October 15, 2002
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Subj: By Gawd, we're going to talk about Homeland Security
BuzzFlash,
Democrats think they will now be able to get down to the business of discussing the lousy economy after giving Bush his way on Iraq.
Nada, nada, nada! Watch it all unfold. The White House will take command of the media outlets, putting it on a steady diet of Homeland Security. We will hear nothing else heading into the November elections, but Homeland Security, Homeland Security, ditto, ditto, ditto. Republicans will not permit any talk about the lousy economy. They hope most Americans are caught up in a time-warp (thinking we are all still enjoying a Clinton economy.) Democrats can talk about the economy, social security and health care all they want, but they will be drowned out by republican oriented Homeland Security CRAP-OLA, front and center.
Get ready to have the crap-ola rammed down your throats, folks.
~ Cathy
Subj: Time is running out...
"On October 9, almost a week after Tenet received his whipping at the hands of Graham, the senator's hardman approach paid off when the director of the CIA admitted that the only reason Saddam would use WMDs against the United States was if he was backed into a corner -- due to a strike by the American military -- and realised he was about to fall. Saddam, Tenet was saying, would only become the nightmare that Bush envisaged, if Bush attacked him first. Within two days, then, of Bush's flag-waving call to arms, his most senior intelligence officer had pulled the rug from under the biggest project of his presidency..."
...time is running out America. Speak (Protest) now, or forever hold your peace.
One
of millions of Americans
Who
thinks Bush is insane...
A BuzzFlash Reader
Subj: Die Off Plan for the Human Race
Dear BuzzFlash,
Is it not obvious to everyone yet that Bush, handlers and associates are engineering a massive die off of all the humans they consider useless? Every policy from that direction has that as it's end effect.
War = lots of dead people
Increase
Pollution = lots of dead people
Remove
medical care = lots of dead people
Deny
access to medications = lots of dead people
Create
more terrorists = lots of dead people
Push
use of weapons of mass destruction = lots of dead people
Remove
social safety nets = lots of dead people
Remove
economic security below survival levels = lots of dead people.
Create
continuous stresses on everyone = stress kills
And on and on.
Just how much more are us "useless people" going to take?
A BuzzFlash Reader
Subj: Don't abandon Democratic reps and Senators because of ONE BAD VOTE
Dear BuzzFlash,
A plea to angry Democratic voters:
Despite your anger at many Democrats who voted for the ill-timed war resolution, we urge you not to punish them by withholding your support, your money, or your vote; one bad vote on their part does not make them a "sellout." Do you really want radical Confederate conservatives to kill freedom dead and rule this country with an iron fist? They will if we abandon the Democrats. And yes, they WILL shred the Constitution and rule unchecked if you stay home, so hold your nose and get to the polls! Staying home is NOT AN OPTION THIS NOVEMBER!
We must not take our anger out on the Democrats who voted for Bush's war resolution. Instead, let's put the blame where the blame is due -- squarely on the shoulders of the Bush administration and their Republican allies in Congress, who excoriated the anti-war Democrats who did take Bush to task for rightfully accusing him of changing the subject; distracting voters by preventing them from focusing on the dismal economy; bringing up the fact that he went AWOL during the Vietnam era; and the impending war with Iraq actually provoking more terrorist attacks on the U.S.
We have a choice: either we preserve our constitutional republic, or we'll live in fear under a totalitarian Republican dictatorship -- controlling ALL THREE BRANCHES OF THE GOVERNMENT, AND TOTALLY CENSORING THE MEDIA, COMMUNIST STYLE -- because we decided to cut off our noses to spite our faces.
Remember, if you don't vote -- or even if you vote Green -- it's the same as voting Republican; yes, a vote for a Republican is a vote for a dictatorship; and a vote for a Democrat is a vote for the Constitution and for liberty and democracy!
So let's make America safe for Democracy! Vote -- and vote Democratic this November 5! Vote as if your very life depends on it; because it does. You cannot afford to stay home.
Sue B.
Buzz,
It seems CNN has become a Bush speech copycat. Why on earth anyone would want to do that is beyond me, since Bush can't speak a coherent sentence. Remember the statement Bush made about Saddam "stiffing" and "crawfishing" the U.N.? CNN has a crawler that says, "Bloomberg Stiffs Columbus Day Parade". An intelligent person would say "Bloomberg Boycotts Columbus Day Parade", but the mediawhores have to prop Pres. Stupid up, either blatantly or subliminally. Doesn't matter, as long as they do Karl Rove's bidding. There is no journalistic integrity anymore.
Gigi
Subj: Eisenhower's Warning Never More Relevant
Dear BuzzFlash,
Public Papers of the Presidents, Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1960, p. 1035- 1040
"This conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience. The total influence -- economic, political, even spiritual -- is felt in every city, every State house, every office of the Federal government. We recognize the imperative need for this development. Yet we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications. Our toil, resources and livelihood are all involved; so is the very structure of our society.
In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the militaryindustrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.
We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together."
Alan Balch
Dear BuzzFlash,
A week ago hundreds of people gathered to protest the war in Iraq. In Tulsa, OK. do you think it made the news? None of the t.v. stations covered it--they were following the experiences of a young girl finding herself in a church service. The Tulsa World, which has one to two pictures of Bushie Boy on every page, said not one word about it. When the talking heads complain about a liberal press, I'd like them to point one out to me so I can hear a different tune now and again.
Elisabeth Ham
Subj: A Sinking Feeling
Dear Buzz,
I have this nagging thought that just keeps popping into my brain over the last few days. With so many unemployed, and with unemployment benefits scheduled to end at the end of 2002, there will be millions of desperate individuals and families in need. Many of them are young, draftable age. The military will offer them a paycheck and benefits to escape their jobless state. What convenient timing for His Royal Heinous and his minions, who plan their war for early 2003. Look for them to NOT extend unemployment benefits, thereby guaranteeing themselves thousands of young, unemployed bodies to feed their war machine. Absolutely horrifying. I hope those young people will be able to escape to Canada, Mexico...anywhere but here.
elaine in Petaluma
Subj: Letter to the Editor Ref. King George
Dear BuzzFlash,
I have it on video tape who said, "I wish this were a dictatorship, it would be so much easier, so long as I was the dictator." It was none other than the "selected" George W. Bush who resides in the White House. It started with a violation of the 12th amendment, no two people from the same state as President and Vice President, followed by a US Supreme Court voting twice, once in their home state and again in Florida, and now this resolution where Congress gives their constitutional power to declare war to George W. Bush. I think, in baseball terms, it is strike three, and you are out. No more democracy. When will Bush put his crown on; that is, don't dictators where crowns? From King George to freedom to King George, our forefathers who were terrorists to the British and who fought for freedom, must be rolling over in their graves.
Karen
Boerboom
Platteville,
WI
Subj: Sore Loser Bush
I remember my husband telling someone who used that "sore loserman" term with him about Gore. My husband said, "I've got news for you. Bush is the sore loser." Bush indeed proves that true since he failed to congratulate Jimmy Carter, the only living president to win a Nobel Peace Prize. Bush is sulking because he was nominated for the prize back in February but it did not go to him. It happens to be one thing his daddy can't give him.
mari
re "Formerly an active voter" in 10/14 mailbag
Dear Buzz,
With dismay I just read the letter in the 10/14 mailbag from "Formerly an active voter".
Formerly, I share your frustration with many elected Democrats, but please don't lump them together with the millions of Democratic Party members, the tens of millions of American citizens of any or no party working hard every day in ways small and large to oppose Bush. Bush and the Republicans are counting on people losing hope, choosing anger and apathy over dissent and democracy. Bush wants people to get wrapped up in one issue and not pay attention to the wreckage he's making of our country.
Besides all the other reasons we here on BuzzFlash can cite to work against Bush, women and men coming back in body bags as a wag-the-dog from the reality of American life (or oil, or just cuz they can, or insert your own reason) is quite an important reason to keep working, keep calling, keep voting. If we don't continually exercise our rights, most especially when it's difficult, we will all wake up one morning with nothing but regrets as they take us away. Get back up on the horse and ride back into battle. I've got your back.
Jeff Spakowski
Ferndale,
MI
Dear BuzzFlash,
Lunatics running asylum department: Don "Strangelove" Rumsfeld plans war on Iraq; leaves own generals in the dark....
LJBK
Now what do we do in Iraq?
http://www.suntimes.com/output/novak/cst-edt-novak14.html
October 14, 2002
BY ROBERT NOVAK SUN-TIMES COLUMNIST
Now that Congress has droned through a week of largely desultory debate to authorize the use of force against Iraq, how will it be exercised? That is properly a military secret, unknown even to members of Congress. More questionable, it is also unknown to senior military officers.
If there is a precise plan for action to remove Saddam Hussein from power, general officers at the Pentagon tell members of Congress that they are in the dark. This may be another example of Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld working with a small circle of both official and unofficial advisers, fostering concern among career officers that plans are not being sufficiently reviewed by military experts.
Dear BuzzFlash,
We went from peace and prosperity to war and recession almost overnight. Republicans claimed credit for the peace and prosperity, and blame Clinton for the war and recession. What the hell am I missing? Bush has an MBA from Harvard. He must have gotten A's in Insider Trading 101. It seems that Harvard bailed out Harken oil in an Enron like off balance sheet operation, and then sold the stock at a profit just before it tanked. What is a Harvard MBA worth these days? Do they also teach accounting and auditing conflict of interest? How about avoidance of responsibility for CEO's and Board members? If the draft is reinstituted, and my son can learn to speak Canadian, I think I will suggest that he move north. The US has been taken over by the right, and nothing will stop the hypocrisy until all hell breaks loose. Enron wrote the national energy policy, just before it tanked, and Cheney doesn't want to talk about it. Condi was on the Enron board. Iraq is awash in oil, but not for long. The chickenhawks are spoiling for you youngsters to go to war. If this rant seems disjointed it is because I am being overwhelmed with thoughts of a stolen election, a treasonous supreme court, and a myriad of other things that set off my hypocrisy detectors. Politicians keep telling me that they will cure deficits with tax cuts. They can cure anything with a tax cut. Maybe we shouldn't plow the roads this winter, and we can cure the problem with a tax cut. I have a headache....I know, take 2 tax cuts and call me in the morning. Ninety percent of the increase in earnings since 1970 have been captured by the top 1 percent. The disparity in income in America is creating an aristocracy rivaling that of Europe in the 1800's, and still the ridiculously wealthy want more. The inheritance tax which only affects multimillionaires must be repealed. Some call it the death tax, others call it the aristocracy reinstatement tax cut. I've lived most of my life, and it's been interesting, but I would like to see my species survive. The odds on that aren't too great right now. This ship we are riding on has it's rudder on the wrong end, and the captain doesn't know fore from aft, port from starboard, nuclear from nucular. ARRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!
Jerry Sneirson
Subj: Even "dictatorship" is too hard for Jr.!
Dear BuzzFlash,
Today, before GW Bush embarked on his campaign sweep to get himself elected next time, he held a press conference near his helicopter.
He proudly told the press that he was now a "new man" and that he would answer all of their questions from now on.
Well, I don't need to tell you how that went. He looked like death warmed over, flubbed every word, never answered a question and left plenty of food for conspiracy thinkers!
After watching this farce of a press conference, I concluded that Bush is so completely incompetent that he can't even handle his new job as dictator much less as illegitimate president! Remember, he told us twice: "heck of a lot easier if this were a dictatorship and I was the dictator"! Must have been a scripted statement because it appears that even "dictatorship" is too hard for Jr.!
Nancy Lynn Nagy (TN)
Subject: What would Jimmy Carter say?
Dear Buzz,
For days I've felt defeated and deflated after yet another major disappointment, only this time in the members of Congress and the Senate who "represent" us. I've sunk into the dark fear of what will surely happen next.
But there is no way that I will let the nefarious designs of greedy warmongering egomaniacs keep me down for long. And I feel all the mailbaggers and the many who don't write in also feel the same way. Or will, in due time.
First of all, what would Jimmy Carter say to us now. Would he say it's OK to never vote again, or to give up, or to throw all our representatives out along with the bathwater? I voted for him as President and I never once lost hope in him. I defended him against all those who said he was too weak to deal with the Ayatollah. And I remember that he stood up before the entire country and took complete responsibility for failing to rescue the Americans held hostage in Iran. I remember he was the first President to initiate the human rights as a global issue. There are many moments I remember about Jimmy Carter, and he was never less than dignified and honest and humble. As a matter of fact I find it hard to believe that this man of proven peacemaking reads the same bible that King George the W says he reads every day.
So, if Jimmy Carter can trot all over the world to ensure there is just and legal voting in third world countries and if he can go to Cuba and soundly denounce Fidel's oppression of the Cuban people in Spanish with unconditional access to the Cuban people, and still get a hug from Castro and go to a game of baseball, then we can take heart and strength from this man who has proven that we still have leaders and that some of them are actually Great in reality and not in Karl-Rove-party-spin-mythmaking. I feel as if the Nobel Peace Prize was given to all of us who try to be peacemakers. I am proud to the point of busting buttons for President Carter.
The following list is of the Senators who voted against giving His Highness Georgie the powers of Emperor of the US. This is many more than voted against the Gulf of Tonkin resolution.
Akaka
(D) -- (202) 224-6361
Bingaman
(D) -- (202) 224-5521
Boxer
(D) -- (202) 224-3553
Byrd
(D) -- (202) 224-3954
Chafee
(R) -- (202) 224-2921
Conrad
(D) -- (202) 224-2043
Corzine
(D) -- (202) 224-4744
Dayton
(D) -- (202) 224-3244
Durbin
(D) -- (202) 224-2152
Feingold
(D) -- (202) 224-5323
Graham
(D) -- (202) 224-3041
Inouye
(D) -- (202) 224-3934
Jeffords
(I) -- (202) 224-5141
Kennedy
(D) -- (202) 224-4543
Leahy
(D) -- (202) 224-4242
Levin
(D) -- (202) 224-6221
Mikulski
(D) -- (202) 224-4654
Murray
(D) -- (202) 224-2621
Reed
(D) -- (202) 224-4642
Sarbanes
(D) -- (202) 224-4524
Stabenow
(D) -- (202) 224-4822
Wellstone
(D) -- (202) 224-5641
Wyden
(D) -- (202) 224-5244
In historical perspective we already have a huge peace movement that is far more organized than what came in the beginning of the Vietnam war. At that time it took years before significant numbers of people demonstrated against the government and the war. This time there is the added advantage that the peace movement is united and growing rapidly all across the planet. And it's just getting started. It will become a force that even the non-President usurper won't be able to ignore no matter how many republicans stand between him and reality to protect him.
Because I know that if he spoke to me, Jimmy Carter would give me heart and would remind me that sometimes a righteous fight takes a lifetime. I promised myself that I won't ever have to tell my descendants that I capitulated to the wishes of those who are flatly wrong in what they do and how they do it. I would be too ashamed to say that I stopped voting or kept silent and thereby let George and Company destroy everything they could, from our country to the world itself. I'd rather say that I fought against them as well as I could. Even if they win. It just tastes better that way.
And thanks to all of you again for writing in and helping me feel less alone. I hope I've reciprocated a little.
Judith
Foster,
Berkeley
Dear BuzzFlash,
It's just stupid for Republicans to use the comeback, "Well the Democrats criticize, but they don't have an economic plan"! If I managed our house finances for eight years, had mega bucks in the bank and everything our family needed or wanted, then my husband said he wanted to take over and two years later we are broke and in debt up to our necks and he comes back with "well what is your economic plan" when I criticize -- well, that's just stupid.
Now, I'm not going to be real popular with the family because I will have to do things they don't like to get us back on track. But, if my husband had not messed with it in the first place, we would not be in that position!
diane in miami
Subj: Uh-uh, no way!
Dear BuzzFlash,
As much as I understand why voting for Democrats that just handed their constitutional responsibility over to the likes of George W., might seem reasonable, I just can't do it. As much as I might try to hold my nose, and go ahead, I can't.
I will vote for my Senator - Carl Levin - who worked so very hard to stop this insanity, my other Senator is not up for reelection, but I would vote for her, as she was also one of the 21 Democrats with any backbone, and common sense. I will also vote for my state senator candidate, as he also is very responsive to the needs of his constituents, above the usual "politics" we saw in the Senate vote.
I sat through the failure of one senator with the guts to protest the so-called election, after of course, the "Party" decided to accept the strong arm tactics of the Repugs, ignore the violation of the 1965 Voting Rights Act - consigning it to the NAACP, the failure of even one senator to protest the electoral vote to legitimatize the selection of the idiot, the confirmation of the likes of Ashcroft, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, the outrage of the authorization of $40 billion for an attack on an impoverished, small, basically powerless nation, and the Patriot Act. On all of these issues, the Democratic so-called leadership "went along" to "get along" - compromising with the thieves who had stolen the election for little bits of power - i.e. more power on committees, but not really enough to do anything; holding out an "olive branch" with the failure of the Senate committee to stop the appointment of Ashcroft.
And, I think we will all agree, it has been one disaster after another. The so-called strategy of giving in on defense issues, to fight more effectively on economic issues, has left us with an absence of our civil rights (stolen by Bush, et al), the greatest shift in power toward the Presidency of all time, and no "economy" left to really talk about.
The surrealism of hearing on the morning news that the Democratic leadership (so-called) was going to give this idiot president, and his vile, war mongering gangsters, the power to declare war on Iraq as he might see fit, as he had "asked them". My God! They are going to let this maniac send our children to war on the children of Iraq because he "asked them"?
No, uh-uh, no f...g way! the Democratic Party has lost my support, until their leadership starts making sane, and mostly ethical decisions. War is nothing to play with, to bargain away in some weak-kneed political move. Never!
The Old Hag
Subj: Dear Senator, re your career
Dear BuzzFlash:
I'm sending this to some Senators...
Dear Senator
With your aid, Bush now has power unchecked by Congress or the Courts. His agents refuse summons and orders, and he has to explain nothing to anyone.
He now can rule by decree here and abroad, the absolute authority of the United States. One wonders if "President" is too humble a title for such exalted powers.
Now, the Republic is just memories, dreams, and rumor. Now, Democracy is a slogan to justify "full-spectrum dominance", of anyone, by any means.
Enough of that. You still have your career to think of, and here is how you can secure both it, and your position with posterity:
Become the first to bring to the floor a Bill that Bush be declared a god!
I know you have it in you, and there are two advantages to you here:
1. You guarantee yourself a rewarding career for the length of his rule.
2. It "explains" why America found you on your knees, when we needed you standing up for the People and Constitution of the United States.
Also, it would make the parallel with corrupted, decaying, Rome complete. That spectacle, at least, will give some bitter satisfaction, as we watch our nation crumble untended, our lives and our freedoms revocable on one person's say-so. Why don't you focus-group that?
Jim P
Subj: War Vote and Zogby Poll
Hey,
Something I don't see being talked about is the fact that Jean Carnahan voted FOR the war resolution and has dropped 14 points in the latest Zogby poll. Wellstone voted AGAINST the war resolution and has surged up 15 points. So much for conventional wisdom.
Peace,
Mark Robertson
Subj: Censorship at Washington Post?
Sirs,
On Sunday 10/13/02, the Washington Post ran a cartoon called the Boondocks which featured Huey Freeman talking with with Granpa. Why I mention this is because on the same day, The Baltimore Sun ran a Boondocks cartoon that featured the central character discussing the comparison made between Dubya and Adolf Hitler.
Clearly the Washington Post wimped out over running a cartoon critical of the Bush regime. Check for yourselves.
DW
Subj: BOWLES IS CLOSING GAP ON DOLE
Dear BuzzFlash,
According to a couple of polls, the race is in single digits, somewhere between 2 and 6 points. So why is the media ignoring this since it is Jesse Helm's seat at stake? See http://www.charlotte.com/mld/observer/news/local/4274187.htm. Also Margaret Carlson on Capital Gang last Saturday said it was a 2 pt race.
Dora
O'Shaughnessy
Charlotte,
NC
Subj: Halliburton Profits from War; Cheney old buddies
Dear BuzzFlash,
Motivated as much by profits as politics, these companies — about 35 all told in the United States — need the government's permission to be in business. A few are somewhat familiar names, like Kellogg Brown & Root, a subsidiary of the Halliburton Company that operates for the government in Cuba and Central Asia. Others have more cryptic names, like DynCorp; Vinnell, a subsidiary of TRW; SAIC; ICI of Oregon; and Logicon, a unit of Northrop Grumman. One of the best known, MPRI, boasts of having "more generals per square foot than in the Pentagon."
Carol Ehrlich
