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| December 15, 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: Bush Admits He Lied When he said he'd do it again, Bush finally admitted that he intended to go to war in Iraq regardless of the facts. This proves exactly what Paul O'Neill and Richard Clarke were saying. The president said that, knowing what he knows now, he'd do the same thing again. He's admitting that the intelligence (erroneous or not) didn't matter. The advice of his generals didn't matter. The United Nations didn't matter. He was going to war in Iraq, no matter what. If you support the war, give President Bush the credit. If you don't support the war, give him the blame. But recognize that he's finally admitted the truth, which is essentially, that he lied to the American people (for better or worse) about exhausting diplomacy and using force against Saddam as a last resort. Bush acknowledges faulty Iraq intelligence (Associated Press/MSNBC) A BuzzFlash Reader [BuzzFlash Note: "Knowing what I know now, I would make the same decision to invade." So, yes, the intel was irrelevant to him; but knowing it was weak or false, he took it to the Congress, the UN, US allies, and the people. How do we feel about that? (Bush: we went to war on faulty intelligence, Times Online).] Subject: Byrd and Frist I watched it and amazing as it is, Byrd did not back down one time. Even with his 88 years and his Parkinson's shaking ... he stood tall next to this heinous excuse for a doctor ... or a senator! How in the world some people can crawl in bed at night, and sleep like a baby with nothing on their minds ... except trying to screw the American people, is way beyond me ... But I was proud of R. Byrd ... he stood tall!! Shirley...St. Louis Subject: Oops, no sooner was I done translating, than the story morphed, & it'll be ugly It no longer mentions that the Syrian prison is known for being a torture prison ... and some other details, like how he was kidnapped, held for five months, released in Albania ... but worse is how they are setting this guy el Masri up ... suddenly Condi says he can come to the US and sue the CIA, and there are rumors of money changing hands - they are going to let him go to court and show that he is a crook and probably a liar, and heaven knows what else. It is now called "Schäuble's Coup" by Matthias Gebauer (Spiegel Online):
A BuzzFlash Reader Subject: Bush's Popularity Rove and the corporate media have settled on what it will take to get Bush's ratings back into the 60% to 70% range. Americans are fickle and have a short memory if any at all. It will happen! False and rainbow colored blue sky reports on how great our economy is doing. The media is now declaring on a twenty-four-seven schedule that Bush invaded Iraq only to spread democracy and free depressed people who deserve a better life. Although it was totally the CIA's fault, Bush would still have gone into Iraq to free the people of Iraq and stop Saddam from attacking America. This is their story and they are sticking to it. Add to this the fact that one third of Democrats in the elected government support Bush, and there is nothing but clear sailing for George and his band of merry, criminal, but patriotic minions. Lawton Subject: Infallibility Lost Our commander-in-chief admitting that he received faulty intelligence? Does he realize the significance of his confession? Up to now he's been claiming that, in his role as president, he's never made a mistake, never told a lie; that his decision to war upon Iraq was based upon the best information available to him at the time and that nothing has come up since then to indicate he made a mistake. But now, in a sudden flip-flop, our president is owning-up to having made a mistake by basing his war upon faulty intelligence. That's a very serious confession. For sure he'll try to squirm out of it. Look for him to tell us, "What the heck, my first and only mistake, so won't you please give me a break?" Sorry, Mr. President, but your first and only mistake already has cost we the people more than twenty-one hundred of our best and brightest, so don't expect us to trust you ever again. A BuzzFlash Reader Subject: Where Is Our Government? Don’t you miss having a Government that actually looks out for the welfare of its citizens? Citizens, not Corporations. No sense in railing against the Corporations. They are doing what corporations do. They are in business to make money and that is all they care about. Some individual employees, in both high and low places, may have concern for the people of their country, but that is not their primary concern. The bottom line is the be all and end all of corporations. Environmental Protection Agency. Seems pretty straight forward. Protect the environment. Here’s a link to Wikipedia to define what the EPA is supposed to do. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EPA The Administrator of this agency is Stephan L. Johnson, a career civil servant whose nomination was held up because of his professed support for using human subjects in pesticide testing. Johnson cancelled the Children's Environmental Exposure Research Study, which advocated testing the effects of pesticides on children. Nice guy. He cancelled the study and was then confirmed by the Senate. Seems our Senators don’t find a problem with confirming a man who advocated testing pesticides on children. Wonder if old Doc Mengele is still alive? Maybe they have a nice cushy job for him, too. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Children%27s_Environmental_Exposure_Research_Study We need to pay attention folks. We need to hold our elected officials accountable when they do not protect us. People deserve to know what is happening to their country. The Corporations and their political shills scare citizens. Corporate wrong doers in communities threaten to close plants. People have to choose between their paycheck or the safety of their community. EPA protects the company in a town instead of the town. Corporate Criminals have got to be held to account and forced to clean up and stop contaminating our communities. If that job is too much for the Congress, the Senate and the White House, then maybe we need new people in those places. They can fool some of the people all the time. Their loyalty to their party will not allow them to believe that their government would do them harm. For the rest of us, those living in the real world, time is running out. In time to come, those “Tree Huggers” who were so maligned will be seen for what they are, Patriots of Planet Earth. No boundaries, no agenda, just protecting the planet. How bad can that be? Marjorie L. Swanson Subject: Troubled in America I was troubled from the very beginning of this tragedy in Iraq when Wolf Blitzer was salivating and slobbering daily in his “Countdown to War” and our leaders were talking of “Shock and Awe.” I was troubled by how easily congress abdicated their responsibility to declare war. I was troubled not only by the lies leading up to the war, but how easily we the American people were fooled by them. The president claims that Saddam brought the war on himself, but I clearly remember watching weapons inspectors destroying missiles on the news before they were pulled out right before “Shock and Awe.” One of the most disturbing things early on for me was that there was no discussion in this country of the Iraqi people. When we talked of “Shock and Awe,” I knew that many innocent Iraqis would be killed or maimed by our precision bombs, yet nobody seemed to care. And now the president admitted yesterday that we went to war based on flawed intelligence. That’s disturbing, but the fact that he would do it again is frightening. The president tells us that removing Saddam Hussein from power was worth 30,000-100,000 innocent Iraqis, 2500 U.S. service members and 15,000+ wounded Americans. Was it really? A Daily BuzzFlash Reader Subject: Book as Weapon Your editorial asks if anyone has heard of a book being used as a weapon. I remembered this story from the archives of 1989, about the father of Bluegrass music, Bill Monroe. In 1989 Wanda Huff would bring assault charges against Bill Monroe alleging that he hit her in the face with a Bible and kicked her at his Sumter County farm, as reported in The Tennessean, May 11, 1989. Bill was ultimately not charged, but in this isolated instance, Bill was using his Bible as a brickbat. Monroe was not a terrorist. A BuzzFlash Reader Subject: Re: 12/15 Editorial on Books Vs. Guns You got it exactly right! The "permanentizing" (did I coin a word here?) of the (un)Patriot Act is, (im)purely and simply (!) a way for neocons to gain access to the most private parts (pun intended) of our lives. (By "our," I mean people who think the way we Buzzers do, and go through anguish over the constant erosions of our constitutional rights.) I can't even give them a discount for stupidity (well, except for the *ssh*ole-in-Chief, I mean) since they know EXACTLY what they're doing. Allowing guns to be sold -- with virtually no questions asked -- and if questions ARE asked, the violence-prone people with criminal records can always buy them at "gun shows" or find a "friend" without a criminal record to purchase one FOR them, to use ... well, in any way they choose. Meanwhile, those of us who read (GASP!) books or contribute our opinions to sites like BuzzFlash are considered fair game for searches of our records, our homes, and whatever else these crafty b*st*rds (no insult to illegitimate children intended here; I'm sure you know who I mean) want to do to silence us. An aside here: The Dems, with several exceptions, are STILL not taking a stand. Where the BLEEP is Hillary when her voice is really NEEDED? (Answer: probably on the phone, seeking campaign contributions from DLCers.) Meanwhile, it seems to be a few brave GOP martyrs who are willing to stand up and openly oppose making the permanent extension of the (un)Patriot Act. I applaud them for that; given the tactics of this administration, I'd bet that it takes a lot of courage to stand up to this gang of thugs. I'm really impressed (yeah, RIGHT!) by Bush's latest speeches admitting that "mistakes were made" but still insisting on an (undefined, of course) "total victory" in Iraq. I'm sure he'll soon be heading home to Crawford, where he can drink, snort, cut (freshly planted) brush, fall off his mountain bike, and -- I hope -- choke on another pretzel during the Superbowl. I should add that, although I've often been tempted to hit various members of this "administration" over the head, my Complete Works of Shakespeare is still packed in a carton. (I've recently moved.) And, no, I've never owned a gun. Maybe we should all find our thickest, heaviest books and get them ready. Just in case. Barbara Lee (Barb) Blazyk Subject: Patriot Act = Instrument of Surrender to Terrorism I think we should call the Patriot Act the Instrument of America's Surrender to Terrorism. 1) Insight suggests that it is just that. 2) It's the kind of language that will make its supporters think twice about supporting it. Thanks. A BuzzFlash Reader Subject: Response to Kelly Ogle (newsok.com) What would Saddam be doing today had we not removed him from power? He would likely be doing what he was before the war, which was being nasty, but not attacking us or anyone else for that matter. This war has nothing to do with terrorism. Iraq has never committed a terrorist attack against the USA. If we weren’t fighting Al Qaeda in Iraq, where would we be fighting them? If Al Qaeda is in Iraq today for us to fight, it is because we invaded. They weren’t there before we committed a pre-emptive attack. Osama and Saddam were never friends, they were ideological opposites. We are fighting insurgents and not terrorists. They have way over 30,000 dead Iraqi reasons for fighting. If Iraq becomes a solid democracy and friendly to the United States, what effect would that have on the Middle East? You mean like our best friends in Saudi Arabia, then not much. If we can’t democratize the people who regularly are hobnobbing at the ranch and have done business with the Bush family for decades, then how can we promote democracy anywhere else? And now questions for you Kelly; Why didn’t we remove Osama from power? Why did we help put Saddam in power in Iraq and Osama in Afghanistan? (Hint: it begins with “o” and ends with “l” and we are the biggest gluttons of it in the world.) Why is there an Al Qaeda in the first place? Why weren’t we concerned with the actual reasons for the attack on 9/11, like they attacked because we took up residence in Saudi Arabia so we could control the Middle East instead of Middle Easterners? If we are going to take up democracy building, why not build one in the country where 15 of 19 attackers from 9/11 were from? You know, the place where our best friends live? The one where they let little girls burn to death because they aren’t dressed properly for rescue? Is the Middle East safer because we are forcing them into democracy instead of promoting it? Kelly, you are still trying to justify the unjustifiable, and doing it after the fact is always a bad idea. It is best if you actually have a reason to attack and don’t have to make the entire thing up as you go along. We attacked a country that did not attack us and had not made a significant attack on its neighbors since 1991. It never promotes democracy or freedom to attack first, it actually promotes terrorism, because it always makes the attacked angry. Just asking, Kelly, now answer my questions, and while you are at it, where are those WMDs? Kelly I miss you and your undying support for any reason Bush can come up with to get our kids killed and kill tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of Iraqis in the process. Are your kids of draft age, yet? Will they join up, or be like the Bush kids and cheer from the sidelines? Go team Go!!!!!!!! Karen Webb Subject: RED ALERT BuzzFlash, It has now been proven that Diebold voting machines are ridiculously easy to hack. In a demonstration in Leon county, Florida, one guy with a memory card and no passwords altered the results of a test election and this hacking was not detected by Diebold's machines, or anyone else. The Leon county supervisor of elections has now stated that he will never use Diebold equipment again. This is what I've been saying since day one. I would even go further and state that these machines were deliberately designed from the getgo to be easily hackable as a "feature" for insiders with sinister intent, but that's a whole other subject for a different day.
This is sensational! Ken Subject: "Merry Christmas ... Damn IT" Dear BuzzFlash Readers/Supporters: Greetings from the Christian Progressive Liberal. It's been a long time since I've posted here, but after reading about how the Party that's supposed to be for the average person tends to roll over, cave in, play dead, and try to become war hawks, I can no longer hold my peace. I would say "Merry Christmas" or "Happy Holidays", but I would have to fight to resist putting "Damn It" at the end of such a greeting (which I'm borrowing from my friend, Margaret Kimberley). Stephen Pizzo summed it up in his Alternet article. Instead of defending the Party Chairman, or the one Congressman who had the guts to call the quagmire in Iraq for what it is, the [Democrats] form a circular firing squad and start shooting their own. They do the Republicans' dirty work for them. How long do we put up with this BS? Republicans really have no need to fear an opposition party ... because THERE IS NO OPPOSITION PARTY! The DLC has been allowed to take charge, and once again, we're heading down the shame spiral towards defeat and further one-party domination. We will have to sit and listen to these pundits on National Television in 2007 pontificate on why the Democrats had no coherent message, no backbone, and being all too willing to compromise where they didn't have to. We have a "Boy in the Bubble" running the country, and yet, we also see Joe Lieberman doing the biggest whoring act since the whores of Babylon, and he could probably give them a few lessons. Yet Joementum is not being told to get the Hell out of the Party, since he feels the way he does. Maybe Connecticut will do that instead, when they field a viable candidate to unseat this piece of primordial slime from the Democratic ranks. We have Hillary Clinton wrapping herself in Old Glory, and joining Joe Biden in the chorus of "Howard Dean doesn't speak for me" song. News Flash - we got tired of how you claim to speak for us - Dr. Dean speaks for the American people who are registered Democrats, so please drink your glass of STHU on this one. We have Rep. John Murtha getting caught in a triangulated crossfire from his own party for speaking the truth to power about Iraq. I haven't seen Biden or Hillary visiting Walter Reed or any other military hospital like Murtha has done; nor do I see them meeting with Pentagon officials like Murtha has. It is painfully obvious that the troops and the military are telling Murtha what needs to be told, and not what Bush wants to hear - the war in Iraq is not winnable. Sixty percent of this country thinks Bush lied, he has no concrete strategy for Iraq (news flash; he NEVER HAD A STRATEGY when he ordered the attacks two years ago), and wants the troops to come home. You'd think that Biden, Hillary, the DLC and every other mealy-mouthed Democrat distancing themselves from Howard Dean would pay attention to the fact that we are speaking and won't be silenced. No, they're too busy pretending to be the opposition party, and supping at the Devil's very own table. Their souls have long been sold to Satan himself - what we are seeing is Satan collecting on his markers. They try to silence us by saying: "We're better than the Republicans, so shut your piehole ..." To me, that's like saying to us who are suffering financially, healthwise, displaced, unemployed: "Merry Christmas ... Damn It!" when you have voted to send our jobs away, consigned us to debtor's prison, made damned sure we can't see a doctor when we need to, or get quality healthcare, while talking out the side of their neck, trying to convince us that these Democrats are better than the Republicans, when all that is separating them from the GOP is the party affiliation they have checked off on their voter registration cards. When you can't demonstrate that you're better than the Republicans; when you refuse to unite on common causes that would give you an articulate platform on the issues; when you refuse to hear us, the people, and continue to feed at the corporate trough for money like the elected piglets that you are; when you allow George Bush to come back from the dead in terms of approval ratings because you're too busy killing off your own members who really remembered what it means to be a Democrat, you've just told us, who have been waiting for you to grow a spine and fight back, to go CHENEY ourselves. And the irony of ironies: YOU FINALLY WANT TO BE CONSIDERED CHRIST-LIKE, when the truth of the matter is, you ran from Jesus for the last 50 years. That is, until you decided it was better to embrace wingnuts like James Dobson, Pat Robertson or Tim LaHaye, rather than be like Sojourner's Jim Wallis and really use the Bible to challenge them on their "compassion for the poor unless they don't want to convert to Christianity." Then, they just call their fellow gun-toting Christian buddies over at the NRA and tell them to come and shoot these "heathens," especially victims of Hurricane Katrina, because those darkies "are shiftless and no good, anyway." If your representation is the best we Americans can do, you just told us: Merry Christmas (or Happy Holidays) ... DAMN IT! My name is Leutisha Stills, and despite the plain language, I'm still the Christian Progressive Liberal. [BuzzFlash Note re Jim Wallis: 'Christmas scandal' outcry: Hundreds of Christian activists gather in D.C. to protest bills granting tax cuts for the wealthy while slashing programs for low-income people (Chicago Tribune); 115 arrested in budget plan protest (AP/Detroit Free Press).] Subject: Beware the Codgers Senior Citizens do more than play Bingo. We watch what is going on in our country and wonder where are the guys in white hats riding to rescue us? Where are the elected officials we sent to Washington that will protect our rights while keeping us safe? Where is there someone, anyone, who has more to offer their constituency than empty rhetoric? If hot air were energy we would never have to import another barrel of oil. They said on Hardball last night that the President's poll numbers are going up. How in the name of honesty and decency could anyone have anything but contempt for the inept, out of touch, compassionless, person who infests the White House? We have a visibly corrupt government. They rule from Washington D.C. with all the compassion of an anaconda about to swallow its dinner. It is no secret that the worst offenders are in the Republican Party. What could the powerless Democrats promise to deliver? We know Bush lied to us. We know that he and his administration lied to us over and over again. We know that. So now we believe him? Excuse me but what kind of an idiot believes someone they know is a liar? The President said yesterday that he thinks that there are people from both parties involved in the Abramoff scandal. Not so much Mr. P.R. Spinner-in-Chief. A guess would be about twenty or more to one in favor of the Republicans being the worst crooks. Why bribe someone who can do nothing to help you? The Press screams constantly about how wimpy and powerless the Democrats are and then pretends they have as much to sell as the Republicans. Not a discussion of ethics right now, so much as a matter who was able to do what for whom. There will not be an honest government without an honest press and there seems little hope of that. But hope springs eternal, as they say. Or at my age it advances slowly but relentlessly. Politicians, beware of the aging and unemployed. We have enough time to vent our displeasure at your lack of effectiveness on our behalf. The Social Security debacle should have warned Washington airheads that you don't mess with old codgers and their money. That got our attention. Now we're watching you. For you, that ain't good. Marjorie L. Swanson Subject: Letter to the President If I could write a letter to the President, it might go something like this... Dear Mr. President, Hi. How are you doing? How are the bike rides going? Are you fighting back that growing brush storm down there in Crawford? How's New Orleans? Are we starting the repairs yet? Mr. President, the American People do not hate you. You are our Leader, for better or worse. We need a Leader. We don't hate you, Mr. President. We are just very very disappointed, that is all. We need and beg for someone who can inspire us. And we cannot be inspired, forever, by lies. We need to hear the Truth, every day. In the last two days, we have heard some Truth from you. The first time in 5 years!!! Keep up the good work, Mr. President!!! I guess Karl Rove broke down, ran out of ideas, and threw up his hands, and suggested you try telling the Truth, for a change. What a change! Keep it up! But what is wrong with Karl? Is he too busy? Fitz will never be able to nab that Traitor. Why don't you tell Karl some more National Secrets, so that he can give Bob Novak another call? At least we know that Mr. Novak, and Mr. Rove, and Mr. Libby, and all the rest of those Traitors, will never have to spend a night in jail, so long as you are the President of the USA!!! But I am worried about Karl. I never thought that he would stoop so low as to resort to telling the Truth! I'm a Republican. When I have to start listening to the Truth, which is not very often, it makes me sort of nervous. Your Humble Citizen, A BuzzFlash Reader Subject: A Letter I Sent to Bill O'Reilly As warriors for Christendom, surely you must be aware that not all Christians celebrate Christmas. For millions of Christians in the United States, celebrating Christmas is actually a sin which perpetuates paganism and the incorrect history that the Christ was born in Winter rather than Spring. Such Christians prefer to answer the seasonal salutation "Merry Christmas" with a more vague "Happy Holidays" and opt out of Christmas trees, decorating, exchanging presents. Most of these non-Christmas Christians will tell you that the only Christian fact about the Christmas holiday is that Jesus was indeed born in Bethlehem and the guy who dresses like a clown and calls himself Santa Claus is a remnant of the historic good deacon of the early church. To know that such anti-Christmas Christians exist, all you have to do is google the words "Should Christians Celebrate Christmas?" But then, I'm sure you've done your research. Therefore, I'm totally confused that you would pretend to rally all of Christian dom in the United States beneath your Christmas banner. One does not have to be an Atheist, a Jew or a Scrooge or a Liberal to say "No thanks" to Christmas. A BuzzFlash Reader Subject: Award for Best Description of George W. Bush AWARD FOR BEST DESCRIPTION OF GEORGE W. BUSH. TO: LEON HADAR FOR - "A PARROT ON CRACK"
A BuzzFlash Reader CLICK HERE FOR PART 2 OF THE DECEMBER 15, 2005 BUZZFLASH MAILBAG |
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