July 26, 2002

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Vacation Time! BuzzFlash Mailbag will be on hiatus from Monday, July 29, until Tuesday, August 6, 2002.

Dear BuzzFlash,

I just returned from a little three day vacation and began reading BuzzFlash to catch up on the state of the nation.

Keying on the state of the nation, the confounded country is in quite a state of doom and gloom and so am I. I really couldn't take advantage of the three-day get away. The day before I left, I called my broker and liquidated my stocks because I had already lost $50,000 in the market since the idiot who thinks he is the president of the USA took over. This man could run a kid's lemonade stand into insolvency. Forty eight percent of the stock market is comprised of the little people like me and we know that the little people have taken it in the pocket because of a greedy bastard who calls himself president.

Gary Carrier - Bristol, Tennessee made an excellent observation on the arrest of Adelphia people. In the 7/25 mailbag, Gary points out that Adelphia didn't make huge donations to either party prior to the 2000 election. In so many words, Gary indicated that the odds are great that the Adelphia arrests were nothing more than the administration's sacrificial lamb to appease angry investors. And they are small fish. I'd like Gary to know that when I heard about the arrest of Adelphians while on my little cheap vacation, I too smelled something fishy. Thanks for saving me the investigation, time Gary!

And speaking of fishy, I won't go back to the market until I see larger fish netted. Since that won't happen, I'll be out of the market until the democrats take charge of protecting the little people's money.

~ Cathy

Dear BuzzFlash,

In EVERY, SINGLE mention throughout the Traficant saga, our so-called "Liberal" media has tacked on the label "Democrat" to his name, as in, "Democrat Jim Traficant." Now, in all the mythology of the "Liberal media," the main drumbeat wingnuts have hammered is that the label "right-wing" or "Conservative" has supposedly been tacked on to right-wingnut-zombies' names when these are mentioned. Since the "Liberal media" ceased to exist since shortly after Rush LIMBOsevic single-handedly took over thirteen years ago, this latter labeling has long been as obsolete as the classic "raised eyebrow." But now, in the middle of the scandals Republicans are so good at, our "Liberal" media chooses NOT to label wingnuts, but DOES label a scoundrel as a "Democrat." I submit that one man acting in his own personal behavior, separate from political activity, has NOTHING to do with the principles, platform, ideals, or anything official connected to the Democratic Party. Individual scoundrels come in all groups, races, or stripes. Mr. TRAFICANT's deeds have NOTHING to do with the Democratic Party.

John Garza

Hi Buzz,

Through the books you promote, I have discovered many new voices for our time. But, I have to thank you particularly for making Palast's book part of your offering. Best Democracy Money Can Buy, had such great impact for me. Absolutely hilarious at times, scary as hell at others. Greg has such a brilliantly sane way of looking at things. I hope he keeps on publishing and you keep getting the word out.

I would hope BuzzFlash is growing fast. Do you know how many of us there are?

What you are doing is so important!

Shelley Dillon Vashon, WA

[BuzzFlash Note: The BuzzFlash stats program tells us that we get up up to 42,000 visitors a day, and growing.]

Buzz,

In the 7/25 mailbag, Linda Kekumu addressed Dim Son's month-long August vacation, but she didn't mention the cynical chutzpah of this guy to repeat his inactions of last year. He vacationed the entire month of August 2001 when his popularity was low & sinking. And within days of return, the disaster of 9/11 happened. He will vacation the entire month of August 2002 when is popularity is sinking. Doesn't he/his handlers have an ounce of brains to see that the citizens of this country might be a bit nervous about his setting up the same August/September circumstances as last year? Or is he setting up the identical month-long-vacation scenario to allow for another tragedy to boost his again-sagging polls?

T Quigly

Dear BuzzFlash,

I am pasting below the GOP spin on the poll numbers:

July 23, 2002

Recent Political Analysis

Over three months ago, based on historical evidence, I predicted that President Bush's approval numbers would slowly decline and likely settle into the low 60s as Democratic partisans returned home, higher than his pre-9/11 approval numbers.

It took FDR's approval numbers 46 weeks to return to their normal levels from prior to Pearl Harbor. And it took former President Bush's approval numbers 41 weeks to return to normal levels after Operation Desert Storm. After 44 weeks President Bush is still experiencing historically high approval ratings.

The President's approval number has been dropping by an average of two percentage points a month. At the end of September 2001, Gallup showed the President's approval at 90%; in April, 2002 it was 76%; and today, in nearly all polls, it is between 70% and 74%. This is somewhat better than the decline we expected. Nonetheless, we still expect the average drop to continue and the numbers should settle out around 62 to 64% by November 2002. Many pundits and politicians continue to attribute the decline to daily events or political attacks when in fact the natural historical trend we eyed many weeks back is holding true.*

Recently, there has been increasing attention and much commentary, some misguided, on the right direction/wrong track numbers. Today, in RNC polls, right direction is even with wrong track. This is exactly where the numbers were before 9/11/01. The right direction numbers are well off the highs that followed the events of last September, but the return of this one number does not reflect the overall political landscape as many pundits might suggest.

An accurate understanding must consider the entire political landscape. Consider the following for comparison. Prior to 9/11, the right direction/wrong track numbers were exactly what they are today and the following political dynamic existed: 1) the Democratic Party had a four point favorability advantage over the Republican party; 2) Democratic candidates led on generic ballot by 4 to 6 points; 3) President Bush's approval was 51%; 4) Bush approval on handling economy was +3% over disapproval; and 5) voters seeing Bush as understanding the average person was +4% over not understanding.

In contrast, while the right direction number has returned to a pre-9/11 level the following political dynamic exists today: 1) the Republican Party has a two point favorability advantage; 2) the generic ballot is even; 3) Bush approval is approximately 73%; 4) Bush approval on the economy is +21% over disapproval; and 5) Bush understanding average person is now +23% over not understanding.

So a return to pre- 9/11 right direction of country has not meant a return to the same pre- 9/11 political landscape. It is important to note that some politicians and pundits will use one indicator to support their arguments or judge the changing political environment but when you consider the entire current landscape; right direction is back to pre - 9/11 levels, Republicans have maintained an increase of support by four to six points, and President Bush maintains an increase of support by 18 to 22 points on various scales it still looks as though, the outcome of the November elections will be decided district by district and state by state.

From Mathew Dowd Memo March 20, 2002: "As President Bush's numbers drift lower, many pundits will want to attach cause and effect to the drop reflecting some current event, when in reality it will be merely a combination of historical movement and Democratic partisans returning to norm."

- from a GOP Team Leader email

Subj: Thieves lining up to chop down a BUSH???

Dear BuzzFlash friends:

My business sources here in the Princeton, New Jersey area are telling me that the business community is quite frankly "Pissed Off" big time at the Bush administration and many of them are meeting "secretly" to plot his downfall!!! They feel that he is a hypocrite of the first magnitude and that he shouldn't have been so quick to pursue an anti-business agenda given his shaky business dealings. Stay tuned!

Ron Gordon
Princeton, NJ

Dear BuzzFlash,

No, the scam about global warming is not global warming itself. It is the wingnut technique about framing the issue. LIMBAUGH and his cohorts deny its existence. For all the wingnut talking heads on cable this wingnut talking point serves to make it a fudged issue. It has become a well known and well documented disinformation technique for the wingnuts to stage a "debate" on their programs, with one guest "for" and one guest "against" the very existence of global warming, thereby giving the impression that it is an issue of 50-50 disagreement------DESPITE that 99 scientists out of 100 verify the existence, causes, and potential solutions regarding it.

On Thursday, 07-25-02, Mike BARNICLE, subbing for the delirious Chris MATTHEWS (how can the delirium be detected?), performed this tried and true scam again. After the point of departure that more miles of ice shelf keep melting down, he proceeded with his stagecraft of two guests, with himself as the perennial devil's advocate (meaning, an even-handed moderator who takes wingnut sides). There is more and more a whiff and a sniff of desperation in Mike BARNICLE's very visage, something decaying and putrid. But he has a lot of company in this wingnut, traitorous media.

John Garza

Re: I Am A Liberal

Dear BuzzFlash,

It's always bothered me that conservatives have demonized the word "liberal." Just look at the definitions of liberal and conservative and decide which one is a better life choice. The Tao Te Ching has a passage that could be a metaphor for liberals and conservatives.

76. AGAINST TRUSTING IN STRENGTH

Man is born gentle and supple.
At death, his body is brittle and hard.
Living plants are tender,
and filled with life-giving sap,
but at their death they are withered and dry.

The stiff, the hard, and brittle
are harbingers of death,
and gentleness and yielding
are the signs of that which lives.
The warrior who is inflexible
condemns himself to death,
and the tree is easily broken,
which ever refuses to yield.
Thus the hard and brittle will surely fall,
and the soft and supple will overcome.

- The Tao Te Ching, A Translation by Stan Rosenthal

Glad to be "soft and supple" and happy to be labeled a LIBERAL,

Joey Martin