November 5, 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 5, 2004 BUZZFLASH MAILBAG. CLICK HERE FOR PART 1

Subject: One of the reasons we lost

One of the reasons we lost this election because we allowed the republicans to monopolize the issue of morality. We need to start framing our beliefs in a moral context. I always used to say that we, as liberals, don't moralize like the regressives do. I realized that I was wrong. I do moralize. I don't moralize about two men loving each other, or sexual behavior, or fetuses. I moralize about things like fairness, equality, freedom. I moralize about equal pay for equal work. About caring for the least among us. About everyone getting the same chances, regardless of their color, their religion (or lack thereof) or their last name. I moralize about letting people live the way they choose to, without other people telling them how to live, as long as they do not harm others. I moralize about people needing to show respect for one another. This is what we, as liberals, as members of the Democratic Party, stand for, and it is a moral issue, and I believe that we stand on the side of what is right and what is decent. I cannot believe that the majority of Americans reject everything that I believe makes this country great. We need to start fighting, and be prepared to fight hard.

CJ Cliff
Alexandria, VA

Subject: Proud to be a Democrat/Liberal

Even though the people have spoken, I am so proud to be a Democrat and yellow dog liberal! I am a Pennsylvania voter who I am proud to say my State voted overwhelming for John Kerry. On election morning you could feel the excitement in the air. We had volunteers from Maryland, DC, Virginia, England and even Catholics working side by side to help get out the vote. What a joy it was seeing young, old, working for the common cause of electing John Kerry. I know and the voters of Pennsylvania know that John Kerry and John Edwards should be our President and Vice President and I sincerely hope that they will consider running in 2008. What a sad note to learn that in most states it came down to morals! Not the economy, not Iraq and not our national debt, but abortion! God help us all. How many people has President Bush killed? How many innocent children in Iraq? Evidently the voters must feel that killing innocent men, women and children is moral.

In closing I must say that we are going to be in for a rough four years, if we are still around. Jobs will continued to be outsourced. The seniors will have three choices, eat, heat their homes or buy drugs and the rich will be richer. There will be two classes of people, the poor and the rich -- there is no middle class. God Bless the Kerry and Edwards family and America!

Peggy Lucas
Middletown, PA

Subject: Fw: Woody Allen, Orson Scott Card, Josef Stalin

We stand today at a crossroads: One path leads to despair and utter hopelessness. The other leads to total extinction. Let us hope we have the wisdom to make the right choice. -- Woody Allen (1935- ) American film director and comedian

If pigs could vote, the man with the slop bucket would be elected swineherd every time, no matter how much slaughtering he did on the side. -- Orson Scott Card 1951- ) Novelist

Those who cast the votes decide nothing. Those who count the votes decide everything. -- Josef Stalin (1879-1953) Communist leader of the USSR

Forwarded from Liberty Quotes - http://quotes.liberty-tree.ca

Subject: More historic than the first term, Tim?

NBC News, Tim Russert;

So Tim, you think Bush 2nd term will be more historic than the first? Let me be the first to say, I can't wait until his second term is a part of history, because anticipating it is more than I can take.

More historic than the first ever pre-emptive attack by the best military against a virtually un-armed populace for completely un-verifiable reasons. A county where at least 40% would prefer to have the evil dictator back when compared to what they have now. A country we had nearly sanctioned into oblivion. They think, but I am sure you don't care because Bush doesn't, that around 100,000 Iraqis have died. Maybe I could embroider that on napkins for the Bushes.

The largest deficit in history combined with the highest un-employment rate. I think maybe we should relieve our children and grandchildren of this great debt they will get by just sending all of them to Iraq to fight for the Carlisle Group/Halliburton bottom line and hope they don't come back to face decreased veteran's benefits and the closing of numerous VA facilities.

They won't be going to DHS for help they will be dragging the kids from church to church swearing conversion so they can get food. Oh, why not?

Why not have a country that thinks peace comes from attacking anyone who has something you need, like oil. NO OIL, NO PEACE. Who cares if registering more democrats is a reason to send numerous people to question their right to vote at the polls? Who cares if we have elections where you can't have a recount because there is no paper trail and you are told you just have to trust the man who is killing your children so his can remain as wealthy as possible.

Who cares if he tells you that God told him to reward the wealthy, who pay wages so low only people who swim the Rio Grande and then spend hours in un-ventilated trailers will work them? Who cares if he rewards companies who take their jobs overseas?

If this one is more historic than the last, I hope they make mandatory enlistment a qualification for every young republican in this country because they want this president and they want this war.

I like a president where you can't see him, in person, if you wouldn't bow down and kiss his foot. I like a first lady who happily agrees that mothers of dead GI's be arrested at her events. I like a president who thinks T-shirts that urge him to "Protect Our Civil Rights" are considered un-patriotic enough to have school teachers kicked out of his events.

More historic than the last, Tim? Are your kids signed up at the recruiting station? Make sure Katie's daughters are! One of them should be close to 18. You let him do this, so it should be your kids who die for his selfish, pampered Barbie twins. How the hell they sleep at night knowing over 1100 of their generation have died for their legacy?

A man who says God told him to give huge tax breaks to the wealthy, shouldn't be considered a religious giant where I come from. Jesus would be arrested at his events.

Karen Webb
Moore, Ok.

Subject: Morality

Since the election there have been numerous reports stating that one of the most important factors in the re-election of Bush was morality. Here are a few questions on morality:

Where is the morality in allowing corporations to pollute our air, water and land?

Where is the morality in the rise in pollution-related deaths and diseases?

Where is the morality in attacking another sovereign country based upon lies?

Where is the morality in 20,000+ dead, and counting, based upon those lies?

Where is the morality in denying millions of children healthcare?

Where is the morality in denying millions of children a decent education?

Where is the morality in allowing millions of children to go hungry?

Where is the morality in cutting benefits for the soldiers who have risked their lives for our country?

Where is the morality in using munitions in warfare that cause cancer and other diseases in our soldiers and civilians?

Where is the morality in allowing Afghanistan to return to being the world's number one producer of opium?

Where is the morality in supporting a war but refusing to fight it?

Where is the morality in sanctioning torture and abuse of any human being anywhere at anytime?

Where is the morality in imprisoning human beings without charging them with a crime?

Where is the morality in threatening the subsistence of millions of elderly relying upon social security?

Where is the morality in further enabling corporations to exploit their workers?

Where is the morality in denying the elderly affordable prescription drugs?

Where is the morality in denying funding to researchers working to fight debilitating diseases suffered by millions?

Where is the morality in giving taxpayer gifts to corporate friends?

Where is the morality in under funding police and fire departments throughout the US?

Where is the morality in cozying up to a country that teaches its children that we are the "Great Satan"?

Where is the morality in lying to the world over and over again?

For those Bush supporters out there - DON'T YOU DARE shed a tear for a soldier's death, a child's hunger cry, or an elderly person's screams of agony over the next four years - you are ALL enablers for this administration's transgressions.

Kevin Gedeon
Lone Tree, CO

Subject: What we HAVE to do!

To 55,750,936 Americans:

This is what we have to do. We need a two-pronged approach.

First, the Democrats have to grow spines and fight. Citizens need to let our representatives know that our country is on the line. They don't have enough senators to stop a filibuster so the Dems have to start talking. Today!

The fights have to begin immediately. The Republicans want to raise the debt ceiling so they can cover the billionaire's tax "relief" program. The Dems say no. Filibuster until the air is sucked out of the senate. When they are called obstructionist, they respond "We represent all of the people, not just the wealthy and the president's friends." Again and again. "We represent ALL of the people." They have to redefine themselves immediately
and never stop thinking about the midterms and 2008. They have NOTHING to lose!

Second, we have to develop an online citizen's activist organization devoted to challenging the media and demanding an end to the spinners and the republican mouthpieces. When we see nonsense and lies online, we say, stop it! Tell us the facts! Insist on hearing the Democrat side. I know there are web savvy people out there that can coordinate this action on a national and local scale. These corporate news cowards and whores know that they have been outed and they will be more sensitive now than ever. In a few weeks or less they will have reestablished the status quo. Only a mass effort will make it hard for them to marginalize us. Studies show again and again that
the Bush supporters don't even know the facts or that they are voting against themselves.

We're going to hear again and again that the Republicans pulled this off because of the voters' concerns over values. The Democrats aren't missing the values, only the communication skills and avenues. When we hear that the Republicans have boxed the Dems into a corner, it is only because the Democrats haven't opened a window and let in the light.

The right wingers win they crush our spirit and make their success seem inevitable. We win when we stand tall and keep them on the run with the truth. If we lose this fight, we lose America.

Steve Ses

Subject: Where is the outrage?

Where is the investigation into how exit polls, pre-election polls, and common sense could ALL be wrong?? Where is Palast, investigating how easily these e-voting machines could
have been programmed to skew the election results? Where are the major-media stories on Diebold, ES&S, etc?

Where's the outrage????

It was stolen AGAIN, for christ's sake, though more subtly this time... but where's the story?

WHERE IS THE INVESTIGATION?

BUZZFLASH, MAKE SOME NOISE!!!

Kim F.

I lost my son in an accident 21 years ago... my heart, body and soul were completely crushed...the pain...I do not know how the mothers of our lost soldiers can cope with their losses from an unethical war. This election has fostered the same feelings...I fear for our democracy...today the Az Daily Star (11/04/04) came out with the big bold headlines: VALUES, TRUMP CARD FOR BUSH. What b/s from a whore paper...this man has no morals...not even as a child...LIAR- Master crook.

I want to thank you all at BuzzFlash for letting me vent and all your loyal supporters...this is still a divided nation and bush will never be my president.

suzy in tucson

Subject: overcounts in Ohio

I received the following email from a friend. Is this accurate?

Here's a piece of news to get you excited.

Look at page 23 on the voter returns for Franklin County, Ohio:

Check out the presidential totals for precinct Gahana 1:

The Libertarian: 13
Bush/Cheney: 6253
Kerry/Edwards: 1916
Constitutional Party: 10

Now, check out the senatorial vote in that precinct:

Republican: 2848
Democrat: 1259

Did 4000 people vote for Bush/Cheney and just skip the senatorial vote?

No. Check out the precinct voter count: 4346

An additional 4000 Bush/Cheney votes in box Gahana 1-B, go figure!

Bush/Cheney '04: "More votes than voters! Now THAT'S a mandate!"

A BuzzFlash Reader

Subject: The end of the world? No. Just a delay in a new beginning

I do not feel hopeless. I do believe that inherent in the progressive paradigm is the conviction that progress can be delayed, but it cannot be stopped.

I picked up "The Impossible will take a While" by Paul Loeb, a couple of weeks ago, as a possible vaccine for the trauma of what seemed at the time an unlikely loss.

The following is excerpted from "Only Justice can stop a Curse" by Alice Walker (writer of The Color Purple and a long time civil rights and anti-war activist.)

It has become a common feeling, that as we have watched our heroes falling over the years, that our own small stone of activism, which might not measure up to the rugged boulders of heroism that we so admired, is a paltry offering. Many who believe this choose to withhold their offerings out of shame.

This is a tragedy of our world, for we can do nothing substantial towards changing our destructive course on the planet, without rousing ourselves, individual by individual, and bringing our small, imperfect stones to the pile.

I believe the earth is good. That people, untortured by circumstance or fate, are also good. I do not believe the people of the world are naturally my enemies. Whenever I experience evil, and it is not, unfortunately, uncommon to experience it in these times, my deepest feeling is disappointment.

I have learned to accept the fact that we risk disappointment, disillusionment, and even despair every time we act. Every time we decide to believe the world can be better. Every time we decide to trust others to be as noble as we think they are. And there may be years during which our grief is equal to, or even greater than our hope. The alternative, however, is not to act, to therefore miss experiencing other people at their best, reaching toward fullness.

So I expect to emerge from all this, after a week or so of well-earned self-pity, with the acceptance that it's not the size of the pebble you throw, but the direction you throw it that counts. Anyone who worked hard for what they believe in this election year deserves to be proud of the stones they tossed.

What is certain is that many future Wellstones and Parisers will be energized by this common experience to add their stones big and small to the pile.

- As written to Phil Schmidt by George Roch, MoveOn member, BuzzFlash reader, and my friend.

Subject: Honing the Strategy

I like others disagree with the notion of "stand behind the President."

The Democrats did this last time, allowing the John Ashcroft appointment without complaint, supported the tax cuts along with other appeasements, and simply got rolled over, leaving a large gap they never recovered over 4 years. Americans hate wishy-washy and appeasement much more than they hate being wrong. Where else would people buy books titled, "Computers for Dummies" and read them in public? John Kerry voted against Gulf War I, a fairly silly position, but no one cared. They cared about him being somehow for and against Gulf War II.

Now is the time for the Democrats to focus on delivering a strong consistent message, staying up on the facts to rebut false statements, and finding new ways to market unsuccessful messages to a fairly conservative country. Play to win, not simply to grow market share. This is not Coke vs. Pepsi where we all make a profit; this is a winner-take-all prize fight with one man left standing. Apologize? Sure, I'll show humility once
I win. Maybe.

Find a message for business, something to latch onto. "Small business leads to big business." "In the new economy, every American is a potential businessman." "We want to help America compete." Business controls the media, the paychecks, a large portion of political donations and by and large the devotion of its employees and local communities. Running a campaign with no mention of how it supports business is certainly starting off
with a flat tire or two. Attack on the strong point, the reputation Republicans have for being the business party. "Democrats support free trade, tax breaks and training to grow jobs. Republicans are for higher tariffs and government payouts that hurt business." "America is the most attractive place to do business, and we want to keep it that way." Keep it simple, keep it direct, figure out what need to be done to support it. Americans hate taxes, even if they're someone else's. Stay out of that briar patch.

Abortion? Simply a disaster. "Democrats support killing babies, Republicans don't." That's the message, plain and simple.  How about, "We're pro-life, from minus 9 to 99". "We hate abortion - we want to take fear out of childbirth. Free pre-natal child care, help with post-natal child care, economic help for families so that money is not the reason to choose death." It needs to be re-branded, re-marketed, either make it a powerful plus or
de-fang it.

Responding to lies? Do it immediately, have the facts in hand or simply say, "that's not true, that's a lie." Reporters don't check up on these things, or the facts don't get published except on page 26 four months later, so take a page out of the Karl Rove play
book - deny, bounce it back/exaggerate or shift the subject, the 3-prong strategy. Every conservative is on-message with this approach, every one goes on talk shows and repeats the latest White House morning fax. Why do Democrats have to get into subtleties? Nobody has time or concentration for subtleties, just look at TV-watching habits. We have Attention Deficit Syndrome, so play to it. If you feel you need subtlety, write a book that no one will read, but when you go on Larry King, speak in monosyllables.

Defense? Well, Kerry lost as much through being too verbose, not simply his stance on issues. But another Karl Rove strategy, attacking a candidate on his strengths, worked with John Kerry. "War hero is really coward." Brilliant. Or as I saw the other day, "There's no difference between tax-and-spend and don't-tax-and-spend". Really? There's a huge difference - one's at least fiscally responsible if not palatable. But if you can blur real differences and problems into parity, you've cut into the opposition. In any case, answers on the military should be well prepared, thought out, consistent, obvious, strong, consistent with image, and maintained through criticism.

Support for gays? As someone noted, integrated gays in Michigan got support, whereas in areas where they're strangers they got rejected. Gays need to search for new ways to make themselves less threatening to conservative values and help the steady progress
continue, especially in rural America. Seemingly conflicting goals, but not really. Rural America still thinks of gays as child molesters and hangers out in bus stop bathroom stalls, or else rooms full of popper-inhaling leather-clad Bacchanalia. These images are not reconcilable with marriage. If rural America came to Washington and discovered how absolutely boringly normal the gay community is, half the bite would be gone. Gay rights should be off the Democratic platform in 2008 or at least subdued compared to important conservative issues - if the Democrats win, things will get better anyway, so why make it a Republican rallying point? "We're here, we're queer, and one day we're going to win!!!" Right, learn from the Red Sox, it can be a long time in the wilderness.

Final comments - the Democrats did not run a bad campaign, but the Republicans ran a better one. It seemed that the Democrats wasted a lot of time from lessons not learned 4 years ago and were frequently unprepared. The media is ever lazier and more tied to ownership views, so deal with it. Actual messages need to be gotten out through other means, and though the Internet is wonderful, conservatives read conservative channels and liberals read liberal channels. Find a way to cross over, get past the self-censorship, and get past the defensive stereotypes. Stop thinking the other side is stupid, and just understand they have similar basic desires and need messages that fit in with their world view. If you can't make customers want your product, it's hard to force them to buy. You've got 49% market share. Forget about 51% - you need 60%, because that's what your competitor's shooting for.

Figure out what gets you there, and drop anything that doesn't help. Hone the message, visualize the target, and do it.

A BuzzFlash Reader

Subject: Republican Platform

After some of the polling data has come in as to why people decided to vote for Bush I think I have narrowed down the Republican Platform into 5 planks that seemed to have hit home to the voters. I call it the FAGGG's Platform.

Fear, Abortion, Gays, Guns, and God.

The only ones they love are Fear, God, and Guns! Funny how these 3 can somehow go together.

Gary
Palatine, IL

Subject: Re. United states of Canada and Jesusland

This Canadian grew up reading TIME magazine; very impressed with the conscientious American culture of the 60s; admired the ideals of Peace Corps; admired your civil rights leaders; took dozens of vacations across America. Loved the people I met...

I welcome United States of Canada. Just leave your guns and greed at home. I will not cross the border or buy any more USA goods than I can avoid for the next four years.
Jesusland is sick. Jesus wept.

Joe McGuire
(Proud Canadian)

Subject: Screw the pundits

I am furious with all the brain dead people who voted for Shrub and the stupid talking heads who are now telling us why George won and what the dems will have to do to win some day.

According to them all the exit polls were wrong, we shouldn't have believed them when they said more people were voting for Kerry than Bush. But then in the next breath they talk about the exit polls and how 80% of the people voted for moral values. Amazing how they can be wrong in one instance and right in another. Hypocrites. Apparently it is also time for us to stop using our brain, logic and education. Liberal elitists, that is what we all are according to them. But they selectively don't talk about George going to private school, then Harvard and Yale.

Karen
CA

Subject: The Bush bin Laden ticket won

Just as occurred in the elections in Spain, the Americans fell into the trap of the terrorist- in this case bin Laden, and voted for his preferred candidate. Last week, in a last-ditch effort to secure the presidency for Bush, bin Laden- the well known "evil doer" and obviously a Republican operative- used a little known (unless you have children) mind control technique called reverse psychology in a speech he made. Bin Laden made a point of not criticizing Senator Kerry so that Republican voters here in the states (being the "analytical geniuses" that they are) would use their super computer-like brains to make the calculation that bin Laden was a Kerry supporter. Thus more convinced than ever of the true imminent danger in electing Kerry, and with their pink panties all in a bundle, these Republicans all barreled into their Hummers and sped over people's lawns- crushing dogs, the elderly and children- to get to the voting booth to pull the lever for the Bush/Jesus ticket. Unwittingly, all of them were voting for al Qaeda's best recruitment tool since the Koran came out in a special edition hardcover-- you know, the one with the hologram of Mohammed beating his 9 wives with a stick on the cover.

So would Americans fall for such an easily detectable ruse that could and should have only worked on children and the mentally insane? Of course they would, the evil plan worked brilliantly because Faux News and the rest of the Fifth Estate pumped out more baloney than Oscar Mayer over the last four years. So you might say who do I thank for this failure of a President getting another four years? Thank your local al Qaeda chapter aka GOP headquarters and every Republican you know, for blessing us with four more years of that Connecticut born, Andover Cheerleader, fake cowboy, Idiot, Pretzeldent and that always lovable cyborg heart patient Dickhead Cheney.

David M.

Subject: Spoilage- What to do?

Dear BuzzFlash,

Is there any movement or group that has standing to challenge the disproportionate spoilage of votes in minority districts? And then, with the data garnered, sue each state to require them to provide the most accurate voting machines for all districts?

If so, who are they, and how can I lend my support to them?

Kind thanks,

Barclay Browne
Eugene, OR

Subject: Thank you!

Hey Guys,

I just wanted to thank you for your great work over the last few months. We didn't win this one (at least not officially), so it looks like the American people will have to learn their mistakes the hard way.

Anyway, you have been a great resource for us, the Democratic foot soldiers.

Just ordered Lakoff's book and CD.

Rock on!

Ivan

Subject: Have you seen this?

What happened to that Zogby prediction for a Kerry win you had posted as your top headline on election day. They make it sound like that never happened. I think he was calling Ohio for Kerry too, do you still have that link?

Polling firm Zogby International accurately predicted President Bush's Ohio victory, as well as the defeat of Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle in South Dakota, and accurately forecast the outcome of every Senate race in our final battleground poll, conducted October 29 through November 1, 2004. The margin of error was +/- 4.1 percentage points.

http://www.zogby.com/news/ReadNews.dbm?ID=924

A BuzzFlash Reader

[BuzzFlash Note: Our headline linked to Zogby's home page, which he has changed by now.]

hi buzz-

all of us read & talk about your articles-why aren't there any full blown investigations? we all know bush stole the election along with all his other bushit-no one does anything-no ken starr stuff-4 billion was spent on the election & no investigations into all of the corruption we all knows exists-

a faithful buzzy

As crushed as we may be by Kerry's defeat, it may seem rather pointless to follow the political circus anymore, but we must press on.

Now more than ever we are going to have to be vigilant. With the GOP soon in control of all 3 branches of government, no one is going to stand up for us but ourselves. We're all fearing some pretty dark days ahead of us, yet people have been through worse. We live in a great country, but this country has done some pretty bad things in the past, and it was primarily through the efforts of pissed off citizens that we have been able to bring about change. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the people who fought in the civil rights movement faced a much tougher time than this, but with persistence, they finally made progress. Women would have never gotten the right to vote had it not been for the
organizational efforts of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott.

We'll probably have to fight tooth and nail, but perhaps with enough voices, we'll be able to minimize the damage that this administration can do. Unfortunately, progress takes time, and we will probably face a lot of defeats before we see some successes, so we must not get discouraged if we don't get instant results from our efforts. Paul Rogat Loeb eloquently explains why we must fight (from his book Soul of a Citizen):

The cynics will continue to smirk, insisting that our efforts are futile. But we're never truly alone when we act with courage and vision. And we never know what we might create if we try. To fail to realize the power of our actions is to reduce the potential of our soul. It's to diminish the spark that burns within us....The challenge is to ask what we want to stand for, and to do our best to act on our beliefs. For our choices will create the world that we pass on.

Kristen Abraham
Los Angeles, CA

Subject: Why the press won't bite the hand that feeds it

Here's some interesting reading I saw in the dentist's office today. It helps explain
why the so-called mainstream press won't ask serious questions of those in power:

David Bohrman, chief of CNN's Washington bureau, and his wife, Catherine, bought a Federal-style house on Wyoming Avenue in Kalorama for $1,500,000. The house listed for $1,595,000 and has four fireplaces and an in-law suite with a kitchen.

Wall Street Journal columnist and Washington bureau chief Gerald F. Seib bought a five-bedroom Colonial in Chevy Chase for $1,205,000. The home listed for $1,200,000 and sits on a double lot with private rear gardens.

http://www.washingtonian.com/thismonth/RealEstate/homes.html

Steve S.

Subject: Profound sense of sadness

Dear Buzz and fellow BuzzFlash travelers,

At this point I feel as though we may as well turn out the lights and place a "For Sale" sign at the Statue of Liberty's feet.

BuzzFlash and the multitude of sites like it have kept me sane and given me hope. I would not be surprised to see the great purge of the Internet during the next 4 years, but of course it will be for our protection, as the media will vilify this last meeting place as a den of child pornographers, terrorists and scam artists.

I hope the American people wake up and realize what their decisions have wrought, but it is already too late.

I sent the following mail to the dozen or so people in my address
book today.

GOD HELP US ALL!!!

I woke up this morning at 4:30, turned the radio on to hear talk show talking heads celebrating 4 more years of greed, arrogance, pillaging, shafting the poor, working class and veterans, they sounded very pleased.

I sort of knew in my heart of hearts throughout this 4 year disaster, that the giggling murderer would be reelected.

This morning the news hit as hard as if my doctor had just told me, "you have a very aggressive, untreatable form of cancer and have 6 months to live."

Right now I have the most profound feeling of sadness. The amerikan people who put these monsters in control, deserve every bit of evil that befalls this once great land,
unfortunately it will be the poor, working poor, downtrodden and innocent who pay.

I may not have ever been a good Christian, my life has been far from perfect, and I know that someday I will stand before Christ to give account for my time here. The only thing I
derive comfort from is that these same soulless thugs who freely throw around the Lord's name as if they were golf buddies, will also have to give accounting for their sins and crimes, only this time there will not be a Diebold to tamper with the judgment.

One of the last things our gentle Lord Jesus said, was "Father forgive them, for they know not what they do."

Peace Ray
Cambridge, Mass

Subject: BushCo "plan" to "earn" our "trust"

Here is the BushCo "plan" to "earn" our "trust". It works the same way as all his other "plans" - it will be STOLEN.

1. Expect another "attack" in the US within 6 months.

2. Martial law declared.

3. Military draft begins.

Count on it.

Kathy D in Beautiful Blue California

Subject: Hit them where they live

I went on vacation the last 2 weeks of October as this election was making me a nervous wreck, only to come back a day before the election.

As I was catching up on my reading from the last 2 weeks, I came across a story on why Sinclair Broadcasting didn't show that awful movie of lies about John Kerry. They didn't show it because of massive petitions but most importantly, they cancelled it because their stock dropped.

This made me think, what would happen if we just took this to the next level?

Here's the plan: Find a list of all public companies and their CEO's and presidents, then find a list of those that gave large donations to Bush and a list of those who gave large donations to Kerry.

Merge the list of public companies with the large donors- one list for Bush and one list for Kerry, omit the duplications and then you will have a list of corporations and CEO's who were on one side or the other.

How many Democratic voters have stock or mutual funds in companies that supported Bush?

We then sell our stock or mutual funds of those companies that supported Bush and invest in companies that supported Kerry. If possible, we can also boycott those companies.

Can you imagine what millions of stock holders selling their stock would mean? The Bush corporations would see their stock values tumble and the Kerry corporations would see their values go through the roof.

Republican corporations loosing money- it makes me feel better just thinking about it.

Now what can we do to social conservative Republican voters?

Cathy Law
San Diego, CA

Subject: latest column - Never Say Die-bold: So You Don't Think the Bush Campaign Stole This Election? Think Again (OpEd news)

If you’re looking for one word to sum up the way the Bush-Cheney campaign stole another election Tuesday besides obvious ones like "cheated," try this one: Diebold.

The Ohio electronic voting systems company, owned by a partisan Bush fund-raiser who promised to "deliver" Ohio to Bush as Jeb Bush promised Florida, reportedly discarded many votes for Democrat John Kerry in that key battleground state. Ohio’s own version of Katherine Harris, Secretary of State Ken Blackwell, made decisions to favor Bush, such as limiting ballot machines in Democratic precincts to keep lines long and force some people to leave in frustration, even as he shilled for Bush as co-chair of his campaign. Ohio included a version of the Florida butterfly ballot that misled voters into casting votes for Bush and dirty tricks and suppression of votes similar to what occurred in Florida.

And if you don’t think electronic machines can be manipulated, read about a West Texas county which first reported landslide wins for two Republican commissioners in 2002. But the next day, workers discovered a defective computer chip in the scanner system, and after recounts, the Democrats actually won by wide margins.

http://www.opednews.com/thoreau_110404_diebold.htm

NOTE: In the column, the link to Black Box Voting should be http://BlackBoxVoting.org/.

Here are some other relevant sites and articles:

http://www.Nov3.US/

http://www.michaelmoore.com/electionwatch/

http://www.alternet.org/election04oh/20384/

http://cleveland.indymedia.org/features/election_protests/

http://www.tompaine.com/articles/kerry_won.php

http://www.gnn.tv/users/user.php?id=46

http://ilcaonline.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=866

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines03/0828-08.htm

A BuzzFlash Reader

[BuzzFlash Note: These are great resources. Have you also seen our new Voter Fraud Compendium, on BuzzFLash.com under "Perspectives"?]