October 18, 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.

Subject: Lynn & Dick Cheney--talk about flip-floppers

Talk about a Flip-Flopper: one week Dick Cheney is thanking the Democratic Team for its kind words about his daughter, and the next week he's condemning them. Which is it Mr. Cheney: you appreciate hearing kind words about your daughter, or you hate hearing kind words about your daughter (and apparently it almost makes you angry enough to tell another senator to go fuck himself)?

Max in Kansas

Subject: Hypothesis

The following site talks about Atrial Flutter... a heart disease that would explain Bush's symptoms.

http://www.emedicinehealth.com/articles/10851-6.asp

To treat the disease you use a pacemaker (LifeVest). The Disease will cause dizziness and fainting (Pretzel incident and bicycle crashes). The disease may cause strokes (drooping lid, spittle, stiff walking). Lack of blood can cause severe brain damage (Speech problem, logic?). It is easy to find in a medical exam (cancelled physical).

Matt

Subject: Email from Pepsi Concerning Sinclair Broadcasting

Dear Folks,

I received this email from Pepsi after writing them concerning the actions of Sinclair Broadcasting. Keep up the letter writing, folks.

Re: Advertise on Sinclair and We Do Not Buy Pepsi.

Hello!

Thank you for taking the time to contact us at PepsiCo. Accurate and balanced journalism is important to us, and we appreciate your thoughts regarding Sinclair Broadcasting Group's upcoming plans. We have no national advertising buys scheduled with Sinclair Broadcasting, nor do we plan to advertise on the program in question. We will also make our bottlers aware of this situation and share these concerns so they can take them into consideration as they plan their local marketing efforts. We will follow the resolution of this issue closely.

Given your concerns, we also would suggest that you communicate your views directly to Sinclair Broadcasting Group's President and Chief Executive Officer, David D. Smith. He can be contacted at Sinclair Broadcasting Group, 10706 Beaver Dam Road, Hunt Valley, MD 21030, or via email at comments@sbgi.net

Again, many thanks for bringing this to our attention. We value your comments, and equally, the constructive spirit in which they are offered.

Pepsi-Cola Company

On another note, I sent out my post concerning Bush's conflicting statements regarding Osama bin Laden to those in the media and I used a return receipt on those emails and so far two have read it without it being immediately deleted...someone at Fox News did read it. Shocking! Hope he gagged on it!

Democratically Yours,

Mary!

Subject: To the Editor -- Re: The Cheneys are upset with John Kerry

Isn't it a bit of outrageous hypocrisy that the Cheneys and the RNC are upset with John Kerry for mentioning Mary Cheney's sexual orientation? I mean, can we get real here? Mary Cheney is working for the Bush/Cheney campaign specifically to rally the gay vote. She is being paid a pretty nice salary because she is publicly gay. That takes public knowledge of her orientation to a whole different level than, "oh, yeah, Mary came out." Does anyone seriously think that only the Republicans can mention it?

Mary is an adult. Mary came out nationally. Mary is using her orientation to help her dad. Mary is being very well paid to do so. Mentioning it is not an insult, unless, of course, her sexual orientation is a matter of shame for her parents and the RNC. Or, maybe it just conflicts with that slightly inconvenient message from the Religious Right: that Mary's lesbianism is an abomination. One would think that if the Cheneys have issues with anyone over their treatment of Mary Cheney, it would be with the entire group of so-called Christians who consider her sexual orientation unholy. But, hypocrisy not withstanding, the RNC needs the extreme Christian Right to win their election, so we're all supposed to pretend that it was John Kerry who stepped over the line.

It is further hypocrisy that the Republicans have blamed John Kerry for the smear tactics of the so-called Swift Boat Veterans, saying that he brought the attacks on himself by bringing up his service. Well, if mentioning it yourself is the standard, then Lynne Cheney, no stranger to hypocrisy, needs to get over her little snit fit. They brought it on themselves when they brought it into the public arena. Furthermore, while the Swift Boat ads were deceitful smear tactics, John Kerry told no lies about Mary Cheney. He just said what Mary herself has been advertising all through the campaign: she is a lesbian. So what?

Maybe the Cheneys are afraid that the knowledge of how their daughter is being very well paid to advertise and use something that is so odious to their ultra-conservative base will come out, along with the knowledge that Mary apparently has a partner and no intention of giving up her homosexuality for Jesus any time soon.

Whatever the true source of Lynne Cheney's annoyance, it ain't little Mary's hurt feelings.

Ruth Lopez
Orlando, FL

Subject: The Los Angeles Times apparently fabricated "Alabama Guard officials" who say they saw Bush at Dannelly Air Force Base

Dear BuzzFlash:

In their article, "An Agile Pilot Who Flew Under the Radar," Sept. 27, the Los Angeles Times writes that one of Bush's commanders noted that the future commander-in-chief had not been observed at his Texas unit for a full year--"a span of time that included the period in which Alabama Guard officials say he rarely appeared at their unit."

This statement implies that the LA Times has talked to at least two Alabama Guard officials who said they saw him at least once at the base.

In fact, no credible witness, despite rewards offered, has ever come forward to say they saw Bush even once at Dannelly Air Force Base in Montgomery, Alabama. If the the Los Angeles Times had found even one person to verify his presence it would be big news. Central to Bush's military record is whether or not he ever showed up even once. This is not a trivial point as Bush's claim that he actually showed up at the base is central to the charge that he deserted his Guard duty. His handlers have offered only a form showing that he had a dental exam at the base, which may or may not be genuine.

I tried to point this "error" out to the paper, through its reporters, its editor (letters@latimes.com), and its reader's representative, Mr. Kent Zelas (readers.rep@latimes.com). But they refuse to acknowledge that anything is amiss (by printing a correction) or to identify the mystery "Alabama Guard officials" cited in their article. My suspicions that this was more than an error were raised when I received this reply from one of the reporters for the article in response to my query:

Thanks for your note. As the story notes, there are serious doubts as to whether he showed up at all for any training. He did, however, receive training credit for appearing for a National Guard dental examination on Jan. 6, 1973 at Dannelly AFB in Alabama--although none of the Guard officers we spoke to could recall seeing him on that date. But they all acknowledge that they couldn't be absolutely certain he wasn't there that day--only that they cant recall him being there. When we mentioned the possibility that he did show up for the exam, they all conceded that it was possible (even if they had no personal knowledge or independent confirmation) that he might have showed up on that date. Thus we had to qualify the extreme doubts about his appearing at all with "rarely"--because until disproven, the record currently suggests he did receive at least one day of training in Alabama. That's about as much help as I can give you. -- Steve Braun Reporter for the LA Times (Steve.Braun@latimes.com)

Perhaps you would like to take this up. Who were those officials?

RA in LA

Subject: Stop the "L" Word...

Dear Media People:

I propose that media talking heads be double taxed. This morning, some were speculating that Kerry would lose the 3rd debate in post-debate spin because he uttered the "L" word - L for "L"esbian. Poor, hysterical Lynne Cheney! How indignant she is!

http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2004/10/14/90951.shtml

But why wasn't she upset when Illinois (Maryland) GOP senatorial candidate Alan Keyes slammed the Cheneys because of Mary's "L"esbianism?

http://washingtontimes.com/upi-breaking/20040901-093347-1067r.htm

He actually called poor Mary a "selfish hedonist." Maybe that's because a few weeks thereafter Alan Keyes' OWN daughter was revealed to be a *GASP* "L"esbian.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2004/9/27/02154/0865

Or maybe it's because Lynne Cheney has written "L"esbian erotica.

http://www.whitehouse.org/administration/sisters.asp

The tagline "The novel of a strong and beautiful woman who broke ALL the rules of the American Frontier" (emphasis added).

Will you please wake up? This is a fake controversy generated by fake people whose only goal is the acquisition of power. They will say anything no matter how ridiculous and the media seem to fall for it. The next time one of your reporters speaks to Lynne Cheney (or Dick, for that matter) ask her these simple questions: (1) "Why weren't you this upset with Alan Keyes?" and (2) "Don't you think your novel 'Sisters' was a lurid exploitation of 'L'esbianism?"

The media need to straighten out! Pun intended.

Rob Olson
Bellingham, WA

Subject: Kerry/Bush

During debate Bush kept referring to Senator Kerry's Position on the Iraq War in form of "wrong war, wrong time....." Bush went on adding his own view, that Senator Kerry's attitude toward the war (calling it wrong war, wrong time) will make it impossible for him to attract aid from any other country, meaning European Countries.

Doesn't Bush realize that 99.99% of the people in the world already know that going to Iraq was wrong? Whom has he been listening to? I remember all of the protests all over the world just before Iraq war, did he not see that? Doesn't he know that the rest of the world do not see "fox as a credible source of news"

Afsaneh Jabbar
Norman, OK

Subject: Homosexuals!

A Rant

Concerning the "debate" last night...

You'd think since the president is proposing to AMEND THE CONSTITUTION that he'd know everything there is to know about homosexuality and have a firm, informed opinion on such a topic since this action is one of the most important things a president can propose doing...but NO...he said, "I don't know"!!

How can the president of the United States of America not know what he's ADDING TO THE CONSTITUTION and admit it on TV in a live debate?!?!?!

What have we come to!

Regards,

Philip J. Filia

Subject: Bush's Osama Bin Laden Flip-Flop

Dear Sir or Madam:

In last night's Presidential Debate, George Bush performed a dramatic flip-flop. Is he "concerned about Osama Bin Laden" or not?

See http://www.democrats.org for a clear illustration of Bush's Osama Bin Laden flip-flop. After having to listen to the media relentlessly hammer John Kerry on this same topic, in the name of "fairness" one would expect that the media would cover George Bush's flip-flop, especially because it relates directly to 9/11 and national security.

Sincerely,

Michael McBride

Subject: Letter to the owner of the "Lonestar Iconoclast"

Dear BuzzFlash,

After reading about what's happening to a Kerry supporter who operates a newspaper business in Crawford TX, I immediately logged onto PayPal, and with a few clicks of a mouse, paid for my "subscription" to the Lonestar Iconoclast.

In the "message" portion of my online instant payment, I explained exactly why I was subscribing....

Dear W. Leon Smith -Publisher of Crawford, Tx Lone Star Iconoclast,

I'm a BuzzFlash reader. Here's my small monetary contribution towards the reinstatement of American Democracy. It's in grateful thanks for your "coming out" against Bush in your Crawford TX newspaper.

There's no need to actually mail any copies to me in Vancouver Canada, as the only real interest I have in Crawford, beyond seeing that Dubya gets sent back to his ranch on November 3rd, is the fact that your paper is apparently suffering a backlash from your courageous endorsement of John Kerry for President.

I don't want to see your business fail because of Right Wing pressure exerted by minions of King George & his Stepford, err, Crawford wife...

Kind Regards,

Milena Penzin
Vancouver, B.C.
Canada

Just received this email. Be sure to file complaints both before and after the broadcast. The FCC may not legally respond to complaints filed before the show.

...the email address to use for complaining about Sinclair's Broadcast of the Kerry bashing "show" is:

campaignlaw@fcc.gov

PLEASE FORWARD THIS NOW!!!!!!

A BuzzFlash Reader

Subject: Shame on Channel 4

This morning you reported on a non-controversy. If you are going to go a [sic] Kerry for being sympathetic to Mary Cheney's very open relationship with Heather Poe, it would be a good idea to play her father's declaration on her gay life in June.

If your memory isn't that good, you could just play what he said about it in the VP debate two weeks ago. The old hypocrite thanked John Edwards for complementing the Cheney's support of Mary and Heather. They thank Edwards and then take a lynch mob to Kerry.

Cheney uses it to make the Bush/Cheney ticket seem less discriminatory by using Mary's relationship in opposition to the Constitutional ban on gay marriage. The entire GOP goes after gays like a right-wing evangelist on speed.

Lynne Cheney said absolutely nothing when Alan Keyes said Mary is a "selfish hedonist." She let Mary's sister speak for the family so they can say we support her in one area and not in other area.

Play the tape from the VP debate if you are going to do the news. Play the tapes where Cheney says his daughter is gay and uses it to make it appear that the GOP is not homophobic.

Karen Webb
Moore, Ok.

Buzzers,

I'm freaking out!!!!

This voter registration fraud stuff is more than I can take. You just can't win with these people - literally. I would urge everyone to contact the major networks and newspapers and ask if they will be covering this - or more to the point, why are they not covering it. It's huge. Lots of people won't even know they've been disenfranchised if this is not covered nationally. Between this and Sinclair, I'm losing my sanity. Oh Kerry - please knock'em dead tonight.

Buzz I got my Jon Stewart book a few days ago. Thanks. Now I'll have Jon to amuse me on my vacation. I voted absentee today. We'll be out of the country on election day - I figured that way, I could get through it a little easier. Let's just hope my absentee ballot doesn't "get lost in the mail."

Thanks Buzz, and keep shouting this voter registration thing from the rooftops. Sooner or later, the media usually follows your lead.

Also, I just wanted to answer Jack Dalton of Portland, OR's question in the 10/12 mailbag - A Question for America: What Would Be too Much? Well, for me, too much happened 4 years ago. When the Supreme Court stopped a vote count and unconstitutionally appointed a president. This was a coup - a planned coup. And no one seemed to care. Nothing has shocked me as much as that, even with all the shit we've been through. An election was stolen right before our eyes - it was a coup without weapons. Most of the country still does not realize that. And they won't realize it if it happens again. Jack - for me, that was what was too much. The rest is history - and it just keeps on going.

Barbara in NYC

Subject: Sinclair station list with links

Here's a link that's buried on Sinclair's site that lists all of their stations (with links).

http://sbgweb2.sbgnet.com/business/markets/all_orig.shtml

Let's blanket those stations with emails and shut down this broadcast.

Regards,

Linda Reynolds

Subject: The mounting evidence of voter registration fraud in America is deeply disturbing

I am concerned about the growing list of allegations of voter registration fraud in America. A pattern of allegations have surfaced in respect to efforts to disenfranchise American citizens by the Republican funded outfit, Voters' Outreach of America operated by Sproul & Associates. A voter registration fraud clearinghouse documenting these allegations is located at

http://www.dkosopedia.com/index.php/Voter_Registration_Fraud_Clearinghouse

This issue needs to be fully investigated and resolved to the satisfaction of the affected voters before the election in a few weeks. We will not inspire democracy in Iraq if allegations of widespread fraud are not redressed in America before election day on November 2.

Chris Fearnley
Upper Darby, PA

Subject: Should'a, Ought'a, Could'a

In the 10/14 mailbag, a writer suspects that an unseen GOP trick may be for the election polls to run out of ballots in heavy democratic areas of the country. This could be an effective event. Consider this scenario:

** Long lines of voters form on election day

** You are 180th in line

** A Poll representative reports to those waiting, that they have run out of ballots

** The Poll worker tells everyone that they are waiting for a return call from the board of elections, also checking with other precincts to see if they have extra ballots that can be brought over

** Determined to vote, you wait [it is now 1 1/2 hours]

** Standing and waiting 2 hours, you know that you have to be elsewhere in 5 minutes, and will be late

** Reluctantly, you are forced to leave even though you tried

** Others in line also break ranks and leave

** GOP mission accomplished

Knowing all that transpired in FL 2000, the scenario is very easy to picture. And all hands are clean. After the fact, we will hear the following: 1. You can't say that we didn't try... we tried to get more ballots. 2. I tried to get through on the phone to find out what to do, but the line was continually busy. 3. We don't know what happened to our delivery of extra ballots. We're looking into that now. Could have been a communication glitch.

When the democrats cry foul and want to hold up the counts, the powers say, you should'a - could'a... too late... rule of law, etc., etc. Are the democrats prepared for a scenario like this?

Cathy

Subject: Saudis Blaming US for Rise of Terror

OK, let's look at this as a disinformation type of operation on the part of the Saudis and the Bushes. Bush's friends, the Saudis, turn around and blame the Bush administration for the rise in terrorist incidents in their country. These are the same people who have been close friends with the entire Bush family for at least 25 years. These are the people who Americans are asking questions about after Fahrenheit 911. What better thing to have happen to George's election chances than make it appear that the Saudis are now Bush's critics?

The scary thing about this is that people are actually buying into it. Am I just too cynical or what? How obvious is this? Or maybe, the prevalence of prescriptions for zoloft, celexa, lexapro, paxil, luvox, and prozac have had the desired effect, like the gin in 1984. Everyone is nice and sedated, sedated enough to ignore obvious signs of manipulation.

If anyone believes that a relationship that has netted these people billions of dollars is going down the tubes because of some manufactured unrest in the Saudi empire, they are sadly mistaken. These people are world class thieves and propaganda artists, no one should put anything past them. And maybe we, as parents and teachers, should start teaching cynicism as a life skill instead of teaching blind obedience and obeisance to presidential diktat.

Matt

Dear BuzzFlash,

Dick and Lynne Cheney are first class hypocrites. I guess they are desperate now, and trying hard to stop Senator Kerry's momentum after his very successful debate performances.

The fake indignation just does not fool me.

Where was this outrage when that moron Alan Keyes said that homosexuality was selfish hedonism and that Mary Cheney their daughter was a sinner?

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5897569/

Roseanne

Subject: The "Larger" Bush

My husband noticed that in the last presidential debate Bush appeared larger than Kerry. Apparently they did this in order to make him look as tall as Kerry but it gave him an advantage since he dominated the screen. We were pleased to hear Andrea Mitchell point this out and say that it wasn't fair.

Keep up the good work BuzzFlash. You are my main source for real news.

A BuzzFlash Reader

Subject: Lies, Lies, and more Lies...

Dear BuzzFlash,

We are truly seeing the unraveling of the BuSh nightmare right before our eyes. We can only hope that time is now sufficient to allow the Kerry/Edwards campaign to drive the stake through the heart of this vampire. Of course, everyone has to run interference with a press corps who are stuck with fringe issues such as the Kerry comment about Mary Cheney.

What must be the focus now, is to continue trapping these congenital liars into backtracking over their own past statements. What we are seeing is not a new set of lies. What we are seeing are two serial liars caught in their own web of deception.

One of the huge rules about telling lies is this: be careful. The bigger the tale, the harder it is to keep the story straight. There's a darned good reason the two had to testify together. There's a darned good reason the VP didn't want to let the American public see into the sinister workings of the energy task force. There's a good reason all you hear the prez say is a litany of platitudes and worn out cliches. He's incapable of staying on message without changing his story. He can't open his mouth without slamming his foot right into it. And this infection is running right down the gutter through the entire administration. Wolfavetch, Rummiesfels, Colon, Condesleaza¡--they have all recanted. And like the President of Vice, none can even keep track of all the tall tales, half-truths and outright lies they have told.

So what we need right now is the independent media, tugging like hell on all the loose threads until this administration unravels like a bad sweater.

Mark Richey

Subject: Lies and Videotape: Cheney's wounded parent act

To paraphrase Shakespeare, "Methinks the Cheneys doth protest too much." Mr. Cheney has made a profound and duplicitous transformation from saying a week ago, "Let me simply thank the senator for the kind words he said about my family and our daughter--I appreciate that very much," to "I am a pretty angry father."

America should ask, "angry for what?" Having the fact that your daughter is gay mentioned on TV? First, it has already been noted hundreds of times by political reporters. In fact, Mary Cheney worked as a gay community liaison for Coors and on a Republican party gay-straight alliance promoting tolerance. She is open about her lifestyle.

Second, it is disingenuous to suggest that Edwards or Kerry somehow "attacked" Mary Cheney. Voters should watch the debate tapes or read the transcripts again. Edwards was PRAISING her and her family, and holding them up as role models. Kerry was being inclusive in saying she was being who God made her. The only "cheap and tawdry trick" (a la Mrs. Cheney) is this tirade from the Cheneys.

Far from being "totally inappropriate," as Mr. Cheney described, it is completely legitimate for the Democrats to note that Cheney's own child would be impacted by the same-sex marriage prohibition that his boss has been pushing and that is on the ballot in several states as referenda. The Cheneys' wounded-parent act speaks volumes more which ticket will really "say anything to get elected," or at least to create a diversion for a news cycle or two.

Heidi Lynn Hudson
Gaithersburg, MD

Subject: Be Prepared For Another Florida Debacle Across The Nation

To BuzzFlash Readers,

Be prepared for another Florida Election Debacle, but one that is spread ACROSS THE COUNTRY!!!

To see what I am referring to, do a Google Search using the following for a search key, exactly as shown:

2004 "Voter Registration" purge

You will get roughly 4770 hits. Incredible! Here are some of the first ones shown.

Florida Felon Purge: Here We Go Again

http://www.pfaw.org/pfaw/general/default.aspx?oid=15383

Voter Purge in ground-zero Ohio

http://www.mydd.com/story/2004/7/20/1225/16184

Elections Officials gave Florida flawed felon voter list

http://brownwatch.squarespace.com/florida-felon-voter-purge-watc/

Montana voter process debated

http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/10/12/mt.governorsdebate.ap/

Voter registration problems and cheats

http://amptoons.poliblog.com/blog/001160.html

Campaign workers suspected of fraud; Voter-registration problems probed (MI)

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1224716/posts

Tom Wieliczka

Subject: Re: Mary Cheney Uproar

Dear BuzzFlash,

As a mother of an openly lesbian daughter, I am outraged that the Cheneys make a big deal over a kind and positive remark by Kerry. Where were they when Alan Keyes made his disgusting remark calling Mary Cheney "selfish and hedonist"? Now that was a time to show some outrage! At least they are, as always, consistently hypocrites.

Francia Dejasu
Massachusetts

Subject: Responding to Cheneys' outrage

It is time for the Democrats to forcefully respond to the Cheneys' accusation that their daughter's sexual orientation is being politicized by Kerry and Edwards. Why don't the Democrats play the videotape where Cheney himself mentioned that he has a gay daughter? Why don't the Democrats mention that the Bush/Cheney surrogates spread rumors in North Carolina about John McCain having a black daughter, clearly to gain a political advantage during the primaries in 2000? At least Kerry and Edwards didn't use surrogates to mention that Cheney has a lesbian daughter. Besides, Kerry and Edwards were both responding to questions about homosexuality (an issue already politicized by the Republicans) that came up during the debates, and did so without being mean-spirited. It is time for the Republicans to stop the hypocrisy! Of course, no one should hold their breath waiting for THAT to happen!

A BuzzFlash Reader

Subject: jon stewart

if you go back and look at the tape from a campaign stop (i think in iowa) you will see cheney and kerry both said almost the same thing about mary cheney, almost word for word.

km

Subject: "Baghdad Year Zero"

Hi BuzzFlash,

After reading "Baghdad Year Zero" (Harper's Magazine), posted on your site, I have worked tirelessly to distribute it and encourage media, columnists and talk show hosts to discuss it.

This article explains the REAL reason for the invasion of Iraq, and exposes the neoconservative agenda that we will be paying for supporting for generations to come. I hope you will keep it front and center, and perhaps start a campaign to bring the subject to the foreground.

Thank you,

Elayne
Warner Robins, GA

Subject: Vote suppression plan: judicial wing

Friends,

One of my best friends, the public-interest lawyer Tom Geoghegan, called me nearly in tears tonight [Friday]. Long story short: he lost a major voting rights case, decided by the conservative federal judge Richard Posner, in which Posner basically turns the Republican talking point that MAKING IT EASIER FOR POOR PEOPLE TO REGISTER TO VOTE IS MERELY AN INVITATION TO DEMOCRATIC FRAUD and all but turns it into constitutional doctrine. I don't have all the details yet, but Tom is going to write me up a memo on the decision tomorrow morning when he gets to the office. I, in turn, will write a memo connecting the obvious political dots: that this decision was rushed out in record time to give the GOP legal cover for carrying out this pernicious doctrine on the ground. You, in turn--I hope--will blast this outrage across the land. Expect me in your inboxes tomorrow morning. All power to the blogosphere. Kerry in a landslide.

Rick Perlstein

CLICK HERE FOR PART 2 OF THE OCTOBER 15, 2004 BUZZFLASH MAILBAG.