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| November 11, 2005 |
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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: Iraq Is Not Like Vietnam. It's Much Worse. This is not about casualty figures. It is not about the estrangement from government of those who thought we should not have been fighting in Vietnam vs. those who think we should not have begun to fight much less continue fighting in Iraq. It’s about politics. No one in the Kennedy or Johnson administrations ever lied to us about why we went to war in Vietnam, or why we were staying there. The only lie about Vietnam was Johnson’s fabrication of the Gulf of Tonkin incident to firm public resolve to stay there. Iraq is very different in that regard. We were lied to from the get go about why we should even go there in the first place, much less stay there for two to twenty years. In Vietnam, Johnson was clear about the worry of the spread of Communism. No one ever doubted that this really was the main concern for him, although we had every cause to question the validity of that argument. In Iraq, we have been spoon-fed a sequence of lies about why it was necessary to attack “preemptively” in the first place, and we have been spoon-fed a kaleidoscope of unfolding new lies ever since about why we need to “stay the course.” For whatever similarities the two escapades may share in common in our history, it is well worth remembering, for the record, that in Vietnam we went to war based on a clearly articulated, honest paranoia that we all understood but came to question, while in Iraq, we still have no clear idea about the ulterior motive that was REALLY behind the drive to get us there, or real motive that has kept us there for this long. We trusted that Johnson was truly paranoid about the possible encroachment of communism. He was a cold warrior, after all. No one questioned that that was the real motivation for our being in Vietnam, whether or not we agreed with him on this fundamental issue. In Iraq, we cannot even trust the administration enough to tell us the truth about why we went there so hurriedly, or the truth about why we have lingered there for so long. Vietnam. Iraq. Similar in ways, but profoundly different politically on the fundamental level of trust. Richard Mann Subject: Judith Miller's resignation from the NY Times, hooray Buzzers - I sent the following letter to the Times on Thursday in response to Miller's published defensive resignation letter: ... and a news article about her resignation. Times Reporter Agrees to Leave the Paper
It took me a while to understand what was the matter with Miller's stance. She still doesn't see it - or doesn't want to. A journalist should protect a whistleblower but not those in government who are trying to silence whistleblowers! All those bloviating pundits and journalists all summer long looking closely into their navels and worrying about Judith Miller in prison and how heroic she was to be standing up for journalists. Somewhere along the line Miller let her ambition - which was considerable, according to people I know who have known her - blind her to her job. Why did it take the Times so long to catch on? Do we imagine she had a little meeting with Chalabi this week? Will we ever know what was up with her and John Bolton, who visited her at least once when she was in prison, according to Arianna Huffington? Maybe she'll become a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and/or a regular on FoxNews along with Anne Coulter. Anyway, good riddance to Miller from the Times. Colleen Clark Subject: Republican Language Instead of calling those opposed to abortion "Pro-Life," they should be deemed in favor of "forced pregnancy." Who would be for that? A BuzzFlash Reader Subject: My Man Frank Hi, Buzz!! I cannot contain myself; I must respond to Frank J. Saccone, Jr.'s recent post: YES!! YES!! YES!! YOU THE MAN!!! You said it for us all, succinctly and with power. Now let's all make sure the Democratic leadership is listening. Indeed, "we need to do better, BECAUSE WE CAN DO BETTER." A final thought: It's Veterans' Day. Be good to the veterans you meet today; they put their necks on the line for us, and deserve to be honored. Jane Hawes Subject: Bumper Sticker THE DIXIE CHICKS WERE RIGHT Dan Diamond Subject: "The Harry Da Reid Code" - David Brooks, NYT I don't know if you've heard of the New York Times article by David Brooks entitled, The Harry da Reid Code published on 3 November, but unbelievably, Bill Hulligan, my flaming Republican cousin, sent a photo copy to my husband of all people, who is not particularly interested in politics (but is no longer a Republican, PTL) so it occurs to me to be a desperate ploy to keep his mind on the Republican agenda at a time when it is obvious that the Republican Regime (and our illustrious country with it) is unraveling before our very eyes. Of course, I'm exaggerating, but I'm outraged and disgusted. Just look at the 'State of the Presidency' and the sad 'State of Journalism.' Now you know why the sad 'State of the Union.' Brought to you by corporate greed and the Republican Party.
Just listen to this childish, demented drivel - "These comments" are "part of the Republican plot to manipulate" the gullible American public. David Brooks may find this funny, Bill Hulligan may find this funny, but I don't, and I'm sure Cindy and Casey Sheehan (RHS) and thousands of dead Iraqis and their still (hopefully) living relatives DON'T think this is funny. Brooks must be mentally unconscious, morally bankrupt, and just plain delusional. Do his employers just let everything he writes slip to the printing press without first reading it just because he's famous?! This isn't a masterpiece of journalism - the dutiful philosophy of exercising the Constitutional right to excavate and report the TRUTH. This isn't news, it's yellow journalism and a waste of trees, an unfit-to be-printed waste of people's time. He shouldn't be writing for a newspaper - he belongs in an insane asylum for the mentally perverted. Talk about walking a fine line, I thought I was the queen of sarcasm, but I couldn't hold a candle to this twisted, searing, psychopathic sarcasm, which borders on slanderous calumny of a person's state of mind. Hell's Gates, if one of us sent something like that to the paper, the editor would laugh and toss it in the trash where it belongs. Hell, they'd send the sheriff after us to escort us to the state mental hospital. This joker should be ashamed of himself and so should his employers, our Founding Fathers would be. This article is a sick, pathetic attempt to discredit the Democrats (at Clinton's expense) in order to deflect blame from the reprehensible acts of this Republican Regime, disguise their ineptitude and stupidity, and effectively CONCEAL their greed. Furthermore, Bush went his own merry way even after he was advised against it. He cannot blame his own decisions on Clinton. God did not tell him to forge ahead anyway, and he will have a great surprise waiting for him when he dies, including seeing all the accusing faces of those whose deaths he ordered. Talk about accessories to murder, accomplices, and the classic 'driver of the getaway car' who is always implicated, arrested, charged and convicted for the very same crime as the trigger man. This man neither pulled the trigger nor did he drive the getaway car. If he thinks that either of these facts absolves him of any or all guilt, he's definitely been consulting with Satan - not God. Dumya is as delusional as David Brooks. His crimes are greater than either of those - separately and combined. No, he is the Mafia kingpin who ordered the hit. He is the orchestrator. He is the puppet president who ironically pulled the strings of his marionette puppeteers (God, I'm gettin' confused, this thread is tangled!). He wanted that cookie, and now his guilty hand is covered with more than just cookie crumbs. He is hiding behind all the Uriahs employed to do his dirty work - the scapegoats taking the fall for him, but he cannot hide from the Almighty, the Omniscient One, the Ubiquitous One. Bush knew what he wanted and just how he was going to get it - by manipulating the gullibility of the oh-so-trusting American sheep in order to gain widespread approval for the corruption of our soldiers' minds and the dishonorable, unconscionable, wanton disrespect for the lives of our soldiers and the lives of so many innocent Iraqis. God was displeased with David, and He is displeased with Bush no matter what kind of spin those jackbooted, murderous thugs attempt to put on the truth. A BuzzFlash Reader Subject: Shock and Awe Hello BuzzFlash Readers: Since Katrina hit the southern States with its merciless force there have been so many other bombardments coming from the United States that have left me and many of my compatriots speechless. We have been in shock and awe regardless of our awareness of the many repressions and deceptions the American citizens have been subjected to by the Bush administration through the reportage in our media that does not depend on the US Republican approval. Katrina left us in tears of frustration from not being able to be there to help when no help seemed to be forthcoming from the powers that be. Most insulting was being told by the US that no outside help was necessary because we all saw that no one (federal agency) was doing anything to alleviate the suffering of those in need who were mostly the poor and marginalized. Then all the festering corruption and inadequacies of the administration started spilling out, furthering the shock and awe campaign of the US. Never in all my many politically aware years have I seen such a parade of scandals follow one after another non-stop in any country. The Bush administration has made a fine art of corruption and cronyism beyond anything our politicians here have ever been accused of (that happens regularly because power does that to those who have it no matter where you live). It was obvious to many of us who follow world affairs and dabble in history that the "Empire" was bound to implode, but the speed of its devolution is incredible! It is like an infected seeping wound split wide open and the poison is gushing out in an effort to cleanse itself. Without one bullet spent or one bomb dropped on millions of outsiders, the United States has certainly barraged the world with a Shock and Awe series of events. We await with bated breath the next chapter. Marie-France Germain Subject: Praise the Soldiers in the Field I read your website daily and find it the most informative news around. Thanks. But please write a nice article from time to time about our men & women fighting in Iraq. We all know its a wrong war, but they're still there anyway. Thanks. Joelewis [BuzzFlash Note: We welcome commentaries that honor our service men and women, such as this one, posted earlier today: Veterans Day 2005 - "Keepers of the Peace."] Subject: Can the MSM Be Saved? Not from itself it appears because, at the same time as it's apologizing for having paved the way for our involvement in Iraq, MSM is misinforming us with its downplaying of the significance of three American-owned hotels being blown-up in Amman. And why is MSM lying? Perhaps it's afraid {what with folks once again asking "why do they hate us") that the answer that MSM previously gave to that particular question ("because they envy our freedom and democracy") won't fly this time around. since the public has learned now that MSM can't be trusted and that those who blew-up the three hotels yesterday don't hate us; they hate what our government is doing to them, and that the path to peace begins with troops out now. . . A BuzzFlash Reader Subject: Terri Schiavo I read your site often. It's on my fav list. Most of the time I enjoy your jibes at the Republicans, but in this instance I am offended. Schiavo is not a good reference. The name is being presented as the wrong act. If you were to reference "as in the Terri Schiavo case" to remind others of the ridiculous behavior of the Righties, then Michael Schiavo can be free of his name being associated with a bunch of weenies! Thanks, Karen KB Subject: Buzz reports: Poll: Most Americans Say Bush Not Honest (Associated Press) So perhaps it's time to revisit the possibility that Pres. Bush cheated in the first presidential debate with Senator Kerry. The irony is of course the NYTimes didn't want to run the story about the possible wiring, in fear it would affect the outcome of the race. Meanwhile, one of the NYTimes' own reporters sat in jail refusing to give needed evidence that proved the Bush administration was lying about the outing of Valerie Plame. Beth Subject: RE: Friday Morning's Top BuzzFlash Headlines Good morning, and thank you as always for the headlines. I just read this quote from Bertrand Russell about World War I, and thought the "gentlemen" referenced sounded awfully familiar...
God bless us all. Cheers, Allen Voivod If you didn't know, one of the signs of being an alcoholic is that it is easier to lie than tell the truth, even on simple innocent issues. John Rouse Subject: Why people lie People lie for two reasons: to get what they want and to avoid getting what they don't want. So yeah, Bush doesn't want to get bogged down in a debate about the morality of the policy. Rosamond Subject: Busheviks Continue to Dismantle Our Constitution They're not content with just destroying the Constitution, they're destroying the Magna Carta (where Habeas Corpus was first enshrined). A BuzzFlash Reader [BuzzFlash Note: From encyclopedia.com: "The term is mentioned as early as the 14th cent. in England, and was formalized in the Habeas Corpus Act of 1679." We also think the following is interesting: "The writ is 'the fundamental instrument for safeguarding individual freedom against arbitrary and lawless state action.' Harris v. Nelson, 394 U.S. 286, 290-91 (1969)." (lectlaw.com)] Subject: President Discusses Hurricane Relief With Louisiana Local Officials It is good to see that pResident Bush is finally giving some time to the people of New Orleans. Yesterday (November 10, 2005) a visit by Mayor Nagin was highlighted as the top story on the White House webpage. With the headline, "President Discusses Hurricane Relief with Louisiana Local Officials," following is the entire "news" release:
Hmm. That's one minute from beginning to end. Mr. Nagin's part of this "discussion" is limited to "glad to be here" and "Thank you, Mr. President." He was not invited to make any remarks at all. Rude. Enlightening. Sigrid Smith Subject: Focus on the Family Part of Combined Federal Campaign Dear BuzzFlash, I get Focus on the Family updates in my e-mail. (don't ask). In today's e-mail, which I actually read to the bottom, was a solicitation of civilian federal, postal or military employees to give to the Combined Federal Campaign (CFC) and designate #2067-Focus on the Family. Since I'm not a federal employee I had never heard of the CFC but it seems to be a government employee operation similar to the United Way. Money that is designated for an organization goes to that organization, but contributions given without designation are pooled and divided among charity members. Focus has been part of the campaign since 1998, so it is not because of the relaxing of church/state boundaries in the Bush administration that Focus is receiving money through a federal campaign. Nonetheless, I find it really disturbing. Go to the stewardship section of the Focus on the Family website http://www.family.org/stewardship/opportunities/A0017039.cfm and note that it says giving to Focus is a way to use your dollars to help a conservative Christian cause. Two thoughts occur to me here. First, if one can designate where their CFC contributions go, I would imagine that one could stipulate where they NOT go. Federal employees, can you say in your contribution that NO dollars should go to #2067? Second, is there a way that BuzzFlash can apply to receive CFC dollars? I would think the establishment of a BuzzFlash charitable foundation would be eligible. (Purpose: promotion of mental health for liberal citizens who tend to think too much). I offer to run it for you, but I think my salary should be the same as Dr. Dobson's take. Hope you don't mind, but fair is fair. Also, Focus on the Family writes the following on its CFC page:
I must confess, I am very tempted to work their display booth. I'm thinking about doing it wearing a pair of Jeff Gannon ass pants and Tammy Faye Baker eyelashes. Whadya think? Kristi Warriner Subject: Governor Corzine & His Senate Seat Newly elected Governor Corzine of New Jersey should seize the historic opportunity he holds to appoint his successor in the United States Senate by appointing someone who will make history and consolidate progressive aspirations for America. He should appoint a woman, a Latino, an African-American, an Arab-American or an Asian-American who is wealthy, professionally accomplished, charismatic and indisputably progressive in political philosophy. Anyone with these qualities would prove their merit between now and November 2006 and would be elected at that time. Surely there are such candidates in the New Jersey legislature, in the New Jersey state judiciary, in New Jersey's private sector or in New Jersey's legal community. Appointing Codey would be a wasted opportunity and yet another example of the timid thinking which characterizes so much of DNC strategizing. A Codey appointment would be yet another tactical blunder by the DNC. Spread the word. Send this message to everyone you know. Time is running out. Dem leaders to press Corzine to pick Codey (The Hill) A BuzzFlash Reader Subject: Reform Ohio The citizens of Ohio would prefer to keep their corrupt political system as is, it would seem, by defeating issues 2, 3, 4, and 5 in the Nov. 8 election. A Cartoon Commentary: http://www.notsofunnypages.com/reformohio.htm Holland Subject: The article about the administration needing more buglers Why not write: "Buglers for the Bunglers"? Gene Glickman Subject: Bush as the Enemy Am I the only one who notices that when President Bush harangues about fundamentalist Islamist terrorists (or Islamofascists, or whatever the preferred term is this week), and describes them as having hijacked a basically peaceful religion for their own agenda of a religiously-based totalitarian state, that he is essentially also describing his own far-right base of fundamentalist Christians? These are people who want to tell us how to live our personal lives, with whom, and under what circumstances; claim a direct and inherently "right" understanding of God's purpose; believe our laws, particularly those regulating personal behavior, must be based on their understanding of God's principles; and who consider all disagreement with their agenda as not only heretical but also evil and worthy of heinous punishment. I don't mean to invoke God's wrath, but give me a break! This is supposed to be a country based on individual freedom, specifically founded to refute the notion of a joinder of church and state. Pat Robertson has spoken the truth -- voting against the fundamentalist agenda is voting against God, or at least their view of what God is and wants. When the President describes our enemies, he should recognize he is also talking about those at home. Unfortunately, he is increasingly one of them. Anita Rufus "The Lovable Liberal" Subject: Does Bush Chronically Lie Because He's Too Lazy To Tell the truth? I think it's all too easy to think Bush lies out of laziness. His lies are in tandem with those of Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rice etc. The whole gang lies and their lies dovetail with one another. Are they all lazy? I suggest that their coordinated lies are carefully planned to control public opinion. Gene Glickman Subject: "Democrats Must Stand on Their Feet, Now, or Live on Their Knees!" Today, George W. Bush, once again spoke in front of a safe haven of the military, whose first duty is to obey their superiors and not voice dissenting opinions in front of their Commander-In-Chief. ON VETERANS DAY, INSTEAD OF GIVING A SPEECH HONORING VETERANS AND SOLDIERS, a severely weakened Bush used the opportunity to promote the same old tired “re-run” talking points, references to 9/11, and the “new message discipline” given out to all Republicans, which includes daily talking points to the media, to “hit back” at Democrats. Once again we see George and his gang have decided that the best defense is a “good attack” and the Bush/Rove political machine is well practiced in that method. It is time for Democrats to stand up on their feet and admit their mistakes {Bush never admits mistakes}, or else they will forever be on their knees to Bush and the Republicans. “Respectability is an adjective that does not mean tamed, mediocre, or bought!” Their message must be clear and decisive, we know where we are going, we know how to get there, and these are the actions we will take! Bush is the HYPOCRITE who dances to the same tune of killing and war crimes as those he accuses! He blames the Radical Islamists of appointing themselves the “vanguard” that takes it upon themselves to speak for the people, but yet he and his Neocon buddies lied to our faces and have never stopped, “catapulting their propaganda!” Polls also prove that it is a fact that hostility to George W. Bush and the Bush Administration's policies outside America have gone beyond Arabs, and Muslims, to Latin America and Europe! It is Bush, himself, who has “alienated people across the world!” Bush thinks he and the NeoCons can get away with their lies, their “fixed policy to go to war” and their political tricks. Though they believe they have absolute authority, they are forgetting the American maxim, "you can't fool all of the people all of the time!” President Bush has misplaced his trust, his declining approval ratings prove he is now paying the price in terms of his credibility. It is obvious Bush popularity is tanking at home. A.E. Houseman said, “The House of Delusions is cheap to build but drafty to live in!” Bush said, “Americans have made a clear choice,” yet, it is Bush and his “cabal” that made the “clear choice” to sell a war on false information despite dissenting opinions! From the polls, one after another, Americans have made a “clear choice AGAINST” the Bush policy of war. We appreciate the sacrifices of our military and honor their courage. Yet the words of Max Lerner ring true as he noted, “It is not the armed forces which can protect our Democracy. It is the moral strength of Democracy which alone can give any meaning to the efforts at military security!” George and the Republicans can go on the defense all they want, but what has gone on in the Bush Administration is the dehumanization and destruction of a country and a people, in an unjustified war. The killing of innocents by the insurgency is despicable, but so is “shock and awe bombing,” torture, abuse, rendition, war crimes as dictated by the Geneva Convention, and using chemical weaponry against those same innocents. It is not “okay” when we do it! When we act like the extremists we criticize, justice will be uncertain, and the door is left open to our own self-contempt and the contempt of the world. Susan Carr Subject: Alito doublespeak obvious to me
Don't you just love terms like "not inconsistent"?? Why can't he just say "It was consistent" or "I kept to my agreement" or "I was truthful"..... These people are born to lie. They lie so much they don't know any other way to communicate. The problem with being a habitual, lifelong liar is that you have to work hard to remember all the lies you told since day one you began to lie. That memorization of lies is draining to the brain's power to think. Hence they are not prone to new ideas or changing their minds about anything at all, because to think is to use brain power they simply don't have anymore. They are literally burned out from memorizing lies. This is the REAL truth why bush has the "no child left behind" method of teaching rote information to our children in class. Critical thinking is never never never encouraged. Just memorization and repetition so that the "system" can continue to function. They lie and they lie and they lie. Reality is skewed They lie and they lie and they lie ... Cindy the BuzzFlash Fan Subject: O'Reilly and Fox the following is a copy of an email i sent off to the happy people at fox news. i am astounded at bill o'reilly's comments - he is asking al-qaeda to bomb us!!!!!!
Jeff Rutherford Subject: Cruel, Unethical and Dishonest Say Majority The Bush administration is going downhill faster than a sled on ice. The UN is attacking him over the torture controversy, and polls are indicating that most Americans believe the regime is unethical and dishonest. Almost six in 10 - 57 percent -- in this country said they do not think the Bush administration has high ethical standards and the same portion says President Bush is not honest, an AP-Ipsos poll found. The minority that believe otherwise -- about 40 percent, are white southerners, evangelicals and of course radical right-wingers. Those who believe Republicans were guilty of stealing the election in 2004 and guilty of voting fraud are increasing rapidly in numbers. The Republican majority must be voted back to the minority party before the damage to this country is irreversible.
RB Subject: Senator Lindsey Graham Strips the Constitution Dear Buzz, Yesterday the senate voted "yes" on Senator Lindsey Graham's amendment to deny "enemy combatants" held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, the right to challenge their imprisonment by invoking habeas corpus. Last year the United States Supreme Court ruled, six to three, that enemy prisoners in Guantanamo had that right because the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base is deemed to be within the jurisdiction of the American courts: "Aliens held at the base, no less than American citizens, are entitled to invoke the federal courts' authority..." Forty-nine senators voted, mostly along party lines, to deny those enemy prisoners the right of habeas corpus, with five Democrats voting for the amendment and four Republicans voting against. I would respectfully remind the senators who voted for this amendment that this isn't just about the prisoners; this is about compliance with our laws and our Constitution. Some may think the right of habeas corpus can be suspended during any circumstance of war; that is not correct. Section. 9. Clause 2 of our Constitution says: "The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it." "Rebellion or Invasion" -- not during a war on foreign soil. These prisoners were not involved in either a "rebellion" or an "invasion" of the United States; they were taken into custody in a foreign land and are now being held on property that is under the jurisdiction of our federal courts. The Supreme Court has ruled that since the military personnel on Guantanamo are under the jurisdiction of American laws, so too are the prisoners. In 2004, the U.S. Supreme Court reminded us, in Rasul v. Bush, that "habeas acts upon the person holding the prisoner, not the prisoner himself." This amendment was about habeas corpus, but it is also about whether we, as a nation, abide by our Constitution and our laws or not. Source: Rasul v. Bush at http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=US&vol=000&invol=03-334 A Loyal BuzzFlash Reader Subject: Last night on Charlie Rose Last night on Charlie Rose, there was a particularly interesting interview: AN EXCLUSIVE HOUR WITH ARTHUR O. SULZBERGER, JR. Chairman, The New York Times Company, Publisher, The New York Times (charlierose.com) After watching this interview I was convinced that your site, BuzzFlash, specifically, is scaring the hell out of them. They are trying to change the NYT to get back the "business" BuzzFlash is taking from them. There is no way they can beat your news site. You are just too good at collecting broad spectrum stories from all over the world, presenting them in easy to find format, connections in easy to use format, and the one final thing that kills NYT: BuzzFlash is NOT the establishment press that has had its way with the nation's agenda for centuries. I think they hit some big storms at sea. The interview is available probably on TV (I don't have a TV cable or satellite so I am not sure), but for sure, on the site linked above. Once again to BuzzFlash: THANK YOU for the great job that you do. You are my ABSOLUTE NUMBER ONE FAVORITE SITE. A place held in my heart since you first went on line. Cindy Subject: Bush Calls Terrorists Cowards Is there a more cowardly way to kill people than with Cruise missles, Smart bombs and rockets fired from afar, even thousands of miles away? These weapons have indiscriminately slaughtered thousands and thousands of innocent men, women and children! I guess when America kills from afar, then we have no face-to-face confrontation with our enemies and our conscience. Bush is now taking the heat for his cronies in the Senate and the House as he promised and they are all pretending to distance themselves from him and his evil policies. Must be close to election time. Their actions are so transparent, even the millions of bush supporting fools in America must see through them! The GOP and bushies will have to come up with another war or spectacular happening to save their asses in 2006. We can count on it. What will it be this time? Then again, they have re-districting and Diebold. Lawton Watson Subject: How About a Refund? Now that the citizens of California have voiced a resounding no to all of Governor Schwarzenegger’s propositions, in fact to all the propositions on the ballot in Tuesday’s special election, can the Governor finally admit that these were not propositions to reform California for “the people,” but just a means to further his own partisan agenda? http://vote2005.ss.ca.gov/Returns/prop/00.htm This agenda has nothing to do with what is best for the future of the working families of California or the “center” of the political spectrum; it is a direct reflection of the abysmal, far right policies of ex-Governor Pete Wilson.
The people of California never wanted this frivolous election, only the special interest beneficiaries of this partisan agenda wanted this wasteful farce to continue. http://www.field.com/fieldpollonline/subscribers/RLS2158.pdf Governor, allies spent $23 million: Ballot measure costs rising, with foes having raised $22 million. (Sacramento Bee) This special election was a direct attack on the working families of California, through the policies put forth in the Governor’s propositions and its excessive costs. What was so urgent on this ballot that it could not wait a meager seven months until the general election in June 2006? What was so urgent that we had to waste millions of dollars in state tax revenue? From the look of it there was nothing urgent about this election except the Governor’s desires to circumvent the political process of our elected representation in Sacramento. This was a partisan power play from the beginning, and now the hard working taxpayers of this state have to pay the tab for this man and his failed attempts at his personal agenda. How is this fair? I was always taught that you stand the costs for your own mistakes, that is the honorable way. Unfortunately, it seems this man thinks he did no wrong depleting the state coffers of millions of dollars at a time when we can least afford it. If they had a shred of decency or honor among them, the Governor and the California Republican Party would reimburse the state fully for this folly they have caused. If an elected official can declare a costly special election just to avoid tough negations in the capitol, we will have, in essence, bypassed our entire system of representative democracy and doomed this state to an endless procession of meaningless elections whose only purpose is political stunting. It is time politicians in Sacramento started to take responsibility for their actions, instead of the California taxpayer always having to clean up the mess and pay the check to boot. James M. MacDougall
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