Subject: Bush Is Loyal To?

Bush, Rove, et al. were careful in the first term to reward those closest to them: Carlyle, Halliburton and other purveyors of implements of destruction; laissez-faire and ANWAR for the oil companies; averted eyes for Riggs bank, etc, etc, etc.

Now it's the second term. It's time to pay back those who supported George but who don't matter so much. The radical right gets Terri's law (or do they?). Wall Street gets Social Security privatization (or do they?). The Republican Governors get unfunded mandates and debt, debt, debt. The congressional Republicans get their hands tied while the scandals and corruption that has piled up to the rafters starts to stink with a stench that no bug spray (DeLay) could hope to cover up. All the offices that come with the danger of such monumental failure that could damage the occupant's reputation and political future are peopled with womenfolk (that's you Ms. Rice and Ms, Hughes, you sweet little suckers) or those who have "information" or "experience" with poppy's or George's nasty pasty and therefore "must be obeyed."

The Supremes, who started all this, get messy cases of federal/state jurisdiction, cases of the legality of torture, cases of US vs International law, all of which would have challenged King Solomon himself. And George is in office for 4 more years (or is he?) then he swaggers into the sunset (and back to Texas, to the displeasure of THIS Texan).

So who is George loyal to? George is loyal to George, and only to George. And all the other Republicans (and the rest of us) are left holding Harken stock. Anybody know a sugar daddy with enough bucks to fix this? Please?

Clem
Austin, TX

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Subject: Faux News' John Gibson Hates Orphans

Here's from John Gibson of Fox News: The Basic Idea of Marriage Is to Raise Kids:

Excerpt:

Gee, my wife and I were unable to procreate and built our family through the "Abandoned Kids' Store" (there is no theoretical possibility). I guess in John Gibson's warped, twisted, narrow, little mind, my wife and I should divorce and send our kids out on the street. Maybe they should just go ahead and die off and decrease the surplus population!

John Gibson is nothing more than a repugnant, immoral, orphan-hating, lowlife.

A BuzzFlash Reader

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Subject: Broken Heart

Words for the most part fail me at this point. I am struggling with a seriously broken heart. In the movie Alice in Wonderland there's that scene where Alice is struggling frantically to make sense of the Mad Hatter at his tea party.

Raw evil is spreading its tentacles into every corner it can reach. 8 million jobs lost during Bush's term. Over 100,000 Iraqis slaughtered, bombed out, starving, cold, frightened, suffering, with little or no help forthcoming. Fifteen hundred and counting of our men and women in uniform who will continue to come home in secret coffins hidden from public view, that will never again hold their children, or parents or loved ones of any kind.They will never again do their Christmas shopping, laugh over a cup of coffee, or take up any of the other mundane but homey and familiar activities of everyday life, but will instead leave a gaping silent agonizing hole in the lives of those left behind. Thousands more of our men and women in uniform who wonder how long it will be THIS time before they can come home while they face daily bombings, and other dangers. Both Iraqis AND American soldiers being poisoned on a daily basis with Depleted Uranium which will have disastrous and destructive effects for years and years to come. Still thousands more of our men and women in uniform who ARE home but disabled and suffering for LIFE with inadequate pensions and medical care. The lies, HYPOCRISY, criminality, greed, unbridled selfishness, thievery of this administration continue on a daily basis to appall me. The administration tells us that our soldiers are over there fighting for our freedoms. Would perhaps that be the same freedoms we are being stripped of with documents like the Patriot Act?

Words fail me but my seriously broken heart cries every day for the suffering I see ALL around me, at home and abroad, under this administration. Bush's crimes mount, body counts on both sides mount, but keep the oil flowing.

Christ walking the dusty roads of Nazareth, healing, teaching, and freeing the multitudes said, "the thief comes not for but to steal, kill, and destroy, I came that they may have LIFE and have it more abundantly." Take My yoke upon you for my yoke is easy and my burden is light." "I came that they might know the truth that the Truth might set them FREE." Christ also said you will know a tree by the fruit it bears, a good tree cannot bear bad fruit and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit.

We need Americans. LOTS of Americans of conscience, courage, character, and conviction who will refuse to cooperate with this administration in any way and speak the truth over and over and over again.The emperor is NAKED. Jesus also described Himself as humble, and meek. HE did not swagger like a cowboy, I'm sure.

A BuzzFlash Reader

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Subject: Terri Schiavo

I have been following with interest the unfolding drama of Terri Schiavo. What I find most interesting is the contrast between this situation and that of Karen Ann Quinlan. I decided to look up some info on the Quinlan case, where Karen's father sought to disconnect his child from her respirator and grant her the dignity of a natural death. While Terri Schiavo is not on a respirator, both young women were and are considered to be in a persistent vegetative state, and both connected to a feeding tube. The decision of the court to allow Quinlan to be disconnected from life-support discusses the difference between a person who has a reasonable chance of recovery, and one who exists in the twilight between life and death as both Terri and Karen have. Read excerpts of the decision here:

http://www.csulb.edu/~jvancamp/452_r6.html

Linda Johnson
Milwaukee, Wisconsin

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Subject: Hospital kicking your relative out? Call Rep. Dan Boren ...

Everyone write to Rep. Dan Boren (D, OK) today and tell him what you think of this vote. Make sure and mention if your HMO is denying coverage for a relative who is in a coma or vegetative state, he can help.

Ask him to explain why Terri Schiavo is worthy of her own bill and why she is more important than your relative. Ask him to intervene in Congress for you if you can't pay your hospital bill, as well. I am sure he can help fix it with the HMO or hospital.

It is a little hard to tell whether or not he is in the pockets of HMOs because I doubt they are really pleased at this because now they may have to foot the bill for your relative and they won't like it.


Karen Webb
Moore, OK

[BuzzFlash Note: What if all the congresspersons who voted "yes" heard about it from their constituents?]

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Subject: Federal Judge Orders Cheney, Hastert, Hyde To Diet

I figure what's good enough for Terri Schiavo is good enough for the leaders of the Republican Party. Congress should pass a law permitting a federal judge to inspect the pantries of Dick Cheney, Denny Hastert, and Henry Hyde. Gluttony is a sin and should be against the law. The judge should order the the three men to go on strict diets, monitored by the courts. The three must agree to weekly public weigh-ins and the results given to the media. If any of the three fail to comply with the judge's order all three will be sent to jail and put on bread and water until further notice. For good measure, Jerry Falwell should be included. His shirt collars are getting mighty tight.

A BuzzFlash Reader

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Subject: Al Sleet With The Bell Weather Forecast

I thought your readers might enjoy this little spoof that I posted on Daily Kos:

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/3/20/214724/499

It's a different take on the Terri Schiavo case.

A BuzzFlash Reader

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Subject: Disagree With Headline

I must take issue with your Tuesday headline: The Republicans Should be Embarrassed About Their Opportunistic, Self-Serving Hijacking of the Schiavo Case, But Like Dogs and Other Animals They Don't Know Emotions Like Embarrassment and Shame

My dog does know when she's done wrong. She hangs her head and gives me those puppy-dog eyes that say, yeah, I screwed up. My cats know too when they've done wrong. They tuck their tails between their legs and hide under the sofa. Not so with the gangster-like Republicans.

Brent Kellogg
Oregon City, OR

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Subject: Buzz: Always On Top Of It All

Thanks to the Buzz for staying on top of it all, always & all the time. Yesterday at work, I was able to quote from the story by Laura Flanders you posted and also to bring up the Ohio hearing from the "will anyone cover this." The boss asked me how many hours I sat watching TV news to stay so informed. No, I didn't laugh at her. (She is the boss and she was serious.) But I did say I get all my news from Buzz. I ended up printing up both stories for co-workers and hopefully helped spread the word on Buzz a little more. Keep on keeping on, Buzz.

Eddie Paul
Dallas, TX

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Subject: More Schiavo

The New York Times' David Kilpatrick and Sheryl Gay Stolberg write of the Schiavo family's tight connections with conservative groups and Tom DeLay's vow to the Family Research Council on Friday that he'd do everything he could — left-wing conspiracy be damned.
"'One thing that God has brought to us is Terri Schiavo, to help elevate the visibility of what is going on in America,' Mr. DeLay told a conference organized by the Family Research Council, a conservative Christian group. A recording of the event was provided by the advocacy organization Americans United for Separation of Church and State.'"

How Family's Cause Reached the Halls of Congress (NY Times)

"'This is exactly the issue that is going on in America, of attacks against the conservative movement, against me and against many others,' Mr. DeLay said."

"Mr. DeLay complained that 'the other side' had figured out how 'to defeat the conservative movement,' by waging personal attacks, linking with liberal organizations and persuading the national news media to report the story. He charged that 'the whole syndicate" was 'a huge nationwide concerted effort to destroy everything we believe in.'"

And the story Notes that Florida Rep./Dr/GOPer Dave Weldon, long an ally of the Schiavo's didn't like Sen. Frist's private relief bill.

Janet Hook of the Los Angeles Times has Chris Shays, Tony Fabrizio, and Cato's Boaz worried about the politics of the smaller-guvmint GOP, with Gary Bauer saying simply, "Intensity matters."

Frist Treads a Delicate Path in Citing Medical Background (LA Times)

The Boston Globe's Nina Easton covers the political waterfront on the issue, including the energy of religious conservatives, some notion that Republicans might be overreaching, and divisions in the Democratic Party.

Social conservatives see advance of right-to-life effort (Boston Globe)

The Washington Post's Babington and Fletcher have the same story.

Analysts: GOP May Be Out of Step With Public (Washington Post)

Senator Kennedy speaks out against Congress' action, in the Boston Herald, which frames its Miga/Rosinski story around the intra-delegation conflict between Reps. Lynch and Frank.

Hot debate divides Mass. congressmen: Frank, Lynch choose sides (Boston Herald)

The Los Angeles Times' Simon and Reynolds look at Dr./Sen./Leader Frist and his role, with Granite Stater Dave Carney giving his blessing and an anonymous Democratic Senate aide painting Frist as arrogant.

Frist Treads a Delicate Path in Citing Medical Background (LA Times)

The New York Post ed board is down on what the Republicans in Congress did.

BEYOND SCHIAVO (NY Post)

The Boston Herald is, too, and they slap Dr./Sen./Leader Frist as well.

Schiavo 'case' a shameful affair (Boston Herald)

The National Review's editors say this:

Schiavo: in Florida:

The Miami Herald profiles Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite, who broke ranks with her party and calls the Schiavo affair "not a federal matter."

Brown-Waite breaks GOP ranks, opposes Schiavo bill (Miami Herald)

Some Florida legislators worry that the controversy could delay or derail the legislature.

Some worry Schiavo debate could derail legislative agenda (AP/Herald Tribune)

And Florida state reps report getting hate mail. (News-Press)

At National Review Online, lawyer Andrew McCarthy suggests prosecuting Michael Schiavo for torture.

Is Prosecution the Solution?

The Washington Times Joyce Price Howard questions Michael Schiavo's motives.

Husband's motives in question (Washington Times)

Schiavo: the Democrats:

So why, if Democrats privately say they strenuously object to Congress's interjection into this sad tale, were they mostly silent this weekend and yesterday?

Well, for one, many are not, including think tank progressives (www.thinkprogress.org) and Steny Hoyer and Barney Frank. And the Senate Minority Leader, the pro-life Harry Reid, is out of the country. And most Democrats are in their home districts (or traveling) for the recess. Rep. Gary Ackerman did a serviceable job on The Factor last night in contending that most Democrats who didn't vote for the measure simply had no desire to enter the fray.

But there's no question that the Terri Schiavo case is a touchy political issue for the party. And that the Democratic leadership had not fully counseled or prepared the party to handle the repercussions.

Even those with a propensity to comment and the expertise to do it well, such as DNC chairman Howard Dean (who on the campaign trail spoke rather eloquently of his direct experience with dying patients) won't say much loudly, except in those stealth Tennessee remarks.

(See Adam Smith's great article in the St. Petersburg Times: "When he was a presidential candidate in 2003, Howard Dean, the new Democratic National Committee chairman, said Florida lawmakers should not interfere in the Schiavo case. He called it a 'private family matter.' 'I am tired of people in the Legislature thinking they have an M.D. when what they really have is a B.S.!' he told an approving crowd in Tallahassee. And what did Dean have to say Monday, after President Bush signed a bill aimed at prolonging the Pinellas woman's life? 'We're just not going to weigh in on this,' said a Dean spokesman.

Schiavo politics far from usual (St. Petersburg Times)

There is a basic conundrum here: Republicans were clearly on the offensive during the weekend's debate, and yet the ABC News poll shows people overwhelmingly opposed to the GOP's position.

What explains this?

Maybe the best defense is none at all.

The Democratic leadership whipped the bill quite effectively, getting it plenty of votes and leaving to Floridian representatives like Jim Davis to be its public face. So it's Tom DeLay that people associated with Terri Schiavo. And if they're inclined to think that the Schiavo affair represents an outrageous case of congressional overreach or "theocon" hubris, they'll blame Republicans, not Democrats.

And we don't know it for sure, but we bet some Democratic leaders were reluctant to support Michael Schiavo, given the fact that he has a girlfriend with whom he has two children. The same thematic that has singed (and sometimes burned) Democrats in the past.

Perhaps. To some extent, though, the silence reflects the condition of the Democratic Party. Many are scared of their own shadows (and unsure of their own instincts) after losing three national elections in a row. When the DeLay-Frist-Bush political machine labels something as in the cause of "the culture of life," Democrats these days tend to run and hide. Anything that strikes Democrats as a "moral" issue triggers the joint that makes their mouths shut quickly.

"We are terrified by a fear of a backlash," says an aide to a Democrat who privately has grave doubts about it. Backlash from whom is a more complicated question, because Democrats don't need the evangelical conservatives who oppose removing the feeding tube.

It is also testament to the Internet Age, in which an energized minority (no matter how small) can generate waves of grassroots activism (phone calls, e-mails, blogs, talk radio chatter) that can give public officials a warped sense of where public opinion stands. Republicans have heard from their most loyal and intense supporters (the "base"), and not much from what appears to be a more "silent" majority.

Rush Limbaugh, still the voice for millions of conservatives, spent an hour on his broadcast Monday lambasting Democrats and liberals on this very issue, ignoring the majority who voted in favor of the bill and calling those who did political hypocrites. And big media abetted the hot soup by nourishing it with round-the-clock coverage.

That's not to say that some Democrats don't want the party to fight; to use this to portray the GOP leadership as captive to a small minority in the country that panders to pro-lifers and turns off moderates in both parties. Some in the party think the entire affair is unseemly and that Republicans have poisoned their own well by grandstanding. Democratic silence, this theory goes, will pay off in the end.

But so long as the party has a perception (and self-perception) problem with life issues broadly defined — even among many voters who might support them in this instance — reticence, lack of clarity and weakness are the orders of the day.

Schiavo: in Texas:

A few thoughts about the Texas Advance Directives (or "Futile Care" law) signed by then-Governor George W. Bush in 1999.

The press coverage at the time, as well as many policy entrepreneurs who are familiar with it, represent it to us as a law that strengthened, not weakened, protection for the dying and incapacitated.

It expanded, as White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan says, a 72-hour waiting period after a formal, post-appeal decision has been made by seven days. It also required a hospital to spend those 10 days in total looking for another facility who would care for a patient.

It created a mechanism for an independent, outside panel to review decisions made by doctors that disagree with court-appointed surrogates (rather than, as the existing law seemed to allow, the doctors' word to be presumed final).

And it was written with help from Texas Right To Life. As McClellan hinted at, after a controversy involving allegedly death-happy doctors in Houston, Bush in 1997 refused to sign a law that allowed hospitals to essentially disregard the rights of surrogates if doctors felt another way, and he worked with legislators from both parties and to craft a newer law that reflected his own values.

So while the law clearly does allow for treatment to be discontinued even over disagreements, it also represented for Bush a significant tightening on what had been a relatively loose, hospital-centric futile care law.

So it's hard to argue, on the basis of this law alone, that Bush is being anything but consistent. Perhaps a case can made on the basis of some other concept, but not here.

Rosamond

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Subject: Nasty Headline

"The Republicans Should be Embarrassed About Their Opportunistic, Self-Serving Hijacking of the Schiavo Case, But Like Dogs and Other Animals They Don't Know Emotions Like Embarrassment and Shame 3/22" This is the headline of one of BuzzFlash's stories today (March 22, 2005). Characterizing one's opponents as belonging to a subhuman class is exactly what has led to history's worst atrocities. Nazis routinely referred to Jews as vermin, and Hutus called Tutsis cockroaches. See "Hotel Rwanda" to get a taste of how it works. Although I am second to no one in my contempt for right wing Republican extremists, I draw the line at dehumanizing them. BuzzFlash should do the same.

Robert Goldstein
Albuquerque, NM

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Subject: Just a note-Let's not be diverted from SS on the Schiavo case

Let's keep our eyes on the ball (or balls).

The Schiavo case is tragic, but it is a huge diversion. We have SS to defend and DeLay to take down. Just today McCain came out supporting Bush's private accounts. Democrats have no luxury to pursue side issues when our fabric of society and the safety net stand ready to be unraveled.

Pay attention folks. How many times do Republicans have to divert us from the game at hand before we catch on?

A BuzzFlash Reader

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Subject: Midnight signing by President Bush

BuzzFlashers -

Here's the text of a letter I just sent to the Boston Globe.

Health care for all? Can't expect that, can we?

Abuse, torture and murder of prisoners? Secret renditions to Syria - how we appreciate them when they'll quietly do our dirty work! We don't want to look into that do we?

Negroponte to oversee intelligence, Bolton to keep the UN in check, Wolfowitz to the World Bank, and who knows what other appointments they have up their sleeves.

Just keep worrying about athletes using steroids while Bush has "town meetings" to persuade the ignorant that "deficits don't matter" and that government-managed "private" accounts (now there's an oxymoron for you!) will assure you a comfortable retirement.

Lead? Mercury? Don't worry about a thing. Bush science knows best.

Just watch Fox news. You'll feel fine.

Colleen Clark
Cambridge, MA

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Subject: What Is It With CNN And Terri Schiavo On Constantly

I don't understand why Terri Schiavo is on television 24/7. I have a suggestion for CNN maybe they can have somebody sit behind her and read the news while they are busy wasting so much of free air time. Tell them to keep up the good work. I'm sure it must make Ted Turner proud when, to paraphrase Jerry Seinfeld, they do a twenty-four hour newscast about nothing.

Gary
Medford, MA

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Subject: Wolfowitz Dates

Interesting point about Wolfowitz's date. But I'm not impressed. Kissinger dated lots of attractive, interesting women. But he was still a war criminal. Kissinger, who gave the go ahead to Suharto’s invasion of East Timor and subsequent massive war crimes there, and the same Kissinger, who helped President Nixon engineer and then protect the Pinochet coup and regime of torture and murder and directed the first phase of the holocaust in Cambodia (1969-75),

http://www.zmag.org/zmag/articles/hermansept97.htm

Loyal Reader

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Subject: Repugs Schiavo Agenda

Hello Buzz,

I know why the Repugs want Terri alive. They want to run her for office. After their success with GW Bush and Arnold, they realize they can win with anybody who has name recognition. They'll tie a string on her voting arm, just like they did for Strom Thurmond, and have her vote party line every time.

Tom S.
Cedar Mill, Oregon

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Subject: The Schiavo matter and Institutional Madness

The hysterical efforts of the Republican-controlled Congress to intrude itself into the business of the Judiciary only prolongs a horror story that is both absurd and obscene. Terri Schiavo exists in an artificially-maintained vegetative state; the fifteen-year dispute between her husband and her parents regarding this matter was properly settled by the courts of Florida. There is no question that Michael Schiavo is the legal guardian and has the responsibility to determine whether or not to prolong her life and her suffering. From his statements, he is evidently an intelligent and caring man. Why should we assume that Washington politicians, wearing God prominently on their sleeves, are more intelligent and caring?

Perhaps Congress can call upon President Bush to look into Mrs. Schiavo's soul and reveal her true last will. We are living at a time when things are growing curiouser and curiouser. The separation of powers of three independent branches of government have been blurred and violently interrupted, and the prospect of one-party rule is more than a mere phantom on the horizon. The mainstream press appears to be in a fairy-tale slumber. One can only paraphrase Ezra Pound and say that the only way to exist in this nation today is in a persistent vegetative state.

Frank Ventrola
Los Angeles

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Subject: Theresa

Tom DeLlay, Bush, etc. are shameless, disgraceful. They preach the Lord and their God, but are afraid to die and meet him. Without a brain, the body does not work. No Miracle here, for Theresa. Why are these morons keeping Terri from the God they say they believe in? I have a living will, and I will sue, if I am brought out of a coma. My family members are to demand justice if I can't. This poor woman and her family are being used for politics. How low can these neocons go? Pretty Low!

Angela...philly
Supporter of BuzzFlash

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Subject: Linking aid to "defense priorities"

So, a British goverment report recommends linking aid to poor countries to "defense priorities." This puts Wolfie's move to the World Bank in a whole new light. Imagine the conversation: "Of course we will help you after the terrible flood/earthquake/tsunami that hit your country. How did your military fail? Survived intact? Well, while we're on the subject of friends helping each other, we have a little problem of our own, in Iraq, you know. Think you can give us a hand?" What are we going to call this, the Coalition of the Destitute?

Monika Newman
Rio Rancho, NM

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Subject: This isn't the first time they used a family's grief for political gain

They did a good job on Elian Gonzalez and his family. They have done it with a number of missing children.

LIFE, DEATH AND CYNICAL GRANDSTANDING (Robert Scheer/LA Times)

Thankfully, Americans see right through exploitation of Terri Schiavo.

Karen Webb
Moore, OK

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