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| June 20, 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 JUNE 20, 2006 BUZZFLASH MAILBAG. CLICK HERE FOR PART 1. Subject: Al Gore on Larry King I happened to watch Al Gore in his interview with puff piece Larry King the other night. Gore was brilliant. What captured me was the way he described Global Climate Change as a "moral and spiritual issue." (Yes, he used THOSE words!) Now if the Democrats can just take a lesson from Gore maybe they can start convincing people that we should start protecting what god created instead of pillaging it. Speaking of god and stuff ... Is George Bush going to make apples illegal? I understand that according to the bible we shouldn't be eating them. Brian Subject: Death Tax The right likes to talk about a death tax. But they refer to a monetary tax paid by a handful of very rich people. The war in Iraq is a real death tax. We pay it in the deaths of our children. Another death tax is the lack of health insurance in the US. That we pay directly in early death for so many Americans. And we pay dearly for the vast sums taken home by the medical robber barons. The American people must reclaim the term "death tax" and lay it at the feet of the people who collect it. A BuzzFlash Reader Subject: Rethuglicans Are Worried About the '08 Presidential Campaign Already? (They Should Be) Well, thanks to our old friends at CNN and their connections to the GOP spin machine, they are already trying to damage Gore, H. Clinton, Kerry and grease the skids for McCain. Probably because he is such a weirdo that they know they can steal the '08 election and no one will notice AGAIN. CNN is running the results of a so-called poll of voters, though they neglect to say who they asked the questions. The so-called poll was, which '08 Presidential candidate are you MOST LIKELY TO VOTE AGAINST? Oh come on, we haven't even had our October surprise of bombing Iran yet, and it is still 2006. As you might expect, CNN is trying to trash Gore, Clinton and Kerry. Gore heads the list at 48%, and again like you would expect Kerry and Clinton are tied at 47%, but sponge-head-square-mind McCain comes in at 35%. Laughable. The actual poll should be, WHO IS THE GOP MOST WORRIED ABOUT IN THE 2008 PRESIDENTAL ELECTION? They wouldn't even need to change the percentages that much. I doubt that we will get the equal treatment from the -o called MSM on both parties. Good thing people have caught on to the MSM fallacy of that liberal bias. Here is still another thing CNN will not tell you, not only is Dumbya a draft dodger, he is a war criminal, on record saying he is in favor of a 95% world population decrease. Do you remember the last leader that was in favor of a large population decrease? They both had/have concentration camps in their country and other countries. The latest incarnation gets really testy when compared to the first one. The truth really hurts them. KJ Lovell Subject: Fraud in Government Re How the Pentagon was raided in 1980's. Big Corporations fined over and over. Great read for what is forthcoming, with Bush hugh spending binge for military-industrial corporations. Andy Pasztor -- When The Pentagon Was For Sale Awesome read. High officials in Pentagon caught. Big money=Big crooks Clarence Swinney Subject: Washington Death-Cult Shows Its Boney Face An excerpt from a recent cold-blooded statement from Tony Snow:
Notice the context and tense of Snow's comment here. "These people" refers to the hall full of living soldiers whose cheering for the president got him misty-eyed during his recent trip to Baghdad; "will not die in vain" refers to Bush's plans for these same currently living, breathing troops. Oh, there're gonna die, just not in vain. See "To Die for Germany: Heroes in the Nazi Pantheon" by Jay W. Baird for a chilling portrait of another nationalist death-cult in action. To such people, altruistic sacrifices in the past demand the same from those still living, trapping their entire society in an epic vortex of self-destruction. Victory is the chimeric goal, but it always jumps ahead: death is the only certain path to redemption for the foot soldier of fascism. The leadership, however, always plans ahead for a well-invested retirement. Ken Duerksen Subject: Lies Clinton lied and was Impeached Robert M. Thacker Robert M. Thacker Subject: Definitions of Indecent The Pinhead in the White House signed a bill that will increase the fines for “indecency.” His idea of “indecency” and that of many Americans is not the same. He claims to be protecting the children of America with this bill while sending the parents of other children off to Iraq to be maimed or to die. Bush, like so many of the Self-Righteous Right, seems to think that a dirty word is worse than a dirty deed. People have recovered from a split-second view of Janet Jackson’s breast. In spite of all the outrage no children were scarred for life. Recovering from the death of a parent in Iraq is quite another thing. All the kerfuffle about indecent language is quite often all in the ear of the beholder. Your particular opinion of indecent may not be what someone else finds offensive. And if you really want to hear some juicy language listen to a bunch of kids when they don’t know anyone is listening. I find death and destruction indecent. I find invading someone else’s country and killing their people indecent. I find the very words “collateral damage” to describe the death of innocents indecent. I find lying and deception and smear tactics indecent. The endless number of things that I have a different perspective on than this Pinheaded President and his contemptible base is enormous. It has been said by some that they may not have a definition of obscenity but they know it when they see it. I feel the same way about indecency. I may not have a definitive term for indecency, but I know it when I hear it. President Pinhead may not say sh*t but he speaks sh*t constantly. A President is supposed to represent “all” the people of this country but this one chooses to pander to all that is small-minded and mean-spirited in our population. That, my fellow Americans, is indecent. Bush signs law increasing fines for indecent broadcasts (AP/thestar.com) Marjorie L. Swanson We in Toronto have the extreme pleasure of reading Mr. Margolis each week in The Toronto Sun. His opinions and positions always create thought but ... I'd just like to warn you that he writes for the most notorious right wing, racist, fear mongering paper in the country. The Toronto Sun is inherently evil in their support of the neo-con movement and support for GWB. It's hard to believe that they're Canadian owned. Margolis takes a lot of heat for his work, especially from American Republicans but as I am a huge supporter of his work I just thought I would take the time to let everyone know that Eric is an American, a decorated soldier and he was and may even remain a Republican voter. (I hold nothing against him for being a Republican. He's educated about who he votes for and that's all anyone can expect I suppose. To me he has become Canada's adopted son. A journalist with more balls than ANY mainstream American writer. In fact, I'm not sure American papers have journalists anymore. I think they just have "typers." Pay close attention to Eric. He is a giant when it comes to his distaste for Bush et al. Please, please, please read more of him at www.foreigncorrespondent.com You won't be sorry. http://www.ericmargolis.com/archives.php Brian Subject: Iraqi Deaths just how many Iraqis have been killed and injured as a result of car bombs, ieds, suicide bombers, kidnapping, and what have you? Why is this number not given? How does it compare to death rates in american cities? PLEASE find answers to these questions!! The Mostly Reverend Mr. Kim [BuzzFlash Note: The administration's policy is to not keep those records. The Iraq Coalition Casualty Count web site links to Iraqi Security Forces and Civilian Deaths Details, which provides an estimate of civilian deaths.] Subject: Slogan Our slogan should be: The GOP can win elections they just can't govern! John Geiger Subject: If I Could Speak To Congress, I Would Say ... Mr. Speaker, I rise today to give you an honest and fair Assessment of the feelings of We the People. How dare I speak to you directly, avoiding the filters of the news media and our elected mouthpiece? Because, Mr. Speaker, I have listened intently to the Debate of the members of this house and realize full well that each member is arguing a point that they have not defined for themselves. There is no question that this august body is a bully pulpit for entrenched opinions and not an open forum for debate. Ideas are not welcome here; only opinions that support the prevailing view of the notorious “commander-in-chief.” There is no honest discussion or consensus of the ambiguous term “war on terror” whose intrinsicality shifts and flows like gossamer. You can not declare war on what you have not defined. Terms must be used or invented that will provide our military leaders with clear goals outlined and defined by precise goals. This “war on terror” that has moved from the goal of finding and destroying al Qaeda to the nebulous goal of defining and imposing “democracy” by conquest and inspiring a nation, with weapons of mass destruction pointed at them, to embrace our definition of “freedom.” By redefining the terms of “war on terror” to include invasion of a country for reasons other than defense, we have opened a Pandora’s box of terror and unleashed the many horrors that box contained upon our whole world. There is no question that it is our responsibility to try to close that box. The question is how? And this assembled group of elected leaders has refused to address our culpability and our responsibility. It is not enough to continue to say “stay the course.” We must first KNOW the course and DEFINE the course our country has begun; because this war created in Our name will not end in Our lifetime; nor the lifetime of Our children. Not unless We the People decide to end it. This is a war that can be neither won nor lost on rhetoric. This misidentified “war on terror,” which is a blanket woven by the many voices of our government, covers true reasons and true desires and fills the heart with patriot fever and fear and little Truth. But in the paraphrased words of a very wise soul, only the Truth will set us free. We must turn our vision away from the murky past of this war and remove the debris of dishonesty from our minds. Only then will we have a clear view of what we must do to return to Our glory days of honor and truth; to once again lead the world by example and not by force. Carol Hagner Subject: Jesus Camp -- For Real Dear BuzzFlash, Thanks for your heads-up re the Heidi Ewing/Rachel Grady movie, "Jesus Camp." Having lived in some Red States, I very much want to see it. Quick synopsis:
I sent this on to a friend who's homeschooling her daughter. Her reply below. This says so much about the cult now in power -- because it is indeed a cult. She writes:
Scary stuff. And sad. As Dan Quayle said, a mind is a terrible thing to lose. Strength and love to the Loyal Opposition. Deborah Conner Subject: Government, By Me, For Me and For Mine! Working in a 'service' profession, I have learned that no matter how seemingly outlandish a demand that a customer might make, the situation is NOT a contest between that customer and myself. The customer is NOT challenging me to a duel or a contest of who can outwit the other. The sales that we make have nothing to do with any beliefs I may have about what is the 'right' thing to do and what is the 'wrong' thing to do. The customer wants something, can I provide it? Those are the entire facts of the case. Yes, I might voice a few invectives toward the customer after hanging up the telephone. I might weigh in heavily against their perceived arrogance, their seeming hostile tone or their understood digs at attempted civil discourse and trade. I may let that event occasionally come to the surface during the rest of that day and to continue to make judgments about it. But upon the next telephone ring, that arrogant customer is no longer in my memory. To the new customer on the telephone, at that moment, they, and whatever they need, are the most important tasks with which I have to deal today. Often we receive calls which in no way concern us. But if there is a remote chance that I can help that customer or steer them in the right direction or connect them to just the right company to fill their needs, I will do my best to fulfill that connection. I want them to remember us as being helpful and to turn to us with any problems they have. This is not learned behavior. I do this because it is the way I want the person on the other end of my telephone call to respond whenever I have a problem. I am a people watcher. People fascinate me. I have no problem sitting in a parking lot for 30 or 45 minutes, waiting for the wife or friend to do a little shopping. You would be amazed at the little actions and reactions that take place in a seemingly empty parking lot. When I stop each morning at my favorite fast food place to pick up my moring biscuits, as soon as I walk in the door, just a glance around tells me that the girl who normally only works the drive-thru window is also having to work the counter. "Uh oh!" Someone didn't show up for work today. It is taking every ounce of reserve the young lady can muster to be nice to every customer. I try my best not to add to her problems. I acknowledge her predicament and let her know I appreciate her tenacity and kindness. I wish her a great day and a smile. So, it was with considerable disappointment that I read the chapter on 'The Failure of Reform' in E.J.Dionne Jr.'s book "They Only Look Dead." These supposedly educated men whom we have hired to run our country (the fast-food counter), are treating each and every person (the customer) as if they have just walked up and challenged them to an arm wrestling contest or told they didn't know how to do their job. They make each and every proposal offered by anyone other than themselves or their teammates into a challenge to outwit, outflank and out perform them. They see "you against us." Their abilities as human beings and 'team players' are being questioned. To not be on their team is to be an alien from some girly planet. And this is why government isn't working. Government is not about THEM. It is not about this or that party. It is not about votes or re-elections. It is not about this party winning or that senator loosing. It is not a game nor is it a business. Yet, we see them acting as if winning is the only reason they are in Washington. Winning? Against who? If they "win," that means that the representatives that people from other parts of the country have sent to be their spokesperson have "lost." Why does anyone from any state in the Union have to lose? Government was established for ALL of the people, not this team or that one. Government IS about us, the people, of which they, the senators and representatives, are only a very small part. Being re-elected is nothing more than a "desire" on their part. It does not obligate us to see to it that they 'get back in the game' and lead us to VICTORY. Victory is not when one side bloodies the hell out of the other. Leave that on the football field, in the boxing ring or on the battlefield. Victory is when two people or two sides with opposing views can come to an agreement for the betterment of all. GOVERNMENT is not a contest. And now for the "But..., but...., but...., but's....." Peace, John P. Subject: Limbaugh Calls Us Stupid Dear BuzzFlash: During a commercial for the Rush Limbaugh show (fear not, I won't give him the time of day on his show) I heard Limbaugh say, and I paraphrase, that "I have never seen anybody more stupid and thick headed in my life than those supporters of the Democratic party." Hmmm. I can't express surprise, of course, but what passes for stupidity in the far right is mindboggling, to say the least. Stupid must mean questioning Bush and anything he does. It must also mean questioning Republicans, the war, and the election outcomes of 2000 and 2004. And it goes without saying we must be stupid for not listening to Limbaugh. All I can tell you is, I don't have to have a day-long barrage of right-wing propaganda shouted at me from Limbaugh, Hannity, who is a huge supporter of James Dobson among other atrocities, Michael Reagan or Glenn Beck. I would actually like to hear liberal radio programs, but I truly believe the reason most don't do too well is because there really isn't much of a demand. Intelligent people investigate sources, seek out the whole story, read books and scour the internet for the real news. We don't have to have a Goebbels clone leading us by the nose. Having a mind of my own that knows genocidal presidents when it sees one may look stupid to Limbaugh, but if being smart means hating my fellow man, promoting needless wars and destroying the nation's middle class and letting New Orleans drown, then I'm an idiot. Scott Subject: Thom Hartmann says change "Iraq war" to "the occupation of Iraq" BuzzFlash: Today on Thom Hartmann's Air America radio program, Thom said we should Also, we don't have an illegal immigration problem, we have an illegal employer When the illegal employers are shown on the 6 o'clock news being led away to Kirk Muse Subject: Vietnam Vs Iraq Everyone in government, with the exception of John Murtha, is pretending that this war has no similarities to VietNam. The coincidences are all too familiar to those of us who lived through the nightmare. I personally have two friends who died there. Young men who thought they had a future after their mandatory service to the country. Today they live on a memorial wall remembered only by those who knew them personally and loved them dearly. Why is Iraq different? It isn't. It's just the same bloodletting our nation does when it cannot elect proper leaders that secure diplomatic answers, or refuse to. It allows the slaughter of innocent young men and women as if they were so much meat to be thrown to the lions, then give the families medals that are supposed to replace the love, hugs and smiles of the physical being. They steal the body and make less than a futile attempt at healing the souls. After centuries of war, one would think we as a people would have gleaned valuable lessons from history, but apparently that isn't the case. We are all too ready to follow false leaders into the abyss as they wrap their sanctimonious asses with the flag, scare us to death with doomsday rhetoric and promise they will keep us safe, if only we believe their lies. It's hard work to read through the daily deception of the spin machines. Passports survive blazing infernos, computers survive two five-hundred pound bombs. Shouldn't we all call Bill Gates and ask for one of those? How much bulls**t are we really prepared to absorb or can we stomach any longer? Listen to your gut, because it never lies. Question everything. We are little by little being taken to a place we don't really want to go again. McCarthy took us there. For those too young, read a little history. We are slowly like the frog, being boiled without feeling the temperature rising and before we know it, every right we thought we had will be reduced to rubble. Dictatorship does not happen like an earthquake, it happens like sunburn. It creeps up while life appears so peaceful and you think soaking up rays make you look sexy. What we have happening in this country is without question dictatorship at it's finest, because it creeps on the feet of perceived security. "WE THE PEOPLE!" remember that? This is OUR country and we are the one's responsible for it's security from both without and especially within. The sacredness of our constitution written by smarter men than those presently in charge, and the sanctity of our privacy no one has a right to invade are in imminent danger. The whores on Capitol Hill fattening their pockets with our dollars and using our children for target practice have had their time. Tell them and don't be shy. Sitting back and doing nothing means we will have a short and failed history of a great idea that could have set an example of generosity and goodness throughout the world, instead of forever being labled as aggressors, occupiers and torturers despised by all. Speak out. Marta Cooper Subject: Corporatism, A Social Cancer You might want to check out this link - http://www.corporatism.org/. It clearly lays out aspects of corporatism, a deadly social disease that is quite simply our regime's modus operandi, its modus vivendi. Arrogant sociopaths -- in essence, greed-bloated, power-bloated pustules -- are in charge, and only if and until they are drained from our body politic, hopefully through reasonably honest elections, might we begin to advance toward a society worthy of habitation. It has been said that capitalism is the wisest of our economic inventions, recognizing individual effort and rewarding such accordingly. Perhaps, but the kind of raw, unregulated, socially indifferent and hostile capitalism that presently defines us is ultimately as evil as that other empire, now collapsed, and certainly quite capable of destroying our planet itself; indeed, seems on its way to doing so. Certainly our awareness and diagnosis are the necessary beginning of our salvation, but only a modest beginning. From the grassroots up, dogcatcher to Congressional representative and beyond, we must do everything we can to excise the cancer killing us. I apologize for mixing images, but please see such offense for what it is -- outrage struggling to express itself adequately. Norman Weinstein Subject: Re: What's Wrong With Kansas? [June 19 Mailbag] This is from the Kansas Democratic Party website www.ksdp.org: Former Republicans who have recently joined the Democratic Party and are seeking office: 1) Mark Parkinson, former Kansas Republican Party Chairman and Republican legislator, who is running for Lt. Governor; 2) Paul Morrison, current Johnson County District Attorney, running for Attorney General; 3) Steve Lukert, seeking re-election in the 62nd House District; 4) Cindy Neighbor, former Republican legislator running to again represent the 18th House District; 5) Duane Mathes, current Edwards County Commissioner, running in the 117th House District; 6) Judy Leyerzapf, current Abilene City Commissioner, running in the 68th House District; 7) Kent Goyen, running in the 114th House District; and 8) Walt Chappell, running in the 91st House District. 9) Brenton Weeks, running in the 29th House District David Schlomer Subject: Checkpoint at Death Zone WHY would military leaders put 3 soldiers only on a checkpoint known as DEATH ZONE? The 5500 people guarding and building the Billion dollar embassy that has swimming pools, own water supply, electricity, bowing alley etc. should be trying to get our troops out of this nightmare not telling the Iraqi people that we are here to stay. I am so angry about the senseless deaths of our people that words fail me so I suppose I will be VERY ANGRY till this useless administration is made to tell King George the American people don't want a King!!!!!!!!!! Zola Daniels Subject: Our Lying Media I don't know why our lying mainstream media is getting all teary-eyed reporting on the two soldiers that were tortured and beheaded by the terrorists yesterday in Iraq! After all, they have done everything they possible could to protect the liar responsible! They, along with Bush, Cheney and the whole evil administration, are responsible for these horrible killings and the twenty five hundred plus others too!! Just like a bunch of little parrots they gleefully repeated all the lies that were told to invade a country that had not done anything to us! If they had reported on bush and his lying friends like they did Bill Clinton, we would have been rid of the whole lying bunch long ago! But, alas, they loved the taxpayer government checks they get every month too much! I really believe that most of them will follow bush and company right into the fires of hell! I wonder what they really expected when they were showing Zarqawi's corpse on our tv screens every five minutes? I guess they thought they were doing their idol hero bush a big favor! I'm sure he asked them to do it so everybody could see what a wonderful job he was doing in the war on terrorism, and like good little lapdogs they were just obeying their master!! I just hope they are real proud of themselves, because in time they will have to pay! And just like the song says, "and ain't it funny how time slips away"? My heart goes out to the next of kin of these two brave young men and all the others who have given the ultimate in this terrible war!! Don Adams Subject: My BuzzFlash Ball Cap Is Beautiful It just came in the mail! I will wear it with pride. Thank you Buzz, A lucky survey winner, Peggy David Subject: Palast's Armed Madhouse
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