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| February 27, 2006 |
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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 27, 2006 BUZZFLASH MAILBAG. CLICK HERE FOR PART 1 [BuzzFlash Note: Many of today's letters reference our editorial, There is No Choice "C" in the Battle to Restore Democracy to America, and our Saturday email alert. Thanks for your very positive response.] To: BuzzFlash: You are doing fine. Keep up the good work. I need to know this news. I am reading The Left Hand of God by Michael Lerner. I appreciate your book postings. I hope that you can find a spiritual place to replenish yourself. It must take a toll on those at BuzzFlash.com constantly having to look at reality and report it to the rest of us. Please keep doing what you are doing. You are helping to save our world with information. It must be working because you have rubbed some people wrong (probably closet Republicans). Outrage is o.k. if it wakes up more and more people to this downward spiral within our White House, Congress, and our so called "civil society." But do not become what you abhor in this present group of far right capitalists. Do not become so enraged that you lose effectiveness. Remember the old saying about when angry, "When angry, count to 10, then a least after that your aim is better!" Do not become like them. Keep your love in there somewhere, o.k.? You are doing this because you love your fellow man and woman, planet, correct? All we need is love, love, love is all we need---it will win out over all this war mongering, and hatred of the poor that is so present today. Hope and love will win ultimately. This is truth, not pie in the sky. Keep us informed out here. You are helping us all. Janet Archer Dear Buzz, Please take this in the spirit it is offered: I just read your editorial about people dropping from BuzzFlash because it is too shrill and angry. That really grabbed me because I had recently limited my exposure to Buzz and other sites, not because I don't think you're right, I know you are, but because I don't think we are being as effective as we could be - and I do mean 'we' - because of our anger. I had just spent almost an hour with a Republican Conservative Christian neighbor of mine. I ran into him on the street and we talked about politics, religion, the usual. Not for the first or last time. I was more firm with him this time than I have ever been about his responsibilities as a Christian - that he not only cannot support Bush and the Republican Party but that he must publicly disavow them. I was firm, not angry, and sure of what I said. Those who blindly support BushCo have blood on their hands. "What's my choice", he asked, "Kerry? Hilary?" I told him that was a cop-out, a distraction from facing what is being done in our name. This isn't about Republican or Democrat; this is about right and wrong. Then I came inside and turned on my computer and saw your editorial. I have to tell you, I too have been having trouble lately with the anger and hatred I feel towards the criminals who have stolen my country and murdered in my name. I have to rein myself in, because being angry isn't bringing about change. It serves only to feed the other side. They like it when we look angry and shrill. They’re even using it as a talking point. We're continually pissed off; they're still getting away with it all. It would be different if the anger was getting people stirred up enough to get out and do something. But that isn't happening. Roughly the same numbers of people, maybe less, are protesting now as were in 2000, and the other side has successfully marginalized protestors. In fact, on the internet the opposite seems to be happening. If you read the comments section from any number of blogs you'll see that we are using the internet to vent our anger, and then.....nothing. We don't do jackshit after that. How many comments sections will have hundreds of comments that go on for hours? We spill all our indignation online, and then we're done. And BushCo just keeps on taking and taking and killing and killing while we are talking and talking. I'll give you an example: Mary Matalin went on Meet the Press last week to spin for Cheney. The blogs went wild afterwards attacking her. They attacked her lies but more significantly, they attacked her; her looks, her hair, her clothes, even her nails. They called her names. And I thought, we look petty and mean-spirited, and, what's worse, we look emasculated. Here we are, facing what should be a no-brainer, a blatant professional liar, and we are blowing it because we are so angry that we focus, like bitchy high school adolescents, on her looks instead of her lies. Who, on the other side of the fence, or in the middle, would read those blogs and want to separate themselves from her lies and stand with us when we are focused on attacking how she looked? And, the upshot is, she got to put the lies out for the record, which is all they care about, and all we did is snipe about her online to each other. What was accomplished by that? Is this the best we have to offer? I do not negate the good that has been done by the blogs and sites, they are the only source out there pulling the information together, but, I definitely feel a certain stagnation. Every time the Bush Administration does some abominable thing, the blogs rant, the trolls come out, the comments devolve into insult fests, and then – nothing - until the next affront and the whole process repeats. Bush’s poll numbers are stuck at 39%, Cheney’s are worse. The vast majority of Americans doesn’t believe them or trust them, they should already be facing impeachment, yet we can’t close this deal. Why not? We can blame our Democratic politicians, but they act in response to the stimuli they get from their constituents. They aren’t getting enough yet to make enough of them step out and put it all on the line. How do we get to the next level and really make change? What will it take for the vast majority of Americans, the ones who never see the sites we look at every day, to feel compelled to force the needed change? To feel so strongly that the status quo is morally, ethically and spiritually wrong that there must be a change? And I think it is this: when enough Americans have a sea change in attitude, when our collective thinking reaches the point of no return, the same point where slavery became an abomination instead of an economic choice, the same point where child labor stopped being an acceptable business practice or wife beating became morally reprehensible instead of a husband’s right and duty, the point where even conservative Christians like my neighbor understand the horrible wrongs their support and inaction perpetuate and then they actively, vocally, refuse to be a part of it anymore, then we'll see change. We must focus on making this change the irresistible "Idea Whose Time Has Come". How do we do this? I believe that first it requires an attitude shift on our part. If we're going to be angry, it's got to be righteous, triumphal anger – Jesus throwing the money lenders out of the temple anger, Patrick Henry, “Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death” anger - not the scared, resentful anger of the bully's victim. And we must remember that the anger isn't the point. The indignant, "look what they've done now, how dare they!" anger doesn't mean jack. It's ineffective. Worse, it’s weak. Short of human sacrifices on the South Lawn, BushCo has already done more than enough to be brought down and it still hasn’t happened, because, as of now, there is not yet the attitude among the American public that they must be stopped, that no other course is acceptable. When Martin Luther King Jr. marched on Washington and made his “I Have a Dream” speech, it wasn’t an angry rant and it wasn’t a list of moral offenses, although it certainly could have been. It was filled with righteousness, even righteous anger, but it wasn’t angry. It was inspirational. It lifted us all up, black and white, and because of that, it was the defining moment that changed America’s attitude towards the Civil Rights Movement. This is what we are missing. Harping about what is wrong is not half as motivating as inspiring people to believe that they must turn away from injustice, from fear, from anger and towards hope. We know how important grass roots work is, that's where effective lasting change comes from, and I think that's where the attitude shift must start. Right now, our political dialogue is no more than dueling talking points. This is incredibly ineffective for us, great for the liars. Obfuscation and confusion, they know it and play it for all it's worth. They’ve spent millions perfecting this ineffectiveness. But dueling talking points do not change attitudes. We need to touch people in a way that changes their attitudes at the most basic level. I think if we show the American people that they have a choice, and an obligation, not to accept the misery inflicted on the world by this regime we’ll be half way there. I think BuzzFlash is a natural channel for grass roots dialogue. I have a couple of suggestions. One is a suggestion for a couple of BuzzFlash premiums. These are works that have changed my perspective on how to be effective and how powerful we can be to effect change. I offer them because they may help empower more of us to make this change happen. One is a book called, "The Tipping Point" by Malcolm Gladwell. http://www.gladwell.com/tippingpoint/index.html. It is about how ideas, even societal changes, can quickly spread, just like a contagious virus. A small idea or change can spread and suddenly take on the properties of an epidemic. And that's what we need, an epidemic of attitude change. We need even conservative Republicans to start wondering why Cheney and Bush aren't in jail, just as anyone now would wonder how we ever thought selling humans into slavery was morally acceptable. The other is a DVD called "What the Bleep Do We Know?" http://www.whatthebleep.com/. This is an incredible work. It looks at many things, including the physical effect of thoughts on the quantum level. It looks at what we have learned about the actual, physical power of thought. It also looks at the addictive nature of emotional thoughts and how negative thoughts, angry thoughts, become biochemically addictive. How the brain will actually "loop", like a malfunctioning computer program and repeat negative thoughts over and over again. I think many of us are stuck there right now – and I think that’s one source of our ineffectiveness. The Bush Administration has effectively used this manipulated fear and anger to keep the American people cowed. What will happen when we break free of this? “Free at last, free at last, thank God almighty, we are free at last.” If, on the other hand, our anger is self-perpetuating and addictive, are we missing the more important thoughts and ideas that could lead us out of this mess? Worse, are we actually contributing to what we despise? Make no mistake; I hate what they do too. But I refuse to be defined by hate. My other suggestion is for a section in BuzzFlash where people can nominate people who are making this change happen. Like the Wings of Justice award, a Changemaker award. I have come to the conclusion that we have much more power to make these changes happen than we know we have. We just need to take it. And being consumed by our anger is a hindrance to this. I think BuzzFlash has achieved incredible things since its inception. But I believe it's time to go to the next level or stagnate in the mediocrity of negativity. And I believe two other things: I believe that BuzzFlash is far more important in this effort than its creators may even realize and I believe, with all my heart and soul, that America is ready for this, longing for it. We are closer to that “tipping point” of change than we know. As Martin Luther King said, “Let us not wallow in the valley of despair, I say to you today, my friends. And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.” Best to you, Ruth Lopez My experiences in Vietnam taught me a lot about how people react when violence is happening. Cheney did not look too good, but then it was his first test; if he shot more people he may start behaving better. This story below is easily verified: Cheney's Conduct in a Shooting Incident Vs. FDR's In all the coverage of the Cheney shooting and his subsequent behavior, I have been surprised that no mention has been made of President Franklin Roosevelt’s conduct when he was under fire in Miami in February of 1933. This is especially surprising since Bush and Cheney like to compare themselves to wartime leaders such as Washington, Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, FDR, and even Winston Churchill. When Giuseppe Zangara, a crazed anarchist, emptied his revolver at President-elect FDR, he wounded five people, including my great-grandfather, Mayor Anton J. Cermak of Chicago. Roosevelt had been speaking via microphone from the back of his open limousine to a crowd of about 15,000 at a park. After FDR finished, he waved Cermak over, so he was speaking to FDR while standing on the running board. Zangara opened up and Cermak fell wounded to the ground. The Secret Service, not even knowing the number of shooters, immediately started to drive off. Roosevelt looked back, saw Cermak on the ground, and courageously ordered the Secret Service to back up the car. FDR then had the Mayor, his one-time political enemy, placed in the back with him, and held him all the way to the hospital. What FDR did was especially brave when one considers that because of his lower paralysis he was, in effect, trapped in that open car. Roosevelt took Cermak to the hospital. Cheney went back to the hacienda, had a stiff drink, a roast beef dinner, and kept very, very, quiet. So, pardon me if I consider it ludicrous whenever Bush and Cheney compare themselves to Washington, Lincoln, the two Roosevelts, and Churchill. It is like comparing pulverized bottle glass to high quality diamonds. Richey Graham Hope I understand where you're coming from. I feel the same way when I read about what's going on in the U.S. and the world, thanks largely to Bush & Company, Inc. However, I'm also aware that on another level my interest in seeing what outrage they'll come up with next to re-enforce my beliefs plays into the bigger picture and very well could be tying me to this abhorrent reality. It's complicated. My only suggestion is that you might occasionally give us a picture of a better world, something we can focus on achieving...as well as showing us the dirt. A BuzzFlash Reader BuzzFlash is doing just what ought to be done. You’re doing a fantastic job and I hope you do keep on. Pogo noted the obvious: While he said “I’ve found the enemy….etc.” his simpler message is “In a crisis, keep doing nothing which is how you got into the mess in the first place. While doing something may have a doubtful outcome, there’s absolute assurance that doing nothing will change nothing.” In Germany the Jewish community in particular could see the writing on the wall and, instead of getting the hell out when they could…..well…. Regards Jim Steeves (in Albuquerque – home of the Nazi-oriented “Albuquerque Journal”) Thank you, thank you for answering those "liberals" who think that we can achieve victory by being "centrist." It may have worked for Bill Clinton, but those days are long gone. History presents us with numerous accounts of people who were forced to take sides and fight for their convictions. This is one of those times. The Republicans have been successful in moving the "center" to the right. In other words, the "center" is a moving target. I believe in Liberalism. I am on the left, and proud of it. The more Democrats apologize for being liberal, the more we lose. Paul I would suggest just making the BuzzFlash commentary a link instead of putting it in the body of the email. This will help in two ways: 1. For those of us already IN the choir, I can choose whether or not to read your comments. 2. For those who find the rhetoric "too cynical", they can overlook your comments and still get the benefit of the news links you provide ... which support our very important views! After all, we're trying to open the eyes of people who aren't quite as ardent and a collection of pieces from 'mainstream' media that tell the truth will do more to accomplish a change in opinion than your (or my) beating the drum. Pamela Subject: Brash BuzzFlash I love you just the way you are. The way you sock it to the powers that be in your links is great. I read my wife your headlines and we both crack up. Sometimes your headlines are so long it's like reading an article. You're giving the right-wingers (and sometimes their opponents) exactly what they deserve and that's the way I like, no, love it! I firmly support you in your stridency and I encourage you to keep it up! Hold their feet to the fire! The people who can't take it, who wanna be polite are very, very wrong, (to put it mildly). And you, BuzzFlash are absolutely correct! Keep callin' 'em like you see 'em. The right-wingers don't deserve any less! George Rodriguez Good for you. Anger and outrage are necessary. Polite disagreement doomed Germany. I am old enough to remember. We MUST not let our "good manners" be the downfall of our democracy. We are in grave danger. Caroline Dowell Subject: Subscribe I'd like to sign up once again, but that won't really increase your readership. Don't change a damn thing and keep sticking it to the Mafia. An ex Marine who served honorably a long time ago. A BuzzFlash Reader Dear BuzzFlash, Thank you for your BuzzFlash Alerts. Too shrill and negative: not by half! I think they're spot on, and given what we're up against, they display remarkable humor and grace. You know, of course, that many more people read BuzzFlash daily than subscribe to the Alerts. I've been reading it for --what? almost five years now. It has been my lifeline as I've watched the Bush people steal first the elections and then the country. In response to your appeal, I ordered Kurt Vonnegut's new book as a premium and gave it to my husband on his 73rd birthday last week. I will contribute more when I can. We are on a fixed income and regrettably must contribute far less than we'd like, to BuzzFlash and others who are working so hard to hold on to our democracy. We do thank you, though, more than we can say for all your efforts. To those liberals who still think we're living in the Eisenhower era: you have added your weight as an extra burden to those struggling against creeping dictatorship. Most sincerely Rae Stoll you go guys and gals! I love shrill!!!!!! more shrill!!!! and get meaner than dirt!!!!! give the GOP some competition! about time we were shrill!!!! katie Dear BuzzFlash: Carry on, YOU ARE RIGHT... Nobody seems to be noticing that we no longer live in a world of really conflicting governments, but increasingly, in one where government/business does its thing across the globe whether their citizens like it or not. If we had a world government, we wouldn’t be worrying about who was running our ports. I predict it’s not so far off as it has been, but it is not on track to evolve out of the United Nations. It has been said that the First World War was about imperialism, and that, notwithstanding appearances, the second one was as well. Hitler simply crossed the line as to what the Allied governments would tolerate. BuzzFlash’s editorial about Hitler’s Germany should be repeated, expanded, every day, like the numbers who die in our wars for so-called freedom. Also, you should link prominently to impeach sites. DEENA STRYKER Subject: Just Keep Up the Good Work I live in Virginia where it is often considered rude to speak your mind, especially if you are female. I grew up downstate in Illinois and arguing, or discussing, because one was forced to seek out verification from time to time, was the after dinner recreation of the family. Just keep it up. The lies are so thick and the self interest so strong that I do not believe that anyone is above questioning. Janice Orr Subject: ABC's This Week "Panel" 2/26--Send comments Hi to BuzzFlash, Did anyone see This Week, 2/26? A four-person panel including Will, a former Rumsfeld aid named Torie Clark, and a man named Fareed Zakaria. All three Bush cheerleaders on the DuBai Deal and the Iraq War. They ran on and on about how opposition to the DuBai deal is "hysterical," racist and anti-Arab. All talk about changing our policy in Iraq helps the enemy, ..., ..., blah, blah, blah. It was worse than the usual Sunday morning rant of defensive "conservatives." The other person on the panel was E.J. Dionne, who did a credible job addressing the DuBai deal with facts and the Civil War in Iraq. But it was 3-1 this morning. Nothing unusual, but more glaring and obnoxious today. BuzzFlashers can send comments to ABC This Week with this link. Thanks. http://abcnews.go.com/ThisWeek/story?id=64596 Judy Subject: How I Feel About BuzzFlash You are the BEST and I am glad that you won't be changing to suit the foolish and "blind" people who think you are too harsh. How can anyone be harsh enough when we are dealing with these thugs and criminals? I LOVE BuzzFlash and always pass it on to my family and friends, except for the Moron Republicans. I've already lost 2 friends of over 30 years during the Kerry election. My husband has sent you a check and we will continue to support you the best we can. We are retired and have some Democrat things to support too. Please keep up your great work - you really do speak for me and most of my friends and family. We LOVE you guys! Thank you so very much. Dorothy Chamberlin Subject: What's Not To Be "angry" About?! Re: There is No Choice "C" in the Battle to Restore Democracy to America While it is true that we liberals/progressives have been known for, and value highly, our civility and decency, the current situation in which we find ourselves demands we set aside, for the moment, these luxuries. You can't make a fabulous quiche without bustin' some huevos, if you catch my drift... In my home we're mad as hell - at BushCo, at the Lite Dems and at all the folks (of ANY political persuasion) who financially support and enable them. BuzzFlash is our gateway to sanity - it is entirely too easy these days to think you have gone completely stark raving insane. We try to order a premium once a month when the budget allows and we are thrilled with your quick, quality service - we are in the service and shipping business ourselves and know whereof we speak! We thank you, BuzzFlash, for all you do and keep up the (albeit at times depressing) great work! Gil Childers - True American Patriot I don't know who first said it, but "If you aren't outraged, you aren't paying attention" should be your motto. Yeah, you are shrill and angry. The dismantling of a great country is reason to be angry -- and make some noise about it. I purchase the occasional premium as I can. Appreciate what you do. Regards, Diotima Booraem Dear BuzzFlash folks - Have you ever considered that those who have complained about BuzzFlash alerts being too "shrill" or "angry" might be the ever-organized Republicans sending out a planned group attack? Don't be intimidated. Just keep doing what you do. J. Hopkins Dear BuzzFlash, Anyone who thinks you're point of view is "shrill and angry" is living in complete denial. We are watching this administration and their backers dismantle our democracy on a daily basis. They do it in plain view and they have not attempted to be subtle in the least. And you have readers who think we should be "polite and civil"? It is inconceivable that people are so frightened and so weak that they would prefer to keep their head in the sand and just hold their breath. Those people are complicit in the orchestration of the downfall of this country. BuzzFlash is absolutely essential...and you keep telling it like it is...as loudly as you can...I am grateful for everything that you are doing. Thanks, Karen Brooks Subject: Same Ole Dog-eared Script! You should be able to recite it from memory! FISA? DUBAI? Different subjects same outcome! A. Questionable policies revealed B. Outrage {temporary} Republicans and Democrats with 2006 election jitters respond C. Bush Threatens action or veto D. Bush Spin Doctors launched with “Rovian change the subject disguise” National Security vs. Racism or Bush breaking the law vs. what newspaper sources leaked classified information E. Bush backs down from original hard stance {but not really} regroups because of public pressure F. COMPROMISE {but not really} Investigation launched and headed by BUSH Republicans with over-riding majority vote. Republicans and some Democrats pressured by White House now switch sides G. Outcome Bush predetermined result wins H. Apathetic Public goes to malls, plays golf, short memory forgets issue in time ISN”T DEMOCRACY GRAND???!!! Susan Carr Dear Buzz, Due to work and family crises that have arisen in the past 4 months, I have not always been able to check my e-mail or my most favorite site - the BuzzFlash Mailbag. One of the reasons BuzzFlash is my homepage is the snarkiness and truth-telling that you do. Most of my growing-up years, I was taught to be polite and gentle so that "people will like you." Well, I was pretty well-liked until I started truth-telling, especially about the lead-up to the 2000 elections and then the lies leading up to the Iraq invasion. Now, I don't care who does and does not like me. I just want the truth. And , for the most part it isn't pretty or gentle. The world has lost thousands of lives to this administration's falsehoods and misdeeds. Some of the people who were the most critical of my protests and actions of the past 6+ years are now saying that I was telling the truth. (Of course they continue to say, "But I wouldn't be on the street protesting because it does nothing.") If I hadn't been willing to write and march and phone and speak out, these folks wouldn't be hearing the truth now. I don't like trash-talk. I don't like being so angry or sad or guarded or mistrusting, but I was naive for too long. And I won't be that way again - ever. Don't change a headline, a snarky comment, an angry or a thoughtful editorial. I have sent links to your site, more than to any other. [Even my daughter, who used to (lovingly) mock my strident statements (and posters) has written to the Mailbag - and to national newspapers since linking to you.] It wouldn't be BuzzFlash any other way. Thanks Buzz, Leslie....Evanston Subject: Re: Mailing List Brouhaha I agree with you 100% on your stance on outrage and righteous anger in confronting the Republicans over their criminal attempts to dismantle our democracy. I don't subscribe to your e-mail alerts because BuzzFlash is my home page, and I check it several times a day. I make this same argument almost on a daily basis on the Daily Kos, and I can tell you that for everyone who wants to drag their feet and "fight" with "civility," there are ten who want to take to the streets, man the barricades, and make something happen. You guys are helping lead the fight towards righting the wrongs in this country. Keep hammering, and don't let the mushmouths tell you to slow down and keep a civil tongue in your head. F*** that. Keep doin' what you're doin', and you'll always have my support. Max Black NOTICE: Due to Presidential Executive Orders, the National Security Agency may have read this email without warning, warrant, or notice. They may do this without any judicial or legislative oversight. You have no recourse nor protection save to call for the impeachment of the current President. Subject: Rage = Power Dear Buzzers, Rage is rising in America. It has the potential to fuel a revolution. It's free, plentiful, and clean. Feel it, breathe it, stoke your heart-fire with it. Then we will see... A BuzzFlash Reader Subject: I'm Being Framed! In this column, REMEMBER GLOBALISM AND DEMOCRACY? (Yahoo), Richard Reeves quotes a recent WALL STREET JOURNAL editorial:
and from a recent Robert Parry column comes this:
Both quotes show an attempt to frame opposition to this administration as based on irrational and emotional responses rather than on moral grounds, as is reasonable given the administration's corruption, and/or on concerns for one's personal safety, also reasonable given the administration's incompetence in the face of disasters whose terrible impact on our people and nation was exacerbated by effective relief efforts being undermined by that irresponsible cronyism which informs much of the aforementioned corruption! This attitude that opposition to Bush stems from unreasoning hatred infuriates me, especially in the terms used to express it, this off-hand way as though we're spouting obvious, uncontestable truths. When I read something like the JOURNAL quote, or hear one of those Coulter/Horowitz types insist there are Bush critics who WANT the war to fail, their hatred of our country and our president is so great, I want to shout "WHO? Who are these critics on the left operating from so much hatred? NAME them, oust the traitors so we can all, left and right, denounce them!" Oh, but of course they have to actually EXIST first... At first I thought the quote from Parry's piece was just stupid, at best Parry or his editor had simply made a verbal blunder, saying war resisters would see conservative dissenters from the war in Iraq as rats deserting a sinking ship, when Parry had meant to say this would conceivably be the opinion of supporters of the war toward those who newly broke rank with them. As one "who always opposed the Iraq War," I congratulate these new dissenters on the right for their return to sanity, or at least intellectual honesty. I would expect this reasonable response from anyone "who always opposed the Iraq War," but it's really Parry's point that dissenters from the war aren't reasonable. They're operating from hate, and if they can't hate a given conservative for supporting the war, they'll hate him for his disloyalty, for rat-like desertion. And once again, it's stated in that casual, off-hand way which shows the writers' firm conviction that he's speaking a constant, unassailable truth about war dissenters' irrational, emotional basis. And I'm really pissed off that this seems to be popular wisdom! Cory Hinman Subject: We No Longer Have a Democracy Recently I have awakened in the middle of the night, troubled by the events taking place in our country. As I lay awake the other night, the realization came to me that we no longer have a democracy in the United States of America. I say this because all of the hallmarks of a democracy have been systematically taken away. Consider the following: (1) We no longer have a vote, because fraudulent voting machines prevent our vote from having any meaning. (2) Our system of checks and balances has been rendered meaningless, for many reasons. Our Congress is overwhelmingly Republican. Our Supreme Court has been stacked with conservative Republicans. Lastly, our fraudulently "elected" president has arrogantly stated he will veto any legislation he doesn't like, or will sign the legislation with the caveat that he will nevertheless do whatever he damn well pleases, because we are at "war against the terrorists," and in a state of war, the president has unlimited powers. God help our country. Regarding your recent editorial, the reason I go to your website is BECAUSE you are shrill! These are times that call for outrage, for naming the situation for what it is, for truth-telling. I'm glad you don't plan to temper your editorials or your website. What we DON'T need is more civility vis a vis the Democrats, in addressing the crisis in our country. We need outrage, we need true patriots and leaders, and we need our internet websites to rouse our sleeping citizens to what is really going on in this country. A BuzzFlash Reader Subject: Lost Subscribers I don't see a link to simply send you a message and yet, I also want to let you know to please keep doing what you do so well. Telling it like it is. You are the one speck of honesty I can find, and one that I agree with almost 100%. Without you I might lose hope entirely. Screw those who want you to be gentler and kinder. I do not notice the other side being gentler. Since when has Karl Rove said anything nice about the dems or liberals or anyone not 1000% for anything they do or say, legal or not? God Bless you all. And may God save America, because sure thing this administration is not going to. A BuzzFlash Reader Abu Ghraib in Our Own Backyard Mary Shaw Subject: Too Shrill? The problem is that you tend to bash Democrats even when they are standing up and fighting really hard, instead of pointing out how pervasive the evil of the neocons really is. The Dems have made mistakes, haven't we all, but they are faced with overwhelming opposition funded by corporations and pushed forward by criminals posing as politicians and brainwashed man-in-the street christians and rednecks. It's frustrating and scary enough to read about the vicious things the rethuglicans are doing to our country without turning to alt/news for solace and finding that the liberal sites are trouncing the only people we can reasonably look to for salvation. It makes me wonder if alt/news sites are pursuing some hidden agenda of their own when I read articles urging people away from the Democrats. Objectivity is the strongest characteristic liberals have. Be able to admit when you make a mistake (lord knows Bush can't do that), but don't throw the baby out with the bath water. If you destroy people's hope in the Democrats, they're left with nothing but despair. We aren't going to rise up and have another revolution with all the arsenal the feds have, and considering that Bush OWNS the military. So let's all work together. There are good Democrats out there, we need to support them. Terri K. Kionka Subject: Don't change a thing! Now I've signed up! Do not change a thing... "If we both think the same...they don't need one of us!" Ask John Kerry what it feels like to have the same views. We are the left and we are proud of it! We think differently. We believe in people...We believe in change via education and truth. We believe as a world power we have a responsibility to eliminate world hunger and poverty. The change begins now! THIS PRESIDENT MUST RESIGN! IT WOULD BE THE ULTIMATE ACT OF ARROGANCE TO PUT THIS COUNTRY THROUGH AN IMPEACHMENT TRIAL! Keep it up! A BuzzFlash Reader Subject: Too Shrill, Eh? Having been out of town and out of touch for the last week, I apparently missed the "shrill" Buzzer Opinion Piece, or whatever it was. A BuzzFlash Editorial: There is No Choice "C" in the Battle for Democracy I am not certain what to make of the subscription cancellations and the reasons given, because BuzzFlash has not changed one bit, since I began reading it almost daily four years ago. To my way of thinking these days, I have to respect the hell out of BuzzFlash for not becoming much more shrill over the years, given that the BuzzFlash folks have been linking to and, therefore, reading one revelation right after another, each more jaw-dropping than the last, about this god-awful administration. They have done this day in and day out for years. Given how I feel on a daily basis, for the same reasons, I have to hand it to the Buzzers for not having armed themselves and called for the overthrow of everything months ago. Anyone who believes that we are going to get our nation back with politeness and wimpy civility is only caught in the snare of their super-ego driven personalities. Why? Because they are scared witless, I would guess. I imagine that a scary fact is beginning to dawn on many; a fact that many of us have known for months now. The old ways do not work anymore. Not peaceful protests, not polite e-mails, letters and phone calls to elected officials, not rational conversation and first amendment expression on the Net and elsewhere (although, the Net has by far been the most useful tool we have). This is a whole new game; or reality as the White House would say. If we don't come up with our own new strategies for living in the new rethug reality and bring it crashing down, we might as well move to another country or just go ahead and show up at the new detention centers now, because that is where we are all headed, eventually. In Nazi Germany, it was the Communists and the Jews who were the bogeymen. Now, in Bushite America, it is the Liberals and the Muslims. Our liberty and our lives are on the line, and I mean that in a very literal sense. The center will not hold. Not this time. Russ Feingold said that Bush was in a pre-1776 reality. Those words will and should become the rallying cry of the new American revolution, because they are the most profoundly true words that have been spoken yet on the Senate Floor. If Bush's reality is pre-1776, that is our reality as well, whether we choose to realize it or not. I, for one, will not be tolerant of, nor polite, to any king on this earth nor his court. Kings are, by their very nature, enemies of our Constitution, and, if the people still care for that living document, they will find ways to protect it from its enemies. Trammell Winterfire BuzzFlash - Ignore those who accuse you of being "too shrill" - that was the same criticism Glenn Reynolds sent me by e-mail during the ramp-up to Iraq War II when I told him the "journalists" who supported the war would later be held responsible for what happens for not reporting the truth to the people. Wear these allegations as a badge of honor. Also, as you know, many macho young men are on the government payroll and have nothing better to do than send such messages to anyone who dares to diverge from the propaganda line all day..................................keep up the good work! Darlene Let me add my voice to the "shrill" and "angry" group. I'm 78 and a vet of WWII. I counsel those around me that these are much worse times than the McCarthy fifties. Much worse. Frankly, I don't think we can ever be too strong in the defense of freedom. I have always approached civil liberties questions with an open mouth. BuzzFlash is doing just fine. Don't stop, don't change. Just do more of it. And stronger. Donald Grody The Dems and the nation are screwed BECAUSE they are unwilling to tell the truth because someone says it sounds shrill. Well, Hitler succeeded because people remained silent. Bush is doing the same today. Thanks, BuzzFlash, for the message. This was very good. A BuzzFlash Editorial: There is No Choice "C" in the Battle for Democracy Why? Because it is true. Those who choose not to embrace the truth - they will surely regret it, if our Nazi-like government continues to go the way it looks. I still have faith that "things" will change around. There are many good and sensible people in the USA willing to stand up and speak out. Many individuals and groups are fighting against this horribly corrupt administration with demonstrations, letters, airing their concerns on TV and radio, writing books, etc. If we have faith, we will win. God bless the courageous ones. Just keep doing what you are doing, continuing to support a forum whereby people have the opportunity to share their thoughts, express their anger without violence, you know, so we have each other. Dolores M. Dryden Hello, It is time for "no more Mr/Ms Good Guy." Speak up loudly and do not be afraid of results. These people who are endorsing detainee camps, torture, war need to be jarred awake. While they are sleeping, their country is being stolen and taken over. The Jews in Germany waited too long to fight back. We need leaders who will stand up and speak out - NOW. Could it be that the Democrats are endorsing bush and his gang of criminals? Looks that way. What is going to happen???? Will Fitzgerald be able to do his job? Should we be packing our backpacks and readying ourselves for a detainee camp nearby? Keep on writing, Peace, Aimee L. Walker BRAVO!!! CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR PROFOUND EDITORIAL TODAY! MMJ Subject: Re: the now INfamous cartoons Dear Buzzers -- As you can tell, I'm behind in my reading; I'm still catching up on the 2/08 issue of tompaine.com's piece by Rami G. Khouri, titled "Decoding the Cartoon Crisis." Initially -- I WAS aware of the cartoons before I read this -- I, too, supported freedom of the press. However, AFTER reading it, I believe that the author's point is valid. Basically, (for those of you who, like me, haven't had time to read it previously) the premise is that "westerners," whether in European countries or here at home, greeted the publication -- and I had NO idea that the cartoons were first published back in Sept. 2005 in a small, obscure Danish newspaper -- as a simple assertion of "freedom of the press." (A bit of irony, here, of course, since the U.S. has bought off and/or stifled free expression of its own formerly "free press" -- aka, these days, the MSM. As usual, the neocon hypocrisy continues full blast.) Khouri, however, made me see this issue in a different light, pointing out the obvious contempt on the part of "western" countries for the values and rights of Muslims. No, obviously I'm not arguing against freedom of the press (if there's any remaining) -- just arguing FOR a respect of other people's cultural and religious values. (I'm not holding my breath here!) To put this incident in context, can you imagine what would happen if the right-wing-evangelicals in the U.S. discovered cartoons of Jesus portrayed as gay -- or, alternatively, having a sexual affair with Mary Magdalene? Or showing Mary and Joseph, having been "sexually active," with their heads together, plotting an alibi, aka "The Virgin Birth"? (NOTE TO BUZZERS: No, I am NOT suggesting that this is true; I'm using these examples to show how Muslims must have reacted to seeing Muhammad with a bomb in his turban. If any of you got upset reading my hypothetical "cartoons," I'll have made my point.) I'm sure many of the neocons (especially those who believe in the "New American Century" (hmmm. We're only in the 6th year of the new century, and already it's looking old, stale, despotic, and corrupt in almost every other respect. But cheer up, folks: we've only got another 94 and 5/6 years before it ends -- unless global warming ends it sooner) welcome an excuse to stir up dissension -- with retaliation by those who feel that their values have been mocked and trashed -- to the point where they (the neocons) feel free to wage pre-emptive war on several MORE Muslim countries, especially those sitting on lots of OIL. Again, I didn't mean to be offensive (well, except to the neocons), but the deliberate provocation of people of other religions in order to create a pretext for waging "The Long (as in ENDLESS) War" -- thereby "justifying" huge "defense" (yeah, right) budgets while simultaneously shrinking vital services to the citizens here at home who desperately need them) constitutes grounds, in MY opinion, for all the opposition and protest we progressives can stir up. And we'd better keep stirring! Barbara Lee (Barb) Blazyk Keep writing your strong, truthful essays. Don't change one thing about BuzzFlash. The regular press is a bunch of lazy wusses today. Don't change BuzzFlash for the milquetoast. Giv'em hell Harry! Subject: Alaska Election Data Hey Buzzers, Here is the letter I sent to many Alaskan elected officials after reading about how they are refusing to release election data.
Release the election data. Leslie Crabtree Subject: Ports - Bigger Picture... One other analysis that is missing in progressive commentary, but which I know the people at BuzzFlash can appreciate, is that the Sheiks are buying US assets with our money. Nobody - nobody - talks about what happens to the money that goes to the big oil companies US and foreign, as a result of the gouging at the gas pump, heating oil, etc. The people who get this money - which after all is no different from a tax - can't keep it in the basement. They use much of it to buy western assets. As in this case. So then take it another step. The wealthy can either benefit by getting oil company profits directly, or by selling assets to those who do. Why is a government tax on the wealthy evil, but a tax by a private corporation, which falls disproportionately on ordinary people, and can be used by them to buy up more assets, noble? A BuzzFlash Reader Subject: To Impeach or Not To Impeach The U.S. Congress has not committed to an immediate withdrawal of American troops from Iraq or Afghanistan. A few members of Congress in the Progressive Caucus are credible anti-war proponents. Even when voting for regime change in Iraq in 1998 during the Clinton Admin, the intention was to allow the U.N. inspections to keep Saddam in check. People in rural America have lost men and women serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. In Dallas there are a few people with "Support the Warriors not the War" stickers on their car bumpers, in “Bush Country.” Americans have looked up to a President that looks like a hero by wearing the Navy gear under a sign that says “Mission Accomplished.” Why is the Bush administration “fear message” effective in America to round up American folks every time they stray on their trust in the President? Because American people don't look into the eyes of their President, as Bush said he looked into the eyes of Putin. Americans don't want to be wiretapped in their homes, while the UAE is given a green light to run 6 vital ports of entry into our country. When Bush swaggers in the name of his “Homeland Security” and his “War on Terror,” Americans stand in line to "support the troops." The intellectual American believes that supporting the troops means bringing the troops home. If we are able to remove the President and the VP, through impeachment, who then, will run the country? What do we want that leader to stand for? Fighting a smarter war? President Carter, in a President's Day interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer, said we can support the Palestinian people without supporting the terrorists through non-governmental organizations (NGO’s). President Carter also said we must give Hamas a chance. They are disciplined and have not used violent tactics in 18 months against the Israelis. To impeach the President, we must support a leader who has the creativity and the courage not to swagger before the cameras, but to engage in non-violent dialogue and behavior on the world stage and demonstrate American commitment to non-violence by reducing our Pentagon budget and rebuilding vital social programs destroyed by the Bush administration. We must elect leaders that are not simply committed to rebuilding Iraq, but rebuilding America, education, job creation, job training, healthcare, social security, environmental security and preserving the environment for future generations and finally, real American freedom, where our President is no longer proud to make a stand on violating privacy and economic security of the American people. Linda Zoblotsky Subject: Don't stop what you're doing Dear BuzzFlash, I will unsubscribe if you become even slightly less shrill and angry. Shrill and angry is the new polite. That’s what happens when your government abandons compassion and morality, eliminates Democracy, and refuses to function at the most basic level of competence. Let’s all be polite to the murderers running our country, and show them the real meaning of “shrill” and “angry.” By the way, I haven’t seen anybody angry in D.C. lately. Am I missing something, or did somebody forget to organize several massive protests in the Capitol over these past months? Why wait until spring? Yours truly, Randy Ostrow My husband and I like BuzzFlash JUST THE WAY IT IS! It is interesting that some "progressives" want to continue playing the "be nice and it will go away game." It's not going to happen. I have seen this problem on other blogs, where the general feeling is that if the Dems adopt a "too-aggressive" approach, it will create a backlash against liberals. I completely disagree with that approach. BuzzFlash has the right idea, fight until we drop!! Linda Jean Edwards They think you're angry? What's wrong with the people that aren't angry? The Repubs say that we won't vote for Hillary because she's angry. I won't vote for any candidate that is NOT angry about what's going on. Kathleen I absolutely agree. Behind you 100%. . .you have to take sides--no ultimate reconciliation is possible. Gabriel BUZZFLASH - DON'T CHANGE A THING. YOU ARE RIGHT ON!!! Sandy |
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