May 21, 2002
Important Note: Because we can't always determine your intentions, we need to ask a favor of you when you send us email. If you DO NOT WANT YOUR EMAIL PUBLISHED in the Mailbag or in the Contributors section, please write "CONFIDENTIAL" in the Subject line or at the top of your email. That way we'll know it's just a comment to BuzzFlash. Additionally, if you submit a mailbag item and DO NOT WANT YOUR NAME associated with your submission, sign your email, "A BuzzFlash Reader." If you send email unsigned, we will post your name with your submission, or, if that's not available, your email name (not the full address, just what's on the left side of the email address). Thank you.
The BuzzFlash Mailbag is updated on an ongoing basis, with the newest material and comments on top. Again, we can only post a small percentage of what is sent to us. The opinions expressed in the Mailbag are not necessarily those of BuzzFlash. Thanks again for your email and your patience.
Saturday, 5/18
Dear BuzzFlash,
I bet the media propaganda machine will be in full gear tomorrow. It is interesting that a new vague yet bigger attack warning was released just in time for Cheney to talk about it tomorrow. I bet all the Sunday shows will spend the majority of time on that and let Cheney spin the Administration's propaganda all morning. He will probably say that he can't talk about 9/11 warnings because talking about them might jeopardize current investigations. I also bet he says that any investigation into 9/11 will distract the intelligence community from this new terror threat. He will say they need to focus on the war on terror and any investigation into their failure pre-9/11 will distract them from fighting the war. He will also say that if we start looking divided we will look weak to the terrorists.
CHENEY AND BUSH WILL WAG THE DOG FURIOUSLY AND THE MEDIA WILL JUST BE HYPNOTIZED BY THE SPINNING POODLE.
thank you,
stevie
gardiner
somerdale,nj
Buzz,
The Library of Congress put out a report in 1999 which specifically mentions attacking with planes. Clinton's administration stopped an attack on LA Int'l Airport, the Holland Tunnel, the UN, a massive attack on the Millennium Celebration (in 1999), etc., Bush not only didn't read that report, he didn't read the report from Gore that took years to prepare on terrorism, and he refused the usual briefing that is always given by the old administration to the incoming administration.
During Clinton's administration the Republicans (in control of both houses) flatly refused to give Clinton the money for antiterrorism efforts and they also flatly refused to form a collation against terrorism and every time he did anything to attack terrorist they accused him of "Wag the Dog." ..... and I'll add in any of terrorist attacks that did take place, the first WTC and a few abroad, the perpetrators were caught and prosecuted in a court of law and convicted..... And through the trials we gained a great deal of information about terrorism, and specific information through testimony in the trial of Ramsi Youssef of "Operation Bonjinka" a plan to crash planes into the WTC which was disclosed publicly in 1997.... which Bush didn't bother with either.
The Clinton administration sat on threats? Seems to me the Clinton administration took those threats seriously and used any and all information they had to generate reports and keep a 9/11 from happening. They also let the public know when there were major threats ... like the threat to the Millennium Celebrations, and the Olympics.
This administration was warned that something big was going to happen. He was warned by: Vladimir Putin warned the US that as many as 25 suicide pilots were training for suicide missions to crash planes into important targets, BND German Intelligence that monitoring phone calls of an Iranian man that was calling US intelligence agencies last summer to warn of an imminent attack on the WTC the week of Sept. 9 , Mossad in Israel, the French gave warning in August of last year, a caller in the Cayman Islands gave several warning of an imminent attack on the US by bin Laden during the summer, and the worlds largest IM company received warning of an imminent attack on the WTC a few hours before it happened, US Navy Lt. Delmart Vreeland wrote details of the attack in a sealed envelope and gave it Canadian officials who didn't open it until 9/14, All this stuff has been reported in the foreign papers and some US papers since the attacks... easily verified through a search.... and then there was the Phoenix and Minneapolis FBI memos that no one supposedly bothered with.... but, I'll remind you, were all over the Internet within days of 9/11..... and then we have Moussaoui that was in FBI custody since August of last year for wanting to learn how to only steer big jets, and they were denied a search warrant to search his laptop and belongings.
Why is it that I think, Diane Feinstein, was saying back in June that there would be a major attack within 3 months, if the administration was clueless, why was the administration on heightened alert all summer and no one was taking commercial airplanes? If they were on heightened alert, not taking commercial airplanes and the airlines were notified (Which they initially denied and now say was vague) then how is it that a few weeks after they stood down, four hijacked planes were up in the air for 50 freakin' minutes without anyone doing anything? Why did Bush personally ask Daschle not to do any investigation into 9/11? Why did Cheney ask the same thing on several occasions? Questions? I have a lot of them.... and we won't even get into the questions over everything that points to the US Military installation's Anthrax that was sent to two top democrats.
Susan DeSantis
Dear BuzzFlash,
Remember Marc Rich? He had a lawyer named "Scooter," just like Cheney's Chief Of Staff! Looks like "Scooter" blew off Senator Feinstein's call for action prior to September 11 ....
[Senator quoted] Despite repeated efforts by myself and staff, the White House did not address my request. I followed this up last September 2001 before the attacks and was told by 'Scooter' Libby that it might be another six months before he would be able to review the material. I told him I did not believe we had six months to wait.
About "Scooter" -
Cheney Aide Helped Rich's Legal Case
By Robert O'Harrow Jr. Washington Post Staff Writer Friday, March 2, 2001; Page A12
The person largely responsible for key legal arguments cited in Marc Rich's successful pardon application is not Jack Quinn, President Bill Clinton's former White House counsel. It's I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, a longtime Rich lawyer who is now chief of staff for Vice President Cheney.
http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A11509-2001Mar1.html
Political Memo: Resurrecting Ghosts of Pardons Past
But though the hour was late, Democratic lawmakers relished the chance to question Mr. Libby, a Republican lawyer who is one of many members of the bar to have represented Marc Rich, the fugitive commodities trader who received Mr. Clinton's most contentious pardon.
Mr. Libby, now chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney, squirmed, clearly uncomfortable to be sitting in the hot seat in an investigation run by his political allies.
Dear BuzzFlash,
I think this is the perfect time to re-address the issue of what REALLY happened to flight 93 on 9/11!
Also-why don't we call it 911 instead of 9/11?
J.
Newman
St. Augustine, Fl.
Dear BuzzFlash,
Updater #3 raises an interesting, although maybe unlikely, possibility, also suggested by others. Namely: Was Bush, on vacation, waiting out the attacks? So wonder if there is any way to determine if there was extra security, air or otherwise, around his ranch at that time? Ashcroft, after all, wasn't flying commercial by then.
T Rhine
Dear BuzzFlash,
How joyous I felt to read that Linda comes from the opposite end of Idaho from me. It is difficult living in a state where you know that letters to your representatives will go unheeded because we have the right of the right here; where the local democratic party expresses the views of moderate Republicans; where being an environmentalist or a supporter of the EPA can get your entire family harassed; where Gore's and/or Clinton's name can only be pronounced with a venom that would scare a rattlesnake and where Bush and Cheney's names carry a breath of heavenly veneration; where citizens in one county wanted the EPA to NOT declare the heavily polluted area a superfund site but to let private citizens clean up for themselves; where no candidate has to declare from where their money comes nor how they spend it (and Senator Mike Crapo was fifth on the list of senators receiving money from Enron); where vast stretches of forest are seen only as possible "biomass" for the energy industry and as needing to be logged for the sake of "fire ecology"; and where the wise use movement has found an admiring audience in local politicians who believe that local federal and state land should be managed by local people who treat that land as if it belongs to them and nobody else. I could go on and on, but hey, to know that a BuzzFlash supporter is in Pocatello warms the heart of this supporter in Bonners Ferry. Yes, let's spread the word!
Linda Langness
Dear BuzzFlash,
Re: WHAT I KNOW NOW
Right On young lady. I agree we are going to have to take to the streets, or as I suggested to raytal.com we have to plan a mass march on Washington and demand this guy be impeached. This INTERLOPER in the White House has more teflon than Reagan ever thought of having. The Press will give him a free ride as they have done on the Enron sandal, and I am afraid the Demos will back down too when they get too much criticism from them and of course the WH Spin. Our Country is going down the drain fast and something has to be done to stop these idiots who were put in Power by the Supreme Court. Great letter and keep them coming. Best regards.
H
Parks
Sun City Ca.
Dear BuzzFlash,
Has the Buzz ever thought about creating a "work in progress" and letting Buzz readers create the "talking points" for our Democratic representatives in Congress? Seems like the repugnants are way ahead on this issue. After all, none of us is as smart as all of us! I get frustrated when our Democratic leaders stumble around and get blind-sighted by the far right. Perhaps our work in progress could be the beginning of a cohesive "peoples' platform for the upcoming elections. Just a thought, but I bet buzzers would enjoy it, especially some of your reader contributors who do such an outstanding job. You could advertise it in the banner and through your mail list.
Chewgababy
Dear BuzzFlash,
Some Republican strategists suggested that Congress organize an independent investigating committee whose conclusions would be reported only after the fall elections so as to disconnect them from politics.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/05/19/politics/19ASSE.html
Jeff Nelson
Dear BuzzFlash,
I can't believe the worldwide media has ignored the heads of the terrorist task force that actually did predict this - in so many words. Where are Gary Hart and Warren Rudman??? Not a peep about them. Strange.
Sally
Maitland
Matlacha, Florida
Dear BuzzFlash,
Sure enough, Fox pulled the plug on the Democratic event to shift to live coverage of, you guessed it, Bush getting out of his limousine and approaching the Capitol. He didn't say anything or make a single bit of news.
"So much for fair and balanced," cracked Gephardt spokesman Erik Smith.
One person at Fox, however, noted that at least that networks covered some of the Democratic event - others didn't even bother to capture part of the press conference - and it was a no-brainer to break away when Bush arrived.
"His arrival was more newsworthy than anything Democrats had to say," said the source at Fox. "All they were doing was complaining about Republicans."
http://www.rollcall.com/pages/columns/hoh/
A BuzzFlash Reader
Dear BuzzFlash,
Hello I think (or at least like to think) that the reason Bush can get away with this is that people at large are profoundly uninformed. I would like to see a section on BuzzFlash just for environmental stuff like this; it would be staggering. The assault that's been going on behind the scenes is phenomenal (ANWR is just a smokescreen!) and I just don't think that people suspect the extent of the current defacto corporate takeover of our public lands and resources.
http://www.newyorker.com/talk/content/?020520ta_talk_kolbert
Sydney Smith
[BuzzFlash Note: One of the links on the Perspectives page "Bushed: Bushed: The Truth About Bush's Accomplishments" is a collection by Grist Magazine of Bush's anti-environmental decisions.]
Dear Linda:
I'm also a BuzzFlash contributor and when I see Cheney (Don't cry wolf once too often) telling the democrats to beware because we are in a time of war I want ask: 1. What war and why? 2. Isn't he the one who warned us about the "big energy crisis" our nation was about to suffer and wasn't it California's return to "basic conservation" that saved them from blackouts. The price caps that he and the president objected to and then were forced to implement prevented further damage but not without dragging this rabid dog by the teeth to do it!!! 3. Hasn't it been solved that the whole energy crisis was because of his policy dedicated towards his friends at ENRON-that have been proven to have been the cause for the fake energy crisis. 4. Has everybody forgot that this coward Cheney has been hiding out in undisclosed locations, because the administration was under the impression that a portable nuclear bomb was in Washington, therefore instead of telling the people and the rest of the elected government of the threat, they initiated efforts to save their own butts without telling the rest of the government or the public. 5. Where is the American outrage for the facts that have just been stated? 6. How many times is this administration going to put the public at mortal risk for their on monetary rewards before we wake up as a nation and call an end to this sham government?
I enjoyed your very truthful article and wish the rest of the American public could be so informed as you but beware as I see BuzzFlash become more popular with the web public let's watch the republican right and see what they do to silence the voice of the common salt of the earth-thank you for your time-reply if you so desire-
AnthonyMArias
PS-what about that "Trifecta" statement? This guy is a real worm and anybody who has any sense can see thru to his oil and friends governance!!!
Dear BuzzFlash,
The issue as I see it isn't what the Bush administration knew or didn't know about the 9/11 attacks, it's really about their incompetence and their attempts thus far (or potential conspiracy) to cover up their incompetence when serious warnings were given and should have been heeded...If this kind of incompetence occurred in the private sector, and this administration runs the country as if it were a Bush-Cheney-owned corporation, people would get fired and some heads would roll, and not just some underlings...Since we the people supposedly still live in a democracy, we need to remove the incompetents by voting them out of office...The top people in this administration have to take the responsibility and honestly tell the American public that the government screwed up, and not play the ignorance card...Bush and his administration sickenly remind me of their close crony and benefactor: ENRON CEO Kenneth Lay...He too pleaded ignorance about ENRON's demise...I want to see Bush give a live, two hour, televised press conference, and REAL SOON...Not some scripted Rose Garden statement with uniformed military standing in the background...Any moron who read can do that!!!...It's high time for the press to take their gloves off and stop cutting this president so much slack...We need answers and an honest mea culpa wouldn't hurt, either...
Rick
Anderson
maryland
PATRIOTIC, HONEST, IRREVERENT, AND ALL-AMERICAN
Dear BuzzFlash,
Why was I not surprised when the media announced last week the story about the FBI report out of the Arizona flight school, or the one out of Minnesota. Because I had already read it in your newsletters. Also, the report about the pipeline across Afghanistan had been reported earlier by you. Why did it take so long for the leading media stations -- NBC, CBS, ABC, etc. to report these stories? Did they have to get permission from the White House to report them like they do about the war in Afghanistan?
Ardis Boch
Venice, FL
Dear BuzzFlash,
I would like to make one tiny little point that the media seems to be overlooking. w. says that his latest scandal "sniffs of politics." Why did w. not disclose that he was aware the Al Queda was planning on attacking America. He did it for maximum political gain. His cover-up doesn't sniff of politics. It reeks of politics. It has allowed him almost unblemished popularity since 911.
It is time for all Americans to acknowledge that w. is abusing his power by manipulating the media for political gain. This is a cover-up. He willfully withheld information to advance his popularity and his cause.
I don't know about you, but I am not a Bush "Pioneer". I am not an insider. I still get most of information from the media. Thank God, I have discovered BuzzFlash.
Fred
Noelke
Boulder, CO
Dear Buzz,
It's time for the rest of Americans to wake up!
It's time for them to get rid of the attitude of [Ok, I voted. Don't bother me anymore.] After the blockbuster revelations the country received last week on Bush incompetence, it is obvious that it IS many Americans who, JUST DON'T GET IT! How else could they answer a Newsweek poll in the manner they did? The poll indicated that the majority of the respondents were favorable to Bush after the revelations.
It is a mystery to me. After the 9/11 attacks, you couldn't find one American who wasn't glued to the TV on that day and through ensuing weeks. Was it because they felt personally threatened in their own homes and work places? Indeed, it was a wake up call for all of us. Americans watched as Bush wrapped himself in the flag and milked the tragedy for political purposes and self-gain. Ironically, many Americans refused to see that. Yet, when Bush, Cheney, Rice and Ari merely suggest that this uproar is about politics, Americans obviously feel the same way. The Newsweek poll bears that out.
There is another irony many Americans refuse to see… the demise of their democracy. It has been going on right under their noses and on a daily basis. I beg them to wake up. I beg them to cease glaring at me when I give them researched facts bearing out the incompetence of the Bush administration. They start political conversations by demeaning Clinton. Then they want to quickly change the subject when presented with facts on Bush incompetence. Suddenly, they take on a posture that political conversations do not belong at social settings. It is absolutely incredible! I beg these people to realize that this is also my country, and that it is politically correct to fight the dismantling of a hard-earned democracy. Please wake up and realize that it was through dissent that our patriots historically formed democracy in this country. Have you no sense of American history and values? Would you rather have a country that styles itself after a monarchy or dictatorship, where citizens are afraid to object to government that engages in secrecy, lies, and suppression? We are seeing evidence of the same fear right here, in our own country. The media fears this administration. Most of our congressional representatives fear the administration, leading me to ask, is this America or China? To those Newsweek respondents, can't you take a little time to analyze what is really going on?
Moreover, to the Newsweek respondents, please don't permit MY democracy to dissolve because YOU REFUSE TO GET IT!
~ Cathy
Dear BuzzFlash,
With all this talk about knowledge in advance of the 9-11 attacks, why is the info from Mike Vreeland being ignored in ALL major news sources? Doesn't that seem odd?
And in light of open court records that back up his claim of working for the government, AND all charges against him being dropped, AND him knowing that Bastien was murdered, WHY is this not being covered?
All Canadian Charges Dropped Against Vreeland
"FTW has also learned that all Canadian charges connected to Vreeland's December 2000 arrest have been dropped and that Vreeland, who is seeking permanent political refugee status in Canada, has been granted temporary refugee status until February 2003, or until his extradition case has been resolved in Canadian courts. Vreeland, who has also served as an informant on organized crime investigations in the US, allegedly while working as a Naval intelligence officer, has stated in Canadian court proceedings that he fears immediate assassination if forced to return to the US because of his ability to prove US government foreknowledge of the 9-11 attacks and because of continuing threats from Russian and American organized crime.
Canadian courts have continually refused to allow Vreeland or his attorneys to present mounting evidence validating his assertions -- in many cases corroborated by official records -- that he was a Naval lieutenant conducting secret intelligence operations for the US government in Russia just before his Canadian arrest on Michigan fraud charges in December 2000. Vreeland's claims that a Canadian diplomat, Marc Bastien, was murdered in Moscow, originally denied by Canadian officials, have since proven true as a result of autopsy findings. The Canadian government has since acknowledged that Bastien was murdered.
It was on these 2000 intelligence operations in Russia that Vreeland obtained the information which told him attacks against the World Trade Center and the Pentagon -- among other targets -- were pending, and that US intelligence was aware of them. Vreeland's warning note, sealed and placed in the sole custody of Canadian jailers on Aug. 11 or 12, also contained the ominous statement, "Let one happen. Stop the rest." That document was entered into evidence in Vreeland's extradition hearing on Oct. 7, 2001. At that time Canadian authorities acknowledged that the letter had been written a month before the attacks."
And Mike Vreeland now has his own site at http://members.freespeech.org/ltvreeland/
Also interesting reading at http://www.rise4news.net/9-11.html And http://www.fromthewilderness.com
--
Chelle
Rogers
Friday
Harbor, WA
Dear BuzzFlash:
Perhaps the reason Bush can claim that he did not receive detailed briefings is due to the fact that he issued orders that briefing items be kept to 1/2 of 1 page in length. This came out during the 1st few days of his administration. Short attention span. Could one of your readers please come up with the news articles that were printed about this? Remember, this was a part-time president who took naps in the afternoon.
Chris Madison
Dear BuzzFlash,
Oh, the righteous indignation of the Grand Hypocrisy Party! "How dare you insinuate that the President of the United States knew in advance about the 9/11 hijackings and did nothing about it! Don't you DARE try to make political hay out of this."
Are they saying that they now see the error of their ways when they stated with moral certainty ("It says so in the Bible."), that President of the United States Bill Clinton had committed fraud, rape, murder, treason, and various other "high crimes and misdemeanors?" The failed witch hunt by their own Grand Inquisitor, Ken Starr, notwithstanding, they STILL accuse him of those crimes AND every failure of Bush II.
Don't hold your breath until the Republicans accuse John Ashcroft of malfeasance, misfeasance, and homosexuality when he doesn't appoint an independent counsel to investigate his boss.
Give me a break! This goes beyond hypocrisy. It stinks worse than Jeffery Daumer's kitchen.
I can see it now: Arlen Specter will head the special commission to investigate what the administration knew and when it knew it. Just in time for the elections, the finding will be announced: The Single Airplane Theory! Osama bin Laden himself flew all four planes on 9/11, dying in the crash of flight 93.
Jeez, maybe I should go back where I came from . . . New Hampshire. Live Free or Die.
Dana
Rosamond Fogg
Hermosa
Beach, CA
George
Bush
Office
of the President
Richard
Cheney
Office
of the Vice President
1600
Pennsylvania Ave.
Washington,
D.C.
Fax: 202-456-2461
Subject: Homeland Security
Dear Messrs. Bush and Cheney:
In light of yesterday's new, "generalized" threats and "chatter" warning a new terrorist threat is imminent, it is unfortunate for all Americans that you did not immediately move to appoint Agent Kenneth Williams head of the "Office of Homeland Security".
Your office admitted it apparently cannot advise or guide the public in regard to this new threat because of the vague and unpredictable nature of the data. However, if you had put this obviously competent agent in charge of Homeland Security as of September 12, 2001, we would likely not be facing this new threat with the same degree of confusion, vulnerability and bewilderment as before. I urge you to set aside any concerns about personal political appearance and take the necessary measures to ensure that those who best understand this challenge are immediately given the responsibility of meeting it.
Respectfully,
Rosamond Fogg
Copies:
Sen. Diane Feinstein
Sen.
Barbara Boxer
Congresswoman
Jane Harman
President
William Jefferson Clinton
Dear BuzzFlash,
Okay-let's go down the list-
1.energy crisis-California proved it was Cheney's gang at ENRON (that was responsible) and there was no energy crisis-and California helped themselves thru conservation and price caps that the administration would not allow until forced too and they were proven wrong!!
2.War on terror-a ploy to get a gas pipeline in thru Russia and Afghanistan for the big oil companies-the Carlyle group and the Bin Laden family co-conspirators-Daddy Bush and his buddies reap the monetary rewards-
3.Where has the American press been throughout this process?????
4.What about the nuclear bomb that scared Cheney so bad that he's running around from place to place but couldn't find the presence to tell the American people or the electorate that there was clear and present danger??????
5.Does anybody know that Defense secretary Powell's son runs the FCC?? and he's giving all the big breaks to the big conglomerate media corporations??? and now we have monopolies on all of our American news networks-look at CNN/FOX or any of the big media companies!!!!
6.If the information about hijackings was given to the White House before 9/11 then what about that "Trifecta statement" from the president-sure shows he knew something and he gave no sympathy to the American victims-about like he does for the poor people on death row in Texas he pulled the switch on!!!!
7.So as an American public when are we going to rise up and say let's get the facts good or bad so we as a nation can move forward??
8.Thank you BuzzFlash for being a beacon of truth and voice of the salt of this American public that has been so used by the right wing and the republicans!!!
Thank you-
AnthonyMArias
Dear BuzzFlash,
Just a few short days after revelations that the pre-9/11 Bush Administration knew Al-Qaida was planning to hijack American planes and did nothing to stop it, the cable news media has already sunk back into its comfortable love affair with President Bush.
At first, MSNBC, CNN and even FOX News ran the story with zeal not seen since the waning days of the Clinton presidency. Back then, cable news media pulled no punches when it came to questioning a sitting president. One cannot forget MSNBC's Nora O'Donnell, whose over-the-top "Pardon Watch" coverage included a ridiculously large bulletin board with moveable pieces that represented all of President Clinton's "scandalous" last moments in office. Or FOX, who reported with fervor that outgoing Clinton staffers had "trashed" the White House (a story that has since been proven false). The example are endless.
Of course, the media has a history of being overly kind to George W. Bush. During the 2000 campaign, the cable news media paid scant attention to the questionable things in Bush's past - drug use, skipping out of military duty, lack of intellect and experience. Nor did they bother to critique his vague ideas and policies. Instead, they heralded Bush for his "likable personality" and "personal charm." Meanwhile, Al Gore could do no right. The cable news media lampooned poor Al as a fake, a liar, a man who sighed too much during the debates. Even after the election, when Gore was out of the picture, the media dedicated entire segments to making fun of the former vice president's beard. When Gore avoided the spotlight for much of the Bush's first year in office, the media asked: Where happened to Al Gore? When Gore eventually broke his silence, the same media blasted Gore for his "bad timing" and for criticizing President Bush "in a time of war."
But why does the media do this? Why do CNN, MSNBC and FOX work so hard to protect Bush? The obvious answer is that the voice of today's cable news is controlled largely by conservatives. Cable news today is less about news than it is entertainment. Knowing that ratings matter most, and that for whatever reason cable news viewers tend to lean conservative, the networks fill their time slots with right-wing pundits and Bush apologists. It doesn't take a genius to see that these talking heads (check out mediawhoresonline.com) report the news according to their own political views. Conservatives have also done a good job over the last several years convincing people that the media is liberal. The media, scared and tired of the criticism, has overcompensated to the degree that it now conducts itself like an extension of the White House PR team: Bush Good, All the Time. The Bush Administration is also overly sensitive to the slightest hint of criticism and is not shy about calling reports on the carpet when stories don't go their way.
Shortly after CBS and the New York Times broke the story that the Bush administration had been warned prior to 9/11 that Osama was up to something, cable news rightly picked up the story. At first, they actually conducted themselves in the fair and balanced way a journalism outfit should: they asked tough questions, did investigative pieces, searched for real answers. But then came the White House attack-squad duo of Cheney and Rice to remind CNN, MSNBC and FOX (as if Fox needed reminding) that we are in a TIME OF WAR, dammit, and criticizing the president in UNPATRIOTIC. Besides, the White House declared, there's no story here. This is just a case of Democrats playing partisan politics.
So in a matter of days, the headlines that started out "What did Bush Know?" have evolved into "Democrats Seek Political Gain." As could have been predicted, the cable news media have bought the White House spin hook, line and sinker. MSNBC hit a low spot Friday when it reported the results of its "instant online poll" which suggested -- surprise! -- that Bush is not to blame for all this mess. MSNBC conveniently forgot to remind its viewers that online polls are unscientific and tend to favor conservative points of view. As Friday wore on, more and more cable news reporters closed their stories with cautious disclaimers like "no one believes the president intentionally disregarded information that could have saved lives." After all, they don't want any of those late-night phone calls from Ari.
The Bush apologists who dominate the cable news punditry will continue to sell the Bush Administration's message that Democrats are wrong to "second guess" the president. And the networks themselves will continue to air White House rhetoric that criticizes Hillary Clinton, Tom Daschle and others for asking legitimate questions, while ignoring the real issue: Could the 9/11 attacks have been prevented?
Unfortunately, Bush and his cronies will likely win this round. As long as the cable news media panders to Bush and refuses to do any real reporting, White House rhetoric will be treated as gospel and anything contrary to that spin will be labeled partisan and unpatriotic.
Barry Johnson
Dear BuzzFlash,
But in his Sept. 10 submission to the budget office, Mr. Ashcroft did not endorse F.B.I. requests for $58 million for 149 new counterterrorism field agents, 200 intelligence analysts and 54 additional translators. Mr. Ashcroft proposed cuts in 14 programs. One proposed $65 million cut was for a program that gives state and local counterterrorism grants for equipment, including radios and decontamination suits and training to localities for counterterrorism preparedness. http://www.nytimes.com/2002/02/28/national/28JUST.html
Chewgababy
Dear BuzzFlash,
Howard Kurtz article on Ari Fleischer.
Last sentence reads; "Look" Fleischer said "you know I don't say anything unless I hear it from his (Bush's) mouth. Ever."
This will surely come back to bite him on the a$$ in the future-especially if used at the right time and place.
Yebby61
Dear BuzzFlash:
The revelations etc are NOT the story. The real story is the lack of an opposition party. Last week the Democrats began to make the correct noises reflecting people's outrage. The Repuglicans struck back, and hard. And as was to be expected the Democrats ran back into their holes like the scared chickens they are. Outrageous. That's the headline.
WLC
Dear BuzzFlash,
I was in a terrific mood the morning of 9/11 because congress had just returned and the republicans were running around the halls shaking because they didn't know how they were going to spin the fact that the GAO report in August had shown that their tax cut for the rich had dipped into the Social Security trust fund. I was in the best mood I'd been in since December 12, the day the impostor stole the election.
I had told friends that I guarantee that within a year of his installment, we would be in a war. The timing of the WTC bombing just seemed too fortuitous (as bu$h said, he hit the trifecta). As the American people mourned, waved flags and feared what might happen next, our minds were taken off the fact that within 8 months, he had raped the entire surplus and after 8 years of prosperity, we were in a recession. (And what caused the recession? Businesses not buying equipment and laying off people, created to get tax concessions in order to "spur" their recovery from the recession that conveniently started in October, 2000, when the media polls were showing Bu$h slightly ahead).
How dare any government official threaten another country with a carpet of bombs (paid for by the taxpayers) in order to obtain profits for one of their corporate masters. That's not the role of our military or our government. You'd better believe, none of us as American taxpayers will ever see a dime of the profits from the Afghanistan pipeline.
And I would like to know where Bu$h, cheney, and ashcroft were from August 1 to September 11. If Bu$h was ever in the White House, was the military given any special alerts to monitor the airspace around Washington, or did he just sleep in a bunker in the basement.
He knew. And ashcroft playing dumb? These guys knew. How many other cabinet officials took chartered planes at an enormous taxpayer expense.
Just like Enron, raping their assets and putting their employees at risk, this administration has robbed the national treasury and put the lives of Americans at risk in the name of corporate profit and greed.
How dumb do they think we are?
And if the democrats let them get away with this one, we don't have a government.
Sandy
B.
Columbus,
OH
Dear BuzzFlash,
THE WIZARD OF OZ II
In the event Hollywood makes the decision to refilm "The Wizard of Oz," I would like to make the following recommendations:
ORIGINAL CAST MEMBER - The Wizard (scam artist played by Frank Morgan) REPLACEMENT: George Bush the Elder
ORIGINAL
CAST MEMBER - Dorothy (played by Judy Garland)
REPLACEMENT: Hillary Clinton
(Note: the following three parts can be played by the same person, saving a great deal of expense)
ORIGINAL CAST MEMBER - Scarecrow (played by Ray Bolger) - NO BRAIN REPLACEMENT: George W. Bush, the Presidunce
ORIGINAL CAST MEMBER - Tin Woodsman (played by Jack Haley) - NO HEART REPLACEMENT: George W. Bush, the Presidunce
ORIGINAL CAST MEMBER - The Lion (played by Bert Lahr) - COWARDLY REPLACEMENT: George W. Bush, the Presidunce
ORIGINAL CAST MEMBER - Wicked Witch (played by Margaret Hamilton) REPLACEMENT: Karen Hughes
ORIGINAL CAST MEMBER - Nikko, Wicked Witche's Head Winged Monkey REPLACEMENT: John Ashcroft 1st Stand in: Dick Cheney 2nd Stand in: Donald Rumsfeld 3rd Stand in: Paul O'Neill 4th Stand in: Tom Ridge 5th Stand in: Ron Paige 6th Stand in: Christie Whitman 7th Stand in: Andrew Card 8th Stand in: Ari Fleischer 9th Stand in: Tom DeLay 10th Stand in: Henry Hyde
Rest of Wicked Witche's Winged Monkeys: - Republican Congress
Good Witch (played by Billie Burke): - Dianne Feinstein
Munchkins (too many without spines): - Democratic Congress
- Bob Wehner
Dear BuzzFlash,
>
If you value today's BuzzFlash news reporting, we need your support.
> Unfortunately, it costs money to counteract the billions of dollars
> spent by corporate media and the right wing think tanks.
I value it a lot, but I don't see to what end all this fabulous work is going. I would feel a lot better if you lobbied for stronger Democratic leadership. You cannot be effective while the Democrats are so craven, so spineless. I would love to see these people criticized by name for their lack of courage. Maybe a spineless Democrat award of the week. There's no point in criticizing Bush unless the Democrats in congress get the nerve to stand up to the Republicans. The situation is critical.
WLCC
Dear BuzzFlash,
"A SUDDENLY EMBATTLED president felt the need to talk tough-at length-behind closed doors. "No question, when he walked into the room he was shaken," one senator later said. What followed, according to several sources who were in the room last Thursday afternoon, was a jut-jawed, disjointed discourse with a tinge of diatribe and a crescendo of podium pounding."
Newsweek, 2/20/2002
War Babies of Washington: our infant-in-chief throw a tantrum
Out of the womb of time, impregnated by catastrophic seed sprung: War Baby Bush... drooling candy-coated platitudes and clutching toy armies of endless war, mollified by the dazzle of shiny good Vs evil ideologies and the comforting crib mobiles of missile defense shields.
His majesty the baby, our little prince of war. Steady on your rocking-war-horse, our toy drums blaze out: Kitchy, Kitchy coo... Yes they do, Yes they do.... Don't you cry, you precious little war baby, you: Your stinky poo-poo diapers of mass destruction are fully loaded-- No need for tantrums, you're our cute lil' Captain Bunny Pants, you're Unkee Dick's and Unkee Rummy's favorite little soldier, yes, you are, yes, you are....
Don't get cranking there little one-- because that tax-cut teething ring will soothe our littlest' patrician's sore, sore gums.... Yes, they do, Yes, they do....
We're soooo sorry you're not allowed to play with Kenny Boy anymore, because he was a bad, bad boy who had got caught with his dirty, little hands in the cookie jar... and we know it wasn't your fault that he shared so many those cookie with you-- because we know you'd never take anything that didn't belong you-- no matter what those cry baby friends of that snotty little Albert jr. say.
Don't be scared of those foolish boys who live in that far away neighborhood in the desert. We know they are being such meanies: We know it's sooooo unfair that they were born with YOUR oil under THEIR land. Daddy says its YOUR oil and that settles it. If you do wake up a little cranky-- and you throw a fit of military might to get your way-- it will be their own fault. They started it; they denied you birthright. Poppy says: That's a big no-no. Those evil ones who sass you: They'll be sent straight to eternal time-out.
You sit, strapped in your high-chair throne-- and all you ask for... will be brought to you; all that you can see from your Air Force One Stroller will be yours; your Oval Office Play Pen is the center of God's creation. The Baby Bush and The Baby Jesus are secured in their twin child-seats in the Sky Daddy's celestial minivan serenely traveling toward their Play Date with Destiny. It has all been foretold by your pop-up book bible.
Pretty, pretty apocalypse.... Weeeee!!! We... all go up in the air, to heaven, like on a great, big swing. Weeeee!!! Unkee Dick promised he take you to the Global Warming Water Park and Unkee Dick promised Six Flags over Extinction. Yeeeaa!
The whole world is such fun when it's all your very own gift: And you get to tear open the gift-wrapped package-- and you'll never get in trouble when you break it just the day after your birthday. Yeeeaa! The Reverend Pat and Jerry say it will be like your birthday in heaven every day. Yeeeaa!!!
Phil Rockstroh
Dear BuzzFlash,
to: Russert and crew at NBC re: fawning for the VP
i watched sunday morning as Mr Russert again fell into his role of lofting softballs to Dick Cheney, serving as the public relations officer, giving just the proper set-ups to manufacture just-right soundbites for the evening news and monday mornings headlines.
not a single time did Tim ask difficult question. and there are a lot of them that need to be asked. it was embarassing.
LBJ once said he wanted the kind of loyalty in which the guy will kiss his ass in the window at Macy's at high noon and say it smells like roses.
i watched Tim Russert pucker up and smack.
there are questions that need to be answered and the more this administration tries to keep things 'classified' and secret the higher that red flag is raised.
the only thing of real substance Mr Cheney said was his reiteration that the administration is going to continue to keep everything it knows secret. ah-hum.
you boys are not doing a proper job for your nation with this kind of suck-up, no-nothing 'journalism'.
shame on you.
Steve Warren: San Marcos TX
Dear BuzzFlash,
A corporate chief executive officer, fired (with a huge severance package) for incompetence, left three envelopes for his successor, with the instructions to open envelope number one after his first management disaster, the second after the second disaster, and so forth. Six months into his CEOship, the company's profit margin tumbled to near record lows. So he opened envelope number one. The note within read, "Blame it on your predecessor." So he did and he was forgiven. Six months later, labor problems led to production slowdowns, which led to the company's stock plummeting to all-time lows! The board of directors was furious and wanted some blood. So the embattled CEO opened envelope number two. It read, "Blame it on your predecessor's incompetence." The board forgave him and granted him a significant bonus. It wasn't long before the company was caught red-handed in off-shore bank schemes -- that's money laundering to normal people -- and certain Congressmen (no Republicans, of course) wanted some blood! The company was in dire straits, so the executive went back to his office and retrieved envelope number three. He opened the envelope, withdrew the note within, read it and immediately saw the light of day. The third memo read, "Prepare three envelopes." President (sic) Bush, it's high time you got someone to help you write three notes and prepare three envelopes.
Roy
Adams
Tyler, Texas
BuzzFlash,
Don't know if this qualifies as a "News Alert," but it has seemed to me that the call for a "Special Commission" to investigate 9/11 over the weekend by prominent Republicans is just a way of controlling and in effect thwarting a full investigation. I think we Democrats should be very wary of any handpicked commission for the reasons below. I posted this on Democratic Underground this a.m. with my handle KoKo01. Hope BuzzFlash can find some way of addressing this Disinformation Campaign by Repugs.
Thanks,
S. Burns Raleigh, NC
May-20-02, 08:59 AM (ET) Be Careful, Bill Bennett calling for Special Commission for 9/11!
Republican Disinformation ALERT!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This morning on Paul Zahn's show Morality Czar William Bennett tells Paula that an inquiry in to 9/11 is "too important" to be left up to a Congressional Committee to Study.
Says Congressional Committee would be too political to be fair and objective. Also says Democrats BACKED DOWN after they attacked last week. He said they were correct to ask questions about 9/11, but that the "Tone" was wrong.
In REPUG. SPEAK this means: We want a special commission made up of our own "hand picked" members so that we can control it the way we controlled Ken Starr in his witch hunt against Clinton.
Also, the Democrats are "weak" see how they backed down after asking questions last week. When we Repubs cracked the whip, they perform.
We can't let this special commission of hand picked Republicans occur. Leave it to Congress. The Repugs are terrified of leaks.
We can't allow them to start to trash us like they did Gore by saying Democrats "back down." We have to let our Dem leadership know we support them in keeping this investigation with our ELECTED officials.
Dear BuzzFlash,
5/20----You ran a repost from the archives with a caption that starts out "Note CNN report from September 11th. Bush was supposed to return to Washington ..." Great job exposing him for the chicken-sh*t that he is, but you missed CNN's HUGE LIE in the last paragraph of the article..."Earlier, the president was reading to children in the school when reporters asked him if he was aware of the two crashes and explosions. The president nodded and said he would talk about the situation later." CNN is either grossly misinformed or is deliberately trying to make it seem as if Bush had heard nothing of the crashes until after he arrived at the Booker school. After the second tower was hit, ABC News cut short an interview with a witness to the second crash to report the following: PETER JENNINGS: Want to check in very quickly with the president of the United States. John Cochran with the president in Florida. John: JOHN COCHRAN reporting: Peter, as you know, the president's down in Florida talking about education. He got out of his hotel suite this morning, was about to leave, when reporters saw the White House chief of staff, Andy Card, whisper into his ear. The reporters said to the president, 'Do you know what's going on in New York?' He said he did, and he said he will have something to say about it later. His first event is about half an hour at an elementary school in Sarasota, Florida. CNN has altered the time and place of the reporters attempt to question Bush about the attack.
Thank you,
C. Schultz
Dear Buzz,
I just witnessed one of Bush's more appalling speeches on tv. I had to turn the TV off before I threw a brick threw it. I can't, under normal circumstances, listen to more than five minutes of him, but this one particularly enraged me. He is speaking in Florida to rally the Cuban vote for him and Jeb. He said he would lift the sanctions against Cuba if they would allow FREE and FAIR CERTIFIED ELECTIONS. Can you believe he had the audacity to say that? Does he think he was elected freely and fairly by the American people? Why doesn't he send Jeb Bush, Katherine Harris and the Felonious Five from the Supreme Court to ensure that Cuba has a FREE AND FAIR CERTIFIED ELECTION?
Gigi
Dear BuzzFlash,
Nobody every thought that a plane could be used as a missile, huh?
http://www.cnn.com/2001/ALLPOLITICS/stories/02/07/whitehouse.incidents.02/ (last item) ? September 12, 1994: A man, flying a stolen Cessna airplane, entered the prohibited airspace around the White House just before 2 a.m. After passing over the Ellipse, the man, identified as Frank Eugene Corder, crashed on the lawn just south of the Executive Mansion. The plane struck a tree near the South Portico steps and hit a corner on the first floor of the White House. President Clinton and his family were not in the residence at the time. Corder was killed in the crash.
Jim Pittman
Dear BuzzFlash,
http://www.msnbc.com/news/754681.asp?pne=msn&cp1=1
This is a WSJ story that you at MSNBC carried. It has a characteristic I've noted in other recent stories. It implies that the refusal of permission to investigate Moussaoui further was made within the FBI.
The problem is, and you have the resources to readily check this out, that many earlier stories have discussed the fact that such a decision is made by the DOJ and that unlike the Ashcroft DOJ refusal, the Reno DOJ administration approved all such requests. Stories were specific that it was a DOJ decision and most noted the difference in the handling between Reno and Ashcroft.
Therefore the WSJ story is misleading, particularly in regard to none of the advisors to the President having any knowledge prior to 9-11. Ashcroft was already flying military, and the President and his advisors had been briefed on possible hijackings in the US. Are we to believe that under such circumstances that a request by the FBI to the DOJ regarding a student pilot was totally off the radar of Ashcroft? If that is the case, then don't we have a serious failure on the part of Ashcroft and his deputies to properly alert their subordinates to the concerns of the President and the intelligence community?
Are we to assume that someone at the FBI bypassed the standard of DOJ approval and declined permission on his own and that all the previous stories of DOJ procedures were wrong?
Wouldn't this request from Minneapolis have gone to the same terrorism desk as did the Phoenix memo? Why is there the pretense that everything was separate and no connections could have been made?
The stories of what happened and when keep changing. The WSJ has been accused of slanting and editing its stories in favor of the Bush administration. If you are going to reprint their reports you should be sure they give all the facts. And if they don't perhaps you should provide the missing information.
Robert E. Reynolds, Orange Park, FL
Dear Buzz,
You've got to quit referring to Dick Cheney as Dick "Don Corleone" Cheney. It is an insult to the people involved in organized crime. Let's face it; Bush and Cheney are worse than your run of the mill gangster.
Keep buzzin!
Jeff
Davenport
Bristol,
TN
Buzz - Has anyone else noticed the two elected officials most prominently criticized by the Bush spin machine in the 911 warnings controversy - Hillary Clinton and Cynthia McKinney - are both female? It looks like the good ol' boys are more comfortable calling elected officials "irresponsible" or even "looney" if they're women. Too bad that many of these two ladies' counterparts on Capitol Hill lack their courage.
Mike
Pickney
Adrian, Michigan
Dear BuzzFlash,
I have not seen anybody put the current firestorm over pre-9/11 warnings about Bin Laden into the context of larger allegations that Bush and company specifically disabled Clinton era surveillance of Bin Laden in their efforts to forge relations with the Taliban in the interests of Unocal's oil pipeline. This seems like the real story to me. It is one thing to fail to heed unspecific warnings and another altogether to have systematically decided to turn a blind eye in the direction of Al Qaeda.
Curtis Perry
Dear BuzzFlash,
It is interesting that we don't get the info in the U.S. that is readily available elsewhere.
In today's "Der Spiegel" from Germany (on the web at www.spiegel.de) you can get the following article (translated by me from German):
START QUOTE Bush's education
"Are there blacks in Brazil?"
It is said about the US president that before 9-11 he thought that the Taliban was a Bavarian brass band. Now the president of the world's most powerful nation has put his foot in his mouth yet again.
It was Condoleezza Rice, his national security advisor who had to rescue the situation. When talking with Brazilian president Fernando Henrique Cardoso, 71, Bush surprisingly asked: "Do you have blacks too?" Ms. Rice noticed how stunned and surprised Cardoso looked and quickly told Bush that Brazil likely has more blacks than the US and that outside of Africa it was the place with the highest number of blacks.
The Brazilian president remarked later that Bush was "still in a learning-phase" when it came to South America.
END QUOTE
What else are we not finding out about our idiot president?
Doris Billingham
Dear BuzzFlash,
Moussaoui was arrested, and the FAA knew it--sure they didn't know exact details, but enough was known to have raised some serious red flags in their profession. Yet pilots weren't warned, nor flight attendants. Had the pilots' union been given a heads-up, along with the flight attendants' union, I think it would have helped the situation immensely. Heck, the few cellphone calls that passengers flying over PA made after the first 3 crashes were enough to galvanize the economy class and probably saved the country from nuclear disaster. Imagine if the pilots and attendants of the other three jets had had a few days warning rather than being completely blindsided by an attack beyond even the imagination of Hollywood writers, but not the Bush administration.
This week Condoleeezzza said that there wasn't much the Bush administration could do to prevent airline attacks other than rely on the vigilance of passengers and attendants, as was witnessed five months ago in the Paris to U.S. flight w/the shoe bomber. Well, the people on that Paris flight had had advanced warning from 9-11, no thanks to Condoleeezzza.
I don't follow the Bush admin logic that the more we the public know, the more it hurts us.
A BuzzFlash Reader
