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| November 9, 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: The Most Vital Issue of Our Time In your Wed, Nov 9 morning email, you state, "You can bet the already nervous Republicans who are Busheviks out of fear that Tom DeLay or Karl Rove will blow their knee caps off if they stray from the Politburo (White House) party line are now going to start breaking away out of fear that they will lose their 2006 elections." Well, I don't think they're nervous at all. They control both houses of Congress, and the Executive, and are tightening their grip on the judicial with each passing day. As the book that you're hawking states in its title, "...How the Right Stole the 2004 Election...", they are very familiar with how to keep power, and 3 governorships going to the Dems, frankly, doesn't mean diddly. Ironically, while you are hawking a book whose implications are nothing less than THE END OF DEMOCRACY IN THE UNITED STATES, this issue gets no more coverage (and often less) than any other on your site. You are constantly reminding us why we should throw the bums out, and they should be. But take a look at the polls! This administration's numbers are in the toilet. WE GET IT! The AMERICAN PEOPLE get it! But what's slipping through the cracks, because popular forums like yours are treating it like just another issue, is the fact that DEMOCRACY HAS BEEN ALL BUT WIPED OUT IN THE UNITED STATES. IF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE CANNOT EXERCISE THEIR WILL AT THE VOTING BOOTH, ALL THE OUTRAGE IN THE WORLD WON'T MAKE A BIT OF DIFFERENCE. NOT ONE BIT. If your response is, "well, our job is to chronicle the outrages," that's fine, and you do a great job of that. But please, I implore you, don't treat election fraud like just another issue. As horrible as all the other crimes are -- and they are both horrible and numerous -- chronicling them won't mean a damn thing in the end if We The People cannot exercise our one true power, the power to choose who represents us in government. Wars are terrible, but the only thing that will prevent further wars will be if the American people can elect decent representatives. For any issue you choose, the only solution, ultimately, is to elect better leaders, and if the voting process continues to be compromised, then there is no hope of fixing anything, short of revolution. I realize I've been very aggressive, and have run the risk that your pride will be the determining factor in your response. Don't let it be. The power of the vote is the only practical gateway the American people have to their government. That gateway has been severely compromised, and is on the verge of being, for all democratic intents and purposes, destroyed. Please, at the very least, permanently devote a section at the top of your page reminding readers of this issue. Even a (small) static banner saying something like "If your vote doesn't count, Democracy is Dead" with links to voting reform sites, would be better than nothing. If you're thinking, "If we devoted a permanent section to every issue of importance, we'd have no room for ongoing news," then please re-read this email. This is THE issue of contemporary American politics, upon which everything else hinges. Thank you for your time. David Jenkins Subject: White House Falsified Transcript of Oct. 31 Press Briefing http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/11/9/10433/0183 This is the subject of the lead Recommended Diary at DKos right now. The White House transcript has McClellan responding to an assertion by David Gregory with "I don't think that's accurate." The video of the press briefing (also available at whitehouse.gov) reveals that McClellan said "that's accurate." McClellan was responding to David Gregory's (MSNBC) assertion that Rove and Libby have conceded that they engaged in conversations with journalists about Valerie Plame. This is BRAZEN White House deceit. This is "1984" stuff. Scary. http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/11/20051108.html Thomas Cassidy Subject: Ahmed Chalabi-Extortionist Extraordinaire Chalabi has got the goods on the Bush Administration "Let's Illegally Invade Iraq" cabal. I bet he would make Scooter look like an espionage beginner. He can finger Cheney, Condoleezza and all the rest, and he is a smart and sneaky money and power hungry blackmailer. Just this last month he created a phony Iraqi kidnapping. This "look good" event-- complete with full media coverage--showed him (Chalabi) saving a poor Irish journalist from the clutches of some of his cronies--he proclaimed himself the savior and a lot of the media bought his story, then dropped it like a hot potato. hmmmmm. Then there is his recent visit to Iran ... this guy is S M A R T ... He knows he can, with a phone call to his now confidante and buddy Iranian President and not only get the attention of the State Department but threaten to start WW III by inciting violence between Iran and Israel via Iraq. He cleverly, AGAIN, has the USA State Department and the Bush administration over a barrel. Plain and simple he is a slimeball (albeit a smart one) blackmailing the USA -- again. It would be too easy to see him die in a Jackal instigated plane crash or bullet to the head. We want him debriefed and exposed in order to expose those who are and have been willingly extorted. When all is said and done he should be shipped back to Jordan to serve his time as a convicted embezzler. Thomas Jefferson Subject: Napalm We knew a long time ago about the U.S. using "napalm" on Iraqi civilians. This is a link to a website that has my letter I got published in the Tulsa World newspaper about a year or more ago. http://www.globalsecurity.org/org/news/2004/041207-napalm.htm The responses I got after the letter was published? Angry people wrote in saying that the U.S. has the RIGHT to use any kind of weapon it chooses in order to fight our enemies. Sherrill Subject: Trent Lott says GOP Senator guilty of leaking story re: secret torture prisons (dailykos) Too funny! Hastert and Frist make a big show of calling for an investigation into a leak allegedly affecting national security -- the locations of secret "black site" torture prisons. And then -- BOOM!!! Lott just said, Tuesday afternoon, that he thinks it was a GOP Senator who leaked the info to the Washington Post last week. He says the details had been discussed at a GOP Senators-only meeting last week, and that many of those details made it into the WaPo story. Money quote from Lott; "We can not remain silent. We have met the enemy, and it is us." All just reported on CNN. We are, folks, witnessing the full-on implosion of the national Republican Party. And not a second too soon. Janie Subject: President Bush's Walkabout - Is the NYT totally out of touch?? Is there actually someone in the is country - besides the New York Times - who believes that BUSH can keep CHENEY "busy" by sending him to funerals and putting him in charge of studies, and not that its CHENEY who calls the shots in this White House?????? Does anyone there maybe read Maureen Dowd, in case they didn't read what Colonel Wilkerson said? Do they have a clue??????? A BuzzFlash Reader Subject: Another IRS Outrage The recent IRS "enforcement effort" reminded me of an even worse stunt earlier in the Bush regime. In 2002 Chevron Texaco got caught in a 30-year Tax Evasion scheme to the tune of $3.25 billion dollars. Their penalty? - less than 25 cents on the dollar, no fines, no interest. I thought the IRS was only supposed to settle when the taxpayer did not have the means to pay. Makes me wonder what kind of fraud a humble citizen can engage in to be rewarded with a 75% retroactive tax break. Tax evasion by ChevronTexaco? (9/13/02, money.cnn.com) A BuzzFlash Reader Subject: Napalm in Fallujah Dear Sirs, About 6 months ago blogger Dahr Jamail printed pictures and interviews concerning chemical warfare in Fallujah--you might want to review this--melted bodies of entire families--babies, in the houses melted with clothes on--I am sickened, but this is the first time in history that information is horizontal, not vertical, thanks to blogs. What Is the US Trying to Hide in Fallujah? (antiwar.com) http://dahrjamailiraq.com/gallery/ A BuzzFlash Reader Subject: Ethics meetings solve everything! Dear BuzzFlash: I howled out loud when I first heard that Bush was making his "high security" staffers attend ethics classes this week. Nobody can say this guy hasn't provided some yuks. It's horrible, though, what price we've paid in exchange for being able to roast this dumb ass. How blatant do Bush and his cronies have to be to cook up such a retarded scheme? They really do believe millions of gullible people will actually buy this stunt and think a class will actually make his nuts of the round table behave like good little boys and girls. Anybody out there who is still being fooled by this master moron deserves whatever fate they receive. I heard on a far right wacko talk show some caller who could barely speak and said he was not highly educated (duh). However, he was sure that a) liberals were evil because they didn't subscribe to Bush's evangelical sycophants' version of salvation, although whoever this was used much simpler terms, and b) all liberals (I suppose this is anybody to the left of Rick Santorum) are seriously mentally ill. I'd rather be nuts than massively stupid. Scott Subject: Fw: Cheney's ex assistant parsed words and chris matthews missed it chris matthews just blew it bigtime- i sent him this email
karin Subject: Information Delay The time between the committing of a crime against humanity by the powers that be, and that moment when the mainstream media owns-up to what it knew all along about said crime, but which it had kept hidden from public view... Examples of such risky and immoral behavior on the part of the MSM include the one-century interval between the sinking of the Maine and "Well what do you know, it was a boiler-room explosion after all"; the quarter century that went by between the so-called Gulf of Tonkin episode and MSM's disclosure that the whole affair had been contrived; and now in this Iraq war the three years that it's taken for MSM to fess-up to its own complicity in crimes against humanity - for having deceived the public about non-existent weapons of mass destruction. "There'd be no Iraq war had we only known beforehand that there were no WMD." How to get rid of information delay? Change the world, that's how! A BuzzFlash Reader Subject: An Honest Dollar Dear BuzzFlash, I just wanted to let the BuzzFlash reader who started the idea of writing "An Honest George" on the face of the one dollar bill what a great idea he/she had.
I took this a bit further and wrote in red pen "This George Never Lied" with an arrow pointing to George Washington. I also included in the lower right hand corner the state where I live. I have passed this information on to numerous people and they loved this idea and will be participating in getting the message circulated throughout the country. Try it! It's fun! Thanks again to the Buzzflash reader who inspired me and many others. Kimberly Kennedy Subject: Libby Book (As Sent to CBS) I sure hope you give wide coverage to the book Libby wrote titled "The Apprentice." I think people need to know what kind of mind this man has. Please give it some coverage. So far I have only heard it on Countdown on MSNBC. That is why I listen faithfully to that news program. SCOOTER’S SEX SHOCKER (The New Yorker) http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0312284535... Ruth Deel Subject: Tax Deductions and the Churches In response to Dan D.'s written contribution in BuzzFlash (11-8-05). I do not think it is fair or right that this particular church be targeted when fundamentalist television shows and churches have expressed their political viewpoints over the pulpit themselves. They have even told their congregations who to vote for. The fundamentalists are not the only ones, but also the Catholic church. They did this big time at EWTN and they pretty much implied that whoever voted for candidates who were not "pro-life" were committing a mortal sin. This swayed much of the Catholic vote (except probably for the Chicago area and some of the East). Doesn't that mean that EWTN should be penalized as well? I am not anti-Catholic. I watch the Mass on EWTN. However, I was extremely displeased with the political playing, as I knew full well the candidates people were touting as pro-life were not, and over the last few months it has been proven right without a doubt. A BuzzFlash Reader Subject: Switching Parties Recent polls show that Americans, up to 83 %, would vote for a viable alternative party over the lobbyist controlled Democrats and Republicans who now rule the roost. America is literally sick to death of these corrupt politicians who run our nation today! Lawton Watson Subject: Dick Cheney Is the Beast And here I thought the Bushbaby was the Antichrist! I knew the Snarling One was totally and completely given over to the Dark Side, but your recent post from the Rolling Stone archive was still an eye-opener. I am amazed and aghast that this creature of darkness has been involved in our government to such an extent. This article was excellent background reading which only reiterates the reasons why we are utterly screwed today. Cheney should have been stopped years ago. This article should be required reading for all, and should be spread throughout the media. I think Cheney is really Cthulhu in disguise, but only just barely. As Lovecraft stated...
Cthulhu's (Cheney's) nature seems to be consistent with this view. From Wikipedia (with apologies):
Time for a serious pest extermination, I'm thinking. This is a reptile nest that is just begging to be cleared out, and all the portents seem to be in our favor. Sorry for the Lovecraftian side trip, but this bunch just brings up thoughts of the Elder Gods, they are that evil and slime-infested. I say we sink them back into the sea where they belong. Thanks to Buzz for all you do, and for the community of forward-thinkers that keeps me sane (mostly). D. Knowlton Does this not say it all?
Sydney Parlow Subject: NAACP Files Lawsuit, Judge Issues Restraining Order (WXYZ.com)
A BuzzFlash Reader Subject: Another victory It's a great day for our side and I knew it would be when the Republicans started declaring today 'unimportant' and 'local'. But we have a long way to go. We have got to get some surprise seats in the House. I've been studying the House map for next year and there isn't much there. We're going to need some real upsets in "safe " districts. Hard fought, grinding races. Not a lotta fat out there and we NEED those seats! THIS is the kind of stuff I'm talking about ... stunning wins, breaking the backs of long held GOP districts: Former Atlantic City Mayor Jim Whelan captured a long-held Republican Assembly seat yesterday, ousting Kirk Conover in a district controlled by powerful GOP State Sen. William Gormley. Whelan stings GOP in Assembly race (philly.com) Rosamond Subject: What has Texas succeeded in doing with Prop. 2? Knowing full well that Prop. 2 would pass, I sat back in bemusement watching the right wingnuts rush the polls in what would be--ultimately--a self-defeating move. How? Does anyone remember which state was responsible for the anti-sodomy law being overturned? That's right: Texas. So what happens when a state makes illegal something that was not legal in the first place? My theory: a challenge that makes its way to the Supreme Court, where this definition of marriage is overturned. Of course, invalidating that definition opens the legal road to recognition of gay unions. While the passing of Prop. 2 signals that in an off-year election the right can get the 'base' (and I mean that in the sense of 'low') out and handily pass a bigoted law, it also once again proves that they are cursed with a short-sightedness that is almost impossible to believe. Congratulations and enjoy the moment, repugs! I must admit, I have enjoyed watching you fools build toward a major defeat in the future that will almost certainly lead to exactly what you hoped to prevent: gay marriage in Texas. Another proud moment in Texas political history. Liz Taylor Subject: RE: Wednesday Morning's Top BuzzFlash Headlines Buzz, You are forgetting Minnesota again. I thought you had learned better when you finally noticed Paul Wellstone, who we had loved and sent to the Senate for 6 years. Besides these races that you are reporting, St. Paulians also trounced the so-called DFL mayor of St. Paul, Randy Kelly by 70% to 30%. The incumbent St. Paul mayor hasn't been defeated for more than 35 years. It seems that the electorate was displeased when Kelly endorsed Bush and slobbered over him last spring. They elected Chris Coleman mayor, whose major campaign issue was how much damage the Bush governance has caused to cities, including St. Paul. Bush Republican troglodytes who were "appointed" to be Minnesota's Senator Coleman and Governor Pawlenty haven't talked much since last night. Maybe they see some handwriting on the wall too? Sharon Rickert Subject: Singing the Blues Before my email fills up with today’s multitude of disasters, threats to our rights, freedoms, security, and reputation can we stop, take a breath and enjoy for a moment some GOOD news? The good folks in Pennsylvania voted out the School Board that wanted to include mention of Intelligent Design (code word for Creationism) in biology class. See, given the chance Americans do care about the difference between what they may believe in their heart and what they want their kids to be taught in a science class. Hooray for rationality. New Jersey elected a Democratic Governor who because he was a Senator can now appoint his successor. Can we celebrate a double whammy? Virginians in their wisdom rejected a negative campaign against Democrat Kaine and voted for him as Governor. This one was really close and so the victory is that much sweeter. Actually there were reasons to rejoice and reasons to despair. For right now, for this little time, I am going to rejoice. Tomorrow, back to the trenches, but for today, just let me enjoy a few minutes to Sing the Blues. The Blue Candidates, the Blue initiatives, The Blue victories. Perhaps the sweetest victory to me is the one where the democratic Mayor in Minneapolis, Minnesota was defeated by another democrat because he supported Bush in the last election. Who would have ever thunk it just a few short months ago? This should send a message to the turncoat Democrats in the house and senate that The People don’t much like you playing patty cake with the Republicans when it hurts the average working folks. You just never seem to think we are paying attention. Your Bad! Marjorie L. Swanson Subject: Kerry "Why did Kerry retract the truth and defame a noted author? Good question, indeed. 11/8" Why? It's an obvious indication the weakling intends to run again in '08, and his office reminded him that he cannot appear to hold this kind of grudge going into the campaign. It's a sign of both his shameless ambition and his pathetic unsuitability for high office. Richard Mann Subject: Encouragement of Third Party I smelled something quite suspicious on CNN's Lou Dobbs last night. While my general policy has been to completely boycott ALL major media, because I think they all serve as tools of propaganda, something made me linger as I was changing channels in a moment of boredom. Dobbs asked his viewers to participate in a survey which asked them whether they would vote for a third-party candidate. (As of now, that poll stands at 83% saying yes, they would consider voting for a third-party candidate, and 17% saying no.) Then, as if by sheer coincidence, a guest on his show promoted the idea of people voting for a third-party candidate. What I conclude from this is that the Republican Party is using Dobbs to test the waters as to the viability of promoting the idea of voting for a third-party candidate to disaffected citizens of both the Democratic and Republican parties. As their house of cards continues to crumble, they need a new strategy, a strategy to supplement the use of corrupted electronic voting machines with no paper trail. With the trifecta successes the Democrats have realized in State elections and referendums that took place yesterday (Tuesday, November 8th), the Republicans are shaking in their boots. You just watch (because I won't, at least from major media sources). You'll start to hear more and more of this idea of voting for third-party candidates from the usual propaganda news sources. Because what the Republicans will need in 2006 and in 2008 is a split in voting strength from the ever-growing disenchanted voters. I'm not against third parties. I am, however, against dark forces within this country attempting to brainwash people into voting for third party candidates solely as a way to keep their illegal regime propped up, Beth Hunter Subject: Gay Marriage Ban Added to Texas Constitution Gay Marriage Ban Added to Texas Constitution --This is the very same Texas Constitution that used to have a provision providing for hanging anyone caught with wire cutters on the open range.
Jim Subject: Both Sides Considering there are liberals and conservatives in both the Democratic and Republican parties: do you go after conservative Democrats with as much passion as you go after conservative Republicans? I think this whole lib/cons argument is fueled by talk show hosts and other entertainers in order to make a buck or two. What REALLY goes on in Washington?? Until there is a completely unbiased accounting of Washington politics the American people will continue to be lied to. A BuzzFlash Reader Subject: Opinions You Should Have Update: Democrats To Wait And See If Alito Is Confirmed Before Deciding Whether To Oppose Nomination
A BuzzFlash Reader Subject: San Francisco Gun Ban The NRA says it's going to court to defeat the new San Francisco gun ban. What we need now is Congressional legislation against NRA nuisance suits to bankrupt cities. A BuzzFlash Reader Subject: Frankencheney Dear BuzzFlash, I fear something went terribly wrong in the last Dick Cheney medical procedures. He went from a grumpy old war criminal to a torture-obsessed paranoid monster in a very short time. Maybe the Senate needs to put him on the Frist-Cam and do some diagnosis before he is allowed out of his bunker again. A BuzzFlash Reader Subject: Re: Election results Here are two typical comments on AOL's news blog. Their poll had 2/3 majority stating Schwarzenegger is finished after voters soundly defeated his four propositions to reshape California government. Democrats are celebrating victories in yesterday's elections. However, the outcomes in Texas and Ohio were to be expected as usual.
Subject: Road to Recovery! There is no doubt with each passing week that the Bush Administration has spent its capital and has lost its punch! The Democrats are slowly making up ground as they become more sure-footed on the road to recovery, and they are traveling along this road WITH THE SUPPORT OF THE MAJORITY OF AMERICANS! Last night we witnessed that the Bush/Rovian method of “I’ll huff and puff and blow your house down” FAILED, and despite the usual Republican tricks, Jon Corzine won in New Jersey. In the red state of Virginia, George W. Bush had his coat tails cut! It was a stinging defeat and a clear-cut loss for Republicans as Lt. Gov. Timothy M. Kaine, the Democratic candidate, proved Repubs have good reason to worry in 2006 and beyond! One of the most satisfying losses was the defeat of Democrat Mayor Randy Kelly. The man who took a stand with George W. Bush lost by a 2 to 1 margin!!! In California, “Ahhnold” might have wished he had gone back to acting, as Californians defeated his measures with alacrity. This morning the Republicans were all out on “message” saying, “These defeats don’t really mean a thing!” However, Edward R. Murrow reminds us, “The propagandist can retard or accelerate a trend in public opinion but he CANNOT REVERSE IT!” The trend is going in the Democrats' direction and against Bush and the Republicans now! Try as they may, Bush cannot minimize their lies, war crimes, abuse, rendition, and torture methods any longer. The media tried to help in the Bush/Rove effort to detract and dissuade, but it is in the public eye now, and it will be harder for them NOT to report the truth and the contradictory evidence which shows the Administration's falsehoods and short-comings leading up to the Iraq War! As Howard Fineman aptly stated yesterday on the “Countdown” show at MSNBC with Keith Olbermann, Tuesdays may become “TEAR EM UP TUESDAYS” for Harry Reid. It all started last week when Reid finally called the Republicans on completing Phase Two of the 9/11 Investigation dealing with the Administration’s actions or non-action. Last night he asked Bush NOT to pardon Libby or anyone involved or indicted in TreasonGate! Helping to “tear them up” was Senator Carl Levin, who announced newly declassified information that suggests the Bush Administration intentionally misled the nation to war. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arianna-huffington/dick-durbin-tees-off_b_10317.html Senator Pat Roberts broke his promise to the American people first by stonewalling “Phase Two” until the election was over then in march of this year proclaimed it was, "on the back burner." On March 31st “Senator Roberts issued a press release after we had the report of a commission relative to this intelligence in which he said on pre-war intelligence -- "I think it would be a monumental waste of time to replow the ground any further." Republicans better get used to the fact it will be much more difficult for any of their acts of stonewalling, or their tactics of blocked investigations, character assassinations, political attack ads, and Administration’s refusal to provide documents NOT TO BE EXPOSED NOW! We are on to them, and the American people will be asking the “hard questions” from now on, and demanding accountability for the Administration's mistakes on all vital issues. The Democrats have put Bush, his Administration and the Republicans on notice! We have TRACTION on the Road to Recovery, it may be a long journey, but we are determined to make it!! Susan Carr Subject: Dick Cheney doesn't hunt pheasants Dear BuzzFlash, I just want to let Marilyn know that Dick Cheney does not go pheasant hunting. There is no hunting to it. There is no sport to it. Someone lets loose a bunch of caged pheasants into a small enclosure and Cheney just shoots until they are all dead. I remember a report of this a year or so ago that he had shot 300 of the poor birds. That must be what he is doing once again since Marilyn offered a linked report that he has been doing the same thing for several years. The birds don’t have a chance. This is just something sicko that he does and calls pheasant hunting. Margaret Subject: Matt Lauer... Punished By NBC? NBC's Matt Lauer, who earlier this year asked Dubya some hard questions at one of his many photo ops during the Hurricane Katrina mess, is now the host of a show called "Where in the World is Matt Lauer"? He is travelling around the world on this program. Was he exiled away from politics and celebrities by his corporate powerful fat cat bosses for asking too many painful questions on his show? Just wondering... seems interesting, no? A BuzzFlash Reader [BuzzFlash Note: Actually, Matt Lauer's "Where in the World" is an annual bit that the Today Show has been doing for a while, now.]
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