July 22, 2002

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Hi Buzz,

Had an idea for a bumper sticker:

"Be a good little Nazi for der Shrub...
...Spy on your neighbors und friends."

Best regards,

Bob Wehner

Dear BuzzFlash,

After reading your great interview with Mark Crispin Miller, I thought of a recent Bush quote which reveals his arrogance and deceit (i.e., his true self), but which, of course, no one in the media chose to highlight or challenge. When asked about the SEC "investigation" (yeah, right) of Cheney's old company Halliburton, the "president" said that the facts would come out "at some point." The "at some point" remarks sounded to me like "when or if we get around to it," or "long after we're out of office with all your money." Another revealing habit of Bush is his too-frequent use of "my administration" when he should be speaking on behalf of all Americans. I truly don't think he relates to anyone outside his elitist, frat boy club, nor does he have any conception of the public good or public service. His only ideology (to the extent he's capable of having one) is one based solely on patronage.

BuzzFlash Reader

How to Get 75% of the Vote

Dear Democrats,

Just have some faith and courage. Don’t try to out-Republican the Republicans. Most people realize there is little difference between the current administration and the mob. Republicans are the party of the corporate-military mob. They took over our media for national security, and have practiced their psych-ops voodoo on the gullible ever since. These are scary, evil people. Our only hope is truth. Break out of the box the media keeps you in; the American people will follow you to freedom.

No incremental moves towards lessening the corrupting influence of money in politics. The political process is totally corrupt, despite the good intentions of many representatives. Rise up and cast off the tyranny of legalized bribery; the people are being governed and taxed without representation. Call immediately for full funding of public campaigns with the people having the right to use their airwaves for this political purpose.

Money does not equal speech. If money is the prerequisite for speech, then free speech for all is not possible. Money gives those who have it the means to enslave those that don’t. Corporate speech has drowned out citizens' speech. Get corporations out of the people's house! Give them their own damned house, subservient to ours. Take away all other privileges including lobbying, Let them voice their opinions in a way that doesn’t let them drown out all other voices.

The corporate voice is the only voice on television. Not just any corporations, but military-corporations monopolize the airwaves selecting what is news and framing people's perceptions of its meaning. Psychology was never supposed to be an instrument of oppression, and communication amongst a nation was never meant to be warfare. Give us a multitude of voices and educate people to the techniques of propaganda so we can discuss our common cause and intelligently plot our future.

You do not need to get as much corrupt corporate cash as the Republicans to win. All you need to do is tell the American people that you will cut through the crap and restore government to the people, all the people, not just the deluded far right. Get the money out of representative government, and stop whoring for the corporations. Tell the media they will be sharing the megaphone with the people in the future. And don’t be afraid of the media. The American people are getting wise to them. We won’t listen to their lies when they try to stop you, and we will pass your message amongst ourselves when they try to censor you.

If that doesn’t do the trick, then the people in this country should stop paying taxes. It’s our right: NO MORE TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION.

Go forth, Democrats, and kick butt for the people.

Thomessa Jefferson

Dear BuzzFlash,

Lois Erwin's 7/19 commentary, "Neighborhood Spies and Other Nightmares," is yet another affirmation that the general public is becoming aware of something that America's poor have known for a long time.

So imagine the scenario where a government-employed nobody can enter anything he/she wants into an individual's "official file," and no matter how unfounded (or downright ludicrous) the statements might be, they are regarded as the Official Truth. And to make matters worse, even IF one manages to gain access to a portion of these files,there isn't a thing he can do to correct or amend the information written there. It has been Written In The File, therefore, it must be true.

America's poor have dealt with this for decades, much to the indifference of the general public. Up until the late 70's/early 80's, it was usually not an issue of great consequence. Things grew far more insidious with the start of welfare "reform" which, to a large degree, and while America remained indifferent, "legislated away" a number of fundamental legal rights according to one's economic status. For example, say that a welfare recipient would have a disagreement with the case worker. By 1986, legislation (at least in Wisconsin) was passed that enables a state caseworker to "take indefinite custody" of a welfare recipient's child, WITHOUT having to prove neglect/abuse. Taking it a step further, this piece of law ended the right of the parent to legally contest the decision in court. So---argue with/disobey a caseworker, and that could be the last you will see of your son or daughter. Can you think of a better way to keep people "compliant"?

Over the past 25 years, the legal rights and protections of one segment of the population after another have been eliminated. Since the targets began with only the disenfranchised, the marginalized, no one cared. And inch by inch, these policies have been working their way into the mainstream, and the general public is getting a little uneasy. Unfortunately, it may well be too late to stop it.

Diane Fabian

Dear Buzz,

I have just spent a half hour on the phone trying to reach the Postmaster General's office to ask WHY he is capitulating the the bush administration and going forth with plans to participate in the TIPS program.

I got the big run-around. But here is the information I did get. PLEASE pass this on to your readers, and readers pass this on to your friends. If enough people RESIST having the MAILCARRIERS for gosh sakes SPYING ON US DAILY as they deliver our mail, perhaps the USPS will again stand up for what's right.

Postmaster General Jack Potter
US Postal Service
475 Lenfant Place SW
Washington, DC 20260-0010

EMAIL: pmgceo@usps.gov

HIS DIRECT FAX: 202.268.5211

PUBLIC AFFAIRS PHONE: 202.268.2000
MEDIA RELATIONS: 202.268.2155

I was also put through to what I THINK was the "Office of Consumer Advocate," but they wouldn't give me a name!!! I asked "how can they advocate for the CONSUMER if they wont even give out their phone number or name????" Anyway, that number is:

USPS CONSUMER ADVOCATE: 202.268.5116

Thanks Buzz for passing this on.

A BuzzFlash Reader

Dear BuzzFlash,

The paperclip on his finger is an anti-smirk device. I pinch my left hand with my right when at the eye doctor to keep from reflexively pulling back when he's trying to look inside my eyeballs. Bush probably uses it to control smirk reflexes.

A BuzzFlash Reader

Dear BuzzFlash,

In an article about the new Homeland Security Department, "Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.) replied: ''I think this department has a right, and it has a need, to have special labor treatment. We simply can't afford incompetence.''"

http://www.latimes.com/la-na-secure18jul18012050.story

I don't see why that's a problem. We have a president who's incompetent and we're managing just fine, aren't we? That is, if you don't worry about the economy, the budget, civil rights, corporate corruption, etc.

Regards,

Sharon Addison
Loudon, TN

Dear BuzzFlash,

I understand on 1-20-2001 Bill Clinton told George W. Bush he left three numbered envelopes in the desk in the Oval office. When things get rough open the numbered envelopes one at a time. It appears after the Kenneth Lay relationship was discovered Dubya open envelope number one. It read, "Blame your predecessor." Things improved. Not too long then came the Minnesota Informer. Thing seem out of control so Dubya opened the second envelope. It read, "Propose legislation." So he did. All of a sudden Harken and Halliburton popped up. Dubya decided to open the last envelope. It read, "Make out three new envelopes."

Harold Ard

Dear BuzzFlash,

In Germany, the defense minister was fired this week after it was learned he took payoffs from a public relations outfit with ties to arms merchants. This embarrassing revelation prompted the UK Prime Minister to cancel a state visit to Germany.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/germany/article/0,2763,757856,00.html

Bush obviously has no honor in keeping "Secretary from Enron" Thomas White.

Charles Everett

Dear BuzzFlash,

It seems to me that Democrats these days rarely mention the voting records of their representatives in the Congress in the ongoing debate on who stands for corporations. I watch some Republican strategists pointing that the Democratic Party is also a recipient of huge contributions from big business and thus no better than than the Republican Party.

I am neither a politician nor am I gifted with a debating skill. However, I feel that what is important is not how much money the Democratic Party have been taking from big business but how Democrats in Congress have been voting on issues that matter to the less affluent section of the population. Thus, the reply to the accusations by the Republicans that Democrats are no better than Republicans ought simply be "let the voting records in Congress speak." This fact should be pointed out repeatedly and in any forum. I am assuming the voting records of the Democrats in the Congress are far better than those of Republicans when it comes to standing-up against the uncontrolled influence of big and corrupt corporations.

Zewge Gebre-Mariam
Boulder, CO

[BuzzFlash Note: You can see the roll-call votes of Congress by visiting this URL: http://clerk.house.gov/legisAct/votes.php. It is also available at the bottom of third column on the BuzzFlash home page.]

Dear BuzzFlash,

It's ba-a-a-ck! In their attempt to blame Bill Clinton for the current economic mess, the right-wing talking heads are again resurrecting the lie that Ken Lay stayed in the Lincoln bedroom during Clinton's term. As recently proven, it was during George H. W. Bush's reign that Ken Lay soiled the White House linens.

Of course The Blob, Rush Limbaugh, repeated this blatant lie on his radio program the other day. Then again this morning on C-Span's Washington Journal, a caller sounding very much like Rush's brother repeated it in a 5 minute scripted rant itemizing every sin of which Clinton was ever accused. Maybe these whores slept with Ken Lay too?

YT Cai

Dear BuzzFlash,

here is something i want to hear reported prominently. the mass media must help us avoid another world war.

our war machine is being lead by rogues. it is past time to clearly inform the citizens of this nation of what is truly at stake. it is time for a national debate about the road these men are taking us down.

this is a statement from Scott Ritter delivered night before last in London.

Mister Ritter is a former US weapons inspector.

Scott Ritter: Bush could not do more for al-Qa'ida

18 July 2002 You don't allow a friend to drive drunk. We have now got a drunk at the wheel of America; Britain needs to take the keys away from him. What George W Bush is proposing, taking military action against Iraq to eliminate Saddam Hussein, will effectively mean that Osama bin Laden will have won.

Whatever the faults of Saddam Hussein, and he is a brutal dictator, his regime is also secular. If Saddam does indeed fall, which Bush and Blair want, it is highly likely that an Islamist regime will take over after US troops leave, as they will sooner or later.

There is a good chance that a domino effect will come into play. We could see Saudi Arabia fall, Kuwait fall, Jordan fall, Egypt fall and the entire region being swept up in a sea of anti-Western, Islamic fundamentalism. Vast numbers of ordinary Arabs will swing behind the aims of al-Qa'ida. The invasion of Iraq is the quickest path to losing the war on terror and giving legitimacy to the criminal who attacked the US and the entire freedom of the world on 11 September.

This war is being driven by right-wing armchair generals in the States. The military men who wear uniforms believe it is ludicrous, but they are being driven towards it by people around Bush.

Many Iraqi defectors being trumpeted by Washington as experts on the Baghdad regime can be discredited. As an intelligence official I know you never publicise having a defector. They have a code name and you milk them for all the information you have, not parade them.

I took an oath when I joined the Marine Corps, and I still love the code and my country, but this is wrong..............Scott Ritter

=============================

Steve Warren
San Marcos TX

Dear Buzz,

This is a very discouraging development. The U.S. Postal service has reversed its position from yesterday and has now "decided to meet with the Justice Department to discuss Operation TIPS, a government plan to encourage U.S. postal workers to report suspicious activity as part of the government's war on terrorism."

"Postal officials change stance on Operation TIPS"

Read it at: http://www.cnn.com/2002/US/07/18/operation.tips/index.html

This really is how it went in 1930s Nazi Germany: At first various groups would try to fight against, or at least not cooperate with, the Nazi regime. But eventually such pressure was brought to bear that in the end no one dared go against the Nazi leaders. The very, very few who continued to dissent ended up jailed, beaten, tortured, dead -- or some combination of those four fates. By the time World War II ended for Germany, there were maybe a half dozen dissenters left alive in Germany.

It is my firm belief that the real purpose of this TIPS program is not to catch terrorists, but to stifle dissenters.

I suggest that you all pick up a copy of William L. Shirer's "Berlin Diary" if you want to understand the similarities between 1930s Germany and America in 2002. Nazi Germany's well-known death camps did not come in the beginning of that regime; there was a lead-up to the German peoples' acceptance of such measures that occurred inch by inch over a period of eight years. It was a bit like turning up the heat on your goldfish very, very slowly until they die.

Inch by inch.

Inch by inch the Bushites are turning us into a police state and most Americans, as with most German in the 1930s, do not even detect what is happening.

Just like the dying goldfish.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

A BuzzFlash Reader and patriotic, but scared, American

Dear Lois:

I just read your editorial comments "Neighborhood Spies and Nightmares" (http://www.buzzflash.com/contributors/2002/07/19_Spies.html)... one word: excellent! Another word: scary!

I think I already have a neighbor who would be interested. She's an old shut-in with no purpose in life. She's the one who rushes to her window to peep out of her lace sheers whenever she hears a car door slam or a dog bark. She yells from her window at noisy children, and shakes her cane at skate-boarders and roller-bladers.

Bless her poor soul... I'm sure she must have been a nice person at one time. Among the folks on our block, she's lovingly referred to as "Gladys Kravitz" (the nosy neighbor played by Alice Pearce on the TV show Bewitched.)

I'm certain she's the one who sneaks out at night with to measure the height of neighbor's lawns. And I'm almost positive that she's the one who left me a nasty anonymous note letting me know that I put my trash out 15 minutes too early on Monday evening for Tuesday morning's pickup.

She has a blast after January 10th... when condo rules require that all outdoor holiday lights should be removed. (But I'll give her that one as a freebie because --- in season or out --- I hate those tangled "chalet-icicle-lights" anyway.)

Once TIPS is implemented and in full swing... you can be sure that she'll be having a blast! (I wonder if they will they give participants plastic badges, ID cards, a compass, and secret decoder rings?)

Heaven help the poor soul who mixes green glass with clear glass on recycling day... or the person who simply puts out their old newspapers in a cardboard box (instead of bundling them with twine.)

-- A Maryland Reader

Dear BuzzFlash,

FYI: This is a response to a radio talk show host here in the Phoenix area. I just could not stand it any more and I had to respond and try to wake some of these guys up as he opened the door a crack. And it is overdue, but I was sure glad to hear even one tiny negative about the direction we are going. I do not hear that in this area, that's for sure.

Henry

* * *

Dear Mr. Hargerty:

I heard a portion of your program today, July 20th regarding the new TIPS program. I was very pleased to hear that people are beginning to open their little peepers just a mite and start being concerned about what Washington is doing to them.

I really thought that people would take a second look at what was going on when the good Senator James Jeffords of Vermont, switched to Independent and threw the Senate to the Democrats. If you remember, he did that at great personal expense to his family and to himself, but he said the Republicans were no longer listening to a centralist-they are too far to the right now. He has written a very good book on his reasons for switching, by the way. My point is that should have been a major red flag to this country. Instead, he was then derided, ignored and treated terribly by his Republican ex-friends, such as Sen. Trent Lott. However, he knew he was saving America and he did. I thank him every day and I will thank him with my checkbook when he runs again.

Our first problem with the 2000 election began with the media. They were so busy trying to elect Pres. Bush, they totally ignored any kind of discourse on the election. It was the worst example of a lack of media credibility that I have ever seen and I have seen many presidential elections. By focusing on a comment that VP Gore never said, which was the famous "I invented the Internet" they targeted him as a liar and never let up. (The two men who invented the Internet said during the campaign that Gore was responsible from the government side and without his support the Internet would have never been established for the public, but did the media straighten out their lies, absolutely not.) What this deprived the American people of was a chance to hear the true plans of the candidates and compare the men. The media obviously did not want us to know. Now we see the results. Pres. Bush talks center, governs right. Not just right, but radical right. Too right for a long term loyal Republican Senator. Too far right for our own Sen. John McCain.

I have included some web sites, if you are interested. The first one addresses the corporate media problem which is extremely serious.

The second one is a commentary which is exactly on the mark of what you were saying on the air and lists almost the very same concerns you expressed plus more.

The third one is about the post office and their attitude about TIPS. They turned down participating in TIPS. However, after pressure from the White House, they are going to have a meeting with them and rethink their position. (Want to make a bet as to what will happen? After all, "The Enforcer," as he was called in his father's administration, occupies the White House.)

The fourth site is another commentary which asks some pertinent questions about how it was that our Sen. McCain was forced to drop out of the presidential race when he had the attributes to be president.

The last site is the best. If you are interested in learning about what is actually going on instead of the what the spin press says or the right wing idiot sites say, then go to this site.
Drudge has about one-hundredth of the information that BuzzFlash has. You would have already known what the Bush plans were in regard to spying on our neighbors. You would have known that Gov. Jeb Bush declared Martial Law by Executive Order just one week ahead of Sept 11 and it is to run for several years, you would learn that Pres Bush will more than likely begin his war with Iraq just ahead of the mid-term elections (according to the French press, and like you, we are getting our information from the foreign press) and you would have learned that the $165 billion deficit will be approximately $347 billion in four years. You would learn why the Democrats are reluctant to confirm all of the radical right wing judicial appointments that are carbon copies of Justice Scalia and Justice Thomas.

Please do take look at the sites below. Our very democratic system it at stake here. For you to even talk about what is wrong with neighbors spying on neighbors gives me great hope that the tide may be ever so slightly turning. As Americans, we have lost so much ground since this administration took over that I am unsure we will ever gain it back.

But thank you for addressing at least one serious threat to our personal freedoms. If you choose to look, you will determine that this is just the TIPS of the iceberg.

Henry

http://www.msnbc.com/news/783126.asp
How Big Media Missed the Big Story

http://www.buzzflash.com/contributors/2002/07/19_Spies.html
A BuzzFlash Reader Commentary - Neighborhood Spies And Nightmares

http://www.cnn.com/2002/US/07/18/operation.tips/index.html
CNN.com - Postal officials change stance on Operation TIPS - July 18, 2002

http://www.buzzflash.com/contributors/2002/07/19_McCain.html
A BuzzFlash Reader Commentary - McCain: First, They Robbed Him...Then Gore

http://www.buzzflash.com
BuzzFlash Report

Buzz,

When Bush introduced the TIPS program my first thought was who would follow up on all of those tips? Now it comes out that he wants to eliminate the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878 which would give the military domestic police powers.

http://www.nytimes.com/2002/07/21/politics/21PENT.html

This guy is leading us into a police state, and he wonders why the markets are tanking.

Phil Appleton

Dear BuzzFlash,

When the republicans aren't blaming Bill Clinton for leaving the seat up, they're busy trying to fault him for the catastrophic stock market situation with a new dodge they call the 'Bubble Theory'. Simply put, the 'Bubble Theory' claims that the market is in the process of correcting itself from a wild over-valuation of stock in late the 90's. As the republicans try to look as innocent as a kitten next to an empty fish bowl, they would have you believe this is the real reason for the horrible convulsions the market is currently suffering. Nothing could be further from the truth.

The Bubble Theory is built around one very big assumption that investors indulged themselves in a wild orgy of unsupported buying. But the fact is this isn't about investor overconfidence, it's about corporate confidence games. The current plague of accounting scandals, incubated at Enron and which grips corporate America today, has stripped away investor trust. The standard defense (read: joke) offered up by SEC Chairman Harvey Pitt about companies 'Restating Earnings' has become synonymous with "oops, you caught me". Factoring in the ratio of party affiliation and corporate donations, this betrayal of American trust is clearly a republican run show.

But honestly, does one Enron destroy an entire market? Does one Halliburton fraud crash the whole game? Does one Harken Energy conjure a history of corporate malfeasance? Does one Arthur Andersen reveal a culture of corporate criminality? Individually, I'd say no. But taken together they do indeed equate a crashing market, a culture of malfeasance and an industry wide ethic of criminality. The current market crisis is the sum of its parts and the heart of this Hydra of Deceit can be found in the Bush administration. The American public can clearly see who got the mine and who got the shaft; and blaming Bill Clinton for the corporate plundering of the Bush gang just doesn't work anymore.

Skip Van Hook

Dear BuzzFlash,

Click Here:

America on Alert: In Memoriam
http://www.msnbc.com/modules/wtc/victims/default.asp?p=7#list

Buzz, This is huge!!!!!! It is a passenger manifest list of all 4 flts. that crashed on 9/11. Not one of the 19 hijacker's name is listed. What kind of conspiracy is this that the media hasn't picked up on this?

Gigi

Dear BuzzFlash,

Did you see this in Fortune:

"It was always suspected that something was fishy, but not because of the Bush connection," says Gheit of Fahnestock. "That for a small company like Harken to be involved in foreign drilling operations getting concessions from foreign governments, things just didn't add up. A lot of people had suspected that this was a CIA front." That particular point, of course, is just a rumor.

Rita Palmer

Dear BuzzFlash,

If removing Saddam Hussein because he is producing weapons of mass destruction is so important, then why didn't Bush's Daddy do it?

Why isn't Congress demanding that Bush abide by the Constitution and petition the Congress for the authority to attack Iraq? Only the Congress can declare war. Or doesn't he believe in the Constitution? Or maybe he doesn't have the facts to back up the rhetoric?

Before I send my son or daughter into war for George, I want to know if the Bushes or any of their buddies have investments in the Carlyle Group, Halliburton, Exxon Mobil or any other company that would profit from such a war. By the way, I'd like to know if Poppy made any money off of the Gulf War also. Did Halliburton make money rebuilding the Iraqi oil wells? Did Halliburton do business with Iraq etc. when supposedly it was illegal? Why would we help rebuild the oil wells of a man who is producing weapons of mass destruction?

I suspect the current war plans have more to do with money and power at home than weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

Jeff McManus

Dear BuzzFlash,

The sitting president of the United States was quoted in this morning's Oregonian as saying, "The problem with the French is that they don't have a word for 'entrepreneur'."

Cynthia Putt

Dear BuzzFlash,

It was Eisenhower who said that one of the biggest threats to American Citizens was the encroachment of the power of the military. And now Bush via Ridge wants to give them more power over us to make us what "safe at home." Ridge made it sound so innocent "hey, I know how we can be safer, how bout giving the military more power, just to keep us safe, in case we are invaded by a third world country." Look up folks, that boot you see coming down on your face is a military government. Step by step, piece by piece we are moving toward a dictatorship. I hope not, but my fear is we will see an increase of violence (from unknown sources) that's the way you subjugate a people. Terrify them, take their money away, their jobs away, and then show them how vulnerable they are, how easy it is to pick them off.

This all makes sense now, the election, tax cut, 9/11, the corporate fall out (have you noticed they got to keep their money, that top 1%) dismantling of Civil Liberties, cutting out Congress, destroying the educational system for all, and now "Homeland Military Power."

Some of us wondered why GWB acted so strange after 9/11, so disconnected, Wall Street, even WSJ have noted that the White House doesn't seem to realize the seriousness of the buckling economy, I think maybe we know why, it would all make sense if there was a plan to We have two years to make sure there is an election in 2004 and that the "Shadow Government" doesn't take charge.

Sally McDonald

Hi, Buzz:

What a great piece by Julia Keller ('Toby Keith out of tune with reality')! It struck a chord with me, so to speak.

Just before the Fourth, my youngest son & I were waiting his turn in a SuperCuts -- in the background they were playing (ugh) a local country western station. The dj gave this big build-up to the worthless Keith ditty by stating that Keith had added Peter Jennings, that (gasp) Canadian, to his 'boot list'. After hee-hawing over that little gem, he then went on to play the 'song'. Imagine the ruckus that was caused when I blasphemed. That's right, I said -- right there in a public place in Texas -- that maybe the 'song' got the boot because it sucks. Them's fightin' words. The ensuing debate was an easy win for me as the defenders of Keith were, in addition, ditto-heads. Need I say more?

What is truly fascinating is the REAL reason that Keith got the old heave-ho from the 4th of July special. As reported in exactly one place that I know of (a radio news break) was this gem: Keith demanded that he be the lead-off act, not Arlo Guthrie (singing "This Land is My Land"). When ABC and Jennings refused, Keith would not relent on his demand. ABC/Jennings booted him.

As we know, that story would not have sold him many records. Better go with the story that the big, bad, 'liberal', not-even-an-American, journalist looked down his elitist nose at the poor ol' country boy and treated him bad.

Heck, that's probably keith's next big hit.

Liz Taylor
Houston

Dear BuzzFlash,

From Howie Kurtz's MEDIA NOTES - Washington Post:

Changing Fortunes

Larry Klayman seems to be getting new respect from much of the media.

The founder of the advocacy group Judicial Watch, Klayman, a self-described conservative, was often dismissed as a right-wing gadfly when he was suing the Clinton administration. But now that he's turned his legal guns on the Bush folks, things have changed.

In reporting earlier this month that Klayman had sued Vice President Cheney in connection with his tenure as CEO of the energy firm Halliburton, CBS, CNN and NBC described the organization as "a watchdog group," while ABC called it "a legal activist group." The Media Research Center cited numerous instances in which the networks labeled the group "conservative" during the Clinton era.

But Klayman has a bone to pick: "Fox hasn't given us much coverage the last year and a half. They're playing to the conservative audience. I have in effect been boycotted off the network. . . . For Fox to be playing this game is, in my view, hypocritical for a network that claims to be fair and balanced."

Brit Hume, Fox News's Washington managing editor, says that "we don't have a flat-out policy against him. But he has not been regarded as a major news figure for a very long time. . . . We've treated everything Larry Klayman has done on a case-by-case basis."

Klayman was miffed when Hume began an on-air discussion of the lawsuit against Cheney by saying that the activist "never got much coverage when he was going after Bill Clinton." Mara Liasson of National Public Radio added that "he's a true gadfly, as in 'pest.' . . . I think he should be denounced, in bipartisan fashion." Days later, "Fox News Sunday" host Tony Snow said Klayman had gone "from hack to watchdog" in the media's eyes.

Both sides say there were past clashes between Fox and Klayman's clients. But one thing is sure: During the impeachment saga in 1998 and 1999, Klayman was on Fox dozens of times on such programs as "Hannity & Colmes," "The Crier Report," "O'Reilly Factor" and "Fox News Now."

"Why would you not have a conservative on a conservative network?" Klayman asks. But a Fox spokesman says the network was turned off when "he started demanding to be on. He just wants face time for himself. When we find him to be newsworthy, we do cover his issues."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A41720-2002Jul21.html

Dear BuzzFlash,

Can you say Police State, or more aptly.. 'Military' Police State?

Bush wants a modern US version of the Gestapo.

Ever wonder what it was like to live in Germany during the 1930's under the rise of Hitler and Nazism?.. Well, all you have to do is open your eyes and look around, its happening right now, right here under George Bush in America.

A quick review-

The Patriot Act removed more constitutional rights from US citizens than any other single bill in the history of the Untied States.

The US government can arrest people without charging them with a crime, and hold them indefinitely. When you are fortunate enough to have the services of an attorney, the US publicly states that they can and will tape record your conversations with said attorney.

We are openly endorsing the torture of our prisoners of war. And under Bush the United States no longer follows the rules of the Geneva Convention.

In furthering the Patriot Act, AG John Ashcroft publicly announced the FBI and other US security agencies will investigate 'religious' and 'political' groups.

If the Watergate bugging or the FBI Cointel program were to happen today.. it would be legal!

Bush announces the formation of new cabinet position for Homeland Security with a huge bureaucracy, including some 170,000 g-men to spy on and police Americans.

Last week came the announcement of TIPS, a Bush spy on your neighbor program with ambitions to sign-up 20 million Americans as spies.

Now they want to eliminate Posse Comitatus and have military rule?!

What?! The only thing left now is Marshall law and the suspension of what's left of the US constitution. (what's left that Bush hasn't already sent through the shedder)

Welcome to the 'new' Amerika under the Bush regime.

It's Truth or Dare time for our beloved country people! We must stand up to save it, before they start carting away anyone who disagrees.

Write your congressman and senators, remind them of a man named Thomas Jefferson, and then remind them the very first thing they did as your elected official was to raise their right hand and swear to.. "support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that you will bear true faith and allegiance to the same".

Enter your zip code to get full contact info for your elected representatives here: http://capwiz.com/congressorg/home/

Thanks Kelley

Spin Resistance http://www.kelleykramer.blogspot.com/

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info: http://www.nytimes.com/2002/07/21/politics/21PENT.html

More info on Posse Comitatus http://ls.wustl.edu/WULQ/75-2/752-10.html

Dear BuzzFlash,

He stands there talking to his cronies. The camera NEVER shows the (small) audience.

He says "The 'permanent' office of Homeland Security, with the power of the FBI, CIA, and all other police agencies reporting to the top, 'It's not a Democratic idea, it's not a Republican idea, it's an American idea.'"

Wrong shrub: IT'S A FASCIST IDEA!!!!!!!!!!!!

And in his next statement he says Congress should renig power and fork it over to HIM.

Meanwhile the Dow sinks lower.

Hello depression. Shut your mouth because UNREST will grow in America. I personally am not at war with anyone. I think that HUNTING AL QAEDA is a criminal huntdown, not a war.

Cindy