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February 1, 2005 |
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| 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: TORONTO: 'Fiscal irresponsibility in Washington'.... U.S. President George W. Bush continues to demonstrate a shocking lack of fiscal responsibility, even as he insists that there is nothing to worry about when it comes to the U.S. government's finances. In the space of four years, supposedly the most conservative American president in a generation has destroyed years of hard work by the Clinton administration to balance the books and has left them awash in red ink. The huge surplus left behind by the previous administration is only a distant memory thanks to Bush's tax-slashing and profligate spending. A time of vastly increased government spending - and potentially billions more if the United States finds itself embroiled in another foreign conflict or costly peacekeeping mission - is not the time to be making permanent tax cuts, as every other U.S. president in wartime has understood. Frank Subject: IRAQ ELECTION I heard that voters will still get to cast their ballots in Iraq even though polls have closed. Why couldn't that happen in Ohio? Brian Subject: "insurgents" Malgoska Subject: Voting Subject: oxymoron Subject: Could We Have Achieved Free Elections In Iraq Without
Ever Firing A Shot? - Remember This Story? Lance Collins [BuzzFlash Note: We found many stories on or around 11/7/03 covering this, but where is the mention of free elections as a negotiating chip?] Subject: Iraqi Election = Democracy and Freedom Subject: Democracy in Action Dear BuzzFlash Readers, I fully support the writer from Wichita, Kansas who embraces unity among Democrats as opposed to the divisiveness among our party that has been so ingenuously manipulated by the GOP. Unfortunately, too many Democrats have bought into this divisiveness and have become that which they hate among their Republican counterparts. In our effort to combat the twisted ideals of the extreme right, we have assumed the persona of the extreme left, leaving behind many of the grassroots or mainstream Democrats in the wake of the chasm that separates us. In so doing, we have also inadvertently provided the Republican Party with the opportunity to penetrate the Democratic electorate. There are many older, mainstream, life-long Democrats, like myself, whose voices are silenced by both the extreme right and the extreme left platforms, and who seek the nuances of an otherwise black or white agenda. For example, I support Roe vs. Wade and the right of women to choose; however, I also support reasonable methods of intervention that serve to dissuade women who face this dilemma from choosing abortion as an only option. This, I believe, is also the position expressed by Mrs. Clinton, a position she has held since her debut into the political spotlight. To advocate debate and discussion on the issue of abortion should not be perceived as giving in to the GOP, but simply as an attempt to address this concern in a responsible way and to create a platform on abortion that is tenable not only to Democrats, but to all of those who appreciate the complexities of this argument. The Democratic Party, as a fanatical, intractable, extreme left-wing organization, is doomed to failure. Our purpose must be not only to defeat Republicans, but to unify and build upon the ideals that are true to our tradition and to the traditions of America. Perhaps we can be reminded of this by the words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
The good men and women of the Democratic Party are destined to
bring meaningful change to our nation, but we must begin by bringing
meaningful change to our Party.
A BuzzFlash Reader Subject: How can 1 vote for someone whose name they find out at poll & have no other inf I can't believe that everyone is so excited about this election,
where the voters didn't even know the names of the candidates before
going to the polls, and certainly what they stand for, except perhaps
that some are Shiites and some are Kurds...or maybe, like the US,
what candidates stand for means diddly, and who they are doesn't
matter either.... A BuzzFlash Reader Subject: please reporters, ask..... Liza M. Subject: mailbag Subject: Risking lives for the sadist A BuzzFlash Reader Subject: doesn't pass the smell test! :):) Subject: Northern Exposure There's a letter to the editor in the February 7 issue of "The Nation" from Lee Zaslofsky, who works at the War Resisters Support Campaign in Toronto. In it, he asks Americans and Canadians to contact the Canadian government of Prime Minister Paul Martin and encourage them to provide sanctuary to Americans who choose to resist the war in Iraq, much as they did in Vietnam. Currently, war-resisting Americans wishing to go to Canada have to apply for refugee status, rather than being treated like ordinary immigrants. Obtaining refugee status is a much more bureaucratically complex matter, and makes it much more difficult for American war resisters to obtain sanctuary. More information on this matter can be obtained at: http://www.resisters.ca A Buzzflash Reader Subject: anne coulter Wow! Anne Coulter thinks Canada sent troops to Vietnam? Did she really go to college or did she make that one up as well? Did she even finish high school? Grade school? What is truly embarrassing about the entire Canadian interview in which she insists Canada sent troops to Vietnam (they didn't) was the fact that an extraordinary number of Americans listen to this idiot and believe every word she says. It doesn't say much for the collective IQ of the US. Ann Coulter gets schooled by Canada (jossip.com) A BuzzFlash Reader Subject: State of the Union Speech How about this for fighting back? I intend to call the House Democratic Whip (my congressman Steny Hoyer) and suggest that for Dubyas SOTU speech, they distribute police whistles to all the Democratic Members of the House. When Dubya commences to tell a lie, the Democratic members will sound the whistles full volume and and each holds up a sign with a simple message... "LIAR" Time to stop pulling our punches and fight back. The reaction of the TV pundits would be priceless, and just maybe America would wake up from our fear of them bad brown folks and see that evil can have a bland white face and a bachelors degree from Yale? A BuzzFlash Reader Subject: Plenty for Democrats to Chew On . . .
Then there are those who advocate more killing of our young people
by enlarging our military and those who also don't give seem to
give much thought about US youths and the loss of their lives due
to Bush's lies, and complete disrespect for our military and their
families . . . I won't leave out Bush's hoydenish disposition towards
the rest of America's citizens, either. Subject: The Iraqi Election - The Catch Hi Gang! The new Cheerleader of State, Condiliesalot Rice had this to say in regards to a Shiite majority-led government in Iraq:
Right...just like we are engaged in a healthy debate about the role of Christianity, about the role of religion in our society. Jerry Peurala Subject: On the Ground in Mosul Hi Gang! Just after Christmas, the brother of my brother-in-law's wife was
sent to Mosul, Iraq. Second, the email that they are all supposed to be able to use
freely? They have to pay for it. Utter and complete bullshit, courtesy
of the Neo-Cons and the lemmings that keep supporting them. Subject: Dick "Snow Parka" Cheney and Lynne Does anybody know how much Dick and Lynne gave to the Tsunami rescue effort, by the way? Did you all see how Lynne was all wrapped up in her warm parka, too? Did she even wonder about those Jews and homosexuals, like her very own daughter, who were forced to stand there in the exact weather with only a slave uniform and maybe even no shoes? Wonder what Mary Cheney and her partner would have looked like to Dick and Lynne standing there as another ultra right wing in the past had contempt for the liberals and homosexuals in that country, and made laws against them? The irony of it all is shocking. Betsy from Texas Subject: Better "snarky" than sold out! Give me snarky any day . . .
I missed the original (protest) letter. But please...offended readers? Have you taken a poll? I, for one, wasn't offended. I agree with Shirley: Hillary is tacking to the right (as in DLC positioning) -- and her opening volley may not be the end of her willingness to make concessions to the Christian fundamentalist/evangelical right. (An aside: Why doesn't anyone realize that many DLC positions and people stayed afloat only because they wore the life jacket of Bill Clinton's personality? Which, of course, explains why Rethuglicans fought so hard to bring him down: the sex scandals were simply pretext; the encroachment on Rethug territory was the underlying issue.) Back to Hillary. Although I'd love to see a progressive woman as President in my lifetime, I see her as Bill minus the charm, warmth, and people skills. Give me Barbara Boxer instead, PLEASE!! She doesn't hedge her bets or talk out of both sides of her mouth. (Pardon the cliches; sometimes they fit.) The moronic conclusion that Democrats must move to the mythical center -- i.e., turn themselves into quasi-Republicans -- is exactly what the Rethugs want to hear. I just read a prediction that the dollar is in for a much more rapid and extreme fall, worldwide, than anyone is telling us. Do you think the Bushites are REALLY worried? (Nah, they've got their own futures covered quite nicely, thank you.) But that would be the perfect excuse for eliminating ALL safety net programs. Never mind "fixing" Social Security or Medicare/Medicaid; "Oops, sorry, folks, there just isn't any money to pay for them. Have a nice life under the bridge." An expanded "pre-emptive/spread democracy" foreign policy would ensure the same results, though more gradually, even if the dollar stays afloat. And kiss our public (secular humanist) education system goodbye. But I digress. I agree with Shirley: Hillary is trying to ride to victory down the middle of the track, dumping all that "liberal/progressive baggage" along the way. (If Howard Dean isn't chosen to head the DNC, I'll know that the party is thinking the same as Hillary. And I, for one, will bolt. I'd rather lose with a candidate I respect and can honestly support -- no, that doesn't include Ralph Nader; he's had far more than his allotted 15 minutes of fame, and has proved himself an egomaniac in the process) -- than go down with another Titanic. Just one more note: I'm not implying that Hillary is wrong
for encouraging Democrats to find common ground with anti-Roe
v. Wade advocates in terms of alternatives to "abstinence until
marriage" -- but (1) many if not most of these people would also
ban contraception and reality-based sex education if given the
chance, and (2) I strongly suspect her motives. OF COURSE
we need sex education, including the use of contraceptives, beyond
"abstinence only" -- and the "Plan B" emergency solution seems
to have passed many more critical health tests than Vioxx, et
al., ever did. Hillary's ignoring the fact that the people
she's seeking to find "common ground" with are just as adamant
in opposing alternatives to abstinence as they are to abortion
rights is enough evidence, at least to me, that she's a female
version of Joe Lieberman. One Joe Lieberman is more than
enough, thanks. [BuzzFlash Note: We find our readers' debate in Mailbag, sparked by the "snarky headline," gratifying. We don't support reader v. reader attacks, or personal attacks on public figures...and our feelings aren't too hurt that we were criticized, but you've been giving us a lively debate of issues...Are leading democrats shifting on the issues? Where is the party going? Who can we trust? Although we can't publish every letter, let's keep up the debate!] Subject: Deceptive media on voter turnout Hello BuzzFlash, I love your site. Thank you for a sane oasis in a lying deceptive media ocean. I'm contacting you about the horrible blanket coverage I'm seeing in the media about what a "great" turnout there was in the Iraqi "elections." Please help get the word out about how manipulative these stories are!!! You are one of the few web sites that can actually see through the complete lies of the media whores 4 Bush. First of all, they parrot Bush calling the elections a "resounding success." What about any neutral observers - if there are any? Bush is the LAST person who should be quoted for this story. Then, they use all kinds of manipulative techniques to make the turnout sound much higher than it actually is. Examples: 1) The first numbers they throw out are these: U.S. State Department spokesman Noel Clay said 5,171 polling centers -- 98.8 percent of the 5,232 that were expected to open -- actually did so. What bullshit!! They're trying to make it sound like there's 98.8 percent turnout, when they're really talking about polling places "that were expected to open," This is a complete smokescreen. That could exclude any arbitrary number of polling places that AREN'T expected to open! How many people don't have access to a polling place? We have no way of knowing. 2) "The IECI clarified an earlier estimate of a 72 percent turnout, saying that the "figures are only very rough, word-of-mouth estimates gathered informally from the field." "What is certainly the case is that turnout has exceeded expectations throughout the country," the statement said." This is crap! 72 percent is totally made up!! (as they admit) All they say is "exceeded expectations." Totally meaningless. Could be ANYTHING! 3) "About 66 percent of Iraqi expatriates who were registered to vote -- 186,619 -- cast ballots in the first two days of their three-day voting period, the United Nations' Iraq out-of-country voting program said Sunday. More than 280,000 expatriates registered for the election." First of all - now they switch to expats - totally different from within the country. I had heard somewhere that only 1 in 4 eligible expats actually registered. Whether that's true or not - it strikes me as LOW that only 66 percent of REGISTERED voters actually did. After all - they must have registered specifically to vote in this election! Why did only 2 in 3 actually vote? 4) "In former president Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit, polling stations were virtually empty. But in other parts of the country booths were packed. In the northeastern town of Baquba, CNN's Jane Arraf found a polling station where a long line of Iraqi voters chanted and clapped their hands in front of the camera. (On the Scene) Unofficial figures indicated that 30 percent of eligible voters there came to the polls." Hmmm. SO in Tikrit polling stations were empty. In Baquba there was 30 percent turnout. But the elections were a "resounding success?!" -- what crap! And on and on and on. I'm sure you agree. I just wanted to vent to someone sane, and hope that you and others will help expose these horrible manipulations of facts and reality with "heartwarming vignettes of old women being wheeled to the polls in wheelbarrows." Give me a fucking break! Anyway. Thanks for the outlet. And thanks for all you do!! Sooner or later - these media whores will be flushed down the toilet. Sporadic violence doesn't deter Iraqi voters: Bush calls election a 'resounding success' (CNN) Dave Portland [BuzzFlash Note: The last 6 paragraphs (of 55) of CNN's story are perhaps more telling. But who reads that far, past 7 cheery headlines and subheads?] Subject: The Borderline Between a War and a Crime . . . Sanity
- Insanity Subject: Fareed Zakaria story....my my, what a difference! Dear Buzz, Is it just me or are we seeing the war whoopers, and Zakaria was firmly in that camp, now changing their tunes and talking about liberal democracy? Buzz, I enjoy coffee in the morning, but reading the line about "liberal democracy" from Mr. Zakaria was almost cause me to cough the coffee out onto the monitor! It is just dawning on the higher minds that maybe Bush's little bungle in the desert is not going to turn out well? I can't imagine why! Buzz, we have learned from Robert Fisk that only 5 polling places in Iraq were permitted to be filmed and covered. 4 were in Shia districts expecting a heavy turnout, and 1 was in an upscale Sunni area. Like it or not, we have been played by image management again. Ask yourselves the following: do Iraqis have control of their own oil; do Iraqis have secure streets and countryside; do the Iraqis have a loyal army and police force; and do Iraqis have proper support infrastructure to sustain a viable sense of community? So, while Mr. Zakaria's article dances around all of these points, and then drops the old, better angels line, as if this makes everything OK. Look at how the chickens have come home to roost when it comes to "Plan Dubya From Outer Texas," as I have long called Bush's Iraq mania, so I am not coming from a position of 20/20 hindsight, but from a position that was in opposition to the entire Iraq hysteria since day #1. But the kicker is how Mr. Zakaria, from the comforts of his upscale office, and in such a quick and blasé fashion, wants Iraq to have some other economic engine besides oil. The inference being that oil leads to "distant and detached" rulers. Buzz, this is too much to ask us to endure. Read this part after his paragraph starter, "Second, create a non-oil-based economy..." Do you see the problem here? Iraq has huge oil tracts, that are not developed, and the potential wealth is enormous...but Mr. Zakaria would have the Iraqis go do something else like say, basket weaving perhaps, because oil leads to distant and detached rulers! Well guess what, not since Rush Limbaugh said that troops were just blowing off steam at Abu Ghraib, and that it was like a frat hazing prank, have I heard or read anything more completely dishonest, or utterly contemptible! Who gets the oil, Mr. Zakaria? If not the Iraqis, because they obviously won't want detached and distant rulers, then maybe the American occupiers, perhaps? Those distant, detached and rather murderous "rulers" of the moment, is that who gets the oil Mr. Zakaria? Buzz, Iraq is a fiasco, and was from day number one little more than a Klondike, a veritable Klondike, for every shady security operation, every second rate services contractor, and every single defense ordinance and weaponry supplier in the US and Britain. But Mr. Zakaria wants us to have hope that this fumbled and jumbled disaster in the desert is going to be all better if the Iraqis just get his three points. I have hope that one day Iraq will heal and become better. But we expect too much, too soon, considering that the Iraq war is and was unnecessary. But my most fervent hope is that one day the Iraqis at large will forgive us for our brutality and perversity towards them. Perhaps saying, "We forgive you, for your nation was in the grips of greedy and clever madmen." We'll
go on cheering 'democracy' - and the Iraqis will go on dying
(Robert Fisk/The Independent/information clearinghouse) Am wondering about a comment by Judith Miller (NYT) on Sunday (Jan 30) Hardball, in which she said her sources told her that the US had offered Chalabi the post of Interior Minister BEFORE the Iraqi elections. Matthews went ballistic, and asked how this was possible...said something to the effect, "How does the US determine cabinet positions of a country which just had a free/democratic election to begin determining its own government?" The actual transcript should be posted somewhere, I just can't find it. Matthews also said something to the effect, "Do you mean the man who started this war will end up winning it?" (controlling it) Please look into this. AAR is now talking about this (9:00 a.m. CST, Jan 31). Together, Again: Judith
Miller and Ahmad Chalabi (Jack Shafer/slate.com) Subject: Iraq election Just a week ago, there were reports about the disappointing rate
of registration to vote, both in Iraq (25%) and among Iraqis living
abroad (10%). So what is this 60% participation rate that is being
used to tout success? Is it 60% of 25%? That's pretty dismal,
in fact. Subject: Voting vs Democracy Yes...they had an election in Iraq, and you could consider that to be step one in the establishment of Democracy in that country. But it will require a lot more to say with any certainty, that Iraq has become a Democratic nation. When they have a functioning economy, an equitable judicial system and social integration that encompasses all belief systems as well as equal rights for all citizens...you could make a real case for the triumph of Democracy in the nation and the march of Freedom in the Middle East. Until then...don't count out the killers and con men and political terrorists, all armed with sadistic focus on the destruction of each achievement earned under the Bush occupation. The next couple years will play out in complete unpredictability, so The Bush Cartel oughta keep a tight lip on their victorious pronouncements. Hey George...it's time to get real and do something good for the United States of America...your sworn duty. Richard Wagner Subject: "Every Cock is proud on his own dunghill!" "I HAVE ACHIEVED EVERYTHING!" "I Have Achieved Everything," the beginning of that quote sounds very impressive. The whole quote is: "I have achieved everything I set out to do, and have thus become perhaps the greatest German in history!" The speaker who declared that with certainty was Adolph Hitler. This morning George W. Bush and the Pollyanna press were gushing with enthusiasm about the turnout in the Iraqi Election. Are we jumping the gun a bit? At this point the voting data is still guess work, with some of the first predictions being down graded. Before we beat the drums of success, let's look a little further down the road. Before George Bush once again credits himself for turning another corner, he should remember most of his turns ended up in a dead end or became a "u" turn, and that nothing is certain or unchangeable. The trouble in Iraq is far from over. Who will the leaders be, and will they ensure the peace or cause a civil war? Will this be seen as a dual Presidency by the world if Ayad Allawi wins? At best getting a Constitution written up with all parties agreeing is quite a feat, especially with all the differing viewpoints. Will the situation in Iraq end up being in chaos for years? How long will Americans pay with their lives? How long will our taxpayers' money be used in Iraq, money that could be used for our own nation? A more cautious leader might have waited a few weeks or even a few months before patting themselves on the back! George Bush declares success without remorse, while not admitting mistakes, and blaming others for his failures! "People wrapped up in themselves make very small packages!" We congratulate the Iraqi people on their vote and their bravery. Most of the world agrees that the Iraqi people should be able to control their own future! It is a shame they also had to run through so many cemeteries and suffer the deaths of so many on the way to the voting booths! Yes, freedom comes at a price, but there could have been different coin used to get there with less cost of human life! The Iraqis' "free elections" were tainted with curfews and emergency rule. There were too many candidates that the people knew too little about. The Military was seen everywhere, though necessary, still a very strange scene to be envisioned in a "free" election. There was also the loss a minority vote of Sunnis which questions the effectiveness of the election. Many facts in the Iraqi Election must be assimilated before it is declared a "success!" We have seen too much subterfuge in the past from the Bush Administration. We must have more than just a dearth of information before a conclusion is reached and specious claims of victory are announced! We should not be able to invade Sovereign Nations at will. All means do not justify the ends! We can not bomb or shoot people into submission in order to install any form of government because we think it's right for them! We cannot install puppet governments or enter a war under false pretenses because we wish to change the face of many nations in our image! In the face of what seems to be a first step we cannot dismiss how we got there for reasons of profit or to leave a legacy! We must change places for a moment to envision another nation
invading our country! "The victor will not be asked afterwards
whether he told the truth or not. In starting and waging war,
it is not right that matters, but victory!" This was another
viewpoint expressed by Adolph Hitler! Subject: election farce Subject: Bush Social Security and Public Opinion Polls For years now Bush has claimed he does not use public opinion polls to help him make policy. The Bush Republicans repeat this mantra as if it was the secret to eternal life. Yet recent events appear to show just the opposite. Bush relies heavily on public opinion, he just doesn't use the conventional polls to get his data. Bush has decided he would take on the third rail of Politics in a Herculean effort to 'save' Americans from themselves and Democrats. He was going to make Social Security work and keep it from bankruptcy. He started this crusade the same way he has started all his crusades, with misinformation, erroneous facts and FEAR. I will not go into the details of Social Security other than it is not Social Security that is broken, it is the Government's inability to cover the Treasury Bonds Social Security will be redeeming to pay our retiring Baby Boomers, I will not mention the Medicare crisis which dwarfs the Social Security issue. Bush has stated he has a grand plan to fix what does not need to be fixed, and ignore the fire that is burning down the house. He however has not told us what that fix is, because he still hasn't finished gathering his data from America. To find out what form of smoke and mirrors will the US citizens accept, so he can hide the fiscal chaos his ill advised tax cuts have created. Bush surrogates are currently polling America. They are doing this by floating the bright ideas that are coming out of Bush's crack economic team. As each new idea comes to life, the Surrogates trot out the idea to the various talking heads shows, then listen for the reaction to each idea. Through this process they fine tune the Social Security 'fix' Bush has in mind. Once an idea is floated, the 'paid' news reporters talk it up, the 'unaffiliated' RNC think tanks poll public opinion, and ideas are tweaked, modified or eliminated accordingly. This is not truly 'polling' in the strict sense, but what else would you call it, but governing by public fiat. The world is slowly making it known that the National Debt, The Deficit, The Trade Deficit and the growing irresponsible monetary actions of the Republican-controlled US Government are the reasons the US dollar is in decline, and the fiscal stability of the US is potentially in jeopardy. As I said before, the Emperor has no Clothes. Sean Lewis Founder of the Open Debate Forum Subject: oh yea Richard Wagner Subject: Those Iraqis that were cheering in the pix were all
to similar to the fake crowd toppling Saddam's statue! Let's just examine the rhetoric surrounding this "election." "More voters than anyone expected." Really? Don't you think this headline was in the can long before the election even happened? There was going to be a happy face story if half the country was blown to smithereens. This story is all too similar to the toppling of Saddam statue
that is shown forever and a day. And having seen it live on TV,
the reality and the hype were 180 degrees different. Will anyone do the math? Count polling places. Count soldiers guarding the polling places and divide into the the actual numbers of polling places. Look at pictures dumping these huge ballots on heavy paper onto piles to be counted. There must be all of 30 ballots in a box. How many of the jubilant Iraqis were from outside Iraq? How many were paid jubilants with those nice new Iraqi flags? I am of Irish descent. Shouldn't I be able to vote in the Irish
elections? The Iraqi people they show pictures of here, haven't
been there in 40 years. Have they signed up to go to war? Have
they signed up to even go back? They are just there for the pictures...and
the quotes...since no quote is worth hearing unless it is in English.
You know they only use the ballots of these ex-Iraqis to make
the election look like it has more support than it does. BuzzFlash Addict [BuzzFlash Note: Remember this one? "The fake troops in Bush's new ad" at http://www.dailykos.com/story/2004/10/27/22442/878.] Subject: social security and brickbats Dear BuzzFlash, Any Democrat who goes along with the GOP on making Social Security out to be in crisis is nuts. It is imperative that the other side, the true story, is made well known to the public. So many people are writing about it, but will it really get out and be the talking point 'around the water coolers'? The administration is setting up the same company, used during the late campaign, to handle the publicity for this so-called crisis. Since the Swift Boat Liars was such a success, it is frightening to think that the same 'success' could happen again. On another note, do you suppose that 'Reds' are behind the brickbats
you have been getting? Your squibs for the various links can be
irreverent, but that is what makes you interesting...and charming.
I guess I am saying...don't change, just keep doing your good
work. Subject: Iraq elections -- in the long run The Iraqi election: In the long run... (realitybasednation.com) I simply can't believe our media is falling for it again. Have
they and the American public learned nothing from this war? Subject: Dean as DNC Chair Interesting
article by Bob "the Traitor" Novak as it was only last night
that I sent an email to Nancy Pelosi saying if they did to Dean
now what they did to him in the primary I would immediately change
my registration to the Green Party and stop contributing to any
Democrat (other than someone like Barbara "Rule of Law" Boxer)
until I see some actions rather than words. As I said, principles
matter more than winning at all costs but I believe principles
are the road to winning. [BuzzFlash Note: The DNC is here: http://www.democrats.org/contact/.] Subject: A MILLION ROSES FOR BARBARA BOXER Let's show the media that we progressives appreciate courage
and honesty. A MILLION ROSES FOR BARBARA BOXER just might get
their attention. And it might persuade a few more senators that
we expect them to be strong and stand up for progressive values;
and when they do, we will support them. I hope everyone will consider
taking part in this endeavor. Subject: Let's have some REAL democracy!!!! Subject: Today's deaths in Iraq It must be tough on today's reporters when a reliable bit of boilerplate White House spin suddenly becomes obsolete. For example, in today's reports of Marine deaths in Iraq, there's nothing said about why insurgents killed them. That may seem like a small change, but think about it--for months now, virtually every killing by insurgents has been "intended to disrupt the upcoming historic elections," or, "an attempt to dissuade Iraqis from voting in the upcoming national elections." That was why our kids were dying a week ago. But now, the election behind us, they're apparently just dying.
The stories seem a little naked, somehow--a little bald and purposeless.
So maybe, with that trusty old saw lost to us forever, we should
seek a new rationale for the insurgents' doings--perhaps describing
the bloodshed as "intended to disrupt forcible occupation and
corporate looting," or, "an attempt to persuade us to leave their
country." Subject: Minor League Baseball Player Is A Pro In The Marines Hi BuzzFlash, This was a Sports Article by Jeff Jacobs in The Hartford Courant. Too bad Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz won't take a tour of Iraq with Stevens in his Humvee. From the sounds of it, they might "see a little action," and find out what war is "like." He'll Never Be Called Safe: Tony Stevens, Ex-Rock Cats Shortstop, Has Survived Nine Bombings In Iraq (Hartford Courant) Tom Wieliczka Subject: Social Security Savings Accounts If most Americans are not saving money now, what makes the Bush
Administration think they will suddenly start with private social
security accounts? Subject: Blog Request Would love it if BuzzFlash would take a look at my blog. Thanks
in advance for your attention to this message! Subject: How to end the preemptive war...January 31, 2005, A Peace Plan: In the days of yore, leaders led from the front, not sitting in front of computer monitors thousands of miles away in the bomb proof bunker called the Pentagon or the "situation room" of the White House. To get things back on track, I propose that every politician who votes to send our children off to slaughter and be slaughtered, should by law, be required to be trained, then sent to spend six-months inside the theater of action, be it Iraq or whatever war-du-jour. Provisions could be made for these legislators to continue to vote and legislate via secure channels on the internet. When done, the younger politicians would be issued weapons and combat gear (including body armor--but only after all the young soldiers their policies placed in harms way, have all been issued theirs). They then would routinely be ordered out on combat patrols in the same armorless Humvees our young troops are dying in. Pols too old to go on patrol will be given a tent inside the green-zone where they can learn to live with the fear and uncertainty of rubbing shoulders with Iraqis, any of whom might just be the next vest-bomber. Their sleep won't be so solid since every random incoming rocket or mortar round has a chance to wound, maim or kill them. After doing their legislative work via e-mail, the older pols would be assigned to work as orderlies with the grave registration units where they can help prepare the mutilated bodies of our young for shipment back to their grieving parents. Also, health permitting, these older politicians who voted to send our youth off to "their war," must put on their blue, pin-striped suits and serve as escorts on the body-planes shuttling back and forth to the Dover body-processing-center, and then on to the homes of the dead soldiers where they will personally present the American flag to their grieving parents in lieu of their children. (Note: The Secretary of Defense will be required to actually sign the death letters and not use his signature machine.) If travel is deemed too hard on the aging bodies of these politician/warriors, they would be assigned to work as orderlies in MASH tents where they can clean up the body-fluids and bloody gauze created by amputation operations. Perhaps when these spine-challenged politicians are required to see and hear and smell the reality of the armless, legless, eyeless young men and women their policies have created, they will think twice about sending them off to a war that truly, short of oil, had no cause. It's easy to strut around saying, "Bring 'em on" when you're thousands of miles away from the awfulness of war. If we passed a resolution that stuck all those NeoCon, chicken-hawk, war-lovers in the middle of that carnage of their making, we would quickly see some real foreign-relation policy changes--especially if you told them after six months that their tour of duty was being extended. Miguel Lanigan Subject: Bush's Medicare proposals Subject: Bush's $6 billion helicopters Subject: put alternative radio.org on the links list please I think BuzzFlash is GREAT and I would like to see alternative
radio put on the links list, ie front page. I believe AR
has been doing a great job and has a lot to offer the BuzzFlash
folks. Thanks for your time. Subject: Bobby Kennedy Jr We need a man of integrity to lead us into the future the same
way JFK led us to the moon. I am tired of the less than 100 IQ
inbred skull and bones men like Bush. It's time we had an intelligent
President again, let's elect someone with better than a "C" average...how
about a 130 IQ minimum for our President? Let us elect Bobby Kennedy
Jr. for our next president. I can not think of anyone who has
lived as true to integrity in government. 2008 Kennedy! Vindication!
Subject: Taking a Step Backward . . .
Also from Truthout below the above article -
The DLC always wanted to get closer to Republicans . . . well
judging from all of the excuses, they are . . . Kerry says that
Sept 11 was the central deciding thing . . . Did he ever say that
Iraqis had nothing to do with 911? Did he ever say that Bush lied
to Congress about WMD? There is much yet to tell about 911 to Americans
. . . Kerry went after Bush with a velvet gloved handshake, a hug
and a kiss. |
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