August 19, 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.
To My Senator from Texas: Senator Hutchison
I am deeply disturbed after reading your letter printed in today's Austin paper under the title: Attack On Iraq Would Launch A New Era In American Defense. No, it would mark a new era in American Offense.
How can you believe these things you say? "All indications are that Saddam is working feverishly to acquire [new] weapons of mass destruction..." Do you not read the reports from our military intelligence and from the CIA? Both have been looking, searching, trying to find any indication at all of such a thing for more than a year. They have not found it! If they do not brief you on these things, just read the Post or the Times or the American-Statesman.
Does it make no difference to you that every single ally we have in the world is opposed to our proposed attack? Is every other government on the planet just stupid? Are we omnipotent in our intellect?
Your letter says Bush must ask Congress for a full debate and vote of support before attacking Iraq, but then you say, being 'informed' we will all support the president's actions. I assume this means you believe it to be a forgone conclusion. I tell you now I am well informed already. I read. I listen. I watch the talking heads. And I am flabbergasted that you can do the same and come away supporting having our nation make an unprovoked attack on another nation.
I can not believe the nation I love is actually proposing to launch a bone-headed attack that will kill hundreds of thousands of innocent people and further destabilize the middle east.
Please, Senator, listen to Brent Scowcroft, Henry Kissinger, Colin Powell, everyone in the US State department, the Joint Chiefs, our friends in every other nation. Listen to me. This proposed attack is wrong and is morally indefensible. It will bring us all great trouble and heartache.
And finally, you close your letter saying that Congress' vote to support the attack would "strengthen the president." Ma'am, I most certainly do not want that. His administration has already gutted the Bill of Rights, with your unfortunate support. His Attorney General is now proposing what amounts to concentration camps for anyone this president deems to call 'enemy combatants.' They are now asking us to begin spying on each other. These people most certainly do not need to be strengthened in any manner, shape or form.
Steve Warren: San Marcos TX
Dear BuzzFlash,
"It is bad for them not to reach an accord." - GW Bush
Uh-oh. "Bad" is one step short of "evil." Those players better watch out, or it's Gitmo for them!
http://www.salon.com/news/wire/2002/08/16/bush_baseball/index.html
A BuzzFlash Reader
Dear BuzzFlash,
Conservatives are much better organized and they work together synergistically. They have to..when you are peddling old arguments based on hate you'd better have a good system to do it. America is being lost..there are tons of right wing radio hosts..how many are there on the left? I live in New York where there are more Democrats than Republicans...but how many progressive or left leaning talk radio hosts are there? Whenever there is someone on the left they pair him up with a right wing nut.
What people hear affects their thinking, that's why people pay so much to advertise. Chats why we set up radio in foreign countries, to affect the thoughts of the people.
The conservatives, thru email lists, fax numbers and tons of organizations that take ACTION (they write letters, make phone calls, and support their conservative media).
What BuzzFlash needs to do in its emails is let their readers know WHO to call or write, WHERE to call or write, HOW to call or write, and WHEN to call or write to advance OUR points of view.
All it takes is a vocal minority to control the debate. That's what conservatives are doing. The left has got to wake up, because the stronger the conservatives get the faster the left dies because the conservatives don't play fair.
For instance, if Bush were a Democrat, the conservatives would be asking "whatever happened to the rumor that Bush paid for an abortion?", "Is it true that Laura Bush killed her boyfriend?", "Is it true that Dick Cheney did not vote for 14 years?"
BUZZFLASH..we need the email addresses of all the editors, reporters and managers of ALL the leading media. And then, add a line for donations to you. People will donate to you because you'll be donating to the cause.
You are doing a good job, but you need to do better. Because pretty soon, they'll be coming for YOU.
A BuzzFlash Reader
Dear BuzzFlash,
This guy makes Ashcroft seem only slightly insane...
[Jeb]
Bush's choice to head DCF under fire for religious views
http://www.tallahassee.com/mld/democrat/3878936.htm
Yep! That's right! The new guy overseeing children supports child abuse.
Later...
Noel
Wamer
Jacksonville,
FL, US
Subj: Propaganda: It's Many Guises
Dear BuzzFlash,
A writer from BuzzFlash Mailbag said that Lynn Samuels program on WABC (NY radio) has been cut by the program director, Phil Boyce. I've sent the following e-mail to Mr. Boyce. If we stand by and allow the silencing of progressive voices then we are supporting one of the guises of propaganda. Removing the voices of the truth tellers from radio is one of those guises. We must speak out lest we all be silenced.
Sara DeHart
---------------------
Dear Mr. Boyce:
I've just learned that you've cut Lynn Samuels program on WABC. I will include this incident in my article titled "Propaganda: Its many guises." In 1934 Germany, the Gestapo beat radio program producers to a bloody pulp to make them toe the line. What did the Republican Communications Conglomerates do to force you to cut Lynn Samuel's progressive voice?
I do not wish to be disrespectful of the decisions you are forced to make to keep your job, but do you recognize your role as a propagandist? Have you thought about the effects of your decisions on the demise of American democracy?
What has happened to America's media since January 2001 is told in lots of little stories. Voices that get silenced; commentators who get fired for saying the "wrong words." Yours is a little story, but it is real; it is noticed; it will be recorded.
S.
S. DeHart
A
Voice for Democracy
Subj: Liberal SF Chron OP/ED columnist fired, column canceled
Dear BuzzFlash,
Will you PLEASE post something about this? San Francisco Chronicle OP/ED Columnist, Stephanie Salter is one of the few liberal voices in the media, esp print media. And there is certainly a shortage of liberal women in any area of the media. SF CHRONICLE Publisher, John Oppendahl says that her column must go because "The OP/ED page of the SF Chronicle is too liberal."
Please pass this message on to as many people as you can. We need to save the OP/ED Column of San Francisco Chronicle Columnist Stephanie Salter.
Phil Bronstein, Executive Editor and publisher, John Oppendahl, must be inundated with phone calls, email and letters this week. Go to SFGATE.Com for email and other contact information. Phone calls are good, make them answer many calls and answer questions. Make them tell you WHY one of the few liberal columnists is losing her column.
To protest the ending of Stephanie Salter's column email jdiaz@sfchronicle.com; joppendahl@sfchronicle.com; letters@sfchronicle.com
The direct phone number for Bronstein is: 415-777-7761 and they will tell you that "Phil doesn't make these decisions, please discuss this with John Oppendahl."
The direct phone number for John Oppendahl is 415-777-8924. Please tell him that you are protesting the loss of the Salter column (and, if you choose to, let them know that you are going to cancel your subscription). Oppendahl's office will tell you that Stephanie Salter "will still be writing for the Chron" but the point is and the issue is that we are losing a liberal voice on the OP/ED page. We have too few local and national liberal voices in the media. There are few, if any, on OP/ED pages.
If you choose to cancel your subscription TELL THEM WHY. The Hearst suits are in town this week and we need to stir things up. Stephanie is one of the few liberal columnists left. Not only that, she is local, living and working in the San Francisco Bay Area. Even if you sometimes don't like the content of her columns, Stephanie always makes you think.
Thanks very much,
Susan Prather
Subj: Mailbag 8/16/02
Dear BuzzFlash,
To Fred Noelke, I am so glad that you are pissed off! Many more of us are going to have to get P-O'd! I remember so well, one night on the "Politically incorrect" show, when it was still on, before the bad guys took it off, Tim Robbins was on (the actor). And he argued to the fervent bunch who backed the imbecile who is now our leader, that He just had to know that the man who was in that office was smarter than he! Very telling! Every time I hear Bush open his mouth, he embarrasses me...and I am not a Rocket scientist! So, it does not take a brain to be behind Bush! It really takes very few brains! So far as the Ann Coulter slop, I am glad so many of you are reviewing it for me, because I will not read it...I could never read it...I am sure every word Richard Cohen wrote about the moronic woman is true! She looks like a transvestite and has the morals of an alley cat! She talked of nothing but sex and dirtier things than that, when she bashed our last elected president...likely, she had once been turned down by MR. C! Monica was not a raving beauty, perhaps, but she was a human being anyway!
Thanks, Buzz, for another wonderful mailbag!
Shirley, St.Louis
Subj: Bush has decided! War with Iraq is going to happen!
Dear BuzzFlash,
The son of a bitch has already made up his mind. The rest is all bullshit.
Transcript of S. Dakota speech:
"And we got a lot of work to do, we've got a lot of work to do. And that's why this budget I submitted is a significant budget. The House passed its version, the Senate passed its version. They've now got to get together as quickly as possible, as soon as possible, and get the defense appropriations bill to my desk nearly upon arrival. In other words, as soon as they get back from the recess, I need to sign the bill so we can plan for the war." (Applause.)
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/08/20020815.html
Jim Stewart
Chicago,
IL
Dear BuzzFlash,
"Bush, himself, the most intellectually backward American president of my political lifetime, is surrounded by advisors whose bellicosity is exceeded only by their political, military and diplomatic illiteracy."
-- Gerald Kaufman, Former British Labor Minister
-- Courtesy of Pamela Anna Polland
Larry Morningstar
Re: From Waco to Baghdad, by NYT Columnist Frank Rich
Dear BuzzFlash,
Last week John Ashcroft went on TV to announce what he calls the "first ever White House conference on missing and exploited children."
THIS IS JUST AN EASY WAY TO KEEP TRACK OF THOSE "FAMILY VALUE' BUSH OFFSPRING.
A BuzzFlash Reader
Dear BuzzFlash,
Remember how Junior's people tried in the last Presidential campaign to convince veterans that only he was the man who cared about the military and those who served? Of course he himself was DWOL (Drunk without leave) from the Texas National Guard, which daddy bought his way into. But, even despite this less than stellar record in defending the tumbleweeds of the Rio Grande bottom from the Communist menace, his spinfolks portrayed him as a man "truly concerned about the plight of veterans" and tried mightily to make people forget that Al Gore actually was a veteran who served in the Vietnam theater of operations at a military firebase, where the real communist menace was a mere stone's throw, or bullet, away. Well, as with all other matters, Junior has, once again, proven himself the consummate phony. This articles you have posted which detail in gruesome specificity how Mr. Bush has decided to get "lean and mean" with those who have actually worn the uniform and sacrificed for our country are sickening. Of course, how can he be expected to remember and honor their service, since his attention span is considerably shorter than that of your average fruit fly. After all WW2 was just another "bigtype shootin match" which he ignored in history class at Yale, even though Daddy got shot down in that war. Hell this loser can't even remember a year ago to September 11th. After draping his arms around the brave firemen of New York as a photo op last year, he has now forgotten their valiant service and decided to cut the funding for a new radio system for them, that Congress appropriated so that they can better communicate with one another and save lives in the future. Why get tough on veterans and firefighters? Well hell he wants to show that he has "physical restraint." Really? Well then perhaps he would consider repealing his 1.65 trillion dollar enrichment of the rich program known as his tax cut. However, as one columnist pointed out, to do that he would have to save about 5 billion dollars a day for a year to achieve that. UM Hum. Sorry I don't reckon Junior can "cipher" that high. In the meantime we can contact Congress and pressure them to insure that Junior doesn't fund his tax giveaway program by taking money away from firefighters and veterans.
Dan Delisio
Subj: Chuck Hagel suggests Mr. Perle be in 1st wave of those who invade Baghdad
Dear BuzzFlash,
"New York Times lead story jumped out at me for its sheer venom directed at Richard Perle: 'Maybe Mr. Perle would like to be in the first wave of those who go into Baghdad.' That's not some pinko talking -- it's Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel."
taken from TAP
A BuzzFlash Reader
Subj: Bush Says Up Yours to Firefighters
Dear BuzzFlash,
Well, well...
Bush got his photo-op, get out of his way and don't worry if he step's on your head and crushes your grieving family.
Bush cut $340 million in funding for the firefighters. Besides being harsh and cold-hearted, what an idiotic move!
The Bushies have managed to piss-off almost every core group they have.. cutting funding for Veteran's, cutting healthcare for current military service personnel, and on and on.
Now they give the Heroes of 911 the finger?!
I hate to be the one to say this, but there are many of us who tried to warn these 'Bushbots' that they were waaaay off in thinking the Bushies actually care about anyone but the richest of the rich.
Just like a lot of conservative middle Americans who have lost their savings (and in many cases most of their entire retirement fund) in crooked corporate investments, now they are waking up to the reality of what a Republican controlled economy really is.
Unfortunately some people have to learn the hard way.
But screwing the Firefighters? Good grief! The realities of Bush certainly are a cold dose for the folks who bought into the bullshit sales pitch.
Looks like at least a few are coming around, maybe there really is hope the rest will wake up!
This measure was voted UNANIMOUSLY by the Firefighters...
Thanks,
Kelley
Kramer
Spin
Resistance
http://www.kelleykramer.blogspot.com/
=======================================================
Firefighters Blast Bush
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/wn_report/story/11353p-10746c.html
WASHINGTON - The International Association of Firefighters caused a furor yesterday by voting unanimously to consider boycotting President Bush's October speech honoring the 343 FDNY personnel who died in New York. The umbrella group for the nation's firefighter unions is furious that Bush cut $340 million in funding last week, some of which would have improved outdated radio equipment - a key reason so many firefighters didn't hear warnings to get out of the twin towers Sept. 11.
"President Bush, you are either with us or against us. You can't have it both ways," said the association's general president, Harold Schaitberger. "Don't lionize our fallen brothers in one breath and then stab us in the back."
Bush killed a $5.1 billion spending bill Tuesday that also contained money for veterans, AIDS prevention, domestic security, Israel and health testing for Ground Zero workers.
Virginia firefighter Michael Mohler, who made the boycott motion Wednesday night at the association's convention in Las Vegas, accused Bush of standing with firefighters only for the cameras.
"We will work actively to not grant him another photo op with us," he said.
Dear BuzzFlash,
FACT: George W Bush will get paid $33,972.60 from YOU the taxpayer...
for playing GOLF the ENTIRE month of August!
http://us.news1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/rids/20020813/i/1029203008.3154173974.jpg
---------
Spin
Resistance
http://www.kelleykramer.blogspot.com/
Subj: We think that they broke the law
Dear BuzzFlash,
State
finds voter registration cards altered in Merced County (California)
http://www.sacbee.com/state_wire/story/4002321p-5027806c.html
Published 2:10 p.m. PDT Friday, August 16, 2002
Anyone else have a problem with the RePuglican Party's right to existence, given continuous evidence of their policy of being a rolling crime wave?
Note:
"We think that they broke the law, but there just isn't enough evidence for a successful prosecution," said Alfie Charles, Secretary of State Bill Jones' spokesman.
Secretary of State Bill Jones is a Repuglican
a BuzzFlash Reader
Subj: U.S. methodically preparing for Iraq campaign
Dear BuzzFlash,
Aides to Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld have created a special Iraq planning unit, composed largely of civilians, to oversee a military campaign against Saddam Hussein, the latest sign that President Bush is methodically preparing an invasion to oust the Iraqi leader.
http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/3871853.htm
Chewgababy
Subj: WP is a Joke
Dear BuzzFlash,
The Washington Post spins the White House Sleepover Story to make it seem like nobody other than family or friends stayed overnight in Bush's White House. This is the worst case of pro-Bush spin by a paper recently.
Tell me that Mike Allen isn't trying to get his Presidential kneepads. He doesn't mention the Pioneers ($100,000 donors) until paragraph 8. Look at paragraph 4 though to see his best handjob work.
PARAGRAPH 4
"Democrats who endured the taunts may be disappointed by Bush's list, which could have been created nearly in its entirety by anyone with a passing knowledge of Bush's past. The list is significant, because it shows how many of his pre-Washington associates, many of them wealthy businesspeople, retain his ear and trust."
LINK: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A28518-2002Aug16.html
Compare the Washington Post article with the Newsday article and you will see what I mean.
Overnight Guests at White House
WASHINGTON -- President Bush and first lady Laura Bush have invited dozens of friends and relatives to sleep over at the White House, from Republican fund-raisers to Texas pals such as pro golfer Ben Crenshaw and country singer Larry Gatlin.
The issue of White House sleepovers arose during the Clinton administration when it was learned that the Democratic Party was rewarding big donors with overnight stays in the Lincoln Bedroom.
The Bushes' roughly 160 guests include at least six of the president's biggest fund-raisers and their families. White House spokeswoman Anne Womack said she didn't know whether donors, or any other Bush guests, have slept in the Lincoln Bedroom.
"They sleep in a variety of guest rooms in the White House," Womack said. "The president and Mrs. Bush enjoy spending time with their friends and family and have invited friends and family to stay as guests in the White House."
A half-dozen Bush donors and fund-raisers known as "pioneers" are among the guests on a list released late Friday by the White House. Each raised at least $100,000 for Bush's 2000 campaign, helping him take in a record $100 million for the Republican primaries.
They include Roland Betts, a Yale classmate of Bush's and a former partner of his in the Texas Rangers baseball team; venture capitalist and Republican National Committee fund-raiser Brad Freeman; Texas rancher and state Sen. Teel Bivins; Boston businessman Joe O'Donnell; and Joe O'Neill of Midland, Texas, an oilman and childhood friend of Bush credited with introducing him to Laura Bush.
stevie g
Re: BuzzFlash is Not Making This Up
Hi, Buzz:
Very "Art Bell-ish", wouldn't you say? Next thing you know, we will have the "Shadow People" recruited to follow suspicious 40ish, suburban, lactating, baby-toting moms around the airport.
Geez...how far do you think we are from having "The Amazing Kreskin" named Homeland Security Czar? Maybe he will then recruit David Copperfield to render all of our important landmarks invisible to protect them from terrorist attacks.
Liz
Taylor
Houston,
TX
>RE:
NASA plans to read terrorist's minds at airports
>By
Frank J. Murray
>THE
WASHINGTON TIMES
>
>http://www.washtimes.com/national/20020817-704732.htm
Dear BuzzFlash,
So, if we are "at war" as Bush says, why is it that both he and Cheney are on vacation for the entire month of August, just as generalisimo Dubya is planning another war even against advice of his own party. It seems like he was on vacation just before 9-11 last year. Man, I'd like to get that much vacation, wouldn't you?
anon
P.S. Please support BuzzFlash with contributions. (this is completely unsolicited)
Dear BuzzFlash,
Russia, Iraq Plan Deal to Bolster Ties (washingtonpost.com)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A28520-2002Aug16.html
What did bush say about pootie poot? I can see into his soul?
What I remember during the time of the gas attacks on the Kurds, etc., is that our govt was publicly denying that any gas was used. Remember when our troops began complaining of blisters and other maladies and our govt denied strongly that they were not exposed to any chemical agent. It was like the agent orange experience: they came back to the states and were denied medical based on the fact there was no chemicals used in the desert storm war. I knew it was different and knew our govt was lying one more time. Our troops have really been screwed. I do not understand how they can back the gop because they are always doing really bad stuff to them or know about it anyway and then deny benefits. I wonder where the other guys who are now in the this bush admin were during this first bush admin? They mentioned Powell and Armitage, but all these guys were there since they are all retreads. Cheney? This will all be extremely interesting when it finally all comes out. No doubt the info is all in the papers that bush 2 kept from the public. You can bet we would be astonished as to how bad they really were. Like Gore said, good will triumph over evil. I can hardly wait.
A BuzzFlash Reader
Hey King George,
You could try financing the Centers for Disease Control so they will be able to do something about West Nile Virus instead of thinking of your oil takeover through a war with Iraq. Are you just going to tell everyone to get used to West Nile virus like you told us to get used to global warming?
anon
Subj: Thumb Up Whose Nose?
Buzz,
DimSon interrupted his month-long vacation at Golfcart Funnyfarm [aren't we at war?] to rant on about Saddam, "There should be no doubt in anybody's mind that this man is thumbing his nose at the world." Let's see, what American pResident -- against world-wide protest -- has trashed global treaties, is extorting countries regarding the International Criminal Court, is violating civil rights of Americans and foreigners, is ignoring cautionary advice from advisors in America and other countries against war with Iraq, is making a special case for BushAmerica on virtually Everything, and is daily enraging ally and enemy alike with his my-way-or-the-highway threats? Whose thumb up whose nose?
T Quigly
Dear BuzzFlash,
I was puzzled at first by the New York Times story reporting Reagan administration knowledge of Iraq's development and use of "weapons of mass destruction" as if this was a new revelation. My impression was that it's been a matter of public record for four-odd years at least. But now that I've checked my original source, I find it was a 2/28/98 item in Slate's International Papers, which covers the foreign press:
"The Paris daily newspaper Le Figaro led Thursday with the 'revelation' that both the United States and France had supplied Iraq with strains of the anthrax bacillus in the mid-1980s, just when Saddam Hussein was starting the production of biological weapons. It said that the American Type Culture Collection in Rockville, Md., and the Pasteur Institute in Paris had responded favorably to Iraqi requests for the bacillus for research purposes. Britain, which was also approached, had refused to help, it said."
So it may be true that the New York Times is scooping the rest of the "homeland" media after all.
Tsk, nothing like actively assisting a weapons-development program to demonstrate knowledge of the program's existence. And we should note that Le Figaro is a conservative source, so it would have been especially unlikely to report on the seamy underbelly of the Reagan administration (which also includes CIA knowledge of Contra cocaine-trafficking to the U.S., according to the CIA's own admission to the House Intelligence Committee in 1999) without solid evidence.
Dan Kritchevsky
Subj: Wesley Clark
Dear BuzzFlash,
If you ever see him on a phone-in program, ask him when we're going to have an investigation of 9-11, like he told me on Sept. 15 that we would have to have.
Clark's article reminded me of one I read in the International Herald Tribune yesterday by William Pfaff..."If forced to choose, Europe will ditch NATO." The US is bullying 13 Central European and Balkan nations who are candidates into the EU and NATO to be on its lonesome side inre: International Criminal Court by dictating that the candidates can choose between EU or NATO, not both, depending on how they respond to the US position on the ICC. The US is hoping it will force EU countries to back down on the ICC as a result. Pfaff is saying EU members don't even need NATO, so the U.S.' plan could have some unintended effects, like destroying the NATO alliance altogether~!
The words "confusion," "what the U.S. doesn't seem to understand," "makes no sense at all" and "ridiculously irrelevant" seem to prop up whenever the Bush administration is part of a discussion. Ever notice that?
Michele Winter
THIS IS DAY 259 (8/16/02) AND NO ENRON INDICTMENTS.
Hello, Buzz:
Lou Dobbs, CNN's Moneyline, is posting the above daily on his show. I am also posting a daily reminder on Slates Fray for their over 2 million unique users. Bushwatch is also posting a daily reminder.
You are cordially invited to add this to your daily BuzzFlash Web site. Combined, perhaps we can get some action.
You have a great site that I visit daily.
Kindest personal regards,
Bob Perkins
BuzzFlash...
I just read Brzezinski's (WP) and Scowcraft's (WSJ) wise editorials re invading Iraq and compared them to Condoleezza Rice's recent comments (BBC)...And to think we were told that the adults would be back in charge when Smirk's administration was installed by judicial fiat...Ms. Rice may be smart, but compared to previous (and experienced) National Security Advisors like Brzezinski and Scowcraft, she is "Bush League" in my opinion...I get the bad feeling that everything this clueless assorted bunch of ideological amateurs and chickenhawks (w/ the exception of Powell) attempt to do, be it the economy, the environment, health care, social security, Middle East policy, etc., is like an impending train wreck...What also saddens me are the lack of Democratic voices speaking out to help put the brakes on this insane runaway train...I'll finish w/ several wise voices from the past...
"If ever time should come, when vain and aspiring men shall possess the highest seats in government, our country will stand in need of its experienced patriots to prevent its ruin." --- Samuel Adams
"To announce that there must be no criticism of the president, or that we are to stand by the president right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public."---Theodore Roosevelt
"Perhaps it is a universal truth that the loss of liberty at home is to be charged to provisions against danger, real or pretended, from abroad."--- James Madison
A BuzzFlash reader
Re: Blockbuster Revelation
Dear BuzzFlash,
I can understand why it's news to the New York Times that the Reagan administration assisted Iraq substantially in its war against Iran, but I don't understand why BuzzFlash considers it a "blockbuster revelation" when its been common knowledge for years for those who cared to research it.
Nor is it a "blockbuster revelation" that the U.S., through it's purveyor of dirty deeds, the CIA, basically created and armed the Taliban and (dare I say it?) aided and abetted Osama bin Laden. Said bin Laden being a member of the same Saudi family the Bushes are so chummy with. If you did not know this and doubt it, consider the fact that the only commercial planes allowed in the air on 911 were those carrying bin Laden family members safely out of the U.S.
Furthermore, Dick Cheney's hands are not clean in this either. It was while he was CEO of Halliburton that it consummated several million dollar deals with Iraq. Dealing with known terrorists, hmm, I guess this makes Halliburton a terrorist organization and Dick Cheney himself a terrorist. If doing drugs is contributing to terrorism, isn't doing business with known terrorists also contributing to terrorism?
I can understand why the corporate-owned media continue to suck up to our fearless leader. But I can't for the life of me understand what's going on with the Democratic party. Are they afraid that Ashcroft is going to come for them and stick them in a concentration camp? I can guarantee that if we don't begin to oppose this fascist crap that that will be the next step for anyone who speaks out against the government (aka George W. Bush).
A BuzzFlash Reader
BuzzFlash,
I just read an article that the Nation which published Forbidden Truth did a little censoring of the smoking gun allegation in chapter six.
Read this and comment if you would
http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0230/cotts.php
Your great interview with Brisard recently didn't mention this bit of editorial mischief, if I recall.
Thanks,
C.W Tacoma
Dear BuzzFlash,
Even Carter's people have weighed in now. That means that virtually every former presidents' lead foreign policy and military people have now weighed in against war with Iraq.
"But war is too serious a business and too unpredictable in its dynamic consequences -- especially in a highly flammable region -- to be undertaken because of a personal peeve, demagogically articulated fears or vague factual assertions.
If it is to be war, it should be conducted in a manner that legitimizes U.S. global hegemony and, at the same time, contributes to a more responsible system of international security."
A BuzzFlash Reader
To view the entire article, go to http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A28822-2002Aug16.html
If We Must Fight . . .
By Zbigniew Brzezinski
There is a right and a wrong way for America to wage war. Obviously, if it is attacked, America must respond with all its might. The same is true if an ally is attacked. But the issue becomes much more complex if a threat, but not an attack, is involved. America must then consider carefully the consequences of its actions, both for itself as the world's preeminent power and for the longer-term evolution of the international system as a whole.
The United States may have to go to war to oust Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq because the potential nexus between conspiratorial terrorism and the weapons of mass destruction that Hussein is said to be producing cannot be blithely ignored. But war is too serious a business and too unpredictable in its dynamic consequences -- especially in a highly flammable region -- to be undertaken because of a personal peeve, demagogically articulated fears or vague factual assertions.
Dear BuzzFlash,
One of the things people should be aware of is that the GOP pays full-time message posters to attack the left. Don't be discouraged by what you read on message boards. The GOP attacks always increase during midterm and presidential elections. People should not be affected by this since the goal of the GOP is to psychologically damage the Democrats first and then take away democracy.
anon
Inre: NY Times article on Reagan aiding Iraq
Dear BuzzFlash,
On so-called Bush Doctrine principles, does this mean that the United States is now morally obliged to wage an aggressive war ("pre-emption" by any other name...)--against the United States?
Michele Winter
Dear BuzzFlash,
I am in complete agreement with everything Rebecca says. I am grateful she is willing to take the time to write on your website. On Crossfire last week someone sent in an email to the effect of, "Tucker Carlson has been quoted as saying, 'we mock what we fear.' Based on that comment, you, Tucker, must really be afraid of Al Gore!" If he does decide to run, we must get behind him and give full support. None of this wishy-washy Lieberman crap. I have yet to see anyone in Congress effectively present themselves as the candidate. It's got to be Gore and history is on our side in this one.
Re-elect Gore in 2004!
Thanks, Rebecca (and Nancy Nagy, too--we need more of you gals).
A BuzzFlash Reader
