April 17, 2002

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BuzzFlash,

I sent this to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and other newspapers. It's nice to see Henry Waxman is getting a slow trickle of his peers calling for what should be true business as usual...open debate with the facts.

Jeff

To: issue@ajc.com Subject: Cynthia McKinney comments

Sirs/Madams,

I wholeheartedly support Congresswoman McKinney's call for a probe into the facts surrounding the operations and decisions by the members of our government leading up to and after the September 11th events. This probe should be in full public view, and examine not only the Executive branch but all aspects of government that are involved.

Dubiously installed in the White House to begin with, Mr. Bush's family and friends have reaped windfall profits directly due to the actions taken by him. His penchant for secrecy (from his policy on the release Presidential and Vice-presidential papers to his fight for the withholding of Energy Task Force participants) has created an environment where the September 11th events may be easily viewed with the most negative of views. These negative views may or may not prove groundless, but until a full and prompt investigation, publicly held, is held, our country is left to rightly wonder "who knew what, and when did they know it?.

thank you,
Jeff Spakowski
Ferndale, MI

Dear Buzz:

I sent the following letter to the New York Times:

Venezuela's Political Turbulence

Dear Editors:

In my opinion this editorial is a classic example of double-talk and hypocrisy. It displays your tacit approval of arrogant and immoral behavior, and also clearly demonstrates twisted logic.

Excerpt: Mr. Chavez's record as president is terrible. He has failed to keep campaign promises to end corruption and diversify the sputtering economy. He has blocked independent press coverage, stacked the government and state companies with cronies and built alliances with Fidel Castro and Saddam Hussein.

The above seems to have a familiar ring to it -- don't you think? While "independent press coverage" may not have been "blocked" here, there was no need -- as there was almost no independent coverage to block! If not for the Internet, we could get all our news from Ari Fleisher's press conferences. As to stacking the government with cronies, I think even you must recognize the irony in that statement. As I recall, Mr. Bush also promised (or suggested) during his campaign, that he would be a uniter and bring honor and dignity to the White House Instead he brought us Enron and the patriotism police. We were led to believe he would govern as a Compassionate Conservative. Instead of governing from the middle, he lurched rightward immediately upon taking office and has never even attempted to moderate or negotiate his extremely conservative policies or appointments including judicial nominees. This is a UNITER?

Excerpt: In his three years in office, Mr. Chavez has been such a divisive and demagogic leader that his forced departure last week drew applause at home and in Washington. That reaction, which we shared, overlooked the undemocratic manner in which he was removed. Forcibly unseating a democratically elected leader, no matter how badly he has performed, is never something to cheer.

But cheer you did, and instead of calling it a coup -- you repeated the Bush assertion that he (Chavez) was responsible for his own ouster. If the coup was ultimately successful, would you now be talking about "the undemocratic manner in which he was removed"??? Does self-interest now always override democratic principles? How can we truly be proud of our democracy, if we are seen as supporters and/or instigators of coups that forcibly remove democratically elected leaders in sovereign countries who we may not like?

You conclude your commentary with: "The only hope for Mr. Chavez and Venezuela is for him to step back from his confrontational agenda." OR WHAT? You'll openly support and celebrate Mr. Chavez's apparent suicide? This editorial is clearly one that should have been scrubbed!

Sincerely,
A BuzzFlash Reader

Dear BuzzFlash,

RE: A COMPELLING COMMENTARY FROM THE TIMES

This piece begs the following:

An issue that may soon dwarf the debacle in the Middle East will be Venezuela. If it can be shown that Bush or his CIA worked directly or indirectly towards the overthrow of a democratically elected government in our own hemisphere, then you've got problems with the OAS and all our hemispheric allies. Bush has brought aboard several of Reagan's
Neanderthals to run Latin American policy, like Otto Reich and Elliott Abrams, and John Negroponte is at the UN.

If having sex with an intern and lying about is an impeachable offense, then why doesn't overthrowing a democratically elected government constitute the same?

Steve Soto

SOUTHPAW
By Inday Espina-Varona
Georgie goes to school

The word from Washington is, that Georgie, the Texan princeling who so badly yearns to be the man Dad wants him to be, is finally hitting the books and doing his homework.

About time. Half a dozen chiefs of states have just told Colin Powell the world is not behooved to behave like patriotic Americans. Ariel Sharon and Yasser Arafat, not to mention rich Saudis and Bahrainis, have just shown how little Georgie knows about Abraham's children. Even the Northern Alliance warlords have taken to killing each other again, in full view yet of their blonde peacekeepers.

http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2002/apr/16/opinion/20020416opi5.html

To the editor of BuzzFlash.com:

Re: The link to the story below on BuzzFlash.com

Well, that's what happens when you name a boy Connie.

Peter Hochstein
New York, NY
NEWS ALERTS

Judge: Put Gays in Mental Institutions
Rights Groups File Ethics Complaint Over Judge’s Letter to Newspaper

April 12 — A Mississippi judge has come under fire from gay rights groups after he wrote a letter to a local newspaper saying that gays and lesbians "should be put in some type of mental institute" rather than be given the right to marry.

Equality Mississippi, a statewide gay rights group, with the support of Lambda Legal, a nationwide gay rights organization, filed an ethics violation complaint today against George County Justice Court Judge Connie Wilkerson, arguing that the letter is evidence that the judge cannot be impartial.

http://abcnews.go.com/sections/us/DailyNews/judge_gays020412.html

Dear Mr. Ailes:

I've just read your responses to emails sent to you by a couple of television viewers who were happy to have the new CNN Crossfire format. I must say - your response was very unprofessional and quite childish.

Although you've managed to accomplish what you set out to do - establish an entire network with your backward slant...better days will come once BUSH II is replaced just as BUSH I was...hopefully we can elect someone who can "fix" the damage done as Clinton was able to do. Great trickle down theory guys - nice try.

Those of us who are thoughtful and bright, well-read and educated, forward-thinking and believe in a just society will ultimately prevail.

Bring on Phil!

Sally Maitland
Matlacha, Florida

Dear BuzzFlash,

In a previous letter, I asked fellow BuzzFlash advocates to e-mail the Atlanta Journal/Constitution regarding their inane editorial directed at Rep. Cynthia McKinney and the subsequent mail that resulted from McKinney's call for an investigation into 9-11. The paper printed about nine letters condemning the congresswoman and two that were in
support of her. Of course a letter that I sent was not published, but here are my comments:

Rep. Cynthia McKinney will be slandered for having the courage to ask for an "investigation of the events surrounding Sept.11". Her concerns and the issues that she raises are not only relevant, but they are the type of issues that all congressional representatives were elected to address. Unfortunately we now live in a climate that makes citizens (even elected representatives ) appear treasonous and down right criminal for daring to question the current administration. During this tax paying season, I am reminded that one of the main reasons that we pay taxes is for security and defense. I would like to know what went wrong on 9-11. Being a patriotic American does not mean that I must agree with everything that our government does. It does mean that I have the freedom to express my concerns.

Dee Turner
Atlanta

.......................................................

Please let McKinney know that there are many of us who would like to know if the Bush administration had prior warning and that we support her right to ask about this. Her e-mail address is: Cymck@mail.house.gov

Dear Buzz,

Why doesn't BuzzFlash (along with other groups) launch a boycott of Fox News advertisers? Rather than shout at Fox, which won't change its ways, target the advertisers, send letters to them and demand that they stop support a right-wing network? Or maybe even target advertisers on the most biassed of Fox's shows? Someone would need to keep track of who the advertisers are, get their contact information and put all the pressure on them.

Lucius Gore

Dear BuzzFlash,

So, D.C. was upset about having no representation. Welcome to the club! We ought to ALL be burning our taxes in that case. Do you feel "represented" by this government? I don't!

Rob Moitoza
Seattle

Dear Buzz,

Subj: I Smell A Supreme Court Nomination!

Judge: Put Gays in Mental Institutions
Rights Groups File Ethics Complaint Over Judge's Letter to Newspaper
April 12

A Mississippi judge has come under fire from gay rights groups after he wrote a letter to a local newspaper saying that gays and lesbians "should be put in some type of mental institute" rather than be given the right to marry.

http://abcnews.go.com/sections/us/DailyNews/judge_gays020412.html

A BuzzFlash Reader

Dear BuzzFlash,

Due to attorney Sarah Weddington's courage and conviction, millions of American women owe their lives and health to her. As a young girl (pre Roe v. Wade) I remember the many horror stories of women dying of botched back-alley or self-induced abortions. If Roe is overturned, abortions will not cease - instead, the horror stories will reemerge, women will die, women and doctors will be criminalized.

Or as the oft-repeated quip puts it, 'If men could get pregnant, abortion would be a sacrament.'

T. Quigly

Dear Buzz,

Subj: Roger Ailes (loser)

>He claims we are cherry picking his e-mail responses to make him look bad.

Sort of like how he delivers the news, right?

Jeff Schwarz

Dear BuzzFlash,

Subj: Enron's India Power Plant

I've heard very little (nothing, really) about the 60 Minutes segment on Enron's criminal dealings in building the power plant in India, the related bribery, and the working White House task force established by Cheney last summer to save the plant and Enron. This is the first half of the story: Part two is the pipeline across Afghanistan, which Bush Cheney Inc were negotiating with the Taliban as late as August. Here's where the famous "Carpet of bombs or carpet of gold," threat to the Taliban comes in. And then comes Sept. 11. Is anyone going to connect the dots? 60 Minutes told half the story...who will tell the whole story?

Cynthia McKinney, being trashed a la Anita Hill, is telling the truth. Remember: Watergate took several years, a gutsy newspaper (the late Washington Post), and a lot of luck. Who has the guts to dig out the scum of this story?

David Balog
Eldred, NY

Dear Buzz,

In all of this email-flinging from Roger Ailes, this really, really doesn't look good for BlackBerry's little ad to finish off his ignorant and ill-spelled rants. It gives me this image of one of Michael Moore's stereotypical "Stupid White Men" dashing off the text equivalent of an upraised middle finger, then hitting "send" on his little yuppie toy before cackling evilly at "the little people" and heading off to some nefarious "programming" meeting. Now that CEO's are starting to be looked upon as crooks and villains, I wonder if BlackBerry is aware that their corporate identity is getting twisted up in this mess.

Just a thought!

--lilah wild
bay area

Dear BuzzFlash,

Wow! After reading your latest from Ailes, it is obvious that these guys can dish it out, but they can't take it! Poor baby! I'll make him some warm milk and oatmeal cookies and send him to bed.

Rob Moitoza
Seattle

P.S. Amazing how much just a little bit of truth will do!

A BuzzFlash Reader Letter to Mr. Ailes:

----- Original Message -----
From: R Gregg Johnson/JNSJ
To: ailes@foxnews.com
Sent: Wednesday, April 17, 2002 1:57 AM
Subject: You, sir, are a cancer on the soul of this Nation

You and your forbears have destroyed the politics of this nation by cheapening and dumbing down the level of discourse to the metrics of pure propaganda. And you revel in it, the dummies deserve it...

You serve up the same old slanted, right wing derby every day and night...well, you are singing to the choir and the rest of us tuned out a long time ago, you and Rush have maxed the market, babe...time for another tact...and that is all it is, a marketing angle which dovetails quite nicely with the radical opinions of your employer, a man who purchased his citizenship so he could join the Moonies in influencing our politics and cash in his chips in the biggest pond in the World.

You have been exposed. Fair and Balanced...to the hard right, you peddle hate and pander to the baser frustrations of your audience, a group of obviously deluded sheep, ready for shearing. You Distort and let the Right Decide, only on Fox will you find someone as unhinged as Ann Coulter being treated as though she had any credentials or qualifications to comment on Public Affairs, other than her entertainment value as a totally loose cannon. Your designated Liberal is also wearing thin, he is the most highly paid joke in Show Business, you don't hire real journalists, they won't read your scripts.

Ever wonder why every third ad on the EBI is for some medical quackery or why all the consumer con men in the country line up to advertise on your network? It is because you and Rush have managed to gather the largest group of rubes in one place outside of the House Republican Caucus.

RG Johnson
San Jose CA

Subj: A Modest Proposal

Dear Mr. Ailes:

I read with in interest your views of the new Crossfire. My understanding is that, in your opinion, the conservative hosts are outmatched by the liberal ones, because it is a journalist v spinner matchup.

Why not have a simulcast crossover event with the best of Fox v. Carville/Begala? You pick: Hume, Hannity, whomever. And, have the topics most central to the minds of both parties:

Should Clinton have been removed?
Was the election decided correctly?
Is Bush a good President?

The forum must be equal in all respects: microphones, time, sound, stage lighting.

It would be a great ratings event.

What do you think?

Sincerely,

Scott

PS: If you would allow me a personal note: I always prefer discussions in the style of Buckley or Washington Week in Review, where people hold the floor. Not only is talking over one another rude, I can't even understand what is said. We need more civility in this world, not less. It is the biggest reason I change channels watching Fox.

Dear BuzzFlash,

Just heard on the radio that Colin Powell will be returning from the Mideast empty-handed on a peace agreement.

Who'd-a thunk it! Sounds like Powell got a "get out of Dodge" attitude from the fighting foes. In essence, Bush sent his little cowpoke to close the barn doors "after" the cows escaped.

As Mr. Rogers would ask, "Georgie, can you make this sound? M-o-o-o-o-o! I knew you could." Maybe it's not such a "Beautiful day in the neighborhood." Mideast neighborhood... that is.

~ Cathy