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| November 2, 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. THIS IS PART 2 OF THE NOVEMBER 2, 2005 BUZZFLASH MAILBAG. CLICK HERE FOR PART 1 Subject: Overlooked Trifecta: Dionne, Oliphant, Scheer Yesterday, three major left columnists -- Dionne, Oliphant, Scheer -- in three major papers -- the Post, the Globe, and the LA Times -- all suggested that White House spokesman McClellan's false statements in 2004, about Rove and Libby not being in any way involved in the leak of Plame's name, were done deliberately so as not to upset the reelection campaign. That's a deliberate deception of the public that BuzzFlash should demand be investigated to find out how these "mistakes" were made: what did Rove and Libby say, who did they say it to, etc. Connect the dots! The Daily News' stories show that Bush knew of their involvement at the time and so was clearly party to McClellan's deceptions. And it was all to deceive the voters in the run up to the election. You should begin by demanding that the Democrats call for an inquiry into this by the FBI because, if deliberate, the lie is a crime. The other point all three columnists made also deserves attention: if Judith Miller had agreed to testify a year earlier, the indictments would have come before the election and surely tilted the election to Kerry. So: Was Miller really defending the public's right to know or doing the exact opposite so that her friends could get reelected? And why did the NY Times let itself be used so egregiously? A BuzzFlash Reader Subject: Scotty Boy The press conferences with Scott McClellan are getting more and more comical. How much longer can he stand up there and cover this corrupt administration with lies and non-answers? Perhaps a better approach would be to place a GI Joe type doll made in McClellan's image on the podium. When a reporter asks a question, someone pulls the string on the back of the Scotty doll's neck and whala! We get a pre-recorded republican talking point like... "I cannot talk about court cases while they are active ... In the interest of national security, blah, blah, ... When the process plays out, I will be free to answer that question." If Scotty called a news conference and nobody came, I'd say it would be more than justified. http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/briefings/ Cathy L. Subject: Outing Val P. Why has no one asked, if Cheney was not part of a knowing attempt to out Val P., why did he refer to her as "fair game"? Jim Emery [BuzzFlash Note: "Fair Game" was Rove's comment, not Cheney's.] Subject: Spine Implant Succeeds We the people have to do more than hope so. We have to make it so and then keep it so. In the past there've only been a few occasions when those who are supposed to represent us actually overcame their fear of eschewing self-interest and opted instead for the common good. Alas, invariably after such momentous occasions they've regressed to their former selfish selves. Meanwhile the powers that be, based upon how they have always treated us, don't give a damn for what's in our best interest. If they actually were concerned, they'd have done something already to relieve our suffering, other than their phony "We feel your pain." How much time, then have we got left before we give up on our politicos? Why from the "New World" perspective alone, it's been five centuries now; let's see, Christopher Columbus landed and ever since it's been downhill for everyone other than the powers that be. As for the native and the slave, everything that they were from before the conquest was seized, uprooted, destroyed. What about reparations? "Reparations? Are you kidding? It wasn't worth anything to begin with and you yourself amount to less than nothing. Try to make something of yourselves but don't expect any handouts. Best try to be like us and, oh, by the way, we're smashing all your images. From now on such and such (or so and so) is what you're to believe in and there'll be none of your shameful and disgusting old ways." And that, more or less, is how it still is today and, since our representatives have proven themselves to be incapable of doing anything about it, things are going to remain pretty much the same until we the people stop depending upon politicians and do it ourselves - change the world, that is. A BuzzFlash Reader Subject: Harry Reid I think the only people who aren't surprised by Reid's brilliant maneuver forcing a closed door session of Congress are we native Nevadans who know him. He might speak softly but he carries a big stick. The man knows his enemies and he's probably just getting warmed up. He's not corrupt like Frist which gives him considerable power. And he's a nice guy, too. Imagine that. Steve Moore Subject: Crybabies! Listen to this, Buzz:
Oh boo hoo. Poor Repugs. All of a sudden they are concerned about "courtesy and consent." Hilarious. They certainly have not expected that Dems still have a pulse (granted, no one has believed that), much less a functioning spine. And here comes this "unfair" display of force from what was to be a mass of stupefied, easy-to-outmaneuver cold Democratic bodies. Holy %@$&! Isn't it funny how loudly the Repugs cry foul? Apparently they can dish out, but cannot take. Somebody needs to remind the frothing Lott that lying the nation and the world into a criminal and immoral war is still considered by the decent people of this country to be an "overarching matter." (Amazing how Repugs' brains work: Lott chooses "impeachment and chemical weapons" as examples of problems suitable for a closed session and contrasts them with the investigation into Iraq lies -- as if the Iraq mess was somewhat lesser than these two examples of his... Un-freaking-believable.) Fortunately, as the news story goes:
Boy... First Fitzmas and now this. Can we handle that much good cheer in a week? My librul heart is filled to the brim. Elizabeth Subject: Alito Nomination Granted, I don't know anything about this joker Alito that Bush nominated ... to fill Sandra Day O'Connor's place. However, as I was listening to a locally-produced Wisconsin Public Radio news-talk show this morning, I heard all I needed to hear to oppose him: Gary Bauer supports him. Need I say more? Lisa J. Subject: Fitzgerald's Plame Answers Duplicate IL Gov. Ryan Probe I live in Illinois. Patrick Fitzgerald is a thorough and unrelenting prosecutor. His comments on the Plame affair almost exactly duplicate those he made when indicting an underling of now indicted Gov. George Ryan--well prior to Ryan's indictment.
Steve Subject: Let's thank US Senator Harry Reid for Nevada! Here is his email address, please send far and wide, we might be able to vote Dem if this keeps up! http://reid.senate.gov/email_form.cfm A BuzzFlash Reader Subject: Side-splitting funny Oh, Buzz, this is delicious:
These are the words of none other but the paragon of principled conviction and high moral standards, the oh-so-trustworthy Mr. Bill "Inside HCA Trading/Malpractice Diagnosis by Videotape/Cat Killer" Frist (to quote your wonderful description). Watching Cat Killer Frist foam at the mouth -- priceless. Elizabeth Subject: Fighting For Democracy Your BuzzFlash editorial Democrats in Senate Act as An Opposition Party: Republicans Dumbstruck A BuzzFlash Editorial is right on target in demanding that the gloves come off in fighting the right-wing fascism of the ruling elite. As Raul Julia said to Robert Redford in the insightful 1983 movie "Havana" about the overthrow of the similarly proto-fascist Batista elite, "But, they will not leave by asking NICELY." Alan MacDonald Subject: Justice the DeLay Way What a farce. Tom DeLay has been allowed to turn the courts of Texas into another republican charade. Now it seems a Judge has to be of the right political party in order to dispense justice. Kind of a slap in the face to the Judges in this country, don’t you think? Does this mean that now the Supreme Court must now be politically correct for people to get justice? Should we have four republicans, four democrats and an independent sit on the highest court in the land? Seems fair to me since independents usually vote with democrats. How about deciding that we can’t have 5 Catholics on the Supreme Court. How could we ever work that out? I thought about 4 Catholics, 4 Protestants and a Jew but that leaves out Muslims, Atheists, Buddhists and the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster. Hmm, this will require some thought. I think Mr. DeLay may have well opened up a can of worms the republicans will wish had remained closed. If a Judge’s political party is to be considered in Mr. DeLay’s case then it must be considered all across the board. We all recognize that justice in Texas is an oxymoron but it is a precedent, is it not? I myself am an Independent. Does that mean should I run amok, doubtful given my age and girth, but does it mean that I could claim not to get a fair trial unless and until Judged by another independent? Seems fair to me. After all, we wouldn’t want Mr. DeLay to get some kind of special treatment, would we? Marjorie L. Swanson Subject: Oh, good grief -- WHAT WILL HE SAY (or DO) NEXT?? Dear Buzzers -- Just caught the A**h*le-in-Chief (as I said in a recent letter, a friend pointed out that chimps are MUCH more intelligent and compassionate) sounding off on avian flu and the need to prepare (much too late, as usual) for the oncoming pandemic. He actually said that -- this is my translation: if we don't shell out the big bucks to the big drug manufacturers (and, as I wrote earlier, the prices/profits will be so high that none us semi-poor people (of which I am one, at the moment) will be able to afford them anyway -- and here I quote the A-in-Chief: "There will be too many needless deaths." Ahem. Isn't that's what already has happened in Iraq and Afghanistan?? And continues to happen?? If any voter out there is still...I was going to say "stupid," but I'll settle for "uninformed" enough to fall for this line of BLEEP -- I mean, do they REALLY think we're dumb enough not to recognize this new line of propaganda as a diversion from the recent BLEEP-up on Katrina? The indictment of Libby -- poor Scooter (digression here: why someone in his 50s goes by "Scooter" is mind-boggling, at least to ME!) who'll take the fall in order to protect the butts of Rove and Cheney -- has driven this BLEEP-up of an "administration" to desperation. I smell Rove (still functional as Bush's brain, apparently) behind the move to achieve two goals at once: (a) scare the American sheep BLEEPless over the prospect of a bird flu pandemic; (b) generate big vaccine creation opportunities to the big drug manufacturers, who will rake in big profits, and will, as a "thank you note") contribute big bucks back to the Repukelicans. Hey, in case anyone hasn't noticed, 2006 is now only months away! And 2008 looms on the horizon! Barbara Lee (Barb) Blazyk Subject: Swamp Fox Democrats Francis Marion, nicknamed the “Swamp Fox,” terrorized the British in South Carolina during the Revolutionary War (1775-1783). During his guerrilla warfare campaign against the “Red Coats,” Marion cut their supply lines, outran Sir Banister Tarleton’s dragoons, and raided Georgetown several times. The tactics used by the “Swamp Fox” and his followers are the same that were used against American forces in Vietnam and are now being used by the Iraqi insurgents against our soldiers in Iraq. It is now time for surviving Democrats in the Senate to become “Swamp Fox Democrats.” At every opportunity, they must criticize and sermonize to the Republican opposition in our Republican controlled swamp (Senate). A majority of Americans do not want ultra-conservatives and state supported religion to control our government. We the voters need time before the next elections to organize and find those with a true understanding of 'freedom of thought for all' before we can replace these criminals. It is up to “Swamp Fox Democrats” to buy us that time. Dung, if left undisturbed, will form a crust on the outside and no longer smell. If it is stepped on, the crust is broken and the smell is back. It is the responsibility of surviving Democratic senators to keep the dung stirred up. Democrats may not win this battle, but the stink will for all of history be with this Republican-controlled Congress and the Administration that owns it. Any Democrat that supports any part of the opposition must no longer be considered a part of the Democratic Party. We do not need turncoats in our party. We do not need to be associated with the stink. I will always be able to say that I NEVER supported this criminal element that has control of our government. Mike Post Subject: 9th Commandment a "Technicality" BuzzFlash, Where is the outrage by the Christian Taliban to Republicans who are blaspheming one of the Ten Commandments by calling it a "Technicality"? 9. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. Larry Subject: The End of the Beginning
Why are Mr. Rall and so many other progressives concentrating on the smear tactics of the White House Iraq Group (WHIG)? Their PR mission was heinous indeed, but it was Cheney's beloved Office of Special Plans in the Pentagon that deserves the closer look. It was the OSP that likely cooked the Niger forgery. It was the OSP that received bogus information from Israel in exchange for US military secrets. It was Cheney's beloved OSP that built the false rationale for war. All WHIG did was to sell that information in the White House so that the White House could sell it to Congress and to the American public. If we are to get to the bottom of the pot to study the burned remnants of cooked intelligence, we should not be diverted by the slimy PR tactics of WHIG. The real truth that the American public needs to know can only be found by unearthing all records (Cheney's, Feith's, Libby's) in their secret meetings at the Pentagon with the OSP. Richard Mann Subject: Should a diabetic, pregnant and married 15 year old high school drop out living in poverty with AIDS and Syphilis, raped by her homicidal, psychotic and schizophrenic 18 year old brother-in-law with the consent of her incarcerated for spousal abuse husband, who knows the baby has AIDS, will be autistic, deaf, blind, mute and cost more than $100,000 per year to be paid for by taxpayers, have to receive permission from her husband to get an abortion? If abortion were illegal in North Carolina, should law enforcement and social services personnel be diverted from their other duties to detain and incarcerate women for leaving the state to receive an abortion where legal? Should taxpayers be obligated to fund the life of the child, mother and increased law enforcement costs? If your answers were yes, then you probably want Judge Samuel A. Alito Jr. to serve on the Supreme Court of the United States of America. If your answers were no, then you might want to think about what some people want the government to do to female Americans. George Hartzman Subject: Questions Two, in fact! Today I heard, and it did not surprise me at all.....that someone high up in the administration...before becoming a part of the administration...still had a lot of stock in the company that is developing the 'bird' flu vaccine! Someone had to hear this besides me. This person, took a large percentage when they left the company....but, still have something like a 25% interest in it.....with them scaring hell out of everyone to get the shot...and people on the right being so gullible....they stand to make a killing (sorry) with this vaccine. Someone out there....help me...unless I remember first!? You see, if Bush orders billions of dollars worth of the vaccine...and no one gets the shots, the company will still make this profit! They are bandits!!! Secondly....Can anyone explain to me...how you can be Pro War....and Pro life??? It's an oxymoron....or hypocritical or something. It is not possible! In last year's election....a cousin was still trying to change me.....and I wondered why she was voting republican...and asked her. And, she said, that her son told her...that the democrats stood for abortion rights...I wrote back and asked her how she felt about the war...dead silence...never heard...never got an answer! I would guess that was my answer?? Shirley.............St. Louis Subject: I've been workin........ I’ve been workin down in Crawford I helped rebuild Loosyan-er I’ve been lying to the nation I’ve been boozin in the White House Someone’s in the West Wing with Gan-non Scott Eugene Subject: Homeland Security Department Announces "Terror Alert!" MR.BUSH WARNS, “LOOK TO THE SKIES! THERE IS A MUSHROOM CLOUD OF CHICKENS HEADING FOR THE UNITED STATES. GO BUY DUCT TAPE AND PLASTIC COVERING NOW. COVER ALL ROOFS AND YARDS AND DON'T TOUCH ANY BIRD DOO-DOO! P.S. Don’t pay any attention to Harry Reid’s demands to look into 9/11 Investigation; Phase two. Documentation? Can’t find it, must have lost it again! Libby trial, it’s a Democrat stunt! Would we lie to you???? The sanctimonious Radical Right is planning a fundraiser for Judge “Scalito’s” confirmation, chicken won’t be on the menu, as they favor “pork!” Zelda Fitzgerald once told us, “It is the loose ends in which men hang themselves!” Bush can no longer avoid the question of the Administration’s lies, pressure, and their known “fixed policy” to go to war. It is time to take ANOTHER look at the Downing Street Memo, as it certainly is NOT an “old story now!” After over 2 years and thwarted action time and again, finally Harry Reid and the Democrats challenged the haughty Republicans and won their point. Bill Frist and the Republicans looked like petulant children. No cookies today kids, you are being sent to your room and given a “timeout”! The Bush/Rove/Republican political machine can no longer stonewall the promised 9/11 Investigations, Phase Two. There won’t be any more “baby steps” as Americans want answers to the long overdue Administration’s shortcomings that the White House and the Republicans have fought so hard to keep under wraps! We demand truthful answers on ALL national security matters, including PlameGate, torture, abuse, rendition and “hidden prisons!” There are too many unanswered questions involving PlameGate You would think the offense of obstructing the investigation of White House leaks should have resulted in the “firing” of Libby and Rove, and not just one official falling on his sword to protect Bush, and Cheney! Despite making a deal how can Robert Novak’s accountability in using Valerie Plame's name when he DIDN'T have to not be dealt with? We are not that stupid that we believe the CIA outing of Valerie Plame was not discussed with everyone from Bush on down. It is not a far leap to believe Cheney, Rove and Libby all knew and planned an attack on Joe Wilson, who was to be set up as an example of what would happen to anyone bucking this corrupt Administration! Bush, the Administration, and the Republicans, including DeLay and Frist have found themselves in a HOLE OF THEIR OWN MAKING, it is time to carefully examine what got them there! If it's scandal, lies, dishonesty, and corruption, it’s time to BURY them once and for all! Susan Carr Subject: Treason It's treasongate not plamegate; otherwise, we love you buzz--keep up the good work! Don Subject: Sucker Punches and Power Re: The Democrats locating their balls to move on a closed door Senate session, resulting in "I want your Kitty Frist" going ape-shit. Even at 31 and new to politics, which she loathed at the time, Jackie Kennedy had the insights that some of our life-long Demo politicians seem to lack. She was sitting at a window looking across WDC monuments with Hugh Sidley and said "Every day those men go down there and battle for all of this." She got it, and put it very simply. Can it be a light bulb has gone off in the Blue team's locker room? Or maybe Big-Dog's little bite, fight or get another job, helped. And thanks for affirming the brawlers among Buzzers. As Katharine Hepburn said, "Life is short, grab all the brass rings you can." She said "grab" and she didn't add "say pretty-please." A BuzzFlash Reader Subject: Bird Brain on bird flu Buzz, W. has found something scary -- a bird flu pandemic -- to divert our attention from his criminal deeds and uses it as an opportunity to act presidential. But not many trust him:
The answer: No, we could not have acted sooner. This is the administration that disputes evolution and believes in God's direct hand in our everyday matters. Germs must be God's way of telling us (or some of us, more accurately) that we are sinners. So their preferred solution to a flu pandemic, environmental disasters and other problems facing us is to either deny or minimize them; and when that fails and the proverbial &%#$ hits the fan, instruct everyone to pray (everyone except Bush and cronies, who, whether praying or not, receive the best health care available in the world.) But presidential posturing aside, the Bush's plan to deal with bird flu pandemic is much ado about nothing. See this:
OK, so Bush's plan urges everyone to figure out on their own how to deal with the flu outbreaks. Brilliant. Let's privatize the pandemic, while W. and Co. will preventively cower in their undisclosed bunkers (with private doctors on duty 24/7). Read on about this phony "plan:"
Indeed, the plan stresses that if a pandemic begins, Americans should limit visits to doctors and hospitals unless absolutely necessary and hospitals should triage those seeking care so that suspected super-flu cases have limited contact with other patients, the plan says. But critics battered Bush's plan for the federal government to stockpile enough of the anti-flu drugs Tamiflu and Relenza to treat 44 million people and make states buy another 31 million treatment courses, mostly with their own money, to cover the rest of the anticipated need. Elizabeth Subject: WOW !! That's the Hidden Leadership We've Been Waiting For BuzzFlash, Harry Reid's speech is what the American people have been wanting to hear for four long years . . . facts and questions and demanding accountability . . . not for a political break-in, but for death and destruction for god's sake. And, the GOP talk about laws against the desecration of the American flag when they have sold this whole Country out for their personal gains. Are they all that stupid or do they think Americans are all that stupid? I am very impressed by this speech. What Reid did proves that to get respect from bandits, murderers and thieves . . . you have to demand it, while holding them down. http://reid.senate.gov/record2.cfm?id=248129 Just wanted to comment on this surprise and a great editorial to go along with it. Thanks BuzzFlash, Shirley Smith Subject: Alito
Senator Nelson, Today, the Washington Post is reporting that you have "complimented" Alito as a jurist who won't "hammer away and chisel away" existing law. Alito's judicial history speaks otherwise. Alito's views have been highly visible in his opinions, and such views are nothing short of radical and extreme when compared to mainstream America. I urge you not to attempt to "reach across the aisle" - this is no time to try to mend fences with the majority party. If there were ever to be a moment in your career where so-called partisan politics were in order, this is that moment. The American people are depending on a true opposition party, one that is unafraid to stand up for something that may be unpopular in Washington. The choice you make will affect Americans in all 50 states long after your term as a Nebraska Senator expires. You have worked to avoid a filibuster unless circumstances are dire. The circumstances are now dire. President Bush has allowed the radical religious right to force him to abandon his first choice for a nominee that fulfills the needs their radical agenda - to turn the United States of America into a theocracy. If this radical minority had their way, the USA would be the Evangelical Christian equivalent of the Taliban - radical among both their fellow citizens and fellow religious. You pride yourself in being a moderate and a centrist. There is nothing moderate about aligning yourself with the far right wing. Bipartisanship has its place, to be sure, but bipartisanship for its own sake will turn effectively turn America into a one-party system. I urge you to oppose the the confirmation of Judge Alito, and to urge your colleagues to do the same. It may be politically risky, but it is a moral imperative. It is time to stand up for the American People. Sincerely, K. Michael Babcock Subject: My Letter to The Detroit Free Press Senate invokes rule 21 While in the city of Detroit today to attend the World Can't Wait rally I decided to buy a Detroit Free Press. You see I gave up your paper quite some time ago due to lack of coverage about, well, anything important. I was curious to see your views on what occurred in the United States Senate yesterday so I broke down and bought a copy of today's paper. I see you have not changed an iota as there was not one single mention of yesterday's events on the Senate floor. Do you think that if you don't cover the news maybe it will just go away? Do you think that because all the cable news stations covered it you were off the hook? Do you really think that the people of Detroit and its surrounding areas don't give a rat's ass about the real reasons this country went to war? I do not understand how you, as a newspaper editor, think that keeping news from citizens is a good thing. While I am very grateful that I have the internet for my news there was nothing like reading the newspaper and I will be very sad indeed when you publish your last edition that I, of course, won't be reading. Colleen Martinico
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