September 6, 2002
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Subj: Bush is unhappy about returning to Washington
Dear Buzz,
I sent the following letter to Lou Dobbs after he commented that GWBush was right to prefer his ranch to the White House and Washington D.C.
Lou Dobbs thought it was all very funny. I did not.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear Lou Dobbs,
You seemed to find it humorous, the other evening, that George W. Bush is unhappy about returning to Washington DC and the White House. I don't share your sense of the humor in that.
Mr. Bush spent $170 million dollars to get into the White House and the presidency. He was no stranger to the White House or the responsibilities of the presidency; he was often there at his father's side when his father was president. It could even be said that of all presidents coming to that job, Mr. Bush knew more than most what the job entailed. So, that he is now reluctant to perform that job is many things but it is NOT "amusing" or "understandable."
I find your comments offensive to those of us who take our precious democratic form of government very seriously. I am just sorry Mr. Bush does not. There are less messy forms of government; a dictatorship would certainly be less bothersome to someone of Mr. Bush's temperament.
If Mr. Bush is so reluctant to return to the political battles, he has no one but himself to blame. He has fostered the policies that have angered so many in this country and around the world; it's about time he faced up to the consequences of his actions.
If he is unhappy being president, I have a simple solution for him: QUIT. He can resign and he can take Mr. Cheney with him. The country would be better off without both of them.
But you have a different responsibility and that is to not let Mr. Bush get away with sloughing off his responsibilities so easily. He wanted the job. He has the job. He should do the job, and he should stop whining.
Sincerely,
* * * * * *
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A BuzzFlash reader
Dear BuzzFlash,
On his show last night (Sept. 4) Phil Donahue blurted out a name for those who are itching for war with Iraq. The new name? LAPTOP WARRIORS!
Donahue's title is self-explanatory. But somehow I couldn't help but conjure up visions of Bush and Cheney gleefully playing war games on their PlayStations. After all, wouldn't Chicken Hawks find them an amusing alternative to the real thing?
~ Cathy
Subj: Another curious Flt. 77 Reports: Pictures of F-16's arriving too late at the WTC and Pentagon to hang in the Pentagon.
Dear BuzzFlash,
Here is another question for those wondering why Flt. 77 was not intercepted from Andrews before it hit the Pentagon. This concerns the arrival of F-16's from the N. Dakota Air National Guard. Were they on temporary duty at Langley, the reported source of the planes scrambled to intercept Flt.77? There is something inherently obscene about a picture hanging in the Pentagon showing a plane arriving too late to prevent the attack, and with the picture being paid for by the aerospace industry. So too with the picture of the Massachusetts planes arriving too late at the WTC. I took the opportunity to give my comments, although I was not able to copy them for this email. Essentially I asked why no planes were scrambled from Andrews, 10 miles away, and why Flt. 77 was not intercepted since it flew back 300 miles from Ohio and at least an hour and a half had passed since the first hijacking was known.
I asked the DOD if Bush sitting in the classroom until 9:30 and not giving the shoot down order until almost 10a.m. was the reason the Pentagon was not saved. Anyone that wants to can contact the DOD through the military.com link or just go to the DOD web site to use their "ask us" link. There is no apparent way to get specific e addresses. I would urge people to contact the DOD and ask what the hell was going on and why people died in NY, Pennsylvania, and at the Pentagon without any apparent action by NORAD or the National Military Control Center (NMCC). Ask them if they know what Bush was doing sitting there instead of leading the defense of the country. Politely of course.
re reynolds. orange park fl
ps. I am sure that my comments, being subversive and intended to raise doubts in the mind of anyone in the military who reads them is covered by the US Patriot Act. Is this a great country, or what?
Paintings Capture First Moments of 9-11 Combat Air Patrols
American Forces Press Service (WASHINGTON SEP. 05)
By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Sept. 4, 2002 -- Sept. 11 was a day when Americans rushed to the aid of each other.
New York firefighters and policemen rushed into the World Trade Center, military and civilian personnel rushed into stricken offices of the Pentagon, medical personnel in New York and Washington rushed to their duty stations.
And America's Air National Guard rushed to protect the United States against a terrorist enemy who turned passenger jets into guided missiles.
Dear BuzzFlash,
As a Texan, I'd like to remind Americans that Bush is great at starting things, but absolutely lousy at finishing them or dealing with the bad consequences. When he gets bad news on one front, he simply starts something else to distract.
Why Iraq right now? Because Bush is being reminded that he hasn't finished Afghanistan, that he hasn't finished the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, that he's made a mess with the environment and he has made a mess with his tax cut. Gotta change the subject and move on to something new.
And we'll be left to clean up the messes Bush started, just like we've been left with in Texas.
A
Wharton
Fort
Worth, Texas
Hey Buzz,
It is so encouraging to read about the brave protesters in Portland, Ohio and now Philly. It makes me wish for a protest in my area so that I can attend, photograph or videotape, and perhaps even get arrested for "disturbing the peace!" (How ironic...police in riot gear charging peaceful protestors for disturbing the peace. )
Soon every single one of us will have the opportunity to voice our displeasure this November. EVERYONE MUST VOTE!!
The local police can NOT show up at the polling places in riot gear, can they? They can't herd us behind a First Amendment Zone to prevent us from kicking the GOP out of office, can they?
I'm going to bring my BIG "Impeach Bush" sign as I exercise my RIGHTS on election day. I dare them to arrest millions of us as we VOTE loudly and clearly to protect our Constitution from their greed for oil and power. It is s OUR document and we will not let them DESTROY it.
elaine in Petaluma
Dear BuzzFlash,
It was once again disturbing to watch that video of Bush from the morning of 9/11.
I am not sure if you at BuzzFlash are aware, but MSNBC had a report by Ashley Banfield that included interviews with the principal at Booker Elementary. The principal called Bush's action of continuing to read to the students and not 'causing panic' as very 'Presidential.' It was an awful report.
Anyway BuzzFlash keep up the good work!
Sue
BUSH DROPS TO 60% LOWER THAN CLINTON AT THE HEIGHT OF THE IMPEACHMENT HEARINGS.
Dear BuzzFlash,
What's interesting about that 1% difference is; Clinton's drop came after months of day and night hammering by the media of Bill Clinton's problems, sex life, lies. We had to listen to what was real, imagined, and made up on a 24/7 basis. The press and mainstream media have covered as little of the lies and corruption of this administration as they could, and what they couldn't cover they soft peddled. In spite of the soft-peddling Bush's poll has fallen lower, dear God, there is justice even if it is only for a day.
Sally McDonald
Subj: I called Senator Biden's office
Dear BuzzFlash,
The strangest experience I have ever had calling a congressperson.
I was left hanging after explaining who I was and where I was calling from and where I worked -- at a military base in Germany. I knew the caller was still on the line, but he wouldn't respond to my "hellos??? are you there???"
I called back immediately, same person, who asked who I wanted to speak to. I said "Senator Biden." He asked me who I wanted to talk to in that office. I said "Senator Biden."
Then I heard him say to himself, "Oh fuck" as he, I assume, tried to patch me through? Then he said the line was busy. Was I a constituent of Delaware? "Yes. Employed with the 1st Infantry in Germany. Please tell Senator Biden I'm opposed to any war with Iraq. President Bush has said he was open to dialogue in regard to Iraq but that he wouldn't be changing his mind on the issue. Has anyone in the Senate noticed that our president is a cretin?"
"Uh, uh, well, I'll pass your message on to Senator Biden."
Try your luck and see what happens:
Biden Jr, Joseph (D - DE)
221 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING
WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-5042
senator@biden.senate.gov
Michele Winters
Buzz,
Regis Sabol's description of DimSon's picnic in Pittsburg [no picnic for protestors] was great. It's length allowed the reader to experience all that occurred there.
One thing was jarring, however. His repeated use of the term 'Free Speech Zone.' Other articles and mailbag letters refer to these fenced-off gulags as 'First Amendment Zones.'
These prisons-for-protestors have Nothing to do with either 'free speech' or the 'First Amendment' - they are, symbolically and materially, the opposite. Therefore, writers need to replace these terms with ones that accurately tag these fenced-in-atrocities for what they are, otherwise writers inadvertently reiterate the Orwellian terminology of this tyrannical regime.
T Quigly
Dear BuzzFlash,
My friend and I went to the Jackson County fairgrounds in Central Point Oregon to protest the appearance of W last month. I didn't have a sign because I realized I needed a ten foot scroll to list all of the things I was mad about. We joined several hundred people of all types, young and old, business suits, dreads, elected officials, foresters, peace activists, quite a broad-based group. We were told by police to gather in the protest zone, which was a section of shadeless (100s) fairgrounds parking lot, barbed wire on three sides with the fourth side a barrier constructed of manure encrusted wooden bins labeled "Stable Waste". Furthermore, this miserable spot was not visible to the people waiting in line to see Bush, to people driving by or certainly to Bush. We declined to gather in what we referred to as the "First Amendment-Free Zone" and stood along the road where lots of folks driving by on the freeway honked and waved. Bush left by another road so that he wouldn't have to see anybody who doesn't like him. It was pathetic.
A loyal reader
Re: Tony Blair's Government to Sell Part of British Defense Research Industry to the Carlyle Group.
Dear BuzzFlash:
What a laugh when I saw this item!
I was just speculating to a friend that the only reason Blair would sacrifice his political career to back a US invasion of Iraq was if he had been promised a cushy job by the Carlyle Group, following in Major's footsteps.
After all, I said, politics is such an unreliable profession, and the money just isn't that good!
It's not that Bush has something on him, it's GREED - plain and simple. Better to be a plump poodle, don't you think???
vgdesign
Dear BuzzFlash,
Big Dog WOWs 'em -AGAIN! its nice to know America can produce intelligent persons not spouting that garbage right-wing holy-morality-entitlement garbage... ...Hallelujah!
ON WISCONSIN : JS ONLINE : NEWS : MILWAUKEE
The Clinton charm still packs a wallop
Last Updated: Sept. 4, 2002
Eugene Kane
Charisma: "A special quality of leadership that captures the popular imagination and inspires allegiance and devotion."
Look it up. Right next to that definition in the dictionary, there's a picture of Bill Clinton.
At least, there ought to be.
Milwaukee got a taste of true star power Wednesday, as the 42nd president of the United States came to stump for U.S. Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-Madison) and promote music education.
His first visit to Wisconsin since leaving the White House included a stop at the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts to speak to a crowd of Clinton fans and Baldwin supporters, some who paid as much as $500 a ticket for a reception and luncheon.
Clinton in Milwaukee
Related Story
Clinton: Urges Democrats to vote
If a room filled with beatific smiles and hypnotic gazes was any barometer, it was a typical masterly public performance by Clinton.
Which, of course, is the reason Clinton-haters despise the man.
Clinton, live or on television, always has an unrivaled ability to connect with ordinary Americans.
It leaves his enemies snarling.
Mainly, because they realize as long as Clinton keeps pleading his own case in front of captivated audiences, their attempts to reduce his legacy to nothing more than Monica Lewinsky are doomed to fail.
Clinton's charisma was on full display from the second he entered the room in the company of an attractive blond.
(Lucky for him, it was Baldwin.)
When it came time for the slender-looking Clinton to take the podium, the audience saw why even neutral observers consider him one of our most intelligent presidents.
Speaking without notes, he covered a range of topics - everything from his public service duties as a former president to the threat of terrorism to political opponents who fight a war of words not over facts but ideology.
Through it all, he trained his laser-beam stare over the crowd to make direct eye contact with individuals.
It was abundantly clear why so many find President Bush's public appearances lacking. And, why Bush has so much trouble mustering public support for a war against Iraq that few want.
After listening to Pavarotti sing for eight years, you can't help but feel a bit let down when the guy from 'N Sync tries to take the stage.
The room was filled with longtime Democrats, so the reaction to Clinton's appearance wasn't surprising.
What was more interesting was listening to people who never experienced the real thing before.
Like Kit McNally, executive director of the Benedict Center, a non-profit prison reform agency.
"The man is incredible," said McNally, seated at a front table seat. "The thing is, everything he says is really significant, it's so meaningful. It's intelligent, and it's not pandering at all."
Mary Sandberg of Madison was another first-timer to the Clinton magic. "He just connected with everybody, he's just so fluid, and he talks about the issues in such an emotional way."
Milwaukee native Cynthia Johnson was impressed by Clinton's sincerity about the issues.
As an African-American, she had no doubt why Clinton remained popular with blacks.
"He's always on the right side," she said, in regard to racial matters.
"Blacks are used to being denied for so long, it's comforting to know he believes in equal rights for all."
Clinton-haters will scoff at anyone describing Clinton as sincere. And they will point to his famous "I didn't have sexual relations with that woman - Miss Lewinsky" as proof.
They don't get it. Image is important. Under Bush, we have a president who seems more like an errand boy or a privileged child relying on his father's advisers.
For all of his flaws, Clinton oozes the right stuff.
My guess: As the years go by, Clinton's two terms in office will look better and better all the time.
As long as he's the one doing the talking, that's almost a guarantee.
Appeared in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on Sept. 5, 2002.
LJBK
Subj: Motherlode of Bush Traits
Dear BuzzFlash,
Re Dana Milbank article in Friday's paper where he talks about Bush's "congenital inability to suffer fools." I am not a fan of Mr. Bush but this statement made me feel real empathy for the man since, if true, it does mean that he has really hard time living with himself!
Galya Diment, Seattle, Washington
Hey BuzzFlash,
I really don't trust anything these Bushies do. I was just thinking. What if Eagleburger, Powell, Baker and Scowcroft are just waiting for the well-scripted, secret information that Dubya is going to come up with on Saddam.
Then they jump on the bandwagon and get the momentum really moving. This could be more smoke so that when they DO agree with his new war it will appear as though the justification MUST be real. Everyone will say, "Look!
His biggest critics are now with him. It must be the right thing to do." They are experts at propaganda and maybe all this stupidity is just another layer of deceit.
Or maybe they are just really so arrogant and intransigent that the stupidity is unavoidable. Either way, with them it's always secret or stupid or both.
By the way, I love your style. Always good information here.
Paula Quillen
Hi guys,
Could someone please inform Son of Bush that we already have a Patriot's Day, celebrating the Battles of Lexington and Concord, you know, "where once the embattled farmer stood and fired the shot heard 'round the world." The Boston Marathon is tied to this event, something a runner should know, never mind a Harvard man, or is the running thing as bogus as his business career and his military service?
Peace,
John
Westermann,
author
of Exit Wounds, High Crimes, The Honor Farm, Sweet Deal, Ladies Of The
Night
http://www.johnwestermann.com
Remember John O'Neill of the FBI, a cop's cop
Dear BuzzFlash,
I was listening to the Tavist Smiley show last night on NPR, and it looks like the bastards in Florida are going to try to do it to us again.
Apparently, Florida just held their early voting for the upcoming elections, and one of Florida's congresswomen went down to the precinct to try to vote, and was told twice that she could not vote, was refused a provisional ballot, and was refused in her request that the poll workers call and verify her registration.
The new Florida secy of state, Jim Smith, was on there and he took a beating over this, but refused to admit that there was still a systemic problem down there.
Friends, it looks like we still have a serious problem and it is going to take more determined and serious efforts to fight this. We must get rid of the Bushes for all time and make sure that they never get back into this position again. Our democracy is in terrible danger, and we cannot fiddle around any longer.
Mike
Finney
Bedford
TX
Dear BuzzFlash,
Great article! What if it was condensed from 4 pages to 1-2 pages and put on every windshield in America? (Especially the autos with flags!) Keep up the good work.
Ken & Jenny Levens
Dear BuzzFlash,
Since I did not have time to download QuickTime and view the Emma E. Booker Elementary School video the last time you had it posted, I appreciate your posting this very revealing video again.
After watching GW Bush's emotionless performance while he knew one plane and then another plane had already crashed into the WTC, I concluded that either GW Bush is very well versed at being a phony or he has absolutely no conscience at all. My husband says it's both.
I also found the video's "spooky" background music played while The Coward's limousine pulled up to the elementary school to be quite appropriate. Instead of using Tom Ridge's color code to gauge the threat of a possible terrorist attack on our shores, maybe it would be better to check the Coward's schedule! The next time he visits an elementary school, maybe we should take cover!
Nancy Lynn Nagy TN
PS I noticed in his "prepared" statement afterward that he referred to the terrorist attack in the past tense. How did he know if it was over or not?! ("Today we HAD a national tragedy..." )
Re: Bush's 9-11 Photo Profiteering -- A BuzzFlash Editorial
Dear Buzz (one of the savers of my sanity!):
I do fundraising as a living and have written my share of direct mail appeals. Viewing the Bush fundraising package (thank you for sharing it with us) made my blood boil.
What is more dangerous than Bush's own stupidity is his cupidity, as well as his assumption that the American public is more idiotic than he is. He truly is a puppet, the political Howdy Doody of the new millennium. Can you believe that here in Republican Colorado, I have heard people say that they "love" Bush for his fumbling way of speaking? What??! President Clem Kadiddlehopper with an IQ of 90 and we love him?? Perhaps Bush, Cheney & Co. are correct: Americans ARE idiots. At least we are if we think that a bumbling warmongering lockjawed Daddy's boy is a lovable scamp.
Ugh.
Thank you for letting me rant,
Linda Regensburger
Subj: Military air traffic, enormous and increasing volume, Washington, DC
Dear BuzzFlash,
I appreciate the efforts of Moveon-org and BuzzFlash (and Democrats.com, to which I've also sent a similar note) to prevent the U.S. from striking Iraq and setting in motion something probably none of us can/want to imagine.
But I fear there is less time than anyone thinks and that even as Congress 'debates,' Bush plans to launch a strike. One piece of evidence: the increase in military air traffic over Silver Spring, Maryland (on the DC line and near Andrews Air Force Base). For two weeks, craft such as Hercules and Warthogs have joined the more familiar F15 and F16 planes in increasing numbers. Last night, early morning hours actually, the sky kept humming with the drone of big transports and many, many fighters. I don't know what they are doing, but they are doing something. You should check it out.
A BuzzFlash Reader
[BuzzFlash Note: If the reports of large transport ships, the increased number of American and British fighters, and the Australian report of imminent war are correct, this was begun long before the debate.]
Re 9-11 photos showing yellow boy running.
Dear BuzzFlash,
Boy George simply has no sense of shame!! Sorta like your average Republican!! He deserted during the VietNam War and ran like the scared rat that he is on Sept 11th.
Clinton woulda been to NY NY ASAP, talking to the emergency crews onsite. But what else is new??
John Lee St Paul MN
