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| January 30, 2006 |
Mailbag ARCHIVES | ||
The BuzzFlash Mailbag The opinions expressed in the Mailbag are not necessarily those of BuzzFlash. More reader opinion is at "Contributors." You can write to Mailbag at http://www.BuzzFlash.com/contact/mail.html. Guidelines for submissions are at BuzzFlash FAQ #18. THIS IS PART 2 OF THE JANUARY 30, 2006 BuzzFlash MAILBAG. CLICK HERE FOR PART 1 GIVE ME LIBERTY OR GIVE ME DEATH. IF THIS BE TREASON, SO MAKE THE MOST OF IT. http://www.law.ou.edu/hist/henry.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrick_Henry Sawiser Subject: Patriots Supporting the Filibuster To all Patriots - Time to pitch the Yogi Berra quote: "It ain't over till it's over." Keep fighting - call, send faxes, write emails. To the Senators, to the media. To your friends. To your enemies. Show them all that we have gone through the ancient Cardinal Virtues of being (4)"silent" (the last one) around the horn to (1)"to know" (2) "to will", and are finally in action at (3) "TO DARE". Here's some things you might say to your target audience: For the sake of the Senate and our form of government, and the American people, please filibuster to stop the confirmation of Samuel Alito. For the preservation of our form of balanced government... or..our constitutional democracy. This issue goes beyond the traditional political divisions to the very core principles on which our country is founded. Stop the abuse of power by the Bush administration. Save Congress and the Supreme Court Those senators who do not support curbing the Alito confirmation will be declaring their Loyalist affiliation rather than being on the Patriot side of this basic, historic divide within our country. We the People will support only those who uphold the Constitution and our present democratic republican government. The senators should be advised that we are watching. In the beginning there were the Loyalists, who followed the commands of the one strong unitary executive, George III. Then came the Patriots who rejected the doctrine of the one powerful ruler. With the Declaration of Independence, the Patriots dared to defy the will of the unitary executive and a new country, a democratic republic, was born. Now, as then, we who uphold the word of the Patria -- the Founding Fathers -- are battling the Unitary Executive, another George, and his Loyalists. In the end, we will prevail, as we have always beaten back the enemies of the people -- We the People. It is time to choose sides. Are you on the side of the Patriots or the Loyalists? Are you a leader who will uphold the Constitution and the other declarations set forth by the Founding Fathers? Or will you submit in loyal obedience to the Powers that Be? America and the whole world is watching - history will judge you accordingly. The national toll free numbers are 888-355-3588, 888-818-6641 and 800-426-8073, just ask for any senator by name. Rick Kellis Subject: BuzzFlash - Getting the Word Out Okay, I did my best to make it simple for everyone I know, and I sent it to more than just 3 people. If your readers wish, they can copy and paste this to their friends to make it simple for them. Thanks BuzzFlash! And thanks for publishing my contributions. I'm glad you appreciate my scathing humor - I certainly enjoy yours! This is the email I sent:
A BuzzFlash Reader Subject: Your Opinion on the SOTU Dear BuzzFlash, I am a regular reader of BuzzFlash, and I don’t think that I would have made it through the last 6 years of the Bush regime without it. But I have a question to BuzzFlash about the current situation we are facing. I totally agree that we all must bombard our senators and congressmen for the next few days over the Alito situation. But I am curious as to why BuzzFlash hasn’t mentioned that this Tuesday there will be nationwide anti-SOTU demonstrations. Here in Chicago, this Tuesday there will be a demonstration in Daley Plaza at 5 pm to Protest the current SOTU. I don’t believe that calling our representatives is enough, though I think it is necessary and should be part of a bigger plan. I’m tired of crossing my fingers and hoping that maybe THIS time the Democrats will get it together and do what is right. This needs to be taken to a different level. If we all really believe that what we are facing is in fact fascism, then we cannot be politically active just by sitting at our laptop reading or writing a blog. We must begin to build a movement of civil disobedience nationwide and take this into the streets. BuzzFlash seems to me to be the most logical place where something like this could be organized. The readership is already motivated and ready. We should make this coming summer “The Summer of Discontent” around the country. If we don’t act now, then when? When is the right time for all of us to stand up together and shake things up? After our Constitution is gone? After we don’t recognize this country anymore? We are not doing enough. I think people are more than ready to do this if they see someone start leading it. I know it is a lot to ask, but can't BuzzFlash be the catalyst for this kind of action? I would like to know what you think, and hope that you will respond honestly. Is my plan naïve? Am I unrealistic? What are we going to finally do about this horrible situation that none of us can deny is really happening right now in this country? If this is fascism, can we afford not to take serious action? Is it the time for civil disobedience? When is the right time? I would love to know your opinion. Sincerely, A BuzzFlash Reader [BuzzFlash Note: We are all for activism - and our readers should be acting. Our own mission at BuzzFlash is to communicate, to educate, and to build and support the pro-democracy anti-hypocrisy community. We're not organizers. But we'll be aggresive in reporting on the organizers and the activists.] Subject: To Leadership of the Democratic Leadership Council, I have watched as the DLC and Al From hobbled first Al Gore in 2000 and then Kerry in 2004 with fear of sounding like Liberals; advising them to keep throwing those softballs so they don't offend anybody, especially the Republicans. Election fraud? Hush, hush! Swiftboat Liars? Hush, hush. You are utter failures as strategists. There IS NO VITAL CENTER! The center is not vital, it is completly disinterested in politics. The vital forces operating in politics today are these: the Neocons, their Enablers (you guys) and the Progressives (the real grass roots activists who are spending the weekend trying to get invertebrates like Joe Biden to vote for the filibuster of Alito). Are you the idiots who are telling the Democratic Senators to keep their powder dry? For what? Alito is Gettysburg. Once confirmed we will be sliding further down that slippery slope to a dictatorship and every Senator who didn't oppose Alito, including Republicans, is voting to hand the power of the Congress to the Executive branch, voting to give away their ability to represent the people they were elected to serve because Bush believes in "signing statements" and a Unitary Executive, both ideas promoted by Alito. The DLC is so screwed up that Eisenhower would be far too liberal to be considered a DLC Democrat, and that is truly shameful. The 65% of Americans that want single payer healthcare are the MAINSTREAM. The people you consider the "far left" are just old-fashioned Democrats, fighting for traditional Democratic issues. You guys are so beholden to Corporate money and lobbyists that you wouldn't know a traditional Democratic issue if it jumped out of your Blackberry and pissed Pharma kickbacks on your Oil kickbacks. Stop being part of the problem and start being part of the solution. The Liberal wing of the Democratic party has all the juice. Those still siding with the lobbyists over the people will fail, because the people ultimately hold the power and we will rise. Leslie in Oregon Subject: Barack Should Be Leading the Charge Against Alito! Yes, let's go after the current Democratic leadership -- but we shouldn't let the next generation off the hook either. Who better to lead the charge against Alito than Barack Obama, a man who not only connects with people, but also has the legal background to make the case?
Sincerely, Sharon Marzano Subject: TOTALLY TURNED OFF BY DEMS' LACK OF BACKBONE AND FIGHT just sent this to barbara boxer--and i mean it just want you to know - I am 58 yo woman who was very involved in democrat politics. i cannot bear to watch you all cower under republican threats. out party has no message, no voice, no spine. the republicans took all the clinton years and made them totally miserable and investigated everything and got on every tv show they could talking about how corrupt and wrong they thought his administration was. we just let them walk all over us. i will vote in elections-but my interest in activism is over-i cannot bear to watch the death dance of the dems anymore. barbara you are my senator-dianne is a joke-she should be a republican. karin dicker Subject: Sen. Reid, tell the American people: 'We're not here to break the government.' It's time to stand up and stop this nomination, not by complaining or whining, but by going on the offensive and staying on the offensive. Harry Reid is the kind of man who could make the following kind of speech; I hope that he will:
Seize the moment, or be seized by it. We have nothing to fear, but fear itself. Mike Dunn (first posted on Democraticunderground.com) Subject: Are You a Loser? I want to crystalize, simplify, distill and reduce to the essence of what the driving ethos of what it means to be in the oppositional minority. This is it--- When your opponent tells you you can't win, look them square in the eye and reply, "Then I have nothing to lose"! Jay Bagi Subject: Filibuster Coverage By NBC Friday and Saturday Nights I just want you to know what I've sent to NBC.
Pam Clifford Subject: Trust, BuzzFlash Style Which is what it is going to take for we the people to change the world. Trust both In ourselves and in the spirit for which we all stand; that there's one and only one humanity, with liberty, justice and equality for all, nobody left out. And, in regards to the afterwards; perhaps just that that best be kept open and left up for grabs. A BuzzFlash Reader Subject: Happy Thomas Paine Day! "We have it in our power to begin the world over again." Joyce Chumbley Subject: My State of the Union For Bush It should not take me long to talk and waste your time ... since this is the state of the union address. But what I have to say will be short a sweet and something you already heard. First and foremost the economy is bustling and I want to make the tax cuts permanent. Second the war in Iraq is going just as planned ... just keep the good faith ... And on terrorism ... With that in mind I will assure you that we will get the terrorists. And the patriot act needs to be continued unlimited for the sake of capturing the terrorists ... As far as I am concerned I am done. Thank you and good night. Ron Subject: Hamas!!?? Now You Know How I Feel So the Palestinians have found democracy, and what do they do? They elect one of their most violent and dangerous factions to run their new nation. Hamas, the terrorist organization responsible for killing scores of Israeli civilians, many women and children, with suicide bombs, has been duly elected by a significant majority of voters. Undisputed. They won. They weren’t even expecting to win. They had hoped to get maybe 40% of the vote and make a major political statement. Around the globe, governments and individuals are scrambling to understand what the implications will be. But more so, they are asking the question, “How could this have happened? How could they elect Hamas?” Well, if you’re asking those questions, then you know how I feel everyday, being an American, where a slim majority of my fellow citizens decided to re-elect George W. Bush. It is unfathomable to me how it could have happened – barring electronic vote rigging, smear campaigns by shadow groups, the Republican attack machine, and of course the “liberal” media. Who a man who did SO many things wrong in his first four years in office could be granted another four, is mind-boggling. Let’s quickly recount GWB’s actions that earned him a second term: • Ignored a printed, black and white threat to America handed right to him that said Bin Laden would hijack plans and attack the U.S. with them • Tricked Americans into believing Sadam was responsible for 9/11, when he knew there was no link between Iraq and 9/11, to bolster support for his pre-planned war • Premeditatedly used faulty intelligence and lied to America to start a war with Iraq. • Stalled investigations after someone in his administration leak the name of a CIA operative in retaliation for Joe Wilson telling the truth to world and then had Scooter Libby lie to the prosecutor investigating. Oh and he refused to testify under oath (wonder why?) • Lied that he would let the weapons inspectors do their job and ordered them out of Iraq so he could start bombing Iraq • Failed to appropriately plan his war which lead to a quagmire and a massive increase in terrorist activity around the world and over 2200 American soldiers have died for it • Failed to capture Osama Bin Laden • Lied to America about obtaining warrants to spy on Americans with wire taps • Had his lackeys cover up the cost of the prescription drug bill and blackmail moderate republicans to vote for it, which is not proving to be a huge disaster of a program • For years has said that the troops would have the equipment they need but only NOW has the army ordered the needed body armor for soldiers in Iraq. The list goes ON and ON and ON, and I sit here STUNNED out of my mind that over half of the voters in 2004 felt he deserved to stay in office! Millions, perhaps billions, around the globe are just as stunned by Bush’s reelection as they are Hamas’ democratic victory. So now you know how I feel. And this is why the 2006 mid-term election is your chance to RECALL pResident George W. Bush. The massive accumulation of power by Republicans threatens our Constitution and very freedom. The soldiers of GWB's anti-democracy-at-home army, the republicans in Congress, must be removed and replaced by inviduals, no matter if they are independents, green party, libertarian or democrat, the will fulfill their oath of office and uphold the constitution and not just protect their own interest and party members. Tom Loveman Subject: Chuck Hagel - Hypocrite Senator Chuck Hagel (R-Nebraska) on This Week With George Stephanopoulos, when asked about whether George Bush should release photos and notes on his meetins with Jack Abramoff, Hagel said, "My personal opinion on these things is just get it out. ... Disclosure is the best and most effective way to deal with all these things." I wonder how willing he'd be to talk openly about the fact that he was chairman of AIS (American Information Systems, Inc., now ES&S, Election Systems and Software) during the early 90s and only resigned as chairman in early March, 1995, a mere three weeks before announcing his run for the U.S. Senate in Nebraska. An official at Nebraska’s Election Administration estimated that ES&S machines tallied 85 percent of the votes cast in Hagel’s 2002 and 1996 election races. Just think about the enormity of that and what it means for our democracy. Judy Williams Subject: "State of the Union" Address Where can I go for an interactive, streaming, discussion board to read comments about Herr Dicktator's pronouncements on the "Union"? Hopefully something other than a drinking game will be suggested. Ken in Essex, CT Subject: Re: "Myth of the Center" In most of the polls, when people are informed of actual positions or facts that they are unaware of, their responses shift dramatically away from the "perceived center" all the way over toward many of the positions advocated by the so-called "fiery liberals." I know this to be true. In the last election, I worked the phones to get dems out to vote for Kerry. Those who supported Bush were so misinformed. Most of the time when we talked about the issues they were shocked to hear about Bush's real positions and they changed their minds. Rose Subject: What 1st Amendment Rights" Last Wednesday I was successful in having a letter printed in the AR Democrat-Gazette.
On Friday my municipal job was eliminated and I was sent packing. Any suggestions? Brad Turner Subject: Fly Your Flag Upside Down On Tuesday BuzzFlash: Your work is awesome. I propose you launch a nationwide protest movement regarding the Alito vote and the "State of the Union" speech, scheduled for Tuesday 1/31/2006. I think everyone should fly their American flags upside down on Tuesday 1/31/2006 to show (1) we are the true patriots and not the chicken hawks; and, (2) this is a nation in distress and in peril. As an alternative, people can buy an American flag bumper sticker and put it on the bumper upside down. Now don't go off on me that this is stupid. I vote. I donate to activist causes. I volunteer. What I am trying to do now is get people mobilized. Remember the protests in the Ukraine? Wouldn't it be a great statement if all across America citizens' flags were flying upside down on Tuesday showing what we really thought of the "state of the union?" Thanks for considering this! A BuzzFlash Reader Subject: Send Letter Like This to Any Newspaper That Carries Coulter's Column To the Editors of the Hamilton Journal News, Hamilton, Ohio: Right-wing commentator and Republican spokesperson Ann Coulter last week (01/27/06) publically called to have Supreme Court Justice Stevens assassinated, in the interests of packing the court to the right. "We need somebody to put rat poisoning in Justice Stevens' creme brulee", the scarecrow harridan said to the crowd at Philander Smith College in Little Rock, Arkansas last Friday night. Should a deadly coup against our system of government be so publically advocated by a high profile "pundit" without any sanctions being imposed? You must drop Ms. Coulter from your list of contributing columnists; and you must do so explicitly in print and with a strong condemnation of her statements. This kind of behavior cannot be tolerated, and any media outlet that gives such traitors to our constitution any support are complicit in their treason. Ken Duerksen Subject: Re: BuzzFlash Editorial on the Center Dear BuzzFlash: Outstanding article on the myth of the political center. You nailed 3 core tenets for establishing a progressive-liberal-moderate supermajority. 1. 75% of Americans believe in our progressive values. We just vary on the degree and details here and there. 2. The political center can not be defined way to the right of center. 3. Republicans lose everywhere when it's about issues, and those issues are framed properly, as you did in your questioning. Bravo. Bravo. Bravo. I hope every Democratic politician uses the language you used in forthcoming elections. Big Dave from Queens Subject: What W Has Taught Senator Obama Because George W. Bush spends much of his time influencing public opinion, many of us regard him as a dangerous man. Now we have a Democrat, Senator Obama, emulating him. Consider the following:
The DEMOCRATS NEED TO CONVINCE THE PUBLIC????? Sorry sir, but you've got the cart before the horse. YOUR JOB is to carry out the wishes of your constituents. Perhaps you ought to have a chat with John Kerry. He understands how this democracy thing works. Pam Clifford Subject: Democrats, the Party of Irrelevance I was extremely disappointed to read that the neophyte senator form Illinois Barack Obama has decided to help the party of political corruption cement absolute control over the government for next two generations. Reid, Byrd, Schumer, Nelson and others have just signed the death certificate of the Democratic Party by again proving that the lack of will to stand for anything, means standing for nothing. As the Democrats have become completely irrelevant in the arena of the federal government, we must look elsewhere for our champions. I personally will no longer waste any funds, energy or time trying to protect a suicidal organization from itself. Goodbye old friend. Rest in Peace. Jan M. Shawyer Subject: Misled Senators Senator Dianne Fienstein's recent contention that she was "misled" into voting for Bush's war just can't go on. It's an excuse for the spinelessness of EVERY REPRESENTATIVE WHO HAS GONE ALONG WITH BUSH LIES TO US. WE HAVE TO LET THEM KNOW WE'RE TIRED OF THIS LIE TO THE AMERICAN PUBLIC. Sure some of the people were fooled but if WE, the progressives ALL KNEW, WERE SAYING THEN THERE WERE NO WMD'S AND WERE BEGGING BUSH NOT TO INVADE IRAQ, OUR CONGRESS AND SENATE SURE AS HELL KNEW!!! Just stop this lie to US to cover your failure Dianne, Kerry, Biden, Clinton, Lincoln, Pryor and the rest of you who are so transparent. You are supposed to be our checks and balance system. A BuzzFlash Reader Subject: What Would Happen If I Made the Same Comments About Stevens? Hi BuzzFlash, With all of Bush's Illegal Spying via The NSA or FBI on American Citizens, I'm curious what would happen to ME, if I had made the same, exact comments pertaining to Supreme Court Judge Stevens that Ann Coulter did? What would happen if I made the same threat against Bush or Anybody in Congress using Coulter's exact words but just changing the name of the person I wanted assassinated? Can You Spell "Into the Slammer" in a Nano-Second? You had better be able to, because that is where You or I would be by making such a threat to anybody in The White House, Congress or The Supreme Court. I find it interesting that the word "Assassination" runs rampant in the Republican Party's vocabulary. After all, wasn't it Pat Robertson who recently wanted Chavez "assassinated"? That's not the same Bible I read, that allows the killing of people! Anybody see Ann Coulter or Pat Robertson hauled off in cuffs and an orange jump suit to a high security prison, yet? I didn't think so! They're Republicans who can do or say any damn thing they want to, without paying the consequences! Sure hope they let me send a letter to BuzzFlash after this letter gets published. Tom Wieliczka
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