February 15, 2006

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 FEBRUARY 15, 2006 BUZZFLASH MAILBAG. CLICK HERE FOR PART 1

Subject: Does the comparison ring a bell?

Nice excerpt from a speech by a former CIA guy running for congress in Michigan.... Does the comparison ring a bell?

We fought the Soviets and I fought the Soviets because they had a fatally flawed, intolerable system of government where (and think about this):

The government was always right and never apologized;

Any dissent was suppressed, ridiculed, banned or worse;

Secret prisons were denied and never acknowledged or spoken about;

The torture of captives (in Lubyanka) was condoned;

State incarceration was not subject to the checks and balances of a legal system;

Economic plans, like for oil, were established/determined in closed sessions between politicos, commissars and production managers, far outside public view, and where government claimed privilege in so doing;

Wages were set at the lowest common denominator, no matter what Bloc country you were in;

Government agents had access to your medical records, your library records, your telephone, and your e-mail.

A place where judicial power and judicial review were proclaimed concepts, but simply ignored in application;

Where criminal records of young adults were closed to all but the military;

Where a Constitution was a mere facade and ignored by state actors.

Any dissent, debate and protest were deemed unpatriotic;

The public media was bought, paid for, and provided by the state;

... Since 1995 the Republican Party and its friends in the American corporate structures that so vigorously contribute to and support them have---in the space of a decade---created in this country more than the beginnings of a system that this country spent 50 years trying to dismantle.

While it remains to be seen how much we, the working class, Democrats, Republicans, Independents, Greens, Libertarians, Liberals or Conservatives (or just plain confused) can do to unwind this damage, it is an absolute certainty what the Republican Party has done, and is doing.  I shudder to think where the Republican Party wants this country to be, but I pray we do not have to find out. ...

http://www.marcinkowskiforcongress.com/speeches...

A BuzzFlash Reader

Subject: Cheney shooting

oh for christ sake, why in the world would they tell bush when cheney didn't have bush told when the whole world thought the white house was under attack? we were watching thousands running into the streets! bush's wife is thrown into some kind of bunker and cheney didn't think bush needed to know. so why tell him anything else? bush is a joke and cheney knows and treats him as such.

shorty
tn

Was Cheney drinking, and WAS THAT THE REASON THE SECRET SERVICE WOULDN'T LET ANYONE SEE CHENEY FOR MORE THAN 12 HOURS AFTER THE SHOOTING???

Harriet Helman
Ronkonkoma, New York

Subject: So the BLEEP-in-Chief is talking about HSAs at...Wendy's??? 

Dear Buzzers --

OK, brief review here. I'll skip over the fact that we were lied into a "war on terrah" (of course, there's no such thing. It would be like me launching a "war on stupidity" or a "war on greed," both of which are obviously alive and flourishing. Or that we're now being duped into another war, this time against Iran? (Yep, more oil at stake.) Or Syria. Or both. I will, however, refer indirectly to the fact that Cheney, et al., is STILL (after a 24+ hour delay in reporting that he'd shot his hunting buddy; I've never seen Harry Whittington, but I assume he must look like a quail) hasn't responded to specific questions about how an incident this absurd could have happened.

Now he's pushing Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) at, of all places, Wendy's. What's the next stop on his agenda? McDonald's? Burger King? Arby's? (Can't you just hear the people behind the counter? "Mr. President, would you like your bulls**t supersized?"

As we -- at least people in my own marginal situation financially (and obviously there are people "out there" in much more desperate circumstances than mine) -- know all too well, have to struggle to pay rent, utilities, Internet access fees, and...oh, yeah, to buy FOOD. What a concept! -- where the BLEEP are we supposed to find the money to "invest" in HSAs? Where the BLEEP is a diaspora-ed, recently exiled from a hotel room thanks to the bungled FEMA efforts and total lack of coordination (of course, there's a more sinister possibility lurking in the wings here: was the evacuation of New Orleans -- or, more correctly, the FAILURE TO PROVIDE FOR THE EVACUATION of the poor and mostly black residents -- an accident, or an attempt to turn the city into top-dollar real estate? Sorry for the digression, but it came from the heart.

Appearing at Wendy's today to promote HSAs to people who can barely afford to eat is an obscenity.

Meanwhile, Cheney continues to stonewall. The Repukelicans continue to rubber stamp. The Dems continue (with, as I've said before, some exceptions. But not enough ...) to cave under pressure.

I hope Dubya travels on to McDonalds and chokes on a french -- oh, I forgot: "freedom" fry. Maybe he'll hit his head, once again, but this time have some sense (not to mention compassion and human decency) knocked into it.

Excuse the rant (and the typos). As Buzzers who know me are aware, I write at white heat, smoke coming out of my ears, and don't proofread until it's too late to catch my errors. But my heart's in the right place. And so are YOUR hearts.

Barbara Lee (Barb) Blazyk
Athens, GA Still (sigh) Blue soul in Red state

Subject: Is anyone in charge in the Waffle House? - King Richard

Dick Cheney was appointed by Bush I to select a VP. He selected himself and hired his left over Nixon Pals in PNAC.

Bush is a Recovering Alcoholic per his own admission. See Judy Keen—USA Today-12-29-05.

Rove-Cheney-Rumsfeld let him PLAY the part of President. They keep him out of the White House. Vacations and Speaking to only friendly crowds. They know his alcoholic temper will explode with many questions not in his favor. How many days over five years has he been out of the White House?

How many days has Cheney been in the White House while he was out of it?

Bush cannot concentrate. He cannot sit and read for any extended period. He cannot watch TV for any prolonged period. It is early to bed or he is exhausted by 11 p.m. He cannot ride a hoss. Well, at K-Mart perhaps.

He used wireless transmitter for a debate. Undeniable. NASA enlargement shows truth. Interpreter for him during Indonesia visit made this remark:

“He did not know much of Indonesia until he met with the Prime Minister then he seemed to be an expert. I sat close to him and now I know why I kept hearing voices.”

Bush is told where to go and what to say. His lack of knowledge and dumbness come out when he is not reading script or talking points.

He is KEPT out of the White House.

Remember his mom saying, “Cheney and Rumsfeld are creating the problems for him” - Po' lil baby.

Clarence Swinney

Subject: Cheney

I came across this article from 2003, regarding Dick Cheney's preference for "canned" hunts:  

Dick Cheney is under fire for shooting birds. The Vice President has come under attack from an animal rights group for participating in a "canned hunt" in which he reportedly killed pheasants that were released for the purpose of being shot by hunters. The increasingly low-profile V.P. was taken to Pittsburgh by Air Force Two earlier this week where his security detail loaded him and his favorite shotgun into a Humvee, and went to Rolling Rock Club in Ligonier Township, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. There, he and nine other hunting buddies shot at 500 ringneck pheasants, killing 417 of them. The V.P. was credited with offing 70 of the birds, as well as an unknown number of mallard ducks.

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/3675813/

I'd forgotten about this. But man-oh-man. The guy just creeps me out. 

Maureen

Subject: United Arab Emirates Firm To Secretly Own Blue State/City Ports

This story was first "exposed" --buried, more correctly -- in Sunday's Washington Post on p. A17.

Today, the Washington Moonie Times, of all media outlets, came out with an editorial against the sale that actually made sense.

http://www.washtimes.com/op-ed/20060214-102147-5104r.htm

The ports are a weak link in our nation's security, and the Bush administration is going about hush-hush with this deal. If another catastrophic incident happens to America, the ports cited in this editorial just might be involved in the tragic matter.

This sale stinks.

Robert Baran
Venetia, PA

Subject: NSA surveillance

Buzzers -

This article is from the Washington Post, Feb 15

[Republican and Democratic sources] attributed the shift to last week's closed briefings given by top administration officials to the full House and Senate intelligence committees, and to private appeals to wavering GOP senators by officials, including Vice President [shoot without looking, then cover it up] Cheney. "It's been a full-court press," said a top Senate Republican aide who asked to speak only on background - as did several others for this story - because of the classified nature of the intelligence committees' work.

Congressional Probe of NSA Spying Is in Doubt: White House Sways Some GOP Lawmakers (Washington Post)

One wonders what toxic mix of threats, promises, and lies the administration is using to try to quash this investigation.

Where are the spines?

I wrote my representative and senators, but they're not ones who need to be persuaded. Anyone out there represented by Republicans should be sure to do the same, especially any Buzz readers from Wisconsin who are in Sensenbrenner's district. He is the chair of the House Judiciary Committee. I heard at a Town Meeting on the NSA surveillance at Faneuil Hall in Boston on Jan 30 that was organized by Rep. Ed Markey and the ACLU that Sensenbrenner is opposed to holding hearings. HOLD HIS FEET TO THE FIRE! (NB to anyone monitoring emails. This is a figure of speech.)

Colleen Clark
Cambridge, MA

Subject: Mailbag 2/15/06 Part 1

First to the Buzzer who's brother is so in love with Bush.....I have been there...and I thank you for putting it into words. I heard so many times after the election of Bush that there was such a visceral jealousy of Bill Clinton by the people of this country who thought they were religious. I have a brother the same...he had no pictures of Bush, that I know of....and he does not tout him at every turn...but, since 2000, he has not spoken to me much, either. So, I am not sure if he is that avid anymore. The one thing that will bring him down (he is such a spendthrift, tight as a rubber band,) if something happens to his retirement...he will not like that...however, if he can he will blame it on Clinton...he will never admit it is Bush's fault! Incidentally, this brother was at one time...a philanderer! (I have a son who is also like this) that one concerns me more!)

Tom Wieliczka...thanks for the "Pissed off" letter about Hackett...we must all start to send letters to Schumer...etc...everyone who might have had a hand in this. What the hell are they concerned about...we need this man in office!

Bonnie Matheson...Thank you...for just putting my thoughts into words. This is really bad news about Paul Hackett. I cannot believe a veteran back from Iraq...who can tell it like it really is...is being blackballed by the democrats...surely they have lost their combined minds. I can understand Lieberman...but, the rest of them...it does not even pass the smell test!

And, so far as the Cheney thing..there will be more....I think more and more info will come out...and it will all point to something illegal...but, as usual, nothing will be done!

Shirley...........St. Louis

Subject: More on the MSNBC scrub story 

My friend brings up an interesting angle: the "Baker" that Katharine Armstrong lobbies on behalf of is James Baker, of stolen 2000 election fame, and who represented Saudis against their American victims in 9/11 lawsuits. She brings up some interesting speculation.

A BuzzFlash Reader

Subject: Who was in the Cheney hunting party? 

Dear BuzzFlash,

I hate to go here---but from what I remember, the hunting party consisted of Cheney, Whittington, Katharine Armstrong and Pamela Willeford, US Ambassador to Switzerland. If this had involved a Democrat, the GOP would be insinuating that because there were two men and two women involved, there might be something else going on. How many Secret Service people were there? Just wondering.

A BuzzFlash Reader