box No Cattle
Beth C.
Subject: Bush Wired
Dear BuzzFlash,
This is perhaps an investigative lead into the whether Bush is "wired" question. After Bush's convention speech I saw the following comment:
Strangest thing I saw on Cspan was a cut away to Karen Hughes mouthing the words of the speech just before Bush said them. The camera got off her fast.
Now that could be a audio delay thing.
But I want to see that tape again!
Posted by: Scaramouche on September 3, 2004 at 1:12 AM | PERMALINK
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/mt/mt-comments.cgi?entry_id=4621
Perhaps someone with the appropriate resources can follow up on this.
Regards,
Thomas Goodness
Lexington, KY
Subject: Why is no one in US talking about the missing nuclear material in Iraq??
BBC, German and French news are packed with these reports, that IAEA blames US for not securing the material that could be used to create nuclear [weapons], which has disappeared from the factories that have been dismantled...
A BuzzFlash Reader
[BuzzFlash Note: Good question.... The Australian Broadcasting Corporation has this report: IAEA concerned about disappearance of nuclear material from Iraq.]
Subject: the people who should be investigating bush's transmitter debate fraud
Commission On Presidential Debates
Co-Chairmen
Frank J. Fahrenkopf, Jr.
Paul G. Kirk, Jr.
Honorary Co-Chairmen
Gerald R. Ford
Jimmy Carter
Ronald Reagan
William J. Clinton
Board of Directors
Howard Buffett
Rep. Jennifer Dunn
Antonia Hernandez
Caroline Kennedy
Newton N. Minow
Dorothy Ridings
H. Patrick Swygert
Executive Director
Janet H. Brown
http://www.debates.org/pages/lead.html
A BuzzFlash Reader
Subject: Re - Did anyone hear Bush's amazing comment last night?
An honest man who sincerely believed that his country faced a threat from weapons would have been RELIEVED when no evidence of those weapons were found. Bush was "unhappy."
A BuzzFlash Reader
Subject: Need some wood?
I heard this on MSNBC last night or maybe CNN. I switch back and forth between them a lot so can't remember for certain.
Famous quotes that have lived through the years from famous Presidents:
FDR: "We have nothing to fear but fear itself."
JFK: "Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country."
Reagan: "Tear down that wall Mr. Gorbachev."
Bush: "Need some wood?"
J. B.
Subject: Krugman on target
Dear Buzz,
The last lines of Krugman's column sums up the trouble with our media (that is, that portion of the media that is not outwardly biased toward Bush): Here is what Krugman said:
By singling out Mr. Bush's lies and misrepresentations, am I saying that Mr. Kerry isn't equally at fault? Yes.
Mr. Kerry sometimes uses verbal shorthand that offers nitpickers things to complain about. He talks of 1.6 million lost jobs; that's the private-sector loss, partly offset by increased government employment. But the job record is indeed awful. He talks of the $200 billion cost of the Iraq war; actual spending is only $120 billion so far. But nobody doubts that the war will cost at least another $80 billion. The point is that Mr. Kerry can, at most, be accused of using loose language; the thrust of his statements is correct.
Mr. Bush's statements, on the other hand, are fundamentally dishonest. He is insisting that black is white, and that failure is success. Journalists who play it safe by spending equal time exposing his lies and parsing Mr. Kerry's choice of words are betraying their readers.
Amen to that.
A Buzzer
Subject: Who Wants to Be an Anti-Kerry Propagandist?
Dear BuzzFlash:
I wanted to relay something I saw on TV last night in case you'd like to run with it on BuzzFlash:
I was watching "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire" (no, that's not the scandalous part, embarrassing as it is to admit) on local Viacom station KCAL-9 in Los Angeles.
A contestant had nearly settled on his answer to a difficult question. At the last second, he changed his mind to another answer.
Host Meredith Vierra (Republican shill, in my humble opinion), retorted, "It was brave of you to make that flip-flop. It's not brave when John Kerry does it."
I've written to KCAL-9 about their airing Vierra's personal political opinion in the guise of game show programming. Just wanted to pass this on to you as well.
Thanks for running a great website.
Mike Lambert
Woodland Hills, CA
Subject: prostitute told cop: "she had just seen her regular date driving in the..."
This has that very interesting tid-bit that Smith was the prostitute's "regular
date"! If he is willing to smear Kerry with lies regarding testimony
he gave 30+ years ago, it sure seems relevant to dig up something that
happened a mere eight years ago!
Scroll down the page a little bit to find this posting:
Broadcasting official charged in sex stakeout
Sinclair president, woman arrested in company carPublished on: August 15, 1996
Byline: SUN STAFF Peter HermannThe president of Baltimore-based Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc., which owns the local Fox television affiliate, was arrested Tuesday night and charged with committing a perverted sex act in a company-owned Mercedes, city police said.
David Deniston Smith, 45, of the 800 block of Hillstead Drive in Timonium, who also is Sinclair's chief executive, was arrested in an undercover sting at Read and St. Paul streets, a downtown corner frequented by prostitutes, Baltimore police said yesterday.
A BuzzFlash Reader
Subject: Tsunami in the Heartland: Kerry Regains 28 Points in Oklahoma in 23 days
According to Wilson Research Strategies, Republican Pollsters in Oklahoma, between September 17 and October 10, Senator Kerry regained 14 points on President Bush, knocking a 40 point lead down to just 12 points. Gee, maybe they're watching the same debates in Oklahoma that we are.
Best,
Steve Corrick
Subject: Information
Dear BuzzFlash,
I had a history lesson the other day and found out things that need to be put out hoping it will help Kerry against these vets who don't like him. According to them, before Kerry's 1971 testimony, everyone thought things in Vietnam were going great, and everyone treated veterans with respect and gratitude. Forget about the fact that the event that turned American opinion against the war - the Tet Offensive - occurred in 1968, three years before Kerry's appearance. The My Lai massacre, the best-known war crime, also occurred in 1968; it made national news in late 1969. Yet as far as they're concerned, it can all be laid at Kerry's door. I guess if you're that angry and bitter, it's easier to blame one guy than millions of your fellow citizens.
I think more people need this history lesson; but I am only one small person.
Bonnie M. Matheson
Wheaton, MD
Subject: All You Need to Know About Sinclair's "Sudden" urge to broadcast Pro-Bu$h propaganda
Nothing like fresh blood money to get the sharks excited... Why isn't this called SinclairGate yet? Doesn't this awful mess deserve a "gate" in the so-called-liberal-media?
Jadoo Awarded Military Development Contract by US Special Operations Command (PR Newswire)
FOLSOM, Calif., Sept. 28 /PRNewswire/ -- Jadoo Power Systems, Inc (Jadoo), a leading provider of portable power products, was awarded a contract to develop power systems for the US Special Operations Command (SOCOM). The program's goal is to reduce the weight of energy storage carried in the field by the Special Forces....
Here's the important info from the bottom:
About Jadoo Power Systems:
Jadoo Power Systems, Inc. is a market-focused company that develops and
sells next-generation, portable energy storage and power generation products.
Jadoo's investors include Sinclair Ventures, a wholly owned subsidiary of
Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. [emphasis ours] as well as other individuals.
Larry L.
Subject: to me, this seems URGENT
...and I see no reference to it anywhere.
thought i'd better mention that john fund was on lou dobbs, in my view setting up an election theft for bush. his scenario was "bush wins by 3000 votes, but some asshole (my word, his tone) will insist that ALL the ballots be counted and the election will be stolen." lou said, "lou dobbs will be the one who insists ALL the ballots are counted." then fund explained that most of those ballots are "provisional" and therefore "fraudulent" votes by convicted felons, etc., after which he went into a long convoluted bunch of shit that no cognizant person could grasp right off (not to imply that i'm cognizant).
dobbs and his audience were indignant, e-mails pouring in. "something must be done!" "we must watch this very closely." "someone could disenfranchise minorities and the elderly." blah.
there's an op-ed piece somewhere today (11), by fund.
i have seen no mention of this anywhere, so thought I'd better put it out there, just in case.
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0410/11/ldt.01.html
Bob D.
Subject: The Death Of The Media
Hi BuzzFlash,
I just heard this on The Randi Rhodes Show of Air America that if you want to complain to The FCC about the upcoming Kerry smear, go to http://www.freepress.net/sinclair/ to complain to the FCC about Sinclair or call the FCC at 1-888-225-5322.
You are better off using the website as the phone number is "full," if you know what I mean. In the meantime, if any of your readers have not seen "Orwell Rolls In His Grave," they need look no further and see who owns the Networks or Newspaper. You won't have a long ownership list of Companies or People to memorize, as shown below.
SINCLAIR Owns: http://www.cjr.org/tools/owners/sinclair.asp
DISNEY Owns: http://www.cjr.org/tools/owners/disney-timeline.asp
NEWSCORP Owns: http://www.cjr.org/tools/owners/newscorp-timeline.asp
GE Owns: http://www.cjr.org/tools/owners/ge-timeline.asp
AOL/TIME WARNER Owns: http://www.cjr.org/tools/owners/timewarner-timeline.asp
VIACOM Owns: http://www.cjr.org/tools/owners/viacom-timeline.asp
It's incredible that some people still wonder why all the news is slanted on every network. Why is Bush so concerned about
DEMOCRACY in FOREIGN COUNTRIES?? Hey Bush, how about SOME DEMOCRACY here in THE UNITED STATES, by starting with Freedom of The Press and Television Networks, by breaking up the Media CorpSE Conglomerate MESS??
Tom Wieliczka
Subject: Will Someone Please Explain?
The Bush administration is bombing homes and restaurants in Iraq, often killing
children and civilians, because it "believes" there may be suspects in the
buildings. The suspects are the so-called insurgents, usually young men, who
are fighting the U.S. occupation. The purpose of the occupation, after no weapons
of mass destruction were found, and no links to Al Qaeda, is now supposedly
to establish a Western style democracy in tribal Iraq. But the Bush administration
now says it plans to "help" particular parties win the election.
In other words, we are bombing people in order to hold a democratic election in which we plan to subvert the democratic process by funding hand-picked candidates. Am I missing something here?
Bush to Aid 'Moderate' Parties in Iraq Election (Reuters)
By Adam Entous
Reuters
October 8, 2004The Bush administration plans to give strategic advice, training and polling data to what it deems as "moderate and democratic" Iraqi political parties with candidates running in the country's upcoming elections, government documents show.
The administration said its goal is to help the parties "compete effectively" in the campaign and "increase their support among the Iraqi people" in national, regional and provincial elections scheduled for January, according to the State Department documents obtained by Reuters on Friday....
R.B.
Subject: Re: Today's Top 5 Headlines on BuzzFlash.com
The Republicans are trying to control this election. We are going to have to fight for Senator Kerry and J. Edwards until the end.
A BuzzFlash Reader
Subject: free speech everywhere: stick 'em up!
Hi Buzz,
As we celebrate Freeway Free Speech Day, remember not to stop there. Even if you can't get a sign up on the freeway, you can still participate everyday everywhere. Just put your message on a Post-it note and stick it up -- inside books in book stores, in the grocery store on cereal boxes. In the hallway, and on car windshields, especially those with Bush bumper stickers. Make it a habit. And no matter what happens, never forget that we have free speech as long as we can be creative. Resist the lie in quiet ways by spreading truth. Write poems and leave them on the subway. Print articles and tack them up on every lonely looking unguarded bulletin board you see. Light that candle: someone will see by it.
Above all, keep coming. Just keep coming.
With heart,
Deborah Conner
http://www.freewayblogger.com/freewayfreespeechday.htm
Subject: Hi Buzzers
I should be ashamed of myself. Here is my neighbor, a Republican turned Democrat (because of Bush), down the street from me, with her Kerry-Edwards sign, and another Republican neighbor (who actually voted for Bush The Second and is now actively pushing for Kerry) working nonstop to elect Kerry. I think it is time to get my Kerry-Edwards sign on my lawn. Wow, did they show me what a cement bag I have been! My sign is going out there today!
A BuzzFlash Reader
I went onto the Gallup site tonight, questioning their methods in poll taking.
I played by the rules, then got to the end of my message and couldn't send it--or, more likely, Gallup refused to accept it and many other comments that they feared were critical of the modus operandi. Here's my message to them. If Gallup won't listen to it, I hope BuzzFlash will and will start doing some digging into the ethics and methodology of the polls that are all over the news right now.
In truth,
Jo Ann Simon
Camden, Maine
Subject: Who is the most pro-business and anti-aliens?
Fighting tooth and toenail over who is the most pro-business and anti-aliens. Brad Carson voted for a huge corporate welfare bill this week.
Carson and Tom Coburn are both blaming illegal aliens for taking jobs that don't pay enough for anyone else to apply for.
Why don't both of them tell their business pimps to pay a living wage that is attractive to people who don't swim the Rio Grande and come here in truck trailers with no ventilation?
They both sound like the aliens are forcing the businesses to pay starvation wages. And Brad used to work for one of the companies that hires illegals and locks them in for 12 hour shifts. He worked for Wal Mart and probably takes contributions from them.
The illegals are desperate and treated like crap and they are blamed for the low wages the Simon Legrees that these idiots give endless corporate welfare to.
Carson, Coburn face off (The Oklahoma Daily)
Karen Webb
Moore, Ok.
Subject: Bush, when enough people die, Israel, Palestine and terrorism
I think that Bob Schieffer should ask President Bush to explain a remark made at a news conference. Somewhere in this country are hundreds of people who routinely record Presidential news conferences. They need to contact CBS. Go to the local CBS affiliate and give them a copy of the tape. The tape will verify what I will present below.
Sometime prior to 9/11/2001, I watched that broadcast. Reporters raised the issue of the escalating violence between the Israelis and Palestinians. Newspapers, and those of us who follow the news, wondered why Bush had ignored that situation. News organizations were beginning to notice. The Kansas City Star carried an article, possibly from a news agency, that discussed this lack of attention to that serious problem.
A reporter asked the President, "When will you do something to stop the killing?" George W. Bush calmly and dispassionately responded, "When enough people die." To my knowledge, no news organization reported that comment. Even today, there is no evidence that it was ever reported in the press or on the broadcast media. An Internet search will reveal that I have written letters to the Independence Examiner, and to Indy Media that discussed that quote. To my knowledge, those are the only two places on the Internet where this issue has been reported.
If my memory serves me, the news conference was held on August 13 in Texas. However the memory of that comment is crystal clear. I remember turning to my wife and asking, "How many are enough and who decides 'how many'"? I thought that the comment was highly inappropriate and without compassion for those who were dying. That comment has stuck in my mind because of those concerns.
Since that day, I have investigated and tried to find a tape of the news conference. Until recently, the only confirmation that others saw it was from friends and acquaintances who watched the news conference. About a month ago, I finally met a retired TV news anchor who also saw the news conference and had the same reaction to the remark that I had. He said, "I thought that it was outrageous."
My question to the media has been "Why wasn't this important comment reported?" Has the CIA or other government agency blocked this news or was the entire news media asleep at the switch? I would also like to ask if CBS or another network will investigate this issue, find the video, and report the comment to the public.
In the months before 9/11 it didn't seem that the Bush administration had an interest in taking an active role in stopping the violence between the Israelis and the Palestinians. Former Bush administration member, Paul O'Neill, quoted Bush to say, "I don't see much we can do over there at this point. I think it's time to pull out of that situation." (See, in Ron Suskind's book, The Price of Loyalty.)
From that comment alone, we can assume that Bush was not interested in terrorism and its causes before the attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001. His lack of concern and that careless comment could have triggered the terrorist attacks, but few even know that he made that remark.
Gene W. DeVaux
[BuzzFlash Note: Maybe this website will help? http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2001/08/#]
Subject: testing, testing...
If it is a radio that dubya wears, can it be jammed? Wouldn't that be an interesting sight...and sound?
Liz
Subject: More of the same unethical practices of Republicans
Hi, Buzz.
Seen this? It's a Nevada news story, may also be affecting Oregon now.
Employees of a private voter registration company allege that hundreds, perhaps thousands of voters who may think they are registered will be rudely surprised on election day. The company claims hundreds of registration forms were thrown in the trash. Anyone who has recently registered or re-registered to vote outside a mall or grocery store or even government building may be affected. The I-Team has obtained information about an alleged widespread pattern of potential registration fraud aimed at democrats. The focus of the story is a private registration company called Voters Outreach of America, AKA America Votes ..." (More at link)
Voter Registrations Possibly Trashed (KLAS-TV)
Regards,
Elaine