July 17, 2002
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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 the not necessarily those of BuzzFlash. Thanks again for your email and your patience.
Dear Buzz:
If the FBI can't use the Brady Bill Gun Purchasers' log entries to attempt to investigate terrorists, then perhaps someone should tell the THERE IS ANOTHER LIST THAT IS JUST AS USEFUL:
TELL THEM TO USE THE NRA MEMBERSHIP LIST INSTEAD: IT'S NOT OFF LIMITS!!!!!!!!!!
A BuzzFlash Reader
(my comment regards this BuzzFlash article:)
http://www.buzzflash.com/contributors/2002/07/15_Guns.html
A BUZZFLASH GUEST COMMENTARY
July 15, 2002
Guns and Books
by Joe Sudbay, Public Policy Director, Violence Prevention Campaign
When the issue is guns, the Bush war on terrorism quickly finds itself taking strange and tortuous turns to avoid offending its dark masters in the gun lobby. The most recent example involves government records, and can be summed up with a descriptive and bizarre bumper sticker slogan: guns don't kill, books do.
Dear BuzzFlash,
I have been watching how certain items in the media have been framing the debate over all the stock market problems and corporate misconduct. Notice how Bush talks about a "hangover from the 90's" making this sound as if it has nothing to do with him. Then we had in the LA Times on Sunday an editorial about how our problems are really about the sin of greed. Those poor corporations were pushed to mislead investors because greedy investors wanted immediate gratification and couldn't wait for big payoffs. This article was written by a woman whose claim to fame is a book on the "historical Jesus," which makes her eminently qualified to pontificate on problems with the stock market, n'est-ce pas? Then there was a letter to the LA Times saying that people who invest in the stock market are just complaining because they won't accept the risk in investing. That's like saying we shouldn't complain if the aspirin bottle doesn't have aspirin in it even if the label says it does!! It's important for liberals to keep the debate focused on the issue -- Wealthy unethical businessmen and Republican cronies have been looting companies with phony accounting, stock options and huge bonuses. They have managed to get away with this by buying people in the government or getting government jobs themselves. The Bush Administration is joined at the hip with these looters.
JA in LA
Dear BuzzFlash,
We keep talking about new laws to control crooked corporate governance. Instead why don't we prosecute the Lays, the Cheneys and all the rest under the already passed RICO laws.
We use these laws to confiscate ill-gotten gains from Gotti and other criminals, why not use these to take back the swag from the real criminals.
Keep up the good work.
Mike Dillard
A
True Yellow Dog Democrat
Dallas,
TX
A BuzzFlash Letter to Time Magazine
To: Time Reporters
Re: Article titled "The Rap on Bush and Cheney"
Good story. (Article referenced below) My question is, what took you so long to report this? I knew about this in 1992 when we the people of the United States were busy kicking his daddy out of Our White House and installing the best fiscal management president this country has ever seen. I read all about criminal activities of the Bush mafia gang in Mother Jones on a rainy day in University District of Seattle. (Article referenced below)
If you were not so busy kow-towing to the fraud occupying Our White House now, you would have been out acting like reporters and making these facts about criminal activities on part of little junior public so we the people of the United States would have been able to make better decisions in choosing the chief executive officer of Americorp. Which we did, electing Al Gore by more than half a million votes, until White House keys were handed to Bush by his buddies on the Supreme Court.
Thanks for nothing. Your job was to keep us informed, not lie to us.
American Eagle needs her left and right wings to fly straight. I have talked with many Republicans and listened to them voice their principles which are rich with individual responsibility and family values, yet Bush does not embody any of those principles. Majority of honest hard-working Republicans in this country have been betrayed by false Republicans at the top.
Those fake Republicans like Bush and his minions are no more than gangs of fascists who took over the Republican party, who have witch-hunted Clinton, and now are propping up the unelected fraud in the White House who is destroying our democracy and our Constitution and our Bill of Rights and all the Liberties we hold dear as Americans. Our way of life is being destroyed by Bush. I know he is just a little puppet of powerful forces, but he has a very weak handle on the wheel that navigates our Ship of State and is bound to wreck our nation on rocks of chaos.
Please wake up and report the truth.
Simon Seamount
The Rap on Bush and Cheney
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,320735,00.html
Reported by Cathy Booth Thomas/Dallas and James Carney, John F. Dickerson and Michael Weisskopf/Washington
Bush Family Value$
The Bush clan's family business
Subj: People are Scared!
BuzzFlash:
I recently received my second batch of "Bush Knew!" bumper stickers. My plan was to continue to pass them out to friends and acquaintances. Unfortunately I have run into a problem: many of them are AFRAID to place the stickers on their cars!! We live in this large city (Atlanta)....home of the brave (and the Atlanta Braves), but people are afraid to display a viewpoint that is contrary to that of Rush Limbaugh and his local ditto-head/hate radio crowd.
I will eventually distribute them all, but now I realize what is wrong with many in the Democratic Party: THEY ARE SCARED!! Look at what happened to Rep. Cynthia McKinney, Sen. Jeffords, the owner of the bar that called the police about the Bush twins drinking,etc. (when the sitting president of the U.S. can be tarnished the way that Clinton was, anything is possible). When you attack conservatives you may be met with vicious threats and verbal and bodily attacks. After listening to hour upon hour of conservative rhetoric, many nut cases feel that it is their duty to do this. The conservative crowd is so organized that, though their numbers aren't that great, they come out in force whenever they are criticized, giving the appearance of being in the majority. With the combined thug-like behavior of the right-wingers and the capitulation of the nation's press, we are already in the throes of a Nazi type of environment.
Dee
Turner
Atlanta
Subj: BUSH MAKES MOCKERY OF SEC REGULATIONS -- CONGRESS DOES NOTHING
Dear BuzzFlash,
SEC regulations state that termination of an investigation of a party "must in no way be construed as indicating that the party has been exonerated." Nevertheless in 1999 George Bush told the public "I was exonerated," and continues to tell the public that the matter was fully vetted.
Bush was officially instructed, in writing, by the SEC, that he must not in any way construe the SEC’s actions as indicating he was exonerated. Yet with absolute impunity, he has and continues to violate the SEC’s official instructions and regulations.
Do the regulations and official communications of the SEC mean nothing? What is it that the current SEC Chairman, Congress, and Bush, don't understand about "must in no way be construed as indicating that the party has been exonerated." Allowing Bush to continue these violations is nothing short of dereliction of the SEC's official duty. The SEC should immediately open official proceedings to stop the violations and Congress should immediately open an investigation into this whole sorry matter.
A BuzzFlash Reader
Dear BuzzFlash,
re: Visa Express
These are two links to National Review Online (!) articles, one of them written by Rich Lowry.
He is worked up because the State Department has behaved like a bunch of thugs when his reporter (Mowbray) criticized the Department's policy of granting Saudis special visas to the US under a new program which began in June 2001, and under which three of the 9/11 hijackers easily gained entry to the US. It is only a two-page form with a picture, much less documentation than required for many other countries.
The administration and the Dept. of State detained National Review reporter Mowbray, who criticized the program, with thug-like tactics.
They said they had changed the program when all the really did was change the name.
Something very fishy here...
Reminds one of the fact that in the hours after the attack, when no other US aircraft were permitted in the air, that private jets dashed all over the country collecting the members of the bin Laden family and escorted them home to Saudi Arabia ... a story that many have forgotten in the aftermath.
Here is the original story of "Visa Express" that set the National Review at odds with the State Department:
http://www.nationalreview.com/mowbray/mowbray061402.asp
Here is the link to Rich Lowry's protest of the way his reporter was detained and intimidated by St. Dept.
http://www.nationalreview.com/document/document071502.asp
Rick
[BuzzFlash Note: The bin Ladens were flown out of the U.S. "in the first days" according to Scoop and the New York Times (premium archive page) article it references.]
Dear BuzzFlash,
How ironic.
When I tried to follow the link to citizencorp.gov, my browser gave me a security warning. I decided it was too risky.
J.
C.
Bloomington,
IN
Dear BuzzFlash,
The security certificate for citizencorps.gov, as linked on your site [http://www.buzzflash.com], belongs to FEMA
Interesting...
A BuzzFlash Reader
Dear BuzzFlash,
JUDGE REBUKES OFFICIALS IN ENERGY TASK FORCE CASE
A federal judge last week chastised Bush Administration officials for their unwarranted attempt at "aggrandizement of Executive power." The unusually harsh rebuke was published in the latest ruling in a lawsuit brought by the Sierra Club and Judicial Watch seeking disclosure of information concerning the Vice President's Energy Task Force.
Administration officials "have repeatedly invoked an incorrect constitutional standard in this case, a standard that would increase Executive power at the expense of the other branches of government," wrote U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan in his July 11 decision. (pp. 55-6)
The government's extreme position, Judge Sullivan said, would render the Freedom of Information Act and other open government laws unconstitutional.
"Clearly, this is not the law. Such a ruling would eviscerate the understanding of checks and balances between the three branches of government on which our constitutional order depends." (p. 64)
The decision is available here:
http://www.dcd.uscourts.gov/01-1530.pdf
Barbra Stickler
Dear BuzzFlash,
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/07/20020716-5.html
Press Briefing by Ari Fleischer
what a bunch of bs
In response to Harken, he says, "Well, Ron, you know, the lesson in Washington, there's no end to that type of question. It doesn't matter that the SEC has already looked into this in its entirety, shared its finding, shared its results with you and come to the conclusion that there's no "there" there. I see why he is the spokesman. He says nothing. About the middle of this briefing he talks about how Arthur Levitt is totally behind Pitt, etc. I heard Levitt talking on Meet the Press and he was anything BUT behind Pitt. He acted like he should be thrown out the door. I had the feeling he hated the guy. Another Ari lie?
Henry
Dear BuzzFlash,
What Larry Klayman is doing is pretty obvious: he's trying to preserve his organization's tax exempt status as a non-partisan watchdog. On another topic, some of your readers who might not be golf fans might be interested in the following quotes from the 5 July issue of Golf World: "ADMITTED... By 82 percent of 401 corporate executives surveyed by Starwood hotels, that they cheat while playing golf" (p. 9). "When you see what they'll do for a $10 bet, it makes you wonder what they'd do on a million-dollar loan." Jeff Harp, former president of a bank in Fort Worth, who participated in an executive survey conducted by Starwood Hotels & Resorts, in which 67 percent said a person who cheats in golf would also cheat in business."
R. Rowland, New Orleans
Dear BuzzFlash,
Here is an article that raises a number of questions. It seems to contain propaganda and disinformation. But it contains an admission that NORAD was unable to respond on 9-11, a claim (last paras) that implies that only now are they able to respond from Andrews, and claims that only now will NORAD be doing its own tracking of aircraft within the Continental limits of the US rather than relying on the FAA. It makes the claim that NORAD was prohibited from taking action against the airliners until Bush gave permission after the Pentagon was hit. There are other points that also merit discussion. The point is that none of this is being investigated and the American people are being kept in the dark. We have no way of knowing whether these claims are even true. The victims of the 9-11 tragedy are being denied their day in court. The continued refusal of the administration and Congress to have any type of investigation of what happened and of the alleged failures of the FAA, NORAD, and the President to act in a timely manner is inexplicable. When are you going to act?
re reynolds, orange park fl
July 17, 2002
Army radar test a D.C. success
By Bill Gertz
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
An Army air-defense unit successfully carried out a radar exercise in Washington last week to improve efforts to intercept hijacked airliners and other enemy aircraft. The exercise by the North American Aerospace Defense Command, or NORAD, was code-named Clear Skies and took place during two days last week, defense officials told The Washington Times.
(more)
Subj: Harvey Pitt Represented Ivan Boesky -Disgusting!
Dear BuzzFlash,
I don't know how many of you are old enough to remember the 1980's Savings and Loan fleecings, or the corporate stock take-over scams under the last round of Reagan/Bush..
But finding this out about Pitt just pisses me off to no end!
Ivan Boesky was one of the worst corporate raiders you could imagine. He would buy a company just to break it up.. fire all the workers, sell all the assets and then cash in the workers retirement fund for himself.. kind of like a bonus I guess!
Having an SEC chairman who represented Ivan Boesky, this takes the cake!
They are robbing us blind NOW!
EMAIL, WRITE or CALL your congressman and senators and DEMAND that SEC chairman Harvey Pitt resign.. before ALL our money is stolen!
http://capwiz.com/congressorg/home/ (enter your zip code to get full contact info)
More on the weblog: Spin Resistance http://kelleykramer.blogspot.com/
Thanks
Kelley Kramer
Dear BuzzFlash,
How will lying rush limbaugh, the lying media whores, and the dittoheads spin this?
LJBK
Posted on Thu, Jul. 11, 2002
Ouch! Shareholders lost $2.4 trillion in 2002
NEW YORK (Reuters) - A stock rout this year has erased $2.4 trillion in market value, representing almost one-quarter of the U.S. gross domestic product, as waves of accounting problems, executive skullduggery and profit warnings have pounded Wall Street's confidence. The Wilshire Total Market Index , the broadest index for the U.S. equity market, closed at its lowest point in almost 4 years Wednesday and has tumbled more than 18 percent so far this year.
Dear BuzzFlash,
This article in today's Globe indicates that military planes intercepted and escorted this airliner during a period of less than 20 minutes after the pilot was alerted to a potential problem. An immediate response on the part of NORAD.
Military jets escort plane after passengers seen passing notes
http://www.boston.com/dailynews/198/region/Military_jets_escort_plane_aft:.shtml
Where were they on 9-11? The FAA and presumably NORAD knew no later than 8:20 that Flt. 11 had been hijacked. It did not hit the WTC until 8:45. Flt. 175 hit the WTC 20 minutes after that..Neither was intercepted. Flt. 77 hit the Pentagon over an hour and 20 minutes after the FAA knew the first hijacking had occurred. Flt. 77 flew to Ohio and turned around and came back to Washington, 300 miles away. It was not intercepted. Once it turned around it clearly was a hijacking. Why only in the final minutes, and much too late, were planes sent from Langley?
Why were they not sent from Andrews? For that matter, the plane traveled 300 miles, there should have been numerous opportunities for NORAD to divert or scramble military aircraft. Why wasn't it done? As for the Langley planes, why did they seem to proceed at, for a jet fighter, a leisurely pace?
None of these questions are being addressed by Congress. Bush and Cheney have successfully shut down an independent investigation of the events of 9-11. As for the Joint Intelligence Committee, it is not investigating anything except intelligence failures. How affective will that be? Rep. Goss went on record early on as not believing that any investigation was necessary. Sen. Graham seems to be a complete supporter of the administration and its intent to wage war wherever it pleases. Reports are that there is dissension and strife within the investigative group. One head of the investigation was fired. Another has a questionable background. Is it being sabotaged?
The American people are being kept in the dark. There may never be open hearings of the Goss/Graham committee.
The administration not only has shut down the investigation it has even attempted to control the dispositions and discovery of all involved in the suits initiated by 9-11 survivors.
Unless there is constant pressure by the media and by individuals Congress will not act.
rereynolds, orange park fl
Dear BuzzFlash,
Until yesterday senior Pentagon officials, including Donald Rumsfeld, the Defense Secretary, had denied repeatedly that they planned to ask Congress to overturn, or bypass, the 1878 Posse Comitatus Act, a fundamental piece of legislation that sharply restricts the military’s ability to participate in domestic law enforcement. But now the Administration argues for a "thorough review" of the law -- an initiative that will add to the problems that the strategy faces in Congress.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-357822,00.html
Chewgababy
Dear BuzzFlash,
This is addressed to those of you out there who would support the erosion of our Liberties and Freedom in the name of being "safe". This administration is continually eradicating portions of the Constitution in the name of the "war on terror". Except the 2nd Amendment. Pro-gun supporters say you won't get their gun unless you pry it from their cold, dead hands. Where is this bravado concerning the terrorist threat? Where is this reverence for the rest of the Constitution? These same tough guys are willing to give up their rights in order to remain safe. COWARDS. They spit on the grave of every American who has died in the name of Freedom. This includes the 3000 on September 11th. We dishonor all their memories when we trade Freedom for safety. The terrorists hate us precisely because we are Free. Trading Freedom for safety is giving the terrorists exactly what they want. A true Patriot is willing to sacrifice his life for Freedom. Sacrificing Freedom for safety is the act of a coward, not a Patriot.
Some on the right like Ann Coulter, fiction writer, say that liberals are defending the terrorists when we insist on maintaining rights. Garbage. The detainees in Cuba are not my friends but they deserve to be treated fairly. If there is evidence they are terrorists then try them, convict them and hang the bastards. If there is no evidence it is unjust to hold them - let them go. That is one of the things America stands for - justice.
According to Cheney, Ashcroft and others, questioning the government's actions in time of war only aids the terrorists. Bull. Running scared in the name of "safety" erodes our Freedom and aids the cause of the terrorists.
It is obvious that this administration must maintain a level of fear in the people in order to remain in power. If September 11th had not happened, I think we would be discussing W's impeachment right about now. Don't worry, though, we'll save that discussion for after the November elections.
On another note. Does anyone else think the real reason we will invade Iraq is because the sanctions against Saddam are due to expire and when that happens he will be able to sell his oil on the open market? This means he will sell it cheap which will hurt the Saudi's pocketbooks and you know W cannot not allow that to happen. The Saudi's are more important to him than his own country. Why do you think the administration ignores the fact that Saudi's fund terrorists? Why do you think this administration has done nothing for the hundreds of children kidnapped by Saudi fathers? They don't want to upset their Saudi BUSINESS partners, that's why. Business always comes first with the Bush administration, we know that.
Peter Kallash
Dear BuzzFlash,
This article gave me a Netscape Alert that there was a security problem with the website and cautioned me about accepting a Certificate that was not verifiable. The certificate was gov.org.
I've been online for 6 years and never had a Certificate Alert warning from my Netscape Security.
I was on the US Department of Commerces Web Site just two days ago and did not get a warning.
Something is wrong with that site and I hope BuzzFlash will remove it or alert people not to accept the certificate.
Thank you,
Susan
Burns
A
BuzzFlash contributor
Raleigh,
NC
[BuzzFlash Note: The security alert is simply a warning that you are entering a "secure" web site and any information you give to that Web site is protected by a coding algorithm of some sort. Most e-commerce (Amazon, eBay, etc.) sites require visitors to go through a similar process. However, why the government feels it necessary to make secure the transfer or your name and contact info bothers us far more than the technology itself.]
Buzz,
When I read the BuzzFlash mailbag, I see thinking and questioning people... and yes, it is questioning people who made this country great. History books are full of questioning people. Look under Patriots.
I observe people who refuse to roll over in response to this administration. I watch polls even though they have been proven incorrect many times. However, we are beginning to see polls indicating that Bush's numbers are falling. How correct are those numbers? If polls are admitting that his numbers are falling, could those numbers actually indicate a nose-dive, like the stock market where the numbers are razor-sharp accurate?
Meeting more and more (dyed in the wool) republicans who are dissatisfied with Bush corruptness, I would say that Bush's true numbers are nose-diving rather than just falling, as polls would have us believe. Keeping an ear to the tracks, I'm amazed at the numbers of republicans who express outrage at Bush when I am out socially. I happen to reside in a pro-republican state and county, so you can understand my amazement when I hear republicans expressing outrage at Bush and his cronies. I hear comments like, "The US is in these predicaments because of Bush and big oil... it all comes back to big oil." Statements like those pretty well put Bush actions in a nutshell. When we think past our noses, we find big oil at the root of Bush's outrageous actions. Need I remind folks of the Afghanistan war and pipeline, the threats against the Taliban, 9/11 investigations, the bin Ladens and Saudis, terrorists, the attenuation of environmental mandates, the CA/Cheney energy crises, tentative plans to invade Iraq, etc?
Yep, those local outraged republicans are on to something and most US predicaments can be linked to big oil. The next question for those outraged, middle-class, republican voters is, "What took you so long?"
~ Cathy
Dear BuzzFlash,
If the GOP folks who complained about the HIV-Positive Muppet are Christians, then they should have heard Reverend Franklin Graham last night. Graham said that we as Christians are called to provide unconditional caring and ministry to the HIV patient. Graham also pointed out that, in the Bible, when Jesus healed people, he didn't interrogate them on how they got sick in the first place.
Martisa
Dear BuzzFlash,
Escape from Afghanistan: The War that Karl Rove Lost!
That's the only headline that they really don't want us to see. We will though.
I have NO DOUBT that our brave career military leaders and soldiers WANTED to WIN the war in Afghanistan; but political considerations trumped their opinions. I will NEVER believe that the Pentagon came up with a plan that put just 2500 special forces on the ground in Afghanistan last October. Never.
We have over 40,000 special forces in our military; yet we had a "hammer" without an "anvil" in Afghanistan after the worst attack on America in our history! We tried to buy a victory and fought a casualty-adverse war due to POLITICAL considerations. It borders, at least, on treason.
THIS is the story that they don't want to us hear; but I believe that there WILL be TRUE patriots in the Pentagon that will step up and protect the reputation of our military.
By doing so they will protect the American people and the nation itself.
- John Haag
Dear BuzzFlash:
Evaluating our pResident's performance on the economy, foreign affairs, justice, and the environment - all I can say is:
"There's one terrible pilot."
vgdesign
PS: As you may recall, those were the president's own words as he described his reaction to seeing an airplane hit the World Trade Center on September 11.
"I saw an airplane hit the tower - the TV was obviously on - and I used to fly myself, and I said, 'There's one terrible pilot.' And I said, 'It must have been a horrible accident.'
Bush reveals first thought: There's one terrible pilot
Matthew Engel in Washington
Wednesday December 5, 2001
The GuardianPresident George Bush added a new and bizarre twist last night to the folklore surrounding September 11 when he revealed his initial reaction to the first plane hitting the World Trade Centre. In answer to a question from an eight-year-old in Florida, he said his first thought was: "There's one terrible pilot."
(More)
To all my fellow BuzzFlash readers:
I am just an honest working stiff out here in the burbs who has very little faith in the talking mediawhoreheads so I depend on BuzzFlash for the real scoop. I give what I can (paltry as it is) to continue Buzz's efforts to keep us informed and I encourage all of you to just think of where we would be without it. I would rather skip several meals than to be among the ill-informed masses, so I do.
Mantra: HARKEN-GATE, HARKEN-GATE, HARKEN-GATE
They need your financial support.
Totally unsolicited,
Paula, surrounded in bush country
