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| May 15, 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. BuzzFlash Note: Mailbag readers might want to see What You Can Do - A BuzzFlash Perspective. We created this 7-point "action outline" in response to comments from readers anxious to help promote the pro-democracy agenda. THIS IS PART 2 OF THE MAY 15, 2006 BUZZFLASH MAILBAG. CLICK HERE FOR PART 1 Subject: Intelligence Gathering If George Bush is really concerned about finding out if there's going to be future attacks on the United States by Al Qaeda, why doesn't he hire the people who discovered that information in the first place? He was handed a report long before September 11th that stated "Al Qaeda determined to attack within the United States" once before. I'd say that's pretty damn good intelligence. And I'll bet the intelligence experts who came to those conclusions didn't listen in on 10 million domestic phone calls to gather that information, either. Bring back the people who KNEW how to do their job! Mike Donelson Subject: Re: Washington Post "Fixes the Polls" for Bush by "Fixing the Questions" I thought the same thing when the Post article popped into my inbox. Times like these make you wonder all over again, "Why bother?" I think it just defeats people. Can't fight the media, the propaganda ... can't fix the rigged voting machines ... can't do a damn thing. Preaching to the converted, I know. Just getting it off my chest. Glad you're still trying. Monica Subject: The Last Great Republican When I was growing up I remember learning about Abe Lincoln, and what he went through during the civil war. I remember feeling overwhelmed by his steadfastness, character, and conviction. How he must have felt at that time in our nation's history. This was way before I knew the difference between liberal and conservative. Then one year I watched the civil war series on PBS. I heard Shelby Foote narrate from Lincoln's papers and letters with such feeling it blew me away. It all became crystal clear what we went through. How half of our country wanted to secede because they saw nothing wrong with violating human rights. Well, Abe saw it differently. He did what no man had done before. He took a divided country and began uniting it again. That makes him the last great republican. Who wouldn't be one today, by the way. No way, no how. This man in the White House is a vile, disgusting human being. I don't ever refer to him as President. I'd sooner eat my own vomit, which would happen if I dared to refer to him as President. In fact I'm starting to feel nauseous right now, so I have to go to the toilet, but then when I'm thru barfing and I dare look into the toilet, I'll see what I just did and then I'll be reminded of you know who, and the convulsions will start all over again. Wish me luck, I know I'll need it. Tap Duncan Subject: Dump the DNC!! The Dem leaders have failed us time and again. I'm sick of it. It's time to abandon them they way they abandoned us long ago. It's time for a third party!! Dave Folks, You need to follow the lead of one poster to Digby's blog and start calling all those spineless, betraying nominal Democrats by their real name: JELLOCRATS http://www.huffingtonpost.com/digby/the-dems-are-missing-the-_b_17475.html Best, PD Subject: impeachment Below is a message I sent to Rep. Nancy Pelosi U.S. Representative; Nancy Pelosi: I am sure that if you read this message, that is, if it gets beyond the people on your staff that are hired to read and filter your messages, you will note that I did not use the word honorable in my opening address. That is because there is no honor among Democrats anymore. The whole lot of you, including most of those in the Senate, are nothing more than a bunch of panty-waist, spineless boobs who deserve no respect and little more that utter contempt from this country's TRUE Democrats. How dare you to have the audacity, the total insolence and contempt for the point of view of millions of America's democratic constituency, to make the outrageous promise to the corporate media that should the Democrats win a majority in Congress you will not pursue efforts to impeach Bush and Cheney? You people still don't get the picture do you? If by some slim chance the Democrats do regain a majority in Congress, it will be because voters are demanding and expecting some type of punitive action be taken against this bunch of liars, crooks and treacherous cowards that are presently in control in Washington. You people, who call yourselves Democrats today, are nothing more than a bunch of weak-kneed, sniveling cowards, who are a disgrace to what was once a grand and reputable party, one that at one time, I was proud to have an affiliation. There are millions of Democrats like me, and if the Democratic Party does happen to regain a majority in these upcoming November elections, you had best remember who we are, because your attachment to us is becoming extremely worn and threadbare. Sincerely: Wynn Spell Subject: Electronic Spying and Spying in General I submitted an article at the end of April but it did not get put in the BuzzFlash. However, that was okay because something in the article was probably deemed to be unsuitable by the BuzzFlash editors. I leave it to their discretion and good judgment on whether to publish an article or not. Now with the upheaval and furor in Washington and the U.S. concerning what we have found out this week (that there was much more electronic spying than previously believed - loads of phone numbers obtained courtesy of AT&T, Verizon, and BellSouth), I have to take one more stab on this issue. This spying is spreading an ominous, black cloud of evil all across the U.S. and is spreading to other nations, because we have led the world astray with our screwed up thinking on what is moral or not, previous, up to, and since 9-11. This basically started with the start of the computer age, but spying has been used for centuries. Spying is not moral, no matter if Washington thinks that we have to do it to get the Al Qaeda people. It (the spying) sets a dangerous precedent of mistrust and suspicion all over the globe. We have massive amounts of information in this age now that can be misused and abused, putting innocent people's lives through hell should they suddenly be accused of something they are not guilty of. They are faced with huge legal bills, destruction of their careers or their health and lives. We are pitting one person against another and one nation against another nation, as well, and the cloud gets darker and thicker and ever more ominous. It must be stopped NOW, but I am thinking that it may be far too late and the precedent has already been set. Too many agencies do not know the bounds and have been doing things that they know are questionable and dubious concerning law enforcement, but they have been doing them nonetheless. If it has not trickled down to the smaller local agencies already it will do so soon enough. We cannot trust our companies or health care or pharmaceuticals because they have become huge businesses themselves and the trend is now towards the privatization of everything. Capitalism has run amok. Our military thinks they can dominate the whole planet. A BuzzFlash Reader Subject: Anderson Cooper 360 and Comparing Bush Vs. Clinton While watching Anderson Cooper 360 last friday night, he made the statement that if Bill Clinton had the problems that Bush has now, his poll numbers might have been as low as Bush's are now. I agree one hundred percent, but here is the difference! All of Bush's problems are self induced!! Clinton was not stupid enough to do the following! 1. Start a war based entirely on out and out lies! 2. Have a Secretary of Defense that didn't know s**t about how to conduct said war and was too stupid to listen to his own Generals! 3. Give huge tax cuts for billions and billions of dollars that benefit only the wealthy! 4. Let his vice president write up, along with the big oil tycoons, {in the wee hours of the morning} an energy policy that would send gasoline and home heating prices thru the roof, and have the gall to blame it on supply and demand! 5. Let Halliburton and his other pet companies cheat we the taxpayers out of billions of dollars in Iraq and here in the U.S! 6. Stay on vacation and party and eat birthday cake with Senator Falwell, er, I mean Senator McCain while hundreds of people were dying in New Orleans from hurricane Katrina! 7. Let the big drug companies write a prescription drug plan for the elderly {that cost twice the billions that the liar said it would} and twisted arms and got it passed in the wee hours of the morning! 8. Borrowed {and spent} more money than all the 42 other presidents COMBINED!! Listen, I could go on and on about this, but I think you get the picture! Then he and David Gergen talked about the poll comparing Bush and Clinton, which Clinton won, hands down {surprise, surprise}! They couldn't figure out how come Clinton won in the truthfulness department!! Duh!! Maybe, just maybe, it was because Clinton didn't lie EVERY time he opened his mouth!! The only lie that really stuck to Clinton was the one where he lied under oath about Monica. Something that was very stupid for him to do! But, maybe it was because he knew Hillary was watching?? Now, you want to talk about political suicide!! Oh, well, she found out soon enough anyway and he spent a few days, or maybe weeks in the dog house! I'm sure he lied more, but like I said, not every time he opened his mouth! Nancy Pelosi said Friday that impeachment would be off the table if the dems won the house in November! I believe this is without a doubt the most amazing statement I have ever heard!! The biggest liar and the most corrupt president ever!! And impeachment not an option!! What is that woman thinking about, making a statement like that! To think I used to like her! Amazing!! I'll bet this statement will go over with the honorable John Conyers about like a turd in the well! Holy cow!! Gotta go now before I really get worked up and start using some of those naughty words I learned in the U.S Navy so long ago. You BuzzFlash readers take care and don't believe anything Bush tells you! The liar! Don Adams Subject: CNN.com - Poll: Clinton outperformed Bush It's simple. One feels your pain. The other causes it. Which one do you prefer? But how can we best make Bush understand this stinging comparison....ok, sing with me and Big Bird: Which one of these Presidents...doesn't belong here? Which one of these Presidents...SHOULD be ashamed? Which one of these Presidents...kills with incompetence? Which one of these Presidents....SHOULD be impeached? If you guessed W, you're exactly right! This BuzzFlash mailbag presentation has been brought to you by the letter W, and the number 2,437 (and counting). John L. Johnson Subject: Remember the $9 Billion Missing??? Hey all, Remember the so-called 'missing' $9 billion that supposedly went into the black hole of the Iraq war? That money is not missing: it has gone directly into the pockets of AT&T, Cingular, Verizon and other companies hired to spy on us. And if the telecom companies have this agreement with the Bush Crime Family, I have no doubt that our financial institutions, health insurance companies and other holders of our personal information are also selling our data to the Pentagon. And making billions from it. Folks, WE are paying the price, literally, for the dictatorship to repress us and steal our civil liberties. Impeach and jail these criminals. What the heck are we waiting for? elaine in petaluma Subject: Letter to Congress If Democrats are going to stand for anything it should at least be for democracy and honesty in government. How much longer will we wait for a Democrat to truly stand up, as Russ Feingold and John Conyers have done? How much farther down will this administration take this country and our dreams? I for one will not be voting for any candidate without strong ethics and a stronger backbone. If you do not stand for impeachment of this incredibly corrupt president, then you should stand down. Martha DeWolf Subject: Nancy Pelosi Says If Dems Take the House, No Censure, No Impeachment Nancy Pelosi says that if the Democrats take the House, Bush will not be impeached nor will he be censured for the invasion. Democrats, many Republicans and Independents are voting for Democrats in November so Bush WILL be censured and impeached. If Pelosi is not willing to lead her party in that direction, she should step down, resign, and re-register as a Republican. She does not have the courage of her convictions, therefore she is not qualified to lead. She is just one more Democrat, standing in the center, trying to please everyone. Democrats only please Republicans when they do that. As the Democrats stand in the center, the Republicans move farther to the right dragging the Democrats with them. Do Pelosi and the other "centrist" Democrats stand for anything? While Howard Dean is out pandering to the religious right, Pelosi promises there will be no censure or impeachment. Why do we have two parties? Where is the OPPOSITION PARTY? Most Democrats in office today have no courage and, certainly, no shame. In these times, we need strong leadership. Where is it? Susan Prather Subject: NSA and Computers I was just thinking, I hope and pray that this administration is not spying on the internet like chat rooms but maybe they already have been. Thank you for your time Greg Walden Subject: Drones in the Press Corps!! BuzzFlash,
Like the absence of WMD's, pre planned wars, corruption in Washington, stolen elections, oil companies soaring profits, quashed civil rights, illegal torture, wiretapping, and the possibility that there may be a link between them all!! Anybody else see it? (Hush, don't tell the press!!) Akhil Bhardwaj Subject: AT&T Dear Buzz: I canceled my AT&T yesterday. I was transferred from India back to America after saying I was canceling because they illegally sold my personal information to the government. The woman was very nice and said she "understood completely." Imagine having to work for a company that's spying on its customers. Unfortunately, now that AT&T is back to being a monopoly, there is no choice for local calls. So, I'm giving up my land line and will only use my cell phone from now on. Victoria Minetta Subject: McCain at Liberty U. John Insane-McCain and Fatso Falwell looked like two hippos in drag at the Liberty U. commencement ceremony, showing just how low McCain can go to kiss a big swath of right-wing religious rump. If this bloviating sad sack is what the Republicans are going to run in 2008 then the Democrats just might be able to win regardless of their lack of spine. VM in LA Subject: INTERNET AND LIES Dear Steve (and Jane and Christy at firedoglake and Digby at Hullabaloo and John at Crooks and Liars and Oliver Willis and Josh Marshall at TPM and, I'm sure, countless other swell liberal sites), Why in hell are all of you good people allowing Blogads to run the cutesy, faux-populist "hands off the internet" cartoon ad posted on all of your sites? At least Steve posted a "truth-in-advertising" piece on his blog -- "Big Lie of the Week" -- but he still has the ad in question up on his site. As do all of you. You know very well that that this is a sneaky propaganda ploy (via their "front" group dontregulate.org) by the giant telecoms like AT&T and Verizon and Comcast and Bell South to cast themselves as "pro-people" while they are planning billions of ways (in dollars) to screw, through price-gouging, these very same "people" (the American consumers of internet services, aka your readers). Don't you people have the power to control the content of what appears on your own sites? Does Blogads have some kind of contractual hold over you that forces you to accept every ad they give you? It strikes me as a little bit like the NAACP accepting a full-page ad from the KKK for its annual benefit dinner program. Am I wrong? http://stevegilliard.blogspot.com/ Sincerely, David Wyles Subject: Al Gore did the intro for Saturday Night Live They said it was a message from the president of the United States. He thanked everyone for electing him in 2000 and then did a State of the Union that sounded like a Utopia. Toward the end he said we were still having a problem with steroids in baseball, but commissioner George W. Bush says he will get to the bottom of it if he has to wiretap every American citizen. It was pretty good and it really was Al Gore. Al Gore was on Saturday Night Live this weekend. Watch him! 5/15 Speak up or they assume you agree!!! ABB Karen Webb Subject: Frank Rich I read your comments about Frank Rich. You cannot be serious! Frank Rich has ALWAYS come to the forefront in telling Americans "as it is" about this Bush Regime. He was waaaaaaaay ahead of you guys and has stood by the American ideals in spite of nearly all the newspapers praising Bush for his continued idiot, if not illegal, behavior. Hurrah for Frank Rich, a lone wolf who has not ever been hoodwinked by this Bush Regime or its purpose. Anne Perretta Subject: Protests in Phoenix Buzz, Every Saturday, groups of protesters faithfully stand outside of Planned Parenthood in this town and pray. It never fails. I don't imagine they care about the large number of innocents, especially poor and of color, who are put to death by our barbaric death penalty, but hey .. you gotta pick your sin to judge your neighbor for, after all. These anti abortion protesters are never harassed by any law officers. Yet, whenever there is an anti-war protest, which happens every two months or so, in this town, there are several cruisers, paddy wagons, and everyone is being filmed, including me, because I flashed a peace sign at them out of my car window. My husband says we stand out because of CLARK 08 on our license plate. Anyone associated with the antiwar movement is being investigated. There are only about 25 protesters at both the above mentioned events, but the anti-abortion protesters are never harassed at all. mev Subject: Where Are All the Real Republicans? I was raised in a mixed marriage. Dad was Catholic/Democrat and Mom was Protestant/Republican. There were some forceful political discussions around our house. Vigorous, robust discussion. Discussions with substance and civility. Discussions with respect for everyone’s opinion. I saw both sides of the story & grew up a political Independent. My Dad was military and I was raised with love of a free country. We don’t always achieve what we strive for, but I loved that we tried. Dad taught me that too many good people had fought and died for Democracy to ever treat it lightly. I agreed with and respected the Republican ideals I learned from my mother. Fiscal responsibility, keeping government out of our lives and that same love of a free country. Helping those less fortunate than ourselves was something I learned very young in both of the churches I attended. Forming an opinion was encouraged. Fence sitting was not considered an option. Looking around now; where are those Republicans? Where are the honest, decent people in the Republican Party? There’s a bunch of spendthrift, big government, ideologues willing to bankrupt this country financially, morally and willing to exchange our hard-won freedoms for a cult-like worship of a President. Those are the not Republicans I knew. These are P.R. Republicans. P.R. Republican cardboard cutouts. They need to be reminded that they pledge allegiance to the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA and not to the Republican Party. They sit in the Senate and the Congress and they bring shame and dishonor to the party of Abraham Lincoln. Independents spend time learning about candidates and deciding who will get our vote. We don’t have an animal logo, we don’t have a red or blue label and we don’t have a viable candidate. What we do have is numbers. Democrats will vote for Democratic candidates no matter how lame. Republicans will vote for a Republican candidate no matter how corrupt. Independents keep the country honest most of the time. We can and have been fooled. Not this time. We aren’t being fooled by the P.R. Republicans. Honest, decent Republicans shouldn’t be either. When Republicans' best talking point is that the Democrats must not get subpoena power, it is time for a change. Until someone, somewhere finds a real Republican.
Marjorie L. Swanson Subject: Laura Bush Thinks She Is a Feminist I have been a politically active feminist since 1969. I do not normally dispute anyone's definition of themselves, but this is way too INSULTING. Can she even define the word feminist? I can. The Oxford English Dictionary says "A feminist is anyone who believes men and women should have the same legal, economic and political rights." Does anything you know about Laura Bush suggest she is a feminist? Edith M. Conrad Subject: Karl Rove's Indictment I'm just curious. Truthout's Jason Leopold posted last night that Rove is being indicted for perjury. Subsequent to that, the news broke about Cheney's handwritten notes in the margin. Er, why is no one but Truthout writing about Rove's indictment, and instead, jumping right to Cheney's potential incrimination? Not even Raw Story is picking this one up. What gives? Coyotsky Blue [BuzzFlash Note: Still trying to find out the facts, as Jason Leopold's story hasn't been confirmed elsewhere. Today, Newsweek cautiously refers to the situation: The Riddle of Rove; and CBS, too: Web Report Of Rove Troubles Raises Rash Of Speculation.] Subject: Question for Bush About Phone Wire Taps If this unconstitutional, illegal method of tracking terrorists is so effective, why haven't you captured even one terrorist in the past five years? Please publish. I want every American asking our government this question. Thanks. A BuzzFlash Reader Subject: Domestic Spying I haven't been reading about the most important facet of the domestic spying issue. Everything in government has been politicized by the Republican administration and that includes intelligence. Watergate was an example of how a political spying attack is a violation of our most basic rights. The KGB in the old USSR was a vehicle for domestic spying used by the political party in power to spy on their domestic political opponents. And isn't that what was the problem with Watergate? But Watergate was on a much smaller scale, a million time smaller. If any political party can gain control over the domestic spying apparatus and use it to retain power over their domestic opponents, we will be the new USSR. We fought a cold war for 50 years against the utter evil of that system portrayed by the USSR and the KGB. Lee Subject: Gosh; I Guess He's Not Lying. "The government does not listen to domestic phone calls without court approval. We are not trolling through the personal lives of millions of innocent Americans." I believe that this statement by Bush this past Saturday is in fact literally “true” - crafted by his lawyers to sound reassuring to the populace, but parsed precisely to avoid future accusations of bald-faced lying. No, I’m not suggesting that Bush is literally talking about fishing from a moving watercraft, but that the “millions of innocent Americans” who are not being spied on are merely the customers of the communications giant Qwest, who alone in the industry refused to cooperate with the NSA’s illegal requests. The rest of us - Oh Yeah, we’re being spied on. Ken Duerksen Subject: Totalitarianism With the advent of George W. Bush’s election in 2000, the Republican Party has resurrected the age-old destroyer of nations—autocracy. In their penchant for power and pursuit for omnipotence, this political movement, crafted by a fringe element of an incipient, mutating conservative philosophy, has seized our constitution by the throat. Our basic freedoms are being strangled slowly by a grasp of hands that are now throttling our right to speak, crippling our capacity to write, and deafening our ability to listen to the first casualty taken in their ascent—the truth! Building on our primordial nature to survive by defending our lives at all cost, this administration has taken the American public hostage. By contriving to stoke these basic fears, this government has seduced its people and kidnapped the essence of what a democracy should stand for—not the morphed autocracy that it has become. They have thwarted the intent and meaning of an open society through oppression, deception, secrecy, and yet to be unproven, criminality. Unfortunately, because of the ruinous national and international policies wrought by this administration, some say the country may be beyond recovery. But I have another view. Since the American public now sees its government for what it has become by reflecting their opinions in daily polls across the country, we may yet recover from the ravages this regime has produced. But until then how long will God Bless America, or are we already on borrowed time? James D. Cook Subject: "Jellocrats" "The Democratic leadership in Congress appears to confirm the emerging nickname of "jellocrats" in that they are still afraid to seriously take on a President who has a 29% rating in the polls. Two out of three Americans disapprove of Bush's performance. What are the jellocrats waiting for? " I submit that the failure is due to the fact that the majority of the mods and libs have the same agenda as the wingers. None of them have issue with authoritarian government, and in fact, endorse it on a daily basis in the Congress. The only difference in the wingers and the libs is the methods used to make the American people submissive to most anything the ruling body wishes to do to them. If that is not true, then they would have found a way several years ago to explain their philosophy to the American public. But they didn't, they haven't, and it appears they never will. One has to wonder why.The excuse of not having a majority in Congress is bogus. That has happened many times in the past but at least the worst that was done was nothing got accomplished. So why are they not challenging the fascists in the White House? Because they believe in the same thing? I think BuzzFlash would better serve the general public if it would investigate just how beholden the democrats are to the same people the wingers are beholden to. Amy Anderson Subject: "30 Seat Loss," Predicts Gop House Member. You Read That right. 5/14 BuzzFlashers, There was a reason that Mark Shields was dumbfounded on Election Night 2004 when John Kerry didn't "win" the presidential election. Unfortunately he, as well as many readers on this site--despite all the signs to the contrary--believe--or want to believe--that we all still live in a democracy--even though you rationally point out all the signs to the contrary and correctly conclude that the America before 2000 no longer exists; that we live in a fascist state with a dictator despot. Now Shields says that some GOP goose-stepping congressman is predicting a 30 seat loss in the House of Corporate Whores--er, Representatives. Well, it ain't gonna happen in two words: VOTE FRAUD! We've seen it again and again and again in every general and special election from Florida in 2000 to Georgia in '02 and Ohio in '04 and that state's 2nd district in 2005! Where in all of human history has there ever-- EVER--been a dictatorship that has allowed itself to be procedurally "elected" out of office? Where and When? Well, maybe Ortega in Nicaragua--but never in a great power. And don't give me the old Soviet Union: that was done by two men IN POWER and it almost failed--and it and it's old "republics" are still nothing like real democracies today! No matter how close the polls get to W's IQ, do any of you really believe that the plutocratic cabal of neocons in power--that proxy for corporate violence staged by all those young victims in the US military around the world and in near absolute control of the MSM (as we saw in their reaction to Steve Colbert) will ever give up power to progressive, liberal, freedom loving small-d democrats peacefully? Oh, they'll make it look like a contest. Fool even the veterans like Shields (who, by the way, I admire tremendously). But in the end, we are in for a one party state until there's a real revolution as Jefferson had foreseen or coup d'etat. Will Wyche
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