November 3, 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 NOVEMBER 3, 2004 BUZZFLASH MAILBAG. CLICK HERE FOR PART 1

Subject: Election Fraud

It could be that the soaring increase in voters in this election is because the American people like being lied to and deceived. It could be that the young vote came out to support an Administration that is sending their jobs off-shore, and sending the military to far flung areas of the world where they are murdered almost daily by extremists.

Or it could be that the soaring increase in voters was countered by an administration
who came to power by stealing the election in Florida in 2000, and now has the ability
to skew electronic voting machines by hacking into the software that was left precariously
vulnerable by the manufacturers of the machines. Remember the Diebold CEO who stated
that he would do "everything in his power" to give Ohio to Bush?

The first report on the CBS Evening News last night was on a woman in New Orleans that
said she touched the Kerry box, but her machine recorded a Bush vote.

Denny Burbeck
Omaha

Subject: There's more than one way to beat Bush

Dear Buzz,

Okay, so the "election" wasn't the way. We still have economic boycott, civil disobedience, tax revolt, and countless other weapons. I'm sure we can come up with creative ways to subvert Bush, and have fun doing it! Don't stop laughing and don't give an inch!

A Loyal Reader

Subject: Thank you for trying

Your site has really meant a lot to me over the past 3 years. A day has not gone by that I haven't learned something from you. I just wanted to say thanks for doing what you do. The fact is that we are the minority. Bush is what the majority of America wants. I no longer blame Bush or Cheney or Limbaugh or FoxNews. I blame American citizens for saying
that Bush is the leader that they want. We deserve everything we get now. I quit.

-joey monsoon

Subject: Voter Brutality

Why haven't the Democrats legally challenged the many hour-long voting lines as voter brutality? I mean, how many senior citizens, parents with children, disabled etc. votes have been disenfranchised because of the long lines? How many would not or could not go out and vote because of 2-, 4-, 6- or 9-hour lines? Why in the US (as opposed to a third world country) do we have these kinds of voting problems? I don't ever remember having to wait those long hours just to vote. Why haven't the Dems challenged this through the legal system? This is wrong. I am disgusted today.

A BuzzFlash Reader

Subject: what is the use?

Kerry has conceded, Do you honestly think Bush would have conceded? No, he has proven that. The democratic party is through. Millions of people had hopes for this election, In 2000 Gore gave up, now Kerry. What do you think the voter turn out will be for '08? Unless we get someone to stand up to the republicans, the democrats are wasting everyone's time. No Balls.

David P.

Subject: On Karl Rove's Ground Game and the Stolen Election of 2004

I come from the old school of Progressive/Populists. Stop whining and organize (even more). Not that all Liberals are whining now. Some liberals are. It came down to this. Karl Rove's ground game. Which was:

1) Fear mongering to the south regarding gays. The Repubs. got 1 million votes in
the south *specifically* because of the gay marriage issue. (Even though 61% of registered voters believed in gay marriage or civil unions.)

2) Stolen votes, voter suppression and disenfranchisement.

a) Florida, Iowa and Ohio had terrible electronic and absentee voting "problems"

b) Massive voter intimidation campaigns in minority neighborhoods and in the
Native American community (the complaints coming out are *stunning*)

c) Voter suppression; by making people wait on line up to 7 hours to vote
because of lack of voting booths in minority and some urban precincts

3) Registered voter apathy and/or discouragement: 48% of registered voters did *not* vote!

This election, just like in 2000, was stolen again, with the state appointees on the ground, (e.g., State Attny. Generals, State Judges, Election Officials) being appointed by the Bush Administration to suppress and manipulate the vote.

To paraphrase Stalin, it's not who votes, it who *counts* the votes.

That's the pisser.

A BuzzFlash Reader

Subject: November 3, 2004

Dear Buzz and the BuzzFlash readers:

Like everyone who visits and loves BuzzFlash I find today one of the most difficult days I’ve ever faced.

I simply cannot imagine 4 more years of George W. Bush. Four more wars, a thousand points of lies, Deception unlimited.

Waking up this morning and finding myself squashed between the pages of a religiously perverted red state bible I feel hopelessly trapped for the first time in my 58 years of life. I know what beat John Kerry because I live among the most narrow minded, self righteous people on the globe and it is the issues of freedom and self determination that will be forever lost with 4 more years of Bush.

Expect an overturn of Roe v. Wade. Expect a draft. Expect a turn back of State, local and Federal laws that offer civil protections to gays and lesbians. Expect a full frontal assault
on Affirmative Action, Women’s rights, equal pay for equal work, the minimum wage.

Expect no Federal dollars for stem cell research. Expect more money to the rich and less to the poor and middle class. Expect the Social Security Retirement age to be raised. Expect millions of more people without Health Insurance. Expect religion to replace reason and faith to be used as the explanation for every controversial, idiotic or dangerous decision made by this President.

I’m exhausted and I know everyone who’s spilled out their heart and soul trying to put John Kerry in the White House feels the same way I do.

WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?

Carolyn in Tennessee

Subject: it's getting cold

"Little Corporal" Bush won the election like Napoleon won Russia.

Alice Z.

Subject: contribution

Find out just what people will submit to, and you have found out the exact amount of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them; and these will continue until they are resisted with either words or blows, or both. The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress. -- Frederick Douglass

Today we learned some hard truths about the United States of America.

Today we learned that the issue of whether or not two people who love each other should be allowed to spend their lives together is more important than the issue of tens of thousands of dead women and children in Iraq, Afghanistan, and whichever countries are next on Cheney's hit list.

We learned that denying a woman the right to choose whether or not to carry the child of rape or incest to term is more important than the spending of TRILLIONS on bombs, guns, and filling the coffers of the very rich.

We learned that the education of our children, the care of our disabled and elderly is less important than the oil fields of Iraq.

We learned that We, the People, have no clue as to how we are viewed by the rest of the world, or even worse, we don't care. Today we learned that we are the people we condemned the Germans for being.

Many people voted for Bush based on "moral values," something I guess I can not comprehend. Moral values, the Ten Commandments, which should include "thou shalt not kill" doesn't seem to apply to anyone who is not a white Judeo-Christian citizen of the USA with acceptable leanings.

Jesus said, "What so ever you do to the least of these, you do to me." Just what have we now done to Him? Do we love our neighbours? Do we care for the widows and orphans? Not if they are Iraqi, or Muslim, or poor, or black.

"The bitch got in the way" is now acceptable justification for shooting pregnant women in the back. According to Bush, Jesus would pat him on the back for this one!

We have learned, today, that we, as a country, are no better than those dictatorships that Bush called "evil."

Can you hear it? That rumbling sound is the sound of the Founding Fathers, the Apostles, and all of the good Saints who have gone before rolling in anguish in their graves.

Today we voted, in numbers never before seen in the history of the country.

Today we voted away the very freedom our fathers and grandfather fought to keep.

The Enigmatic Flea
http://theenigmaticflea.blogspot.com/

Katherine A. Juestel
USA Citizen by Birth
Australian by Choice

Subject: Oh boy

Kerry has just conceded. So now I'm really concerned about BuzzFlash and its audience. I don't want to scare you or anything, but Abu Ghraib, if not the Iraq invasion, is proof of the lengths this crowd will go to to get their way, that they think of their enemies as subhuman and expendable.

They have said it and said it, You're either with us, or you're with the terrorists, and if you've been in discussions with Bush supporters they do treat you like an enemy of America.

In the past four years, they've merely had tacit permission for all their illegal and unconstitutional activities. Now, as of today, they have been granted a license. They now act with the full power and will of the American people behind them. If they've already committed outrages, what will they do now that they aren't just above the law, but THE law?

For starters, Patriot II will get passed. Already they have used "national security" to curtail and censor freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, freedom to peacefully protest, etc. Patriot II will make the Police State real.

All this to say, be on your guard and lay low like a dime. And when things turn bad, have an escape ready. Trace your family tree and find lost family in Europe or something, see if you can move to Canada. Might be an idea for BuzzFlash to set up a Canada-based server, just in case. For if you think the last four years were bad, and you have cause, the next four will be worse. These people stop at nothing. And now they don't have to.

A Concerned BuzzFlash Reader in Europe

Subject: diebold

I think there is a way to tell if the election was rigged. Compile results from precincts without a paper trail and results from precincts with a paper trail. Compare the two to the results from 2000. There should be a similar swing in the vote. If the paper trail precincts show no change or a swing to Kerry and the other precincts show a swing to Bush, we know they fixed the election. If we know they rigged the election the lesson we take from it will be very different to the one we take from a defeat. Is this doable?If you think so, can you get this idea out. Thanks.

Anthony Rigney
Florida

Subject: A snowball in hell

The American people have voted for george w. bush for a second term as president of the United States of America. And I can find little solace from the feelings of disgust, anger, and despair that this result has left me with. I find myself gasping for faith in this Country and its people.

Yesterday marked the second bursting of an internet bubble. This time the virtual lead among new registrations turned into the real defeat in getting them out to vote (The youth vote remained unchanged since 2000). Accountability for the past three years was trumped by the rhetoric of fear. And all those that voted for bush are responsible. Every policy this administration makes is the responsibility of every person that voted for its second term. Every policy that puts our troops in harm's way without "knowing" if a threat to the nation even exists, every policy that adversely affects the environment, that keeps wages and overtime down, that rewards big business (whether it be for outsourcing or for
just being rich). It is they that voted for bush who are responsible. Rove and Co. have succeeded in making gay marriage more important than jobs, health care, and the image of the Country in the world. Congratulations America. I hope someday you actually think about what you've done.

I hope someday you will see that presidential elections are more than the Texas Reds against the Massachusetts Blues. Who am I kidding? People don't think.

But what about those that found themselves on John Kerry's side? What do we do? Do we move to Canada? Do the North East and West Coast secede from the Union? Do we just give up on caring and taking part in a society that doesn't seem to care what the major economic centers in the Country think? I, for one, am not giving up (though dropping out of corporate society as much as possible sounds good). This blog will still be here. I'll still be watching, yelling, and emailing those that let me. There will be no grace period this time. No feeling that dissent is somehow unpatriotic here. I refuse to let them take my Country away from me. It is my sincere hope that I am not alone in this.

It is a very disheartening day today within a movement that seemed to snowball ever since Howard Dean and Michael Moore showed us that we could stand up against a vacationing "war president." But it seems that snowball didn't stand a chance in hell.

dave

http://thesquidsink.blogspot.com

Subject: 'Tis a Requiem

Today is the tomorrow we worried about yesterday.

Democracy took its last shallow breath Nov. 2, 2004. With the republicans in full charge of the presidency, both houses, supreme court and 96% of the media, the handwriting is on the wall... or should I say, the tombstone of democracy has its epitaph imprinted and it is ready for delivery. The USA, as we knew it, is disappearing down a long road and into the sunset. The groundwork has been laid for election after election of republicans...with the democrats being forced to let go of the last brass ring. ‘Tis a Requiem for democracy. ‘Tis a Requiem for Americans and the two-party system as was designed by our forefathers.

As a nation, we are much less.

Cathy

A BuzzFlash Reader

Subject: Battle for the Media

The media gave this election to W. Our fight needs to turn to Sinclair, Fox, CNN et al. We need a fairness doctrine. We need less bias in the media outlets in the red states.

Let the battle begin.

Julie R.

Subject: results stink to high heavens

Please use your channels to pass this ray of hope on to national. I have NO DOUBT this is our last chance to save American Democracy as we know it.

These swing state vote results stink to high heavens! The "reported" "vote counts" are a half-dozen-plus points off exit poll results in FL and OH, probably elsewhere.

Remember 2000? The exit polls accurately predicted EVERY state but FL (ballot chicanery). Do you think they "got stupid" in the last 4 years?

Compare exit polls and vote counts in Diebold v. non-Diebold precincts. If the differences are the same, fine, Bush is legit. If NOT--FRAUD!!

Exit poll results matching tallied results are what caused international observer Jimmy Carter to decide the election in Venezuela was legitimate.

Remember also, Diebold CEO Wally O'Dell was a HUGE Bush fundraiser and promised to "deliver" his state's (OH) votes for Bush.

Again, I have NO DOUBT this is our last chance to save American Democracy as we know it.

Thanks to all for your hard work,

Eddy

Subject: No fear

A few years back, former North Carolina State basketball coach, Jim Valvano, inspired everyone watching with his bravery and spirit in the face of death. He was suffering with terminal cancer, with about two weeks left to live, when he was helped to the stage by his close friend and colleague, Dick Vitale, to accept the ESPY award for courage. What followed was awe inspiring and yes, courageous. Barely able to stand, Jim Valvano delivered. He was funny, thoughtful and most of all, himself.

He said that we should laugh, cry and think everyday for a fulfilled life. When the director signaled him that he only had another thirty seconds to speak, he responded with a telling comment: "I have tumors all over my body and this guy's flashing a red light." Jim continued to speak and hold the audience in his palm. His parting words will be with
me forever: 

"Never give up. Never ever give up." -- Jim Valvano

Barry S.

Subject: This is real......

Help people understand the Bush government.. Print and post.....

NOTICE

In the event of an official visit only loyal supporters of the president

will be allowed in this area. All others will be arrested and taken

into custody. NO EXCEPTIONS !

Post this notice in all walk ways and public areas.

A BuzzFlash Reader

Subject: We knew it was possible

Now, what are we prepared to do about it?

Once again the exit polls call it right and the vote tabulation is wrong, and a compliant media fail to acknowledge the inconsistencies. Over these past few hours, the nation has been made to believe the fundamentalists had a greater turnout than the hip-hop youth. We are asked to erase from our memory the visuals of those who waited in lines for hours in the heat and rain, some with the uncertainty of whether or not their vote would be counted or challenged. Will we also be made to believe it was the weather that kept voters away in the end?

How is it that exit polls were considered accurate in non-battleground states, and erroneous in those states where Karl Rove had carefully crafted a different scenario? How is it that 1 out of 7 voters were first time voters in this election, that Kerry won the African American and Muslim vote, and the Hispanic vote in New Mexico, Colorado, Nevada and Arizona, and possibly Florida, yet Bush comes out ahead with a record voter turnout, even in Broward County? Clearly, it is the vote tabulation that is wrong, and not the exit polls. Should not the media consider this a possibility given that exit polling in a huge portion of the states was accepted as accurate otherwise? We are being asked to accept GOP 'wisdom' over science!?! The same will soon be asked of the Supreme Court.

On another note, as Chris Wallace mentioned in interview with Jon Stewart, the Voter News Service actually didn't disband after 2000; they only changed their name. We knew this too. And it was these crooked fellows who were feeding the majority of networks their so-called "precise" information from election office computers, which did not jive with independent pollster findings at all. Pollsters talked with actual voters, whereas the network information gatherers communicated with computers using figures that we cannot say beyond a reasonable doubt were not being manipulated. Without paper trails in some counties, how is a recount now possible?

To those elected politicians who ask the citizenry to accept another stolen election like cattle being led to a slaughterhouse, we must answer HELL NO. Now is not the time for disgust, although we have reason to be filled with it. Last night at 11:14 PM PST, CNN announced that the huge number of young voters actually didn't vote after all! Can you believe that one? Goddess, I hope not. The GOP will continue to apply pressure until they get the announcement that Bush won, as they did in Florida. The media will continue to spin it for Bush, and we know what will happen afterward.

This is the fight of our lives. What are prepared to do about it? It is time to immediately contact the Kerry campaign and Democratic Party, and urge them to not concede and to challenge what appears to be another fraudulent election. If they refuse to, let us all consider how much we value our cushy lives, and what it is we're willing to put on the line for this nation, its citizenry and the international community. Be prepared to march and boycott in protest.

The time has come to take action. The storm has arrived. This broken government can't fix itself. Let's stop expecting it to.

Kat L'Estrange
Eugene, OR

Subject: Sad Day for America

Dear BuzzFlash Family,

I am saddened this morning as are many of my peers in the African American community. We all feel that this is the beginning of the end of any gains we had made under the Clinton Administration. It has been a tough four years, but we know it's only going to get worse. I have literally lost my faith in the American system.

It scares me that there are people who actually believe in this man. It also shows me that not only have many children been left behind, millions of adults have also been left behind. People have been joking about the dumbing down of America, and now I can see with my own eyes that it is fact. Nobody in their right mind could possibly believe that George Bush has any compassion for anybody other than rich CEO's. It also shows me that it was probably intentional not to fund his educational initiatives, he can rest assured that the Republican party will always have a built-in base who will believe anything that is spoon fed to them.

I thank God for BuzzFlash, who always tells the truth, and who has awakened the political activist in me. I am blessed to be skilled and educated, so I will probably survive under this
idiot, but I feel for the millions who have no voice and will suffer more than they already have.

I guess the prediction of a one-party rule in America has come to pass. The only relief that I am feeling right now, is going to be the irony of all the people who voted for Bush who lose their civil rights, their privacy rights, their children to the draft, and all their
life savings--saying why did nobody warn us about this administration and their evil ways?

I am now going to prepare myself to live in this theocracy, because I know life as an American will never be the same. Hard as it may be, I will try to keep the faith.

Mister T.
Dallas, TX

Subject: New Pledge

Based Upon the results of the 2004 presidential election I feel that it is now appropriate to rewrite the Pledge of Allegiance in better alignment to the state of our country in which we live.

I PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG OF THE UNITED BIG BUSINESS STATES OF AMERICA,
AND TO THE REPUBLICANS FOR WHICH IT STANDS, ONE NATION, UNDER A BORN AGAIN
CHRISTIAN GOD, DIVISIVE, WITHOUT LIBERTY NOR JUSTICE FOR ALL. AMEN!

Gary
Palatine, IL

Subject: The time has come, Buzz...

Dear Buzz:

The time has come when the single most truly relevant question in America has to be asked, and I hope someone will seriously deal with it. What, what on earth is wrong with caucasians in this nation that 3/5ths or more are so willing not only to vote Republican,
but to sell the country down the drain. What is it that makes white people think that this so called religio-conservative politics makes them Godly, superior, right, secure and safe? Is it really so that the majority of whites simply vote their color closely followed by, in some combination, their greed, religion and privilege?

While Kerry may yet win, if he does so it is due primarily to the turnout of blacks and other minorities in the large population states. Thus further beggingthe question.

It is a fact that the majority of people lacking health care are what? White people. The majority of kids being left behind are what? White people. The majority of people in poverty are? White. So, what on earth is wrong with white people? Can it be merely the
psychological need to feel dominant, despite the rotten-ness of every pillar that stands on?

And then, look at so many of the republican candidates! These are not even the best of the best of white people, but some of the lowest and most scurrilous scum in the pond. I don't get it.

But I do get this, to paraphrase Chris Rock: "I ain't afraid of Al Qaeda, I'm afraid of Al Cracka."

When you do your analysis of this election, focus on why so many white people are so willing to sell this nation of ours down the drain into the cesspool of fascism.

Irv

Subject: WE DEMAND THIS OF YOU

Senator Kerry,

Electronic voting should be illegal. It should have been illegal in 2000, and it should have been illegal in 2002 and 2004. But everything is legal until someone calls it out. They are privatizing our elections, they are stealing our votes by casting them into the darkness of that black hole of "proprietary information."

Who is going to put a stop to this? Who has the stature? Who has the microphone and who has the spotlight to educate the whole nation on this travesty? This cannot wait for a future time. The future is now. The world is giving up on us.

How are we going to consign e-voting to the dust bin of history without a champion?

It does not matter even if there WAS no cheating. The bottom line is YOU DON'T BUY A LOCK IF IT WON'T SECURE THE DOOR. The system of e-voting is NOT legitimate. It must NOT be treated as legitimate.

If the exit polls had favored Bush, I wouldn't be writing this. I would have resumed the fight against e-voting post-election, but I would not be challenging this outcome now. I do this BECAUSE the exit polls had you as the winner, and that means we must recount the votes to check the system. And if we CANNOT recount the votes, then you cannot concede the election. ONLY WHEN SOMEONE DOES THIS WILL IT HIT HOME. If America then wants to say goodbye to you, they accept the other candidate, so be it, but do not give them your imprimatur and OUR consent. Do not make it easy for them to legitimize what should be illegal and should NEVER have been permitted by ANY State.

If we accept the discrepancy of exit polls and tallies from electronic voting machines, we might as well hand in our citizen cards right now.

Are you afraid of a little criticism like Al Gore was in 2000? Are you afraid of name calling? Or the same trickery from 2000 that Guiliani was suggesting again last night? That if you loved your country, you would concede?

If you loved your country, you would refuse to concede to a system that is not only incapable of being verified, but one where all the bells and whistles are going off because the exit polls, our one check on the system, make a lie of the tallies. No, you probably could not, as a senator, stop the states from making their choice. None of us could UNTIL WE MAKE THIS WRETCHED FORM OF VOTING ILLEGAL.

They have announced they don't need your concession. How utterly rude and typical of them to rush this again. They don't want people thinking too long about the exit polls. Are you going to make it easier for them by conceding, or are you going to uphold the sovereignty of the people? Let them take it by theft again, without OUR APPROVAL. There are plenty of computer experts ready to go public RIGHT NOW to support the position that given the discrepancies, e-voting is unacceptable and must be abolished. We are facing a total loss of confidence in our voting system. Without that, our greatest export it is said, what do we have left?

Let them steal it again. But don't you dare concede our sovereignty for the second time. The United States is far too fragile. It will not survive this. I am sorry you are in this position. It is truly awful. But I know you can do this.

Bevin Gilmore

Subject: Wrong fight, wrong time, wrong reasons

I am shocked by election results that are worse than I imagined. I was a staunch Clinton, Gore and primary Dean supporter. I voted for Kerry even though he wasn't my choice. It is one thing to have people come out to vote against Bush and another to have them come out in large numbers to support a candidate in which they believe.

I had hoped in 2000 that one member of the Senate would join the Congressional Black Caucus and challenge the 2000 Florida slate of electors, but not one Democratic Senator did. Now Kerry is vowing to fight for the votes in Ohio even though Bush has a 3.5 million popular vote lead. I believe it is the wrong fight, at the wrong time, for the wrong
reasons.

The right fight would have been in 2000 when tens of thousands were illegally purged from the voter rolls, people were disenfranchised by the butterfly ballot, thousands of ballots spit out of machines were never counted, and Gore won the largest popular vote of any democrat in history. I remember that Kerry and Edwards were satisfied to move on and support the pResident. Edwards said so to Tim Russert on Meet the Press as he left
for Iowa to campaign for 2004. Our rights were sold out by our Democratic Party leaders in order to share power in the Senate and run for president.

Now, Kerry's actions give Pugs reason to demonize democrats. I have to go to work again and put up with being called Sore Loserman by my co-workers. Kerry is validating the 2000 selection because the Pugs can say, "There you go again tying up the result.

I have to take the heat for party leaders who tuck tail and run whenever someone says LIBERAL or SOCIALISM.

James Carville said last night that it is time for the Democrats to reassess. If reassess means to move more toward the middle, I am absolutely through with the Democratic Party. We've lost the House, Senate, Presidency, Supreme Court, and State Houses because we don't stand for anything. I'm tired of trying to prop up people who don't stand for anything. Oh, and that whore, Terry MacAuliffe needs to go.

Susan C. McIntosh

Subject: Please, not a mandate!

If Republicans' Ohio and Florida provisional ballot and suppress-the-vote scams hold, I suggest several developments: The Democrats might be the ones to push for a draft to enlist the children of the upper classes; Fallujah will be leveled by U.S. bombs in a few weeks; and Osama Bin Laden will be safe, since he and Rove have the same goal: bankrupting the United States.

Beware of giving a man like Bush a mandate.

Kathy
Boca Raton, Florida

Subject: We the people are so screwed

So what happened? I prefer to believe that they stole the election, rather than the other possibility: That slightly less than half of this country is completely, totally insane. That they truly believe in what this administration stands for. That my beliefs are officially considered to be "out of the mainstream."

I think the possibility that this election was stolen is strong. It was done a little here, a little there, via electronic voting machines. But it was also done with other means -- the disenfranchisement; misleading people on where and when to vote; losing absentee ballots so that those who truly needed them could not vote, forcing others to go to the polls where long lines or inclement weather could make them give up and go home; challenging voters; losing completed absentee ballots -- the list goes on.

The republicans say they “beat the Democrats at their own ground game” by turning out more voters. I simply don't believe that. But if I did, I still say they lied and cheated to do it. They floated false information, outright lies that a Kerry administration would ban the bible, allow gay marriage, etc. They used lies and fear to drive people to vote for someone that they, in their hearts, may really not have wanted to elect. They played on the most base fears of their “believers,” and this can't be called anything but cheating. It’s stealing the election. And it just goes to show that honesty and truth simply are no longer rewarded in this country, today, in 2004.

And that brings me to the real cold problem. We the people of the United States had been given a break for the past four years. The world gave us the benefit of the doubt, and its sympathy. “Oh, how sad, your leaders are insane,” the world said. “But we still love the American people.” That is now gone. The American people have validated this horrible, horrible administration, given it the seal of approval, declared it to be the heart and soul of this nation. Now the world is free to hate us, the people. I fear for our existence.

The republicans have made it clear that with all branches of the government on their side, they intend to put the pedal to the metal and ramrod their agenda into place. Kiss your freedoms goodbye, folks. Read the Constitution, as it may not be valid for much longer. If someone has any bright ideas what we can do about this, please let us all in on them.

We now have a fascist, war-mongering government ruling a nation of terrified sheeple who believe that their “leader” talks to God and is ordained by God. Would you ever in your wildest dreams have thought that this was possible here, in the United States of America?

I’m now going to join John Zogby in his self-imposed 48-hour fetal position.

Sue

Subject: I AM SO MAD!

The media is calling this one for Bush after Bush spent so much time in Ohio--They're trying to make it "unseemly" if Kerry doesn't concede today. Do they know how ridiculous they look?? Since when does the voter not care if his/her vote is counted for the sake of how it looks???THIS IS INCREDIBLE! Have the other "too close to call" states stopped counting and letting it all hinge on Ohio???

WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?? We say we want democracy but will accept it only to the point that the media will allow.

WHAT CAN I DO ??? I FEEL LIKE I'M LIVING IN A NIGHTMARE!

Deb

Subject: God Bless America

My dear BuzzFlash friends,

These lyrics came to me as I prayed this morning for John Kerry to fight for our Democracy.

I know they are very sad words, bathed in tears, and I apologize that they do not really offer any comfort, but these words do represent how I feel on this dark day.

Maybe someday soon I will compose something more hopeful.

But not today.

(sung to the tune of "God Bless America")

God Bless America

Land that we've lost

Hate has torn her

Now mourn her

We have all paid the ultimate cost.

From our Children

To the Elders

Who once basked where

Justice shone

God Bless America

Once Freedom's Home.

elaine lucia in Petaluma, CA

Subject: The Pain of Reality - America, the Victim of Group Think.

Hi Gang.

How did we lose the election?

How could we not regain the White House, re-elect Tom Daschle, re-gain control of the senate, gain a majority in the governorships in this country?

The exit polls tell you the entire story. Fear of terrorism and the fear that electing someone else would spell disaster. Religious and moral intolerance towards homosexuals.
Forgiving Shrubya's mistakes where he would admit to none. Tax-cuts for the wealthy are good. Iraq viewed as it always was intended - the War on Terror. The first two were used as outright wedge issues to further position the "right" away from the "left," as well as split the "left" vote towards Shrubya.

As it stands, I'm truly frightened that the machinery put in motion nearly twenty years ago has finally accomplished its goal - putting the Democratic Party in the minority for a long time to come, or has damaged it beyond repair.

Over the course of the next four years, Democrats will be doing a lot of soul-searching and a lot of candidate searching. Just putting Hillary Clinton or any other possible populist candidate up for the presidency won't do it next time. The politics of fear and intolerance worked and unfortunately speaks volumes about the character of over half our nation's population.

Truly, it is a very dark and sad time when my country would rather advocate the politics of reactionism, fear, and intolerance [rather than] the politics of reason, hope, and tolerance.

I've taken the liberty of printing out something that is taped to the inside of my rear-windshield.

"You are what you voted for."

I've been asked what it means once already and I've given this answer, "Exactly what it says."

Jerry Peurala

Subject: George W. Bush is not MY President. His administration will NEVER have my allegiance.


George W. Bush is not MY President. His administration will NEVER have my allegiance. Democracy in America was stolen in the 2000 Presidential Election. The rampant fraud of the 2004 national election sealed our fate.

The United States is now in the grip of Neo-Cons, who rule through a merger of corporate & state power. It is 'Corporatism,' a form of Fascism.

Until the world's greatest terrorists, George W. Bush and his accomplices, are arrested and tried on Treason Against the U.S. & Crimes Against Humanity, this once great nation and its people are no longer truly free and the entire world is held captive by greedy, amoral criminals.

Allan Stagg

Subject: the reality for a liberal

We as liberals should be very cautious right now. Not only are we at great risk of terrorists striking, we must also be aware of conservatives around us.The conservatives have won, thus also (in their minds) god's mandate to fight what they perceive as evil. Well,folks in America that is us.

jamie and jeremy in texas

Subject: anguish

I sent this message to my adult children: subject: today's grief... Kerry will concede

Today is an extremely painful Wednesday. I have to look back to the McGovern election loss to Nixon for a parallel sense of anguish: though this is far worse. I cannot believe the lack of understanding of so many Americans when it comes to understanding real Christianity. I cannot believe the lack of understanding of so many Americans when it
comes to understanding real conservative government both in economics and foreign policy. I cannot believe the lack of understanding of so many Americans when it
comes to understanding the culpability for 9/11 and terrorism by this administration. I cannot even begin to imagine a 2nd term without a hint of accountability in all areas that this deluded fellow has already failed so substantially. I also cannot believe the ugliness and bigotry shown by the GOP this election cycle. It is a sad day for America and the whole world.

love,

DAD

Subject: My slogan for the next four years

"Hope for the best, and prepare for the Bush"

Keith

Subject: HUGE President/Senate Race Numbers Problem

A HUGE discrepancy exists between total votes counted between President and Senate Races in the following states: (My question is why would millions of voters NOT vote in the respective US Senate race in their state--this should have equal numbers of voters reporting as the Presidential race)

Florida: 7,355,927 voted for President; 7,184,390 voted for US Senate, Diff. 171,537

Ohio: 5,478,365 voted for President; 5,285,004 voted for US Senate, Diff. 193,361

Iowa: 1,485,265 voted for President; 1,458,806 voted for US Senate, Diff. 26,459

Nevada: 821,866 voted for President; 802,753 voted for US Senate, Diff. 19,113

These are ACTUAL numbers of votes for candidates in every party. Nevada even
had a column named "None of these Candidates," which in both President (3,646) and Senate (12,794) had numbers adding up to 16,440, approximately 2%.

I refuse to believe that 4% of Ohio voters, 3% of Florida voters, and 2% of Iowa voters, so different in societal make-up from Nevada, would not choose a Senate Candidate. In Ohio alone, the difference in numbers of voters puts Bush at a 60,000 vote DEFICIT.

I think votes have been added for Bush in ALL the swing states, particularly New Mexico, which did not hold a senate race. There, the number of voters should be compared to the number of alleged votes for Bush.

This is just a few examples--I'm sure all the swing states have a similar problem, most likely due to computer hackers. No one seems to have noticed this discrepancy, but I say this election is not over by a long shot.

Susan Jolly
Tampa, FL

Subject: The Angry Opposition

America is about to learn a devastating lesson in cause and effect. With the re-election of George Bush, and the increased Republican domination on capitol hill, they've given the Christian Right a blank check to destroy the constitution.

The nation's founding fathers intended freedom OF religion to also mean freedom FROM religion. But in the next four years, Republican domination will erase the constitutional border that separates church and state. The forces of religion will revoke women's rights to choose; allow one faith's concept of god and religion to re-enter and manipulate our public schools; impose more limits on medical research; influence and command how our government writes and executes public policy; enable charities to use faith-based funds as fronts for promoting religious activities and beliefs; mandate restrictions on personal and sexual lifestyles; and fortify a President's war-mongering mind to send thousands more young American men and women to their deaths. Religion will turn freedom upside down.

If this election has accomplished anything positive, it marshaled an angry opposition to a new and determined commitment. In the next four years, Republican domination will expose its arrogance and disregard for humanity. America will tremble as the religious right makes everything go wrong. To paraphrase the late Senator Everett Dirksen, the "arrogance of power" will drive the angry opposition. It's now up to that opposition to get in the driver's seat and drive this country back to sanity. The campaign for the presidency in 2008 has begun. In earnest.

Marc Levenson
Castro Valley, California

Subject: sad, sad, sad

To the Bush voters:

I was afraid of this. I am glad that most of my life is behind me. I would hate to face this new world we are entering for the next 50 years. People are going to pay dearly for their vote for values instead of common sense. The people spoke and they want perpetual war over oil, secrecy in government, high interest rates (due to deficits, the most in history), pandering to only corporations and the wealthily (over the needs of poor, ill people), phony education mandates, higher tuition and less financial aid for higher ed, tort reform so even the worst injured will not get enough to pay their bills (the mighty insurance companies will be judge and jury), corporate larceny, servicemen and women denied most services such as health care, protective gear, etc. which is so bad now the soldiers have been using plywood and sandbags to protect their Humvees in Iraq, then have no health care after they are blown up-which is just criminal to send people to battle without bullets and no protection, the rest of the world are going to think we are nuts (which most Americans seem to think it does not matter), really bad mandates on the safety of food and the environment, a war on women's issues and affirmative action (women just ended the breaking of any glass ceiling), warfare on minorities-I could go on but you are so proud you voted for Jesus.

I did not think we would go the route of the extremists. I thought we would turn down corporate greed, graft, and lies, but we voted our "values" which proves the PR can sell crap to people and they will buy it, like the drug companies are doing, everyone lines up for their flu shot.

Everyone is going to have the chance to live another four years under total Republican rule and if you like having an iron fist over your head, you got it. And they are ready to hit the ground running with all of their transfers of your money into their pockets.

Hang on to your pocketbook and your Bible because the next 4 years or decades are going to be a very, very rough ride.

Henry

Subject: Flashback

Did you catch the news last night, when Peter Jennings and Dan Rather were both surprised that President Bush provided a tape of himself in the White House -- and said it was unprecedented for a sitting president to appear before the nation when the polls were still open?

I watched it and had an instant flashback to 2000 and the Bush family sitting there on my TV screen, assuring the nation that Florida belonged to George W.

And then I remembered Hunter S. Thompson's reaction way back when -- before the Supreme Court issued its edict:

There was one exact moment, in fact, when I knew for sure that Al Gore would Never be President of the United States, no matter what the experts were saying -- and that was when the whole Bush family suddenly appeared on TV and openly scoffed at the idea of Gore winning Florida. It was Nonsense, said the Candidate, Utter nonsense. Anybody who believed Bush had lost Florida was a Fool. The Media, all of them, were Liars & Dunces or treacherous whores trying to sabotage his victory.

They were strong words and people said he was Bluffing. But I knew better. Of course Bush would win Florida. Losing was out of the question. Here was the whole bloody Family laughing & hooting & sneering at the dumbness of the whole world on National TV. The old man was the real tip-off. The leer on his face was almost frightening. It was like looking into the eyes of a tall hyena with a living sheep in its mouth. The sheep's fate was sealed, and so was Al Gore's." --The Fix is In, Nov. 27, 2000

I had the very same reaction last night.

I'm not surprised at all. But I'm none too happy at the moment.

I'm guessing you guys aren't either.

Maureen Farrell