April 12, 2002

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Keep up the good work.

Here's the letter I sent to Parker:

Subject: A few points...
Date: Wed, 10 Apr 2002 10:52:43 -0500
From: Mark Gunnion <xxx@xxx.xxx>
To: kparker@kparker.com

Miss Parker:

"I think they hate what's happened to their country - the loss of civility"

The civility that was lost when Gingrich decided to use poisonous language and deceitful campaigns to smear Clinton, while banging his secretary the whole time?

"family cohesion"

Ah. The family cohesion of Bob Barr? Henry Hyde? Bob Livingston? George Will? Hell, even Reagan was divorced. The Clintons asked forgiveness - and stayed married.

"and social decency"

Social decency - like Kenneth Starr's 70 million dollar, 6-year hunt into the twice-(fairly) elected president's pants? Crammed with every tiny detail of his five instances of (consensual) prison sex with another adult? Clinton's secret grand jury testimony, made public and put on the internet, against the judge's wishes, within hours of his delivering it? Well, there's a paragon of "social decency."

"And despised Clinton for failing to provide appropriate leadership"

Here's the weird thing: The right needs their president to be their moral daddy. The rest of us want a president who knows what he's doing, who will be a civil servant and fulfill our call that common sense policies be put in place, not a wish list from the most extreme religious and corporate sponsors. You guys wanted a boy scout (and you got one), the rest of us wanted an administrator. To paraphrase the '92 war room, "It's the policies, stupid."

"his amazingly weird marriage notwithstanding."

Yeah, amazingly weird. For better or worse, they have stayed together. I understand how polemicists on your side are shocked by that, with the troubling history of divorce and remarriage typically and hypocritically undertaken by your heroes.

I think the blindness of the shots you take in this article go a long way towards confirming the statements of Begala and Brock.

But you know what? Bill Clinton will not be on a single ballot this fall, or in 2004. So you guys will have to come up with some popular policies to run on. Why not just cash your latest check from Scaife and sit this one out? You're revealing your mania by writing this kind of stuff. The American people can't elect Clinton again, but they don't need your obsession with him rammed down their throat any more, either.

Your obsessions are just boring.

Mark Gunnion

Dear Buzz,

Isn't there some way to stop the Greens from fielding congressional candidates who take just enough votes away from Democrats to elect Republicans? This has happened over and over in New Mexico and elsewhere. So what does Nader think now of electing Bush over his alleged lookalike Gore or a Democratic over a Republican House. Can he be happy over the tax cut for the rich and the end of the inheritance tax?

David Burner
Maplecrest, NY

Dear BuzzFlash:

Thank you Linda Kekumu for the letter you wrote to BuzzFlash. You summed up what so many millions of Americans are feeling today. Where is the news media? Why was our election stolen by the Republicans, the Bush Family, the United States Supreme Court? Why are the Bushes getting by with the corruption and fraud they have been getting away with for so many years? Yes, since Bush took over the White House, there are no morals for Bush talks out of both sides of his mouth. The Bushes don't care about the American people, they only care about how much money they can steal from the poor to pay the rich, their oil buddies. Oh yes, how I miss President Clinton. He had morals, and
he cared for the American people. It was the Republicans and yes the news media and the right wing neo-conservatives hatred that has ruined this country.

Arlene Carlson
Helena, MT

Dear Editor;

I hope no one in Houston will fall for this Baxter suicide letter which is transparently fake. Written entirely in block letters, with a block letter "signature," and displaying no personal or family knowledge, it is something literally anyone could have written.

Worse, the attempt to prevent its release by Houston authorities, on the grounds of "intimate family details," is so blatantly disproved, that it raises questions about the veracity of Houston authorities themselves.

Robert Manis, Ph.D.
Department of Human Behavior
Community College of Southern Nevada
Las Vegas, NV

Hi, Buzz:

If you want to know how the economy is really doing, apparently you need to call a tree service.

It's April and in Houston that means calling the tree guy to get your trees trimmed. Coincidentally, it's the dreaded tax time. These two have met head-on this year and it is serving as a barometer of sorts for the economy.

I called our regular service this year to arrange for the tree care. I told Tom, the owner of the company, that our immediate concern was taking down a dead tree. The trimming would have to wait until next month as we just did our taxes and, for the first time in YEARS, we owe money. This would have been different had we not gotten the tax advance last year.

This is when our conversation got interesting. Tom told me that this was the worst April he has had since the oil business went bust in the 80's. The double whammy this year is the recession (his term) going hand in hand with the sly (my term) tax advance that was trumpeted as a 'gift.' Not only were people hurting to start with, but they are finding out that their return this year is either much smaller, nonexistent, or they owe money to the IRS. When our economy was booming along in the Clinton years, Tom said his waiting list for spring was four to six weeks. Those who scheduled with him earlier this year, anticipating the long wait, have been calling and canceling -- almost all citing the Tax Shock of 2002 as the reason. The result is that rather than my usual month-long wait, he will be here on Saturday.

Fortunately, as a daily Buzz reader, I was informed and prepared. My husband, mr. republican, only knew about this because of the links you provided many months ago. I was only TOO happy to share those links with him. Talk about bursting one's bubble!

Well, America, welcome to the shell game. Reality bites.

Liz Taylor
Houston

Dear Buzz:

The last paragraph of Kathleen Parker's commentary entitled 'Vast ... conspiracy' invents 'Clinton Complex', specifically, "Sane people, of course know better. And dogs, though they stop barking after a serpent slithers away, continue to despise snakes, biliously." reminds me of a passage from Bertrand Russell's "To Face Danger Without Hysteria."

"Mass hysteria is a phenomenon not confined to human beings; it may be seen in any
gregarious species. I once saw a photograph of a large herd of wild elephants in Central
Africa seeing an airplane for the first time, and in a state of wild collective terror. The elephant, at most times, is a calm and sagacious beast, but this unprecedented phenomenon of a noisy, unknown animal in the sky had thrown the whole herd completely off its balance. Each separate animal was terrified, and its terror communicated itself to the others, causing a vast multiplication of panic. As, however, there were no journalists among them, the terror died down when the airplane was out of sight."

Ed
Georgia

Dear BuzzFlash,

The letter to Katherine Harris and her notice to constituents is certainly upsetting. It is bad enough that Harris damaged our democratic system, but it seems so perverted that she may have a chance to mess with our lives on a regular basis as a member of the House of Representatives.

I say "may" because there is hope that Republicans will lose control of the House this November. I hope that Democrats and progressive independents give her the "new-kid-on-the-block" treatment. Stick her in a basement closet with no budget for staff. While they're at it, they should treat Tom DeLay and his right-wing cronies the same way.

Bruce S. Ticker
Editor, The Bush Syndrome (www.thebushsyndrome.com)

Dear Buzz,

Re: Baxter's suicide note www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/topstory/1361816

The second I saw Baxter's suicide note to his wife, a chill went up my spine. I knew it was fake and that he was murdered. The reason is simple: the handwritten note is in capital block letters. Even his signature.

I remembered a lecture I attended given by the Los Angeles police detective specializing in forgery and document fraud. He made it very clear to us that it is next to impossible for someone to write in the same handwriting as another person; the expert forger, in his long experience, was a Hollywood myth. Given two adequate handwriting samples, he and others in his field could, with great certainty, say whether or not they matched. He said the only cases in which the handwriting could not be matched with confidence, were those in which block printing was used instead of cursive.

The only way I could be convinced that Baxter's note is real would be if he had the highly unusual habit of writing in block letters all the time and used them even when signing important Enron documents (of course those have probably been shredded by AA.) The fact that he did not use his real signature on his "suicide" note to his wife, easily the most important document he would have ever signed, tells me very clearly that someone else wrote it--the person who killed him. One doesn't have to be Sherlock Holmes to figure this one out.

This really makes me wonder about the intelligence of the police down in Houston. God help the families of other homicide victims.

RA in LA

I have two thoughts for today.

One is about last night's Larry King Live show. I tuned in long enough to hear Peter Jennings blow his image right out of the water by whining about how for decades there was a "decided liberal slant" to the media, saying that he is much happier now that the "conservatives are in control," and feels the country is going back in the right direction. Good bye ABC. I never liked Peter Jennings anyway, he is so pompous and pure. And quite frankly, at 50, I am just damned tired of seeing the same faces depict personal opinion and viewpoint and call it the news. The same people, along with their various dye jobs and face lifts. Why don't they bring along a younger person and train them? I have been looking at the likes of Jennings, BaaBaaWaaWaa, and a lot of other "old timers" for TOO LONG.

My second thought for today is regarding the pro-Palestinian slant at CNN to the Middle East conflict. CNN has reported more than once that Osama Bin Laden stated that the Taliban "beat the Russians," and that they felt they had the power to "beat the Americans" and "affect worldwide policy/history." Why is it that CNN is unable to extrapolate from that mindset to the ultimate conclusion:

That once Taliban/Bin Laden observed that the people of America would sit back and "take it without a fight" when a coup d'état occurred here and installed a military dictatorship with delusions of grandeur: Observing this event, why wouldn't they think they could get away with the Sept. 11th bombings? They think they beat the Russians and they think they can beat us! They think they can remove Israel from the earth with impunity. And my point is? They would never have done this if our country had more respect for our constitution and stood together as Americans and insisted on a legal election. By accepting the results of coup #2 (#1 being the JFK assassination), our own nation severely weakened our image in the world as a country to be admired for our strength. The jackals are out there, and they smell blood. And by the way, the Middle East is not the only region of the world who does not accept GWB as a legal president. Many countries do not want to be financially punished, so they keep their tongues, but they do not like this guy either.

As for me? I hold georgie personally responsible for Sept. 11. Seriously.

sign me Cindy
a new reader
with a new pc

Dear BuzzFlash,

I wish members of Congress would stop referring to Mr Ridge as Governor Ridge. He is no longer a governor but the Director of the Homeland Security. They should be referring to him as Director Ridge rather than Governor. He is not getting paid to do a governor's job. What is the purpose of addressing him as Governor Ridge and not Director Ridge.

I also don't understand why Director Ridge isn't testifying before Congress. Under the Administration's web page www.whitehouse.gov/government he is listed under Cabinet Rank Members.

United States Trade Representative Robert B. Zoellick, and Office of Management Mitchell E. Daniels, Jr are two of the Cabinet Rank Members who have testified at Congress. Recently, Mr. Daniels testified at the Congressional hearings conducted by Senator Lieberman. The reason given on why Director Ridge doesn't testify is because he is just an advisor. If this is the case, then he should be listed under The Executive Office.

Thank you
Carla Kay Daniel

Dear Buzz,

Subj: Pure Oxygen/"she-span" is POSITIVELY must-see TV

'Caught this for the first time last night because visiting friends insisted it was must-see TV.They were totally right.

What an ABSOLUTE BLAST!!!

Hosted by sharp, smart, q-friendly Stephanie Miller (she was the best thing on cable during "Monica," i.e. Clinton defender -- and still is), it's called "pure oxygen" and it's listed on the oxygen website as "she-span." Although the link below features 2 hosts, only Miller appeared on last night's show.

http://www.oxygen.com/pureoxygen/

The program started with a roundtable on current events featuring a panel comprised of -- get this -- 3 liberal/progressives and 1 republican. Couldn't say if this ratio is typical or not. But as long as Miller is hosting it, progressives WILL maintain the upper hand.

The panel was ALL female. No, they weren't nice and cuddly to the lone gop-er. But it WAS fun. And very "democratic."

Because it's on the Oxygen network, p02/she-span probably won't get the ink or buzz Crossfire does -- but they deserve it!

Perhaps a BuzzFlash-Oxygen partnership waiting to happen.

M. Tavin

Dear BuzzFlash,

I read somewhere on the Web that the CIA and the oil companies were out to get Chavez, Chile redux. It appears to have worked. Will anyone report on what the Caracas CIA station has been up to in the past few months? How much money have we borrowed from our grandchildren to finance this coup?

A BuzzFlash Reader

I read the letter to you from Linda Kekumu, dated April 10, 2002. I just wanted to let you know that is the way I also feel. I, too, have talked to people and they feel the same way. I'm also wishing people would let our Congress, and Senate, know that we want them to stand up to the Republicans. We need them to stand up for us. I am very unhappy with this Administration. People I talk to are also unhappy. They want Democrats to fight back and stop Republicans from badmouthing us.

Thank You,
Joyce, From Wis

Dear Buzz,

Greg Palast had it right! In a radio interview with Alex Jones on March 4, 2002, he predicted the fall of the President of Venezuela because President Chavez had the nerve to say no to the IMF and because Chavez wanted to raise taxes on oil corporations to fund social programs.

Palast had said, "...I'm telling you, watch this space: The President of Venezuela will be out of office in three months or shot dead. They are not going to allow him to raise taxes on the oil companies."

Kind of makes you proud to be an American, doesn't it?

LAnnH.

[BuzzFlash Note: And afraid for your life, especially if you're not in lockstep support with the Bush jihad or its corporate puppet-masters.]