September 11, 2002

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The BuzzFlash Mailbag is updated on an ongoing basis, with the newest material and comments on top. Again, we can only post a small percentage of what is sent to us. The opinions expressed in the Mailbag are the not necessarily those of BuzzFlash. Thanks again for your email and your patience.

Dear BuzzFlash,

The Florida Primary is a total sham! Early results look like a Bush led coup again. Last week, Carrie Meek a legislator and Democratic activist was turned away from voting. They told this fine African-American citizen she was not registered to vote. Only by sheer force of will was this corrected.

This morning, the show was a total disaster. The poll workers did not speak English, and no one told them how to turn ON the new voting machines. Many of those waiting to vote had to stand in the rain. The radio stations were giving the wrong information to voters about what they needed to vote. Poll workers were turning away large numbers of voters. Here is the kicker. Janet Reno was turned away. She had a troop of reporters with her and still they said she couldn't vote.

Spread the word. The fix is in.

AJC

Dear BuzzFlash,

Here's a news flash for you (if you haven't already seen it): An election day surprise for Jeb Bush -- his daughter is caught with cocaine at her drug rehab center. She has her mother's hair, her father's brains, and her uncle's coke habit.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2002-09-10-cocane-bush-daughter_x.htm

A BuzzFlash Reader

Subj: Noelle Bush

Dear BuzzFlash,

how sad..

I guess she will be in jail until a day after the election.. I mean it is a Bush- you have to use this to show that they are average Americans at least until the first photo op. found at the drug treatment center no less....

http://www.gopbi.com/partners/pbpost/news/910noelle.html

Noelle Bush found with cocaine

Palm Beach Post Staff Reports

Orlando police say Noelle Bush, Gov. Jeb Bush's daughter, has been found with cocaine at the drug treatment center where she is undergoing rehabilitation.

A BuzzFlash Reader

Dear BuzzFlash,

When I read Clinton's speech given in England, I just wanted to cry. He frames the problems and issues succinctly; he proposes real objectives. He makes me believe that there is a road to resolving our problems. And to his credit he refrains from really bashing those who were so horrible to him. He may be mistaken about some things but the contrast he provides with our current leadership is like looking into a blast furnace. We must vote the current administration out of office.

ja in la

Dear Editors,

One of your headlines asks if Bush has compromising pictures of Tony Blair. But perhaps the PM's support of our strange attitude toward Iraq has its roots in Operation Ajax. The US took down a democratic government in Iran based on false info provided by the Brits. This has obviously had disastrous consequences for the US and fueled the conservative Muslim revolution in that country. Perhaps Blair's support for us now is some form of quid pro quo from that era.

The Repubs also seemed to regard Bush's stealing of the election as payback for Kennedy's questionable victory in a close race.

They also call the general media "liberal" 'cuz they haven't forgotten who took down Nixon. After 30 years the general media sure ain't the same. Thanks for your website.

Yours Sincerely,

Monica Tilley
El Sobrante, CA

Dear BuzzFlash,

I think that all the chickenhawks in the Bush administration should have to send all the young people in their families to the front lines to fight. If they are that committed to the idea that Hussein is going to destroy this country then they should be willing to sacrifice not only other people's kids but their own as well. I mean anything that important should require the ultimate sacrifice, and Bush makes this sound very serious. He should be more than willing to see Jenna and Barbara in uniform on the front lines. Send Jeb's kids too. Make the whole family proud.

Bill Hawley

Re: RE: Slouching Towards Armageddon: Iraq Threatened With "Annihilation"

Dear BuzzFlash,

Rather than highly recommending this article, don't you believe some rebuttal to "facts" in the article should accompany this mailing.

>>"This news follows release of a report from the International Atomic Energy Agency that cites satellite photographs showing new construction at several Iraqi sites linked to Saddam's development of nuclear weapons. "I don't know what more evidence we need" that Saddam is a threat and should go, Mr. Bush said Saturday at Camp David. "British Prime Minister Tony Blair agrees with Mr. Bush, but other European allies and Arab nations continue to oppose intervention in Iraq. Mr. Blair said Saturday at Camp David that he anticipates opponents would change their minds after seeing the evidence."

This has been proven and acknowledged to be a lie!

http://www.msnbc.com/news/802167.asp

PRESIDENT MISSTATES 'FACTS'

In his meeting with Blair, Bush cited a satellite photograph and a report by the U.N. atomic energy agency as evidence of Iraq's impending rearmament. However, in response to a report by NBC News, a senior administration official acknowledged Saturday night that the U.N. report drew no such conclusion, and a spokesman for the U.N. agency said the photograph had been misinterpreted.

Sandra Knight

Dear BuzzFlash,

If transcribing of speech is accurate...

Looks like Bush left the word "to" out of George Washington quote.

"George Washington says, "America gives to bigotry no sanction, persecution no assistance," and that is true today."

http://abcnews.go.com/wire/Politics/ap20020910_1633.html

Thus the recently opened Holocaust Museum in Washington highlights George Washington's assurance that America "gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance".

http://www.geocities.com/fc_archive/fc1121.html

=======

"I appreciate so very much Ziad, the president of the American Arab Anti-Defamation League (sic), for being here."

(Shouldn't that be "Arab-American"? Ooops!)

========

Q: What do you think of French President Chirac's idea to give Hussein a three-week deadline to comply with weapons inspections?

BUSH: I think it's important that so you will pay attention to my speech on Thursday, that I reserve judgment about what may or may not be in my speech.

Even got applause...

(And why were they applauding?)

========

pb

Subj: Bush Was Fast Asleep by 11:30 p.m. on 9-11

Dear BuzzFlash,

The following article appeared in the Times of London on Nov. 6, 2001. It's unclear why the administration allowed the information that Bush, the alleged commander in chief and "president," was asleep in bed by 11:30 p.m. on the day of the worst attack on American soil to become reported. Nevertheless, this report was based on information Bush apparently shared with Newsweek magazine.

As the Bush people drag the US toward war on Iraq in apparent commemoration of either Election 2000 or 9-11-01, I think this story should be reported to remind Americans what sort of person is in command of the US armed forces.

As reported by The Times of London:

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/0,,2001530008-2001545016,00.html

MONDAY NOVEMBER 26 2001

False alarm roused Bush from his bed

FROM MARTIN FLETCHER IN WASHINGTON

ON THE night of September 11, President and Mrs Bush were roused from their bed and rushed down to the bunker below the White House because an aircraft had been spotted flying towards the President's mansion, George W. Bush disclosed yesterday. Describing his day to Newsweek magazine, Mr Bush also recalled the moment that Andrew Card, his Chief of Staff, told him of the second attack on the World Trade Centre as he was waiting to speak at a Florida elementary school.

He said that he tried not to look shocked. "I was very aware of the cameras," he said. "America is under attack. I'm trying to absorb that knowledge. I have nobody to talk to. I'm sitting in the midst of a classroom with little kids and I realise I'm the Commander-in-Chief and America's under attack."

He was whisked back to Air Force One, where he told aides: "We're at war. That's what we are paid for, boys. The first thing we had to do was understood what the heck was going on." Air Force One embarked on an eight-hour odyssey before it was deemed safe for Mr Bush to return to Washington at 5.30pm. Still nettled by the criticism, he insisted:

"I wanted to go back to Washington. There is strong advice that I did not, primarily from the VicePresident."

He held a National Security Council meeting in the emergency operations centre in a bunker below the building. Then, as they were going upstairs, a secret service agent said: "Mr President, we're staying down here in the basement."

The President recalled: "I had taken a look at the bed which (Laura) points out was about a 1955 roll-out, pull-out. I said: 'No, we're not. I'm really tired. I've had a heck of a day and I'm going to sleep in my own bed.' "

At 11.30pm, they were sound asleep. "I can hear a guy breathing quite heavily. 'Mr President! Mr President! There's an unidentified aircraft heading toward the White House.' So we get out of bed. I'm actually in my running shorts with a T-shirt, old shoes. Grab Barney, grab Spot (the family dogs). Laura has no contacts, she's holding on to my arm. We get into the elevator, straight down, in towards the conference room.

"And I'm thinking: 'What the heck is going on?' Then an enlisted fellow walks in and goes: 'Mr President, good news. It's one of our own.' "

Dear Buzz,

Reading the BuzzFlash mailbag is better than ten newspapers worth of op-ed columns. The thought provoking, right on, comments are great and today's was the best ever. Far more literate and thoughtful than all the people in the repub party. The one about mothers giving their children up to be cannon fodder should be on your main page in capitol letters with bold type and a big border like they used to do with war news during the civil war.

BuzzFlash Reader

Subj: An independent 9/11 investigation

Dear BuzzFlash:

Flags and patriotic songs are nice, but shouldn't we honor the victims of 9/11 and their families with the full truth about what happened that day? They have waited a year and their many questions still go unanswered. How much longer will they have to wait for an open, independent commission to investigate not just the intelligence failures, but our government's failure to beef up airline security or to defend the skies over Washington and New York despite numerous forewarnings of hijackings?

I'm calling my two Senators today to ask them one more time to get these families the answers they seek.

RA in LA

Dear BuzzFlash,

You guys are indispensable. Keep up the good work.

However, one question: I heard the VP talk about his being abruptly whisked away by secret service on 9/11, and the way he described it (emotionally), leads me to believe he was telling the truth. Now, if the Secret Service was concerned about the VP, why didn't it respond, in kind, to the Prez? And if Bush knew, which I find credible, how is it the VP didn't know and why would the Secret Service have been so concerned about Cheney's safety but not Monkey-boy?

Thanks for your time,

Kevin

Dear BuzzFlash,

Observations:

Like Bin Laden, who faithfully releases a video shortly before al-qaeda attacks, isn't it comforting that we can always count on Cheney to warn us of the dire state of the world every time Junior's poll numbers go down.

So Ann Coulter lies about her age? Isn't she also a he? Or is it Clinton's fault that Ann looks and sounds like a shemale?

There are only 2000 Neilsen Family homes. Recently it was reported that 45 million viewers tuned-in to watch a golf game. Is it just me, or does this tell us a lot about who owns these boxes?

Mommy and Daddy Bush appeared on The Today Show to brag about their boy. No one mentioned their war profiteering or questioned their role in the $5 billion Carlyle Group.

We understand the rights relentless effort to belittle and blame Bill Clinton for everything. We understand their need to silence him. We understand because when Clinton speaks it becomes all too clear that Bush is a joke and the jokes on us.

Thanks for your site.

Chris Wells

Dear BuzzFlash,

At the time this nation remembers the fallen PATRIOTS of 9/11 and our government gives us a specified warning for alertness of terrorist attacks what does Mr. Cheney do-HE RUNS AND HIDES! He's at a secret location- Our troops are there to protect us -the citizens are here to gut it up and give our patriotic support -out in the public with our families and our communities and what do our leaders do-RUN FOR COVER-does this give anybody an idea about who represents them and who is being honest with them-I WILL TELL YOU!! NOTHING IS GOING TO HAPPEN !! OUR MILITARY-LAW ENFORCEMENT ARE DOING THEIR JOB-I believe in them and trust in them and I don't need to hide because I'm an American -An not a COWARD-LIKE THE VICE-PRESIDENT

-Anthony M. Arias

Subj: Is it just me?

Dear BuzzFlash,

As the Mother of 4 sons I was just wondering if it's just me or is there something wrong with this picture.

Cheney goes into hiding for a POSSIBLE terrorist attack when he has the best security available to him but yet he pushes to send "our" boys into CERTAIN attack with what security against probable chemical warfare and death.

This infuriates me.

Thanks for listening.

Charlotte Garrett

Re: The Top Ten Conservative Idiots!

Dear BuzzFlash,

I have seen the light! There IS a God after all! How else could you explain Katherine Harris's troubles down in Florida? Oh, the irony of it all! She who so callously denied the right of others to vote possibly having her own votes nullified!

Top Ten, you made my day. And BuzzFlash, you made mine by including the link to Top Ten. Maybe there is hope for us after all.

Jim Palmer

Subj: good news from the NY State gov. race

Dear BuzzFlash,

On my way to look for articles...

Pataki is an unhappy man. The guy running on the Independent ticket (which Pataki is on, also. NY politics, go figure) is winning by a comfortable margin: 53% to 47%. If he gets 51% of the vote, he is on the ticket. His campaign has, so far, been totally anti-Pataki. The analyst on NY's ABC news said the guy is willing to spend up to $50 million to run in November.

More as I find it...

Liz

Subject: Scary scenario

Hi Buzz,

What if, and this may not be just a theory, the US attacks Iraq and uses "dirty" bombs and maybe even uses a nuclear weapon. The whole world would scream in protest right? Right.

And then what? Who would have the power to stop the US? Who would have the means or the might or even the stomach to stop the US from doing exactly what it wanted to?

Sure, there are countries who have nuclear weapons, but having them and using them are two separate issues. Everyone knows that after the first nuclear attack, the thing that would destroy all civilization and maybe even the earth would be "retaliation". That's what detente was all about. Mutually assured destruction. Something we all had to live with when the Soviet Union was the Evil Empire.

But Russia doesn't have the power to stop us now. And neither does the EU combined. Would any country take the US on? France? Korea? The entire Arab world? Iran? And if by the craziest of chances a bunch of countries got together and declared war on the US, how would they send troops or arms to the US, which is so conveniently surrounded by thousands of air, and ocean miles. Even as sorry a bunch as the CIA and FBI are at gathering intelligence we couldn't miss them coming.

And after being the only country to use nuclear weapons twice (Nagasaki and Hiroshima) the US would probably be the only country to use them again. After Saddam and the rest of Iraq go up in a mushroom cloud won't all of us and everyone else in the world realize that the US would easily use this weapon again? Who will run the risk of being the fourth victim of our nuclear weapons? I don't think anyone would, because the United States can destroy whole civilizations if it chooses to.

And at home, how do we citizens stop the use of nuclear weapons on other countries or even within ours? By demonstrations? By writing to our representatives? By voting? That can all just go away very quickly as we've witnessed in exactly one year.

Sure, there might be a few terrorist attacks on US soil, but, as we strongly suspect, that would be "acceptable collateral damage" to the Bush Regime. After all, you can't dominate the entire world without breaking a few eggs, right?

Straight out of some Science Fiction novel. But the more the war mongers growl and snarl war, war, war, with or without you, you're either with us or against us, the more it seems like it could happen. Once you do the unthinkable, then all you have to worry about is the next unthinkable thing.

Only a scant two years ago Bush stole the Presidency. That was just the first of the unthinkable things he and his cronies and his Regime have done. In the last year they've done one unthinkable thing after the next and at such a pace that we haven't been able to keep up.

This scenario actually seems possible now,

Judith Foster

Dear BuzzFlash,

I just recently subscribed to "The Note" from ABC news--it has proved to be a great resource.

Please note that they request in this email that "...And a note to our readers in the field: if you see or hear about shenanigans or particularly apt examples of turn-out or get-out-the-vote politics, send us an e-mail: politicalunit@abcnews.com..."

I sent them the link to the Janet Reno article but thought that you might be getting others from Buzz readers as the night goes on. This appears to be a great opportunity to inform the media.

Liz

Dear BuzzFlash,

"I am no longer amazed at the anti-Christian feelings in the press," [Jeb] Bush said.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/florida/sfl-fregier07sep07.story?coll=sfla%2Dnews%2Dflorida

Sept. 7. regarding his recent appointee to the Florida Department of Child Warfare, Regier.

A BuzzFlash Reader

Subj: 1 + 1 = 2, but not to Republican Pundits

Dear BuzzFlash,

I'll keep this short and simple. Attacking Iraq will help Osama bin Laden. It's as simple as 1+1=2.

Osama bin Laden's banker is Khalid bin Mafouz. In other words he handles his money and investments.

Khalid bin Mafouz is either a direct member of the Carlyle Group or heavily invested in them.

If we go to war with Iraq, the Carlyle Group (being a large defense contractor) makes tons of money.

If the Carlyle Group makes tons of money, Khalid bin Mafouz makes tons of money.

If Khalid bin Mafouz makes tons of money, Osama bin Laden makes tons of money.

I don't know how you can get any simpler than that.

Also, if we attack Iraq, recruitment for Al Qaeda will increase.

More money and more zealots for Al Qaeda - thank you chickenhawks.

-Greg,

West Palm Beach, FL

Subj: Just shut up and drink the Kool-Aid America!

Dear BuzzFlash:

I've seen this before. A leader inspired by God, on a mission from God, calmly, but insistently, saying into the microphone "Drink the Kool-Aid, drink the Kool-Aid children".

Except now it's our born-again leader [sic], on a mission of vengeance from God, insisting, "Invade Iraq."

And! Astonishingly! People line up for the Kool-Aid, and say "shush child."

Let's grant that Saddam will acquire nukes, if he doesn't have them. Let's grant he has other forbidden weapons. He might strike us.

Say we go into Iraq, rout his army, kill a few tens of thousands of Muslims, make it clear Saddam's end is here. In this scenario does he possibly strike, or definitely? Which is the more prudent assumption. Prudent, because to kill many Muslims will entail many Americans dying, and the most likely at first are America's poor and middle-class youth.

BuzzFlash's link to "Ten Reasons Why Many Gulf War Veterans Oppose Re-Invading Iraq" takes you here http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=14067

You can read all ten but here's the first:

"1. U.S. troops are vulnerable to Iraqi chemical and biological warfare agents -- if Iraq is capable of using them. The gas masks, detection alarms and protection suits don't work, according to internal Department of Defense documents uncovered during investigations by the U.S. General Accounting Office. This leaves U.S. troops highly vulnerable to chemical and biological attack. U.S. chemical and biological warfare agent casualties in 2002 could be significantly higher than in 1991. Only a few months ago, the Pentagon sent out a press release stating 140,000 U.S. soldiers were exposed to low-levels chemical agents near Khamisiyah, Iraq during the Gulf War. While these soldiers appeared to return home healthy, many tens of thousands face long-term disabling medical problems that are difficult to treat."

In short, our fearless leaders want to take action we can reasonably expect to damage and kill thousands, possibly tens of thousands, of young Americans. There is nothing complicated or abstract in understanding why invading Iraq guarantees the very horrors we say we wish to avoid. It's both stupid and insane to propose it.

And all those Muslim deaths-yet-to-be will surely provide, won't they?, a basis for acceptance of US-style Demockrazy in the middle east. The opportunity to trade their primitive existence for the right to be swindled by corporations of their own, to add those extra 30 rooms to the mansion, to have their very own cinema idols, would certainly be worth losing a few relatives, friends, and countrymen. They'll love us, the whole Muslim world will.

Well, maybe it won't go like that. Maybe we'll only get riots in about a dozen of the surrounding states, which might lead to all sorts of regime change. (Wasn't this Usama bin Laden's idea, first? The Horror! George W. Bush in a battle of wits!)

But listen--what can a few tens of million people, lacking high technology, do to hurt us?

Wait! All the above is beside the point. It's not necessary to argue the obvious disaster in store.

Saddam has been informed in no uncertain terms, unless our government is misleading us, that any use of mass-death weapons will result in Iraq's annihilation
http://www.washtimes.com/national/20020909-14050288.htm

I think Saddam wants to go down in posterity. If Iraq is annihilated he will have no posterity. And in fact, the US being in the hands of people who'd lick Satan's tail if they thought they could get more power, wealth, and cheap glory, Saddam could count on large sections of the Muslim world going up with him.

I'd think under this threat, Saddam should be busy making sure NOBODY uses weapons of mass destruction on us. As a matter of fact, this might be the perfect time to recruit him again.

What's really sad about all this is our nation is so deeply in the hands of the Vipers and Hypocrites who imagine themselves inspired by God, when it's just the gleaming Golden Calf hypnotizing them.

We could have long ago simply cut Iraq a deal: Just give us Saddam and life returns to normal, investment happens, cultures trade, life gets better for people. We could have broadcast the deal over and over. And one day, Saddam just wouldn't be in charge. But instead we provide him with the rationale for his tyranny, and looking at their destroyed cities--very believable rationales.

Well, the time for pleasant dreams is over. Line up America. It's time to drink the Kool-Aid.

JP Thomas

Dear BuzzFlash,

I just heard on MSNBC that today's visit to Pennsylvania will be the first time smirk-the-jerk has visited the site of Flt. 93's crash.

Do you think in the last YEAR he could not have found ONE day out of all the days of tee-ball, elementary schools, or fundraising to visit that site to pay his respects? How does a snub of this magnitude happen? Were they worried that if he went on a day other than the anniversary, without a heightened alert, without the threat of war, that questions of just how that plane plowed into the earth would arise?

This *man* is, by far, one of the most shallow, self-serving, idiots I have ever had the displeasure to observe. His staff is no better.

Shame.

Liz
Houston

Dear BuzzFlash,

Last week, I watched some of the History Channel's documentation of the 9/11/01 attacks and aftermath.

The broadcasts were done in very good taste. The History Channel was the only media permitted at ground zero to record what they saw for American History. There was also abundant human-interest facets in the documentation. It was an extraordinary production and all that I needed to refresh and record in my mind too.

I fear 9/11/02 coverage and rehashing of the horrible event. I fear that it will become a media circus. The original tragedy remains vivid in my mind. The 9/10 Donahue program gathered families of those lost in America's darkest moment. Soul-wrenching as the program was, I kept hearing a common thread. Many asked, why? And many demanded an independent, investigative, commission. They all wanted answers to very legitimate questions, questions that BuzzFlash and independent media ask.

Getting back to the media rehashing the horrible event, I listened carefully to an interview-ee on the Donahue program. She said that she was getting along as well as expected after she lost her husband in one of the World Trade buildings. She also explained that her advancement came to an end when the media rehashed the six-month anniversary of the event. In a pitiful manner, she too, dreaded 9/11/02 media coverage.

Perhaps one of the most profound statements came from another young widow on the Donahue program. The widow pointed out that she was a nursing student. She relayed, that in nurse's training, the first thing they teach you is Diagnosis before Treatment. She also drew parallels to that training, by voicing her opinion that we need an independent investigation before attempting to treat the nation's woes. She was right on the money. We cannot heal when questions outnumber answers, yet that designed situation remains an entire year later.

The nation has been pleading for "Diagnosis before Treatment" in the aftermath of 9/11/01. Everything else has been just a Band-Aid slapped over a gaping wound!

~ Cathy

Subj: Gettysburg Address

Dear BuzzFlash,

I suppose it is coincidence that moments before I hit BuzzFlash for the first time today, 9/11/02, that my wife would summon me to the kitchen to listen to George Pataki's reading of The Gettysburg Address.

The reason she summoned me is similar to why BuzzFlash posted it. There is a section, toward the end, where Lincoln mentions "the people" three times. There is a "right" way to read this section. The test is to listen and see how the reader pronounces this section.

As Ken Burns had it read in his wonderful documentary "The Civil War", this section is read with the stress upon "people", all three times. It is that stress upon the word which adds meaning to that passage above and beyond a mere read-through. "... government of the PEOPLE, by the PEOPLE, and for the PEOPLE ..."

Pataki didn't stress "people" during his recitation. Without stressing "people", you minimize the subject of this passage in favor of the verb, "government".

When you stress "government" more than "people" you have tyranny. Much like the tyranny which is being enforced upon this land today by George W. Bush and his fellow corporate-owned politicians.

Chris Tucker

Dear BuzzFlash,

BUSH TO CHENEY: "WE'RE GOING TO FIND OUT WHO AND KICK THEIR ASS."
http://www.nypost.com/09112002/56814.htm

The show, which airs tonight, describes Bush's frustration as his calls to Cheney kept getting cut off while Air Force One flew around the country in an effort to keep the president safe. At one point, Bush pounded his desk, shouting: "This is inexcusable! Get me the vice president," the show reports.

A BuzzFlash Reader

[BuzzFlash Note: The strangest part is this: "Since then, Bush has kept a list of al Qaeda fanatics - and checks off names as each is killed or captured." Are Osama bin Laden and Mullah Omar on the list?]

Dear BuzzFlash,

Last night on Joaquin Lopez Doriga's respected news program out of Mexico City, Fox's response to a phone call from Bush for "consultation" re Iraq was made public. One. Clear evidence is needed. Two: the UN should press for unconditional inspectors. Three: assuming no cooperation from Iraq, the UN should decide through Security Council action whether or not military use should be the next step. A telephone poll (with the people calling the station) resulted in 25+ calls, 86% opposing any Mexican support.

In response to an irate caller claiming Iraq had to go and that the results were fixed, the station showed a formal, typewritten response on official stationery to Bush's query.

Then a shot of Fleischer was shown, with the reporter claiming that the White House was keeping the contents of the presidential conversations confidential at Mexico's request, which was roundly denied by the Mexican secretariat of state. Is this so, the Fliescher bit?

Jesus B. Ochoa
El Paso, Texas

[BuzzFlash Note: Fliescher has lied before, why not now?]

Subj: Solder Deaths at Ft. Bragg

Hi BuzzFlash

I read an email article in the mailbox regarding murder suicide deaths at Fort Bragg however it made no mention a possible connection between the Hoffman LaRoche drug Lariam and the deaths. Lariam is an anti malaria drug that was administered to Special Services forces being deployed to operation in Afghanistan. A number of stories are available on the Web but recently Sept 5 its been reported that U.S. Army officials will investigate whether there is a connection between Lariam and a series of murders and suicides this summer by soldiers at Fort Bragg, N.C.

http://www.accessatlanta.com/ajc/epaper/editions/
thursday/news_d3678e2d610ca06c008c.html

http://www.usatoday.com/news/science/2002-09-04-malaria_x.htm

A BuzzFlash Reader

Dear BuzzFlash,

My friend just called to tell me that on NBC, they played a clip from an interview with the pathological-liar-in-chief. His latest version of "what I did when I was told": he bit his lip and EXCUSED himself because he realized the enormity of the situation.

How many stories is that? I know the first version had him saying that as soon as he saw the second plane hit the tower, he *knew*. I believe there might be at least one more version floating around.

Think of the free ride this clown is getting and think of the hue and cry if it had been Clinton or Gore who had a story to fit every occasion.

Liz

[BuzzFlash Note: Fortunately, the video tells a different, truthful story.]

Subj: Chickenhawks

Dear BuzzFlash,

QUOTATION:

These are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman.

ATTRIBUTION:

Thomas Paine (1737-1809), Anglo-American political theorist, writer. Common Sense (1776).

Subj: Florida Fiasco - The Sequel

Dear BuzzFlash,

I read in this morning's paper that Jeb made a comment to the effect of "I don't understand why Democrats have such a hard time voting." What an a-hole statement to make--what with polls opening several hours late and closing well before 9PM as he himself instructed--I hardly think this is the fault of the voters. And wasn't there a recent settlement with the NAACP which in effect admitted broad irregularities in the last election? Regardless of the outcome of yesterday's primary, I hope all Florida Democrats (and Greens) get out there in November and show him that, yes they do know how to vote, and vote this arrogant man right out of office!!

A BuzzFlash Reader

Buzz

I was amazed to hear Bush on Sept 10 answer reporters' questions about the high terror alert with this: "Recent threats form a pattern similar to the pattern of threats prior to 9/11".

So let me get this straight: a pattern of threats NOW warrants missiles around the White House, deployment of the entire air marshal contingent, troops on high alert, etc etc etc. Yet when facing a "similar pattern of threats" in the weeks and months leading up to 9/11, the Administration did what? Anything? Just one thing that might have thwarted even part of the plot?

Will the media call Bush on his admission of a "similar pattern of threats"?

Chirp chirp chirp..

A BuzzFlash Reader

Dear BuzzFlash,

I'm circulating the lyrics to this old Jackson Browne song:

LIVES IN THE BALANCE

By Jackson Browne

I've been waiting for something to happen
For a week or a month or a year.
With the blood in the ink of the headlines
And the sound of the crowd in my ear.

You might ask what it takes to remember
When you know that you've seen it before
When a government lies to it's people
And our country is drifting to war.

And there's a shadow on the faces
Of the men who send the guns
To the wars that are fought in places
Where their business interests run.

On the radio, talk shows, and TV
You hear one thing again and again,
How the U.S.A. stands for freedom
And we come to the aid of a friend.

But who are the ones that we call our friends -
These governments killing their own?
Or the people who finally can't take anymore
And they pick up a gun, or a brick, or a stone?

And there are lives in the balance,
There are people under fire,
There are children at the cannon
And there is blood on the wire.

There's a shadow on the faces
Of the men who fan the flames,
Of the wars that are fought in places
Where we can't even say the names.

They sell us the President the same way
They sell us our clothes and our cars.
They sell us everything from youth to religion
The same time they sell us our wars.

I want to know who the men in the shadows are.
I want to hear someone asking them why
They can be counted on to tell us who our enemies are
But they're never the ones to fight or to die.

And there are lives in the balance,
There are people under fire,
There are children at the cannons,
And there is blood on the wire.

- JACKSON BROWNE -

Re: Gettysburg Address

Dear BuzzFlash,

Most people completely miss one of the most amazing things about the Gettysburg address -- that is, the true humility of Lincoln. Not once did he use the word "I" in the address. Listen to a speech by Dubya and virtually any other politician and the most frequently used word is "I"!

Neil Jensen