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| October 3, 2005 |
MAILBAG ARCHIVES | ||
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: Re GOP seeks to cuts cost of cleanup BuzzFlash, In reaction to this article, I sent the following letter to the editor. GOP seeks cuts to ease cost of cleanup: Plan targets Medicaid, other social programs (Boston Globe)
Are we really going to let them get away with this? How do we tap into the outrage that millions around the country felt watching the disasters unfolding on our TV screens? I suppose we're about to find out whether any tide of revulsion has turned, or if it's back to political business as usual. Colleen Clark Subject: Judy Miller John Roberts is confirmed by the Senate and sworn in as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States; and immediately Scooter Libby calls Judith Miller and says it's OK for her to testify now. Am I the only person to wonder what the connection is? What Constitutional issue Libby and Rove hope to sneak out under? Richard Peterson [BuzzFlash Note: Scooter's letter was sent something like 10 days earlier. But the timing of Miller's decision to (finally) leave jail might be suspect.] Subject: Corpse President Bush refuses to attend military funerals. He limits media coverage of victims and attempts to suppress body counts, whether from hurricane or war. He denies the deadly consequences of his disastrous policies. But his legacy is nonetheless evident. He is The Corpse President. A BuzzFlash Reader Subject: American Media Sir or Madam, As an Australian who keeps a keen interest in American Politics, I find your right wing biased media coverage of political discourse appalling. Of course we here in Australia have our right wing cracker jacks in the media to be sure, but your representatives ie Sean Hannity, Bill O'Reilly and Tim Russert, are not only as transparent as a pane of glass, in my opinion, but down right dangerous. My wife and I tune in daily to some of the above news shows (Fox Media) not to learn anything of any value, but to piss ourselves laughing at the bullshit that is passed off as intellectual commentary. Some of your pundits should be arrested for crimes of high treason against the American people. The mannerisms of some of your pundits, like the way way Sean Hannity moves his pen, like he is conducting an orchestra and Bill O'Reilly getting mad at his guests is hilarious we love it. (If Bill O'Reilly had threatened my good self with violence I would have sat him on his arse.) I should probably read one of his books, the way he tells it he will go down as one of the great writers Dickens, Solzhenitsyn, and Shakespeare no less. If Lenny Bruce was alive he would have had a field day with these dick heads. But all is not lost the show Fox & Friends is the funniest show I have seen, the three stooges could only have dreamed of such routines and gags. Oh and by the way who the hell is the vampire look-alike who passes himself off as a judge???? the mind boggles. My Father spent a lot of time with the U.S. Navy during the Second World War, and he told me Americans were the salt of the earth. I am glad he is still not around to see the slow demise of your once great country. Oh by the way your site is by far the best on the web, keep up the good work. You will have played a great part in saving the World from the right wing lunatics who are hell bent on destroying the planet. What the hell is this love affair the people are having at present with these right wing reactionaries all about????? will no doubt have the intelligentsia baffled for years. Regards Phill Beattie Subject: The Beast I did a little Math and came up with some scary numbers; Number of stock options in Halliburton owned by smiling dick our VP....333,000. Gain in stock value since the war started....$40 per share. Number of U.S. troops killed....2000. 333,000 x $40 / 2000 = $6,660 Cheney profit per dead trooper. 666 is the mark of THE BEAST in the book of Revelations... Cheney = THE BEAST x 10 Roy Brophy Subject: FEMA Has Stopped Giving Out Checks I posted on this before, and I still believe it. Bush and co. have spent dry the reserves and such, and can't cover the cost of government (except to hand it out fast to their friends) Even if the Democrats grow a spine and take back the government in 2006 or 2008, they may find themselves holding an empty purse with Bush and gang flown overseas, spending that money to avoid extradition. FEMA not giving $2,000 checks anymore (Times-Picayune) Mike Curtis Subject: Trail of Tears Reprisal New Orleaners are getting the "Cherokee treatment." They've been forcibly removed from their homeland, relocated elsewhere and told "don't you dare return." That's what happened to the Cherokees in 1838 when they were force-marched into concentration camps (reservations) a thousand miles away from their beloved Georgia. During that terrible journey, four thousand of the Cherokee nation's best and brightest were martyred. They didn't die to make America safe for freedom and democracy, they were wasted to satisfy the land-grubbing needs of white settlers. The governments of both the USA and the state of Georgia were co-conspirators then in what is recognized now to have been an act of genocide. Today, in what is sure to be passed off by the mainstream media as only a remarkable coincidence, we find our federal government once again conspiring against non-whites; not Cherokees this time, but African-American New Orleaners who, like their native American predecessors, have taken heavy (but as yet unreported) losses; not in a forced march as were the Cherokees but from a criminally neglectful US government in cahoots with the state of Louisiana. All of this, of course, in the interests of the powers that be as, once again, our martyred loved ones (New Orleaners this time) will have been sacrificed to greed. Will the powers that be get away with what amounts to a remake of The Trail of Tears? Only if we the people let them! A BuzzFlash Reader Subject: RE READ THIS BOOK: If Hugo Chavez Was Democratically Elected Twice, Why is Bush Doing Everything to Get "Rid of Him"? These people don't necessarily need the reason to be greed (even though it often is), it is to dominate. No one can stand up to this government and get away with it. We didn't depose Hussein because he was a cruel despot. We did it because he was going to change the oil exchange to the Euro dollar and away from the US dollar. Bush and his people dating from Jesse Helms hate any leader who is populist in ideology. Chavez and Aristide are two such leaders. The wealthy few did all they could in Haiti to stop Aristide and we helped them. I'd like to see BuzzFlash start to support Haiti and Haitians for a change. They are so deserving and they are in our own back yard. Look at Haiti now and you will see us in 10 years if we don't do something soon! Subject: Meanwhile, we've got a war to STOP If these demonstrations are being organized to establish a cadre of hard core street fighters willing to disrupt the normal functioning of modern capitalism, they might be a strange sort of success story, after all they do force the city police departments to pay overtime for crowd control. But I would hardly call that shaking the foundations of the empire. If the attempt is to mobilize voters into voting for peace candidates then I would say they have failed miserably. As no potential candidates have even shown their faces at these demonstrations. On the other hand if these are exercises in despair and attempts to gain sympathy for the poor beleaguered left, well then there may be some claim for success. After all these were pretty pathetic displays of impotence, even in this time of a weakened imperium. Gary Rumor Subject: Fair or Balanced? Ever notice the number of so-called local and national news organizations these days that use either the word "fair" or "balanced" or both in their broadcasts? Since when should real news be fair or balanced? News is what it is. Or it should be. No doubt whatsoever the real news is being manipulated. Michael Dietz Subject: Agenda, finally a gay guy with an agenda
An agenda that doesn't involve equal rights for gays.
Did they call it a mantra when they were saying the same thing during the Clinton years? Moreover, many Republican strategists say that because of redistricting the number of competitive seats in the House for the next election is under three dozen, making it far harder for the Democrats to make big gains. I understand why they are assuming that every idiot who voted Republican last time will do it again. It doesn't matter how disastrous they are. Three dozen? and I thought every house seat is up for grabs. They seem to think that proving with Katrina and Rita that they can't protect us from anything really doesn't matter to their tunnel vision obsessed lunatics. Karen Webb Subject: Failure to take responsibility is (DUHH) RAMPANT in this administration Dear Buzz, Where do I start? Well, let's begin with Abu Ghraib (and extend the concept to Guantanamo). Then on to "Brownie" (again) and the miserable failure of this administration to protect its poorest and most vulnerable members. Then, of course, on to Bill Frist and Tom DeLay. Of course there are MORE examples, but that would create too long a letter to print! I'll start with Lynndie England. Yes, I nearly threw up when I saw those pictures. And her "boyfriend," Charles Graner. I DO believe that both (and many others) deserved to be punished; I am hardly military material -- even in my early school years, the first question out of my mouth was usually, "WHY are you asking me to do this?" Of course, my teachers weren't asking me to drag naked human beings around on leashes. Or starve them. Or freeze them. Or throw their holy books in the toilet. Or...well the list goes on.) I think most of us progressives were pretty much BORN to question authority. But England and Graner, no matter how reprehensible their own personal behavior, DO NOT deserve to take the fall for those in command -- and if anyone out there is still naive enough not to connect Gitmo and Abu Ghraib (I mean, come on, the paper trail, travel patterns, self-exemption from treaties calling for equitable treatment of prisoners of war, and chain of command are SO obvious that even a chimp could figure out that there was a plan to commit the very offenses that were committed. Just think: the renowned redefiner of torture, Alberto Gonzales, may soon be sitting on the Supreme Court -- after a woman gets there first. I think they're waiting for Powell to croak before nominating Gonzales; I think he (Powell) should hire someone to taste his food/sip his coffee, the way kings did back in medieval days. Second, the attempted (and, by my estimate, pathetic) attempt to redefine and reflect blame for the Katrina fiasco is an outrage -- both to our citizens and to our Constitution. The awarding of those "no-bid" rebuilding contracts to rip-offs like Halliburton -- along with eliminating the formerly (and still) poor and (now) homeless and displaced people from New Orleans, Biloxi, etc., is a total disgrace. Although I realize that the Chimp in Chief is wasting fuel every time he flies down to that area (what is it -- 8 trips now?), it's almost worth it to watch him sweat and stammer. But -- my recurrent question -- WHERE ARE THE DEMOCRATS?? Yes, there are a few -- Ted Kennedy, Barbara Boxer, Barbara Lee, Russ Feingold, etc. -- who have the guts to speak up, but most of them just roll over and play dead. (Example: the nomination of the slippery, evasive, and potentially VERY DANGEROUS John Roberts to Chief Justice -- a position he's about as qualified for, experience-wise, as I am to command a shuttle flight to Mars). As for Bill Frist ("Oh, well, it was a blind trust!") -- yeah, right. And Tom DeLay, caught red-handed, red-footed, red-butted, claiming total innocence and blaming his indictment is a "political vendetta" -- well, spare me. Advice to Buzz readers: if any of you are trying to lose weight, just read the news flashes (or watch or listen) BEFORE you eat. It's the only fail-proof diet I know of! So, now, HOW THE HELL DO WE TAKE OUR COUNTRY BACK?? Barb in Athens, GA Subject: There may be more than ONE SOURCE!!! Dear BuzzFlash friends: According to my media colleagues, George Stephanopoulos had to get absolute "boiler plate" assurances from the upper most levels of news management, meaning David Westin himself, president of ABC News before he divulged this bombshell piece! We now have heard that Steph's source actually seems to be more than one person because he would not have been allowed to run with the story if it had not been doubly sourced! Source to Stephanopoulos: President Bush Directly Involved In Leak Scandal (Think Progress) This is also another rumor making the rounds that Fitzgerald is asking for further help from other more senior federal prosecutors on just how to close out and wrap up this very troubling turn of events that seems to have pulled into play major White House players. Stay tuned. Peace. A BuzzFlash Reader Subject: The Roberts Confirmation With the Senate's shameful confirmation of Roberts to replace the disgraced, and now dead, Rehnquist, Bush has effectively cut off the impeachment route. The House can and probably will eventually vote articles of impeachment, but Roberts, as the presiding officer at the Senate's trial, we be in a position to stop any conviction and removal from office. EACH DAY THAT THE BUSH-CHENEY-RUMSFELD JUNTA REMAIN IN OFFICE, ADDITIONAL INNOCENTS DIE! Put two and two together here. There is now only one answer. Jonathan Inskeep Subject: Judith Miller or Judas Miller? It seems to me that it would be more appropriate to refer to Judith Miller as 'Judas' Miller, since she betrayed the American Public by publishing misinformation and lies put out by the Administration thus aiding the Administration to sell a phony war to the American Public. Now Miller is attempting to re-establish her reputation as a journalist by pretending to protect a source at all costs, even by going to jail. The problem is, the source, months ago, gave Miller a waiver so she could testify in front of a Grand Jury as to her conversation with source, Scooter Libby. But Miller says that she didn't think the waiver really was a waiver? Doesn't that stink! Miller was represented by a distinguished lawyer who is an expert on the rights of reporters, journalists, and newspapers. You mean to tell me that he couldn't draft a waiver that would be pleasing to Miller? If Scooter really did tell Miller that she couldn't testify, then he would be obstructing justice. It is bad enough we have corrupt officials in our Government, but to have so-called journalists carrying water for them is too much. Bob N. Subject: Congress Balks At $40 Billion Price Tag on Strengthening Louisiana Levees Oh, come on! Bush can't blow his nose in Iraq for less than $40 billion. Plus we need to take a look at the larger picture.... Almost all gas and oil plus major shipping goes through New Orleans. We haven't felt the price tag YET, but we will (except for the ever rising gas). It's tough, but money well spent for the value. I'd rather spend it there than political patronage or tax cuts for the rich, or government medical benefits for congress.... Mike Curtis Subject: Republican Senator Who Likes War, Won't Sacrifice His Children The following is a press release from the office of Senator Richard Burr (R-NC):
Burr says that "we owe it the the people in Iraq" and to those who have died to "finish this important job." Yet Richard Burr has two sons of military age, "Tyler" and William. Tyler (David Tyler or David T.) is a sophomore at UNC Chapel Hill. William is a freshman. (You can look them up in UNC-Chapel Hill's online directory. And you can see the links below for further confirmation.) I certainly don't believe the sons should be forced to fight a war supported by their father. But how does Burr feel about this? Does he wish that his sons would fight in this war? Or would he rather see them safely ensconced on a college campus? http://www.unc.edu/bw/vote2004/jock/peebles.html http://www.vote-smart.org/bio.php?can_id=CNIP0695 http://ips.mgnetwork.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename... The obituary of Martha Burr, Richard Burr's mother, shows that Tyler is actually "David Tyler." The UNC site shows that Burr's son Tyler is a UNC student. A BuzzFlash Reader Subject: Re: Sunday's Headlines on BuzzFlash.com They all are so corrupt. Tom Delay, G. Bush, and Cheney looks corrupt. Big oil is what's written on their all their faces. A BuzzFlash Reader Subject: Hugo Chavez I keep reading how Chavez is doing good things for his people and wants to help everyday Americans with our energy bills--like shipping 1,000,000 additional barrels of oil to this country--so answer me this--why is gasoline at Citgo stations always about 10 cents per gallon more than at any other station? I would like to believe in this man but no way does this add up. Edith Conrad [BuzzFlash Note: We can't really answer your question ... but in the Chicago area, Citgo tends to be a bit cheaper than other brands. We've also heard that individual stations set their own prices.] CLICK HERE FOR PART 2 OF THE OCTOBER 3, 2005 BUZZFLASH MAILBAG |
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