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| November 7, 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: So Many Scandals, So Little Time I'm a regular person who really doesn't have a whole lot of time to devote to keeping up with Republican scandals. I try, and can generally juggle the facts of up to three at a time. Here lately tho, these scandals have gotten too confusing - there are just too many of them. I really could use a scorecard. We've got the Plame Affair - Libby indicted; Rove in 'peril'; Cheney likely at the bottom of it all. Then there is that whole DeLay thing down in Texas - money laundering (how very ghetto . . . ); still in Judge shopping mode. And the "Physician Heal Thyself" insider trading thing with Frist, right? But the list goes on. There's this Abramoff Indian thing - or is it things? And we shouldn't forget the Torture Issue, parts I (Cheney and Co.), II (McCain vs Bush) and (my personal favorite) III (the al-Libi experience). Of course there is the ongoing, never ending 'Halliburton in Iraq' nightmare that just keeps getting worse. But still, I can't shake the feeling that there is a scandal I'm forgetting, one I'm not well enough informed about to share with my friends and family. So I'm writing to BuzzFlash for help. I'm sure I'm not the only one with this problem. Maybe ya'll could put together a 'scandals central' web page for those of us who are having a hard time keeping up. Just to keep an unresolved scandal from falling off of the radar of regular people like me. I wouldn't expect you to explain all the relationships or anything like that. Just each scandal, what it's about, who are the major players and the latest developments. I know it's asking a lot, but I thought - what the heck. If BuzzFlash doesn't keep me informed, who will? A BuzzFlash Reader [BuzzFlash Note: Well, there's our new search function, which gives links to all our headlines with the word "scandal" in it since August 30, 2005. Does that help?] Subject: Kerry suspects the 2004 election was stolen Reading this article about John Kerry's "suspicion" that the 2004 election was stolen http://www.consortiumnews.com/2005/110505.html I was getting angrier and angrier. Kerry Suspects Election 2004 Was Stolen (Consortium News) What gave him that idea? Was it the shortage of voting machines in democratic precincts that caused people to wait hours and hours to vote? Was it the touch screen voting machines that changed the votes from Kerry to Bush as the voter watched? Was it the precincts that had 150% of registered voters voting? Was it the fact that ALL the discrepancies were in favor of Bush? Was it that the exit polls were so out of line with the counts, but only for the presidential vote? BUT, the thing in that article that got to me the most, and something I just wrote for the Mailbag on November 2nd was Kerry was advised not to contest the election because the democrats will be called sore losers. If the democrats are afraid they will be called names, they should just give up now because that's what the GOP does best. And, Sen. Kerry, if you had a "suspicion" even after all the Ohio problems, and didn't make any effort to fight for the people, you don't deserve to be president. Where oh where can I go with my vote? Bob Lambert Subject: An Honest Dollar Hello all: Yesterday, further infuriated by our government, I pulled out my wallet and defaced our national currency. That is, on all the $1 bills I found there, I neatly wrote "The honest George" and a little arrow pointing at a president famed for being unable to tell a lie. Then I spent them. Today I did it again. I'd like to report that I found it oddly satisfying, and I encourage you to try it. And if you know anyone equally infuriated, feel free to suggest this same treatment. A BuzzFlash Reader [BuzzFlash Note: A link, on the legality of such acts: http://www.lawforkids.org/speakup....] Subject: Those Secret Prisons Withholding that info as to where those 'black hole' prisons are may aid the US from being sued---but it also allows a despicable practice to continue to our shame. This is how it begins - first these were prisons for the arch enemy, Al Qaeda. Now it has been expanded to include other possible terrorists. Then perhaps to Americans who are sympathizers---- and then?????? Remember this quote,
Sydney Parlow Subject: Hilarious Bush Parody I was surfing and found this site, which I found so funny that I bought 10 decks to give out as x-mas presents. http://www.polidy.com/index.php Alex Blanco Subject: Frist's Meltdown It just occurred to me what it reminded me of. Remember the Star Trek episode (TURNABOUT INTRUDER) where Dr. Janice Lester performs a life-entity transfer with Captain Kirk? Remember at the end how Kirk (i.e. Lester) becomes more & more irrational & irritable? I am sooooo enjoying watching these (expletive deleted) hypocrites self-destruct! BTW, if any of you haven't caught the 30somethingdems on C-SPAN, check them out! They so totally rock! Pope Bandar Bin Turtle Subject: Impending Doom Last night on Public TV there was a documentary on global warming and what it'll do to us; yes us, we the living; ourselves, our children and our friends. No startling revelation this because most folks already know that something scary is going on, weather-wise. But it's difficult not to be anxious about today's mass apathy. How many consecutive "this is the warmest winter ever" is it going to take, anyway, before New Englanders wake-up to the fact that if they want to hold on to their precious winter, they'd best stop global warming ASAP. What makes this task difficult for them is that global warming has to compete for the public's attention with so many other ASAPs that relate to life's essentials; there's health care, pay more & get less; education, pay more & get less; housing, pay more & get less; pensions, pay more & get less; not to mention the cost of a tank of gas, entertainment and not to forget the grocery bill. And the outcome of all these ASAP struggles? To date, not much. Each ASAP cause has its activists but there's not near enough all around solidarity. Folks tend to forget that divide and conquer is what the powers that be play. "Nobody woud get away with that one on me?" But the powers that be do get away with it and they'll continue to get away with it until we the people give up on one struggle at a time and take all our struggles on at one and the same time and in so doing change the world. A BuzzFlash Reader Subject: At the CWA think tank they think about torturing children born with AIDS Janice Crouse a thinker at the Beverly Lehaye think tank thinks watching children born with AIDS die is a proper punishment for their parents and she doesn't care how much the babies suffer, period, end of story. She claims, as usual, that offering condoms to prevent the birth of children being born with AIDS is encouraging prostitution. I have no idea how she thinks preventing babies born with AIDS is encouraging prostitution. What an insufferably self-righteous woman. When he asked her what she thought about Brazil not accepting aid from the USA because they believe condoms help prevent AIDS and unwanted pregnancies, she responded, "tough, then they can go somewhere else." This woman actually enjoys watching children suffer for the sins of their parents and gets some sort of religious thrill out of it. Now you folks can see why I had such a problem at the CWA meeting I went to. I am a very non-violent person, but listening to people talk about what a blessing it is to watch babies suffer is something I can't tolerate. These people are not only mean, but extremely cruel. Speak up or they assume you agree!!! ABB Karen Webb Subject: Mailbag 11/4/05 To Steve Moore, Reno, NV....I will stand up and give the first AMEN BROTHER.....NEXT? AMEN...ON YOUR PRAISE OF BuzzFlash!! SHIRLEY....ST. LOUIS Subject: Letter to the editor In response to those who feel that only bad news is being published with regards to Iraq, I would suggest that nearly the entire span of the Iraq war has been given coverage that swung to the right. Criticism of the war was treated as being irrelevant at best or unpatriotic at worst, and bad news was overshadowed by Bush's phony optimism. That Bush has flushed his credibility down the proverbial toilet is old news, but that may very well be tied to the "good news" that isn't coming out of Iraq. Responsible reporters no longer care to attach themselves to the Bush Administration's assessment of events in Iraq, because they have been proven to distort reality as they see fit. That some of you yearn to be comforted by this distorted reality is very telling about your sense of priority with regards to your patriotism and your political affiliation. Maybe Bush's soothing lies help you sleep at night as the blood of our soldiers continue to be spilt for reasons that do not honor their deaths, but most Americans have long been ready to confront the difficult questions raised by the tyranny of the Bush Administration. We welcome you as soon as you decide that your country is more important than your political party. Harris Bierhoff Subject: NYTimes editors bury important "Bush Cabal" story on p15; yet front page LA Times et al. This blockbuster news article was front page in many newspapers across the world, yet the "liberal" NYTimes' editors buried in small report on the bottom of page 15.
A BuzzFlash Reader Subject: Pat Patter and Brownie I wonder if any enterprising young ventriloquist has thought of doing an act with a dummy based on FEMA's Mike Brown? Most dummies already resemble Brown, and all he would need is a T shirt that says FEMA. In fact, he doesn't even need to write material! Just use the emails coming out! NOW HERE'S PAT PATTER AND BROWNIE. PAT: Hi Brownie, you look rather tired. BROWNIE: I am a very hard worker. I've been in disaster mode. PAT: I like your shirt. BROWNIE: I am a fashion god! Can I quit now? PAT: Not yet. I understand that FEMA has hired you for a second 30 day term, to help train others. BROWNIE: That's right. They said my expertise in disaster relief is too good to lose. PAT: What exactly do you do at FEMA? BROWNIE: They lock me in a closet 24-7 so I can't talk to new workers. PAT: Really? BROWNIE: Yeah, they say it's "Katrina Response Attic Program" or "KRAP" for short and I'm pioneering it. They even say I get to name the next hurricane. PAT: So what's the name you've picked out? BROWNIE: For all the people affected, and how long they'll have to wait to get aid, I picked LATRINA. (LAUGHS) Folks that was Pat Patter and Brownie! Mike Curtis Subject: It's all about Kerry Hi Buzz, That’s the problem with Kerry. It’s all about how Kerry would appear to some people if he questioned the election. It wasn’t about the people whose vote didn’t count. It’s not about the people whose vote won’t count during the next election. It wasn’t about honest elections in this country. It was about appearing to be a “sore loser.” Join the crowd, Kerry! We’re all losers because he didn’t challenge the vote and we’re sore about it. M.W. Subject: Suggestions for a punch line POSSIBLE PUNCHLINES-- "ONE LIES, THE OTHER SWEARS TO IT." "THE BLIND LEADING THE BLIND." "PHYSICIAN, HEAL THYSELF." (although I think you already used that w/the frist scandal) Mmmmm....I wonder if they use the textbook, "Everything You Wanted to Know about Ethics but Never Cared Enough to Ask" by Richard Nixon, et al.? A BuzzFlash Reader Subject: New York Bombshell You me to tell me the neocons whipped up Murdoch, Fox, Moon, Scaife and the rest to get us into a clearly illegal war that has alienated the whole world because of a couple of interrogations from a couple of 20-something Al-Qaida jerk offs just happened to coincide with Administration policy? Where's WR Hearst when we need him? Will Wyche Subject: Cheney and Torture As Defense Secretary during Gulf War I in 1991, he knowingly authorized the burying alive of thousands of Iraqi troops at the end of the ground war. During the 2000 election campaign in the wake of Lewinsky, he campaigned to "educate" young people that "upright, moral character is always important in public life," but that they should remain morally straight "even when no one is looking." LA Times 8/31/00 Today we suffer the result of supporting the Bush/Cheney's campaign that sought victory through the promotion of guilt by association of an innocent political opponent (Al Gore) through deceitfully veiled rhetoric that his logically-inverted GOP strategists/handlers styled, at the time, "positive." Cheney epitomizes the moral bankruptcy of the entire American public. http://www.thetruthseeker.co.uk/article.asp?ID=3016 Will Wyche Subject: The Headline Test Today in one of our most important newspapers of record the front page headline was "U.S. a Target at Summit in Argentina" (LA Times). Another headline, located in the business section, was "Top Oil Execs to Testify on Profits". What's this got to do with changing the world? Only that said rag, beholden as it is to the powers that be, must get its headlines just right, honed to perfection. BuzzFlash is in the same predicament. It's also a site of record; not for the powers that be but for we the people. And realizing that some of its readers never get past the headlines, BuzzFlash does its very best to get these just right. Ok, we have two sets of superb headlines here (assuming BuzzFlash also carries stories on the president's trip and the oil company rip-offs); one set from a leading newspaper which, like the entire MSM, shills for the powers that be and the other set from BuzzFlash on behalf of we the people. As to the test? - "Compare these headlines, please. Which ones speak for you and, while you're at it, do we stay the course or do we change the world"? The Nation covers Latin America's repudiation of Bush 11/7 Chavez Bests Bush in Argentina. "Baby Doc" George Leaves South America in Defeat. 11/7 Bush, Fox pass up chance to talk immigration 11/7 Bush urges Brazil's Silva on free trade 11/7 Panicky Bush slinks away from Chavez 11/7 Poor reviews for Bush's "Don't Yell At Me, Argentina" show 11/7 Bush humiliated as the Michael Jordan of Latin American soccer calls him "human trash" 11/6 A BuzzFlash Reader Subject: John Kerry Buzz: So it appears that John Kerry now suspects that the 2004 election was stolen. Well, DUH!!!! If he hadn't been so anxious to call it quits, maybe he would have heard what so many of us were screaming. He had promised during the campaign that he would hang in there and watch out for dirty tricks. I still can't believe how quickly he capitulated. I don't know who the Dems or the Green Party will run in 2008, but I certainly hope that it's not Kerry or another quitter like him. Dee Turner Atlanta P.S. Is Kerry or anyone other than Cynthia McKinney looking into voter/computer fraud or are they simply waiting for the next instances of thievery? Subject: Voter Anger Might Mean an Electoral Shift in '06 It's not going to happen! I genuinely hope you laugh at me in the future, but I predict that there will NEVER again be a real Democrat in the White House, a Democratic Congress or a national Democratic anything BECAUSE (1) the mainstream media is controlled almost exclusively by radical corporate propagandists in all shades of Murdoch, Singleton, Scaife and Moon, (2) the "GOP" controls the NATIONAL election process mechanism which has fraudulently ensured the last three NATIONAL elections for them, and (3) the "GOP" controls the military. Do not confuse Baby-Bush with the more stayed, foul-mouthed Nixon. Instead of looking forward to apologies and a turd blossom-free government, expect those temper tantrums and intransigence to translate into MARTIAL LAW--Homeland security and all--according to Gore Vidal. There is no way Christian fascism will ever give up power without a bloodbath--a prospect we haven't seen in this country since the Civil War. Will Wyche Subject: Why Dems voted for the war in the first place It was a win/win proposition for them. If the war proved to be popular, they would be seen as on the right side. If the war proved to be unpopular, they could say they had been deceived by the white house and its flawed intelligence. This excuse was consciously provided to the Dems by the white house who wanted to have their war, and provide cover for congress to vote for it. The problem for the Dems now is that so many still defend their vote in favor of the war - even though we all know the reasons for the war have all been disproven. By 2008 the war will have become so unpopular that it will be difficult for any Dem who supports it to get the party's presidential nomination. It is time for the potential Dem presidential candidates who voted for the war to use the excuse the white house provided them, say that they were fooled by the faulty intelligence (or by the white house lies, if they have the guts to tell the truth) and admit that invading Iraq was a very bad idea. Joe Subject: Reluctant Braying or Forced Praying? Now that the Democrats in the Senate are showing some spine and even parading around the floor with “their new pair of donkey testicles” as Jon Stewart so aptly put it, maybe there is some hope on the Supreme Court front. But let’s not get too complacent as there are already flags of surrender peeking out from the pockets of many Democratic Senators and as we know from recent history, they are not always brave enough to resist using them. The common wisdom seems to be that because President Bush is a conservative (whatever that means these days) the rest of us must accept a conservative judge to fill the vacancy on the Supreme Court currently held by Sandra Day O’Connor. Maybe so, but there is no need to accept a religious zealot who has gone out of his way to use his position on the court to validate his own beliefs and inject his personal philosophy into the application of law and the dispensing of justice. What he has been able to accomplish on the Circuit Court has been limited by his jurisdictional confines and we must keep him contained there rather than expand his sphere of influence. By all accounts, Samuel Alito is not an intellectual lightweight as was Bush’s previous nominee Harriet Miers. Where Miers would have been another vote following the lead of Justice Scalia, Alito would be a strong voice in tandem with him. Together Scalia and Alito would not only have the votes necessary to reshape the laws of the land, but would have the intellectual force necessary to lead the charge toward a new judicial philosophy that would change the way our system of government works and the peoples relationship to it. The neo-conservatives and the extreme religious right have joined together to create the numbers necessary for a take over of government. It has been a successful union and from the outside, it is hard to tell who wields the most power within the Republican Party, but it is clear that both are a danger to the American people. Whether the motivation is money (neo-cons) or religious hegemony (wing-nuts) both sides get what they want if Samuel Alito is allowed to take a seat on the Supreme Court. Because the desires of these two groups are at odds with one another, neo-cons demanding that government stay out of the private affairs of business while the religious right demands that government intervene in the private affairs of people, it is crucial to have great minds on the high court who can reconcile these competing desires and create a cohesive argument for doing both. Only if both sides are satisfied does the partnership work, and if one side is pitted against the other, the Republican Party becomes the minority party once again. The neo-cons and the rightwing-nuts worked together to bring down Harriet Miers because they had doubts about her ability to hold this diabolical union together, but there are no such doubts about Judge Alito. The Right wants a fight over the Supreme Court and the Left must not cower. By fighting Alito’s confirmation, Senate Democrats can drive the first wedge between the two sides of the Republican Party and make Bush look weak in the process. They need to take this fight through the mid-term elections taking down one right-wing activist judge after another until an acceptable candidate is presented. Justice O’Connor is still on the bench, so there is no hurry and the Senate could look much different after next November as would any nominee Bush would offer up. For those of us who still believe in the Constitution, it is time to apply the necessary pressure on our Democratic Senators to stand strong against Samuel Alito’s confirmation. If the filibuster is the only way, then they better drag those donkey testicles onto the Senate floor and start braying because if they don’t, we could very well become a country ruled by corporate handbooks and the Bible instead of the documents that our forefathers so carefully drafted. Our Constitution provides for the checks and balances that are crucial to the proper workings of government and the Senate must now fulfill their duty and put this White House in check. We the people were also warned that our new government required participation of the people in order to endure, and for our part we must supply the brace for the Democrats’ newly found backbone as they are unlikely to be strong enough to stand on there own just yet. Description: Democrats need to make sure that our Senators don't cave in the fight against Samuel Alito's confirmation to the Supreme Court. http://www.liberalgirlnextdoor.blogspot.com/ Mollie CLICK HERE FOR PART 2 OF THE NOVEMBER 7, 2005 BUZZFLASH MAILBAG
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