The BuzzFlash Mailbag
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Dear BuzzFlash:
I got this off the "Fray" section of Kausfiles. It was posted by someone who calls himself "Balls McKenzie."
Guess what I found on page 28 (second to last) in the front section of the LA times? It was a small article, maybe 1/8 of a page - right above a huge ad for a BIRTHDAY SALE AT ROBINSONS MAY. This was the article's title:
ADMINISTRATION PUTS FISCAL YEAR DEFICIT AT $159 BILLION
I will write that one more time, just because
ADMINISTRATION PUTS FISCAL YEAR DEFICIT AT $159 BILLION
...$159 billion?
That's news, wouldn't you say? Page 28. Here's what the dems had to say about it... "Republicans are responsible for the biggest fiscal reversal in history. The $5.6 trillion surplus has vanished."
This is great stuff for the dems just in time for elections. Page 28, above the HUGE, ENORMOUS, GARGANTUAN AD FOR THE BIRTHDAY SALE AT ROBINSONS MAY.
Liberal media my ass. Republicans are the best media manipulators and most cunning thieves of all time. Hats off. Bravo.
A BuzzFlash Reader
Dear Buzzers:
After seeing MSNBC repeatedly run its "Hardball's College Tour with the Terminator has been rescheduled" ticker, I wrote Donahue wondering where the respect is (was) for Phil and the many Donahue fans who tuned into watch Michael Moore on Monday and the Sniper town hall on Wednesday. I flipped back and forth for 30 minutes until I finally figured out Phil was being pre-empted. (Just like I figured out that Moore's appearance on Hardball was canned during Moore's book tour -- I flipped back and forth until the last segment started.) In response I received an email suggesting I write to the general MSNBC mailbox making my concerns known. I did so (at cable@msnbc.com) and hope other buzzers will follow. If 4 million NRA members can dictate the gun laws for 280 million Americans, there's hope for Donahue if we make our support known to the people making decisions at MSNBC.
Chris
Wells
IL
Subj: Republicans Attempt to Stop Minority Voters at the Polls
Dear BuzzFlash,
McAuliffe: "The tactics utilized are reprehensible and an affront to our democracy. Most worrisome is the possibility of this high level of disenfranchisement being extended to election day, and corrupting the integrity of the results."
For the whole story, please click here:
http://www.democrats.org/news/200210230001.html
Chief injustice William Rehnquist always harassed minorities when he was just a guy named Bill, working the polls, here in Arizona. Republican harassment of minority voters has been going on for a long time and we need to stop them from this type of intimidation they are trying to pull.
Democratic
National Committee
http://www.democrats.org
A BuzzFlash Reader
Subj: the article on George Bush 'the deserter'
Dear BuzzFlash,
Thank you, Buzz reader, for this article. Of course, anyone who had someone killed in the Vietnam war really detests this man and all who did what he did. At least, the ones who went to Canada, admitted they hated the war and likely were ahead of the rest of us...not like Bush, who lied about it and tried to cover it up. There was recently a short, but very realistic and poignant article, a letter to the editor by someone(anon)..I have her name, lives in our area in St. Louis...I read it with relish and it goes right along with what your have written...and I will quote the article, It shows a picture of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall, then this article, she wrote underneath it as an advisory to our President (you all know the one) quoting, "Before the president involves this country in a war, there is a place in D.C. he should visit. Walk the "Wall" Read all the names of service people who gave their lives to support old men's dreams of glory. Watch the people who touch a loved ones name..see the tears and sad faces. Look at the base of the Wall at the little gifts, flowers, etc.. This is the saddest place there is. Are you willing to add another Wall? If you do, pray God to forgive you, I will not!"
As someone once wrote...walk the Wall...read all the almost 58,000 names one at a time, Mr. Bush, then send your relatives first!
To the writer of this article...thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!
Shirley, St. Louis
Subj: The Loss of the Senate?
Dear BuzzFlash,
Could this possibly be a typo? Did Bush actually say "I would like to express my deep condolences for the loss of the Senate" instead of Senator?
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story
&u=/ap/20021025/ap_to_po/wellstone_bush_1
BC
Subj: International Answer and the RNC
Dear BuzzFlash,
This morning I got up early and wanted to check International A.N.S.W.E.R's web page for up-dates on today's protest. I couldn't remember if the web page address ended with .com or .org so I plugged in .com first.
Guess what web page I got? The Repuglican National Committee's home page, with a big picture of Mark Racicot and George Bush front and center! I almost puked!
This is definitely not a coincidence!!!! They know thousands will be protesting Bush today in DC and around the world and International Answer is the organization that organized it! These people are desperately sick!!!
check it out for yourself--
Nancy
Please forward to all.
[BuzzFlash Note: Republican ideals and their party philosophy is so morally and ethically bankrupt, the only way they can get their message heard is by cutting in line and yelling it in our faces. What a disgusting way to live one's life.]
Subj: Fighting 1984
Dear Buzz:
It deeply concerns me that major media outlets have willingly assumed the role of Winston Smith in 1984 by willingly rewriting history, at the direction of Big Brother. Prior to today, we have seen repeatedly how newspapers have made "corrections" to Bush's malapropistic speeches by omitting the many glaring gaffes which are his trademark. However, now they have taken a step further with respect to Mr. Bush's statements regarding the tragic death of Senator Wellstone. In the immediate aftermath of Senator Wellstone's death, DimSon stated that he expressed his condolences on "the loss of the Senate" which in my view was a Freudian Slip which reflected his true feelings. Such a crass statement was very widely reported and appeared initially on the CNN and CBS News Websites Friday Afternoon; however the linked versions of those articles have now been altered to delete any references to that statement. This is an appalling attempt to distort and alter reality, but it is becoming all too commonplace. In this digital age facts can be too conveniently altered and erased.
To combat this deliberate propaganda disinformation campaign, I respectfully submit that BuzzFlash maintain a separate archive on your website of the actual words spoken by Bush and his cronies. Maybe call it "In their own REAL words" or "The Truth They Don't Think You Can Handle" something like that. To that end, since links may be changed or altered by the media sites themselves, I recommend that we your readers transcribe those statements verbatim and then back them up with the actual video footage or printed articles, which we can mail to you fax etc. so that you have actual irrefutable evidence, or archive copies of the original webpages and link to them there. I will be more than happy to record his foul utterances on videotape from tv, to the extent that I can, and transcribe them . I think that it is vitally important for people to see exactly how they are being lied to and deliberately misinformed. Leni Riefenstahl and Goehring had term for what these people are doing. They called it "propaganda." So much for a free press.
On a related note as to the diminution of a free press see how far we have fallen in the eyes of the world: The U.S., which enshrined the revolutionary concept of the absolute protection of freedom of the press in its very first constitutional amendment, is no longer considered the "elite of the league" when it comes to promoting and practicing that freedom. Apparently we are not even a first tier team. Could it be that all of those media mergers and acquisitions have taken their toll at last? Well there must be some reason that we rank lower than Benin and Costa Rica.
http://www.rsf.fr/article.php3?id_article=4116
Oh well just a thought. But the Truth is what sets people free.
Dan
Subj: Bush's Petulance Hampering Al-Qaeda Investigation in Hamburg
Dear BuzzFlash,
There was an extraordinary report on the PBS Lehrer News Hour last night that the Bush Administration is no longer cooperating fully with German investigations of Al-Qaeda cells in Hamburg, Germany (of which Atta was a member) in apparent retribution for Schroeder's opposition to US military action in Iraq. How is it in the US interest to hamper these investigations under any circumstances? It shows the very warped priorities of this Administration, and this story should be widely distributed as it should undermine support for Bush among Independents and even Republicans. I knew Iraqi war plans might distract from hunting down Al-Qaeda, but I never guessed that the US itself would jeopardize ongoing investigations for petulant reasons such as the failure of an ally to support our Iraqi policy.
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/terrorism/july-dec02/germanycell_10-25.html (scroll down)
"SIMON MARKS: They say they're not getting the cooperation they need from the authorities in the U.S.A., and they're worried that a political dispute between Washington and Berlin is hampering their ability to protect the public.
It's been four months now since President Bush and the German Chancellor Gerhardt Schroeder, once warm allies, have spoken to one another, after the German leader infuriated the White House by ruling out support for U.S. military action against Iraq.
In Hamburg, the police say that breakdown in communications between the U.S. and German governments has also led to a dramatic reduction in the amount of investigative help they're getting from the USA
Bobo Franz is Hamburg's top police officer, and he's speaking out after one recent investigation into a cell suspected of planning an attack on the Japanese embassy in Berlin had to be abandoned.
BOBO FRANZ, Hamburg Police: I am quite sure that there is more information, but they didn't give us that information. And that is a problem for us because we have not been able to act, to handle this case without having information.
SIMON MARKS: Is that frustrating?
BOBO FRANZ: Yes, in a special way it's frustrating, because in my opinion it is not the way which we can go when we want to fight against international terrorism.
SIMON MARKS: The situation is so bad, that last week Hamburg's state secretary, Walter Wellinghausen, traveled quietly to Washington for direct talks with officials at the CIA and the FBI.
His aim? To try urgently to bypass the blocked communications between the U.S. And German federal authorities.
WALTER WELLINGHAUSEN: We would like to establish a direct connection between the American security department, like the CIA and the FBI, directly linked to the Hamburg department of security police or intelligence service; not the typical way we normally have through the federal government, but "direct on the talking level," we call it.
SIMON MARKS: At the U.S. Embassy in Berlin, which, like many missions overseas, is now blocked off from public access because of the global terrorist threat, a spokesman declined to comment on the claims leveled by the police in Hamburg.
In response to NewsHour inquiries, the U.S. Justice Department and FBI in Washington also said they would not comment on their relations with German law enforcement."
Ben Tracadie
Subj: The March in D.C. On Saturday and media coverage of it.
October 26, 2002
Dear BuzzFlash:
I attended an anti-war protest today in Nashville, TN. While 650 of us showed up (there was a fellow who stood by and counted heads as we marched out of our initial rendezvous spot, and who reported the numbers to us later after we had all filed by him), we received a report from one of the local organizers of the event who apparently was communicating with someone in D.C. by way of her cell phone. She told us that 250,000 people had showed up in D.C. And that traffic was backed up for miles.
After I got home, I sought some independent confirmation of the numbers. So, I began searching the mainstream media websites, only to find that the initial reports of the number of march attendees numbered in the "hundreds."
After doing some more investigation, I stumbled upon the following story:
http://www.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=212794&group=webcast
If it is true that there were over 100,000 protestors in D.C.--or even more--then it very well may be that we are seeing a concerted media effort, or at least an attempt, to black out, or at least to minimize the event's significance.
If this is true, then we are TRULY in frightening times . . . . when this large a show of public protest is so easily swept under the rug by the powers-that-be.
Phillip Giannikas
Subj: Washington Post says hundreds of protesters instead of true number
Dear BuzzFlash,
How dishonest is the post. Their article on the rally says "hundreds." Even Drudge says thousands on the link to the AP article he links which by the way says "Tens of thousands." Both are included with links. The Post is the worst propaganda rag in America.
Steve Gardiner
Antiwar Activists Rally in Washington
Washington post
By Lawrence L. Knutson
Associated Press Writer
Saturday, October 26, 2002; 2:27 PMDemonstrators by the hundreds gathered near the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Saturday for what organizers pledged would be a loud, angry but nonviolent protest march against President Bush's pre-emptive war policies. LINK:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A21371-2002Oct26.html __________________________________
Protesters March Against War in Iraq
2 hours, 31 minutes agoBy LAWRENCE L. KNUTSON, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - Tens of thousands of antiwar protesters circled the White House on Saturday after Jesse Jackson and other speakers denounced the Bush administration's Iraq policies and demanded a revolt at the ballot box to promote peace.
Re: NYTimes.com Article: Thousands March in Washington Against Going to War in Iraq
Dear BuzzFlash,
WHO WROTE THIS ARTICLE, MY 7 YEAR OLD NEPHEW?
"Fewer people attended than organizers had said they hoped for, even though after days of cold, wet weather, the sun came out this morning."
D. Haskins
Thousands March in Washington Against Going to War in Iraq
October 27, 2002
By LYNETTE CLEMETSON
WASHINGTON, Oct. 26 - Thousands of protesters marched through Washington's streets, chanting and waving banners against possible military action against Iraq. The rally was one of several held in American and foreign cities today.
Fewer people attended than organizers had said they hoped for, even though after days of cold, wet weather, the sun came out this morning. Participants said the shootings in and around the city in the last three weeks had kept people from planning to visit Washington.
Others, though, continued to organize delegations over the last few weeks.
Subj: March in Washington
Dear BuzzFlash,
Please shout about the demonstration in Washington yesterday!
Coverage is already being buried by some newspapers, despite the large turnout of over a hundred thousand people, the largest since the Vietnam era - and the war hasn't started yet! Many people marched with signs remembering Paul Wellstone - lets make sure that the spirit that moved Senator Wellstone and all of us that attended does not go unnoticed. The LA Times has a good write up, as does the Washington Post (although it is not one of their main stories). The New York Times has a pitiful account, allowing that there were "thousands" of demonstrators, and highlighting that there were fewer people attending than organizers had hoped, which is not true! There were many other demonstrations yesterday as well - over 40,000 in San Francisco.
This movement needs every thinking, caring person's help - please help us shout! Thanks also for all your good work.
--- Robert Dudka
Subj: Ask the Washington Post
Dear BuzzFlash,
Why no coverage on their website of what the New York Times reported as "thousands of antiwar protesters" in DC yesterday? This is a disturbing pattern at the WP, and since it is the hometown newspaper of the federal government and much of the chattering classes this kind of blackout is a big problem.
Altogether there was an indisputable turnout of tens of thousands of protesters around the country, with some very big numbers being reported. What's with the Washington Post editors that they don't want this reported?
And why not CC to Howard Kurtz, the Washington Post's own media analyst?
LA
Times:
"Huge
March Protests Bush Stance on Iraq
More than 100,000 demonstrators turn out at the White House, and thousands more dissent in San Francisco and Europe."
NY
Times:
"The
Protesters: Thousands March in Washington Against Going to War in Iraq"
Washington
Post:
Zip,
nada, nothing on front page. WTF? This happened IN DC.
A BuzzFlash Reader
Subj: The Bush Family
Dear Buzz,
I am horrified at all my suspicions about this Bush crowd. Were you aware of what Bush senior called Paul Wellstone the first time they met? I had heard it before. "And [Paul Wellstone] got under the skin of his opponents -- the first George Bush, annoyed at the freshman senator's incessant questioning at a reception for new members of Congress, asked one of his aides: "Who is this chickenshit?" (from: http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2002/10/26/legacy/print.html)
What a "nice" family.
Jeb Bush, when talking about a five-year-old Florida child who has been missing for a year, joked and told reporters he knew some dirt about the aunt and grandmother.
Bush senior called Paul Wellstone a "chicken-shit," and the mother, Barbara Bush, called Geraldine Ferraro a bitch.
Bush junior called an esteemed New York Times reporter a "major-league as_hole."
And, when Bush junior had to decide about executing Carla Faye Tucker, who begged for her life, he mimicked her begging and laughed.
The banking exploits of Neil Bush cost American taxpayers ONE BILLION dollars.
I think there is a deviant gene loose in that family. There is something profoundly wrong with the whole bunch; maybe it is genetic. And that doesn't even deal with all their Nazi connections before and during World War II. They are evil spawn. If we don't vote them out of office soon, we will never be free of their curse.
A Loyal BuzzFlasher
Subj: Let us not forget
Dear BuzzFlash,
Not only are the media pundits NOT discussing
- the economy,
- rising unemployment,
- rising healthcare costs,
- the scandals of Enron (with its ties to the highest Bush administration officials),
- Harken (Bush's company where he benefited from insider trading),
- Halliburton (Cheney's company that ILLEGALLY traded with Iraq while Cheney was CEO),
- WorldCom,
- Arthur Andersen,
- the Bush destruction of the environment, and
- broken international treaties,
- the media pundits are also no longer discussing the tragedy of Sept. 11, 2001, or Osama bin Laden.
All we hear about is Iraq, the sniper and probably something new-to-be-cooked-up-by-the-Bush gang to take our minds off anything that could hurt their chances on Election Day. And I have my suspicions about the "accidental" death of Paul Wellstone. Who else will have to die between now and Election Day to keep the media conversation OFF the topics in the preceding paragraph?
And let us not forget the unprecedented Supreme Court decision – the decision that "sets NO precedent" (which is unheard of for the U.S. Supreme Court, where all of its decisions are SUPPOSED to set precedent) -- that put this Bush junta in power; let us not forget Sept. 11 that advanced this Bush junta's agenda; and let us not neglect to ask WHY George W. Bush squirreled all his Texas governor's papers away in his father's presidential library where no reporters, prosecutors or historians can get a hold of them.
This Bush junta is evil, illegal, and determined to have its way in this world even if it means tampering with events.
A BuzzFlash reader
Subj: November 5th
Dear BuzzFlash,
I have a suggestion. Many people are sitting somewhere near the top of the fence in this election. It wouldn't take much to push them over. If you folks could make up a poster size .pdf file with something like "Are you better off today than two years ago?" followed by four or five nice big fat facts without a lot of words, and then get at least one person outside every polling place in the country, just standing there holding the sign, then some people will fall over the top of the fence. Maybe not many, but we don't need many. I'm going to suggest this to the other major sites. I'll take a day off work to stand outside my polling place.
Thanks,
Bob Lambert
I tried sending this to the DNC, but they're either down or being hacked. There's a surprise!
Subj: Vile Republicans
BuzzFlash:
This is a link to a site on the Booth Newspaper's Web Site concerning the degradation of the governor's race in Michigan.
The former Republican governor (And a pretty good one at that -- he was a moderate to liberal Republican -- there are very few left like him) condemning the current candidate's vile advertisements.
It also states that the ultra conservative Detroit News is considering withdrawing their endorsement because of the same advertisements.
Keep up the good work,
Veritas
Subj: Mixed Logic
Dear BuzzFlash,
Jeb Bush seems like the typical Republican conservative. They seem to have mixed logic. Here is he admitting he said he had "devious plans" to undermine the proposal to reduce class sizes. He wants to test students but he does not want to reduce class sizes so that students can do well on those tests. Testing, by the way, is very expensive. Has anyone asked Jeb how much this will cost while he is trying to throw the proponents of class size reduction on the defensive? Why doesn't someone ask him? Is he really trying to make the schools fail the tests he is so adamant about so they can get vouchers to go to private schools, who ironically boast about their small class sizes? Get rid of this guy. Don't vote for Jeb.
a BuzzFlash reader
Subj: Surprise -- The Post Actually Gave Freeper Numbers
The post actually has a good article today. How pathetic is it that the Freeper counter rally only had 100 people.
stevie g
"The president had some support at the rally from a group of about 100 counter-protesters who gathered at 17th Street and Constitution Avenue. Along with activists from the national group Free Republic, a group of Iraqi exiles chanted slogans against Saddam Hussein. In one of the few points of tension during the day, police stepped into a scuffle between peace activists and counterprotesters and led away two of the former."
link: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A24432-2002Oct26.html
Dear BuzzFlash,
George Bush, who made a big production about "having a CIA briefing every day" (which they promptly contrasted with Pres. Clinton's once-a-week briefing) before PROMPTLY IGNORING all that advice in favor of a ONE MONTH VACATION just weeks after STAYING ABOARD AN AIRCRAFT CARRIER during the Genoa Summit SPECIFICALLY TO AVOID THE THREAT of an Airliner plunging into his floating residence....
now orders the CIA to twist and manipulate its data to suit the White House's political agenda.
This white house is downright farcical in its predictability: just see Kevin Spacey as the bureaucratically-bashed (by a GOP appointee) CIA field agent in the HBO movie about John Bull's Supergun.
LJBK
Maintain CIA's independence
By James Bamford for USA TODAY
As the White House searches for every possible excuse to go to war with Iraq, pressure has been building on the intelligence agencies to deliberately slant estimates to fit a political agenda. In this case, the agencies are being pressed to find a casus belli for war, whether or not one exists.
"Basically, cooked information is working its way into high-level pronouncements, and there's a lot of unhappiness about it in intelligence, especially among analysts at the CIA," Vince Cannistraro, the agency's former head of counterterrorism, told The Guardian, a London newspaper.
This confirms what Knight-Ridder reporters found: "A growing number of military officers, intelligence professionals and diplomats privately have deep misgivings about the administration's double-time march toward war," the news service reported recently. "They charge that the administration squelches dissenting views and that intelligence analysts are under intense pressure to produce reports supporting the White House's argument that Saddam poses such an immediate threat to the United States that pre-emptive military action is necessary."
http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/2002-10-24-oped-bamford_x.htm
Dear BuzzFlash,
bush FAILED, NEGLECTED to protect DC suburbs.... Breslin, Newsday....
Is it one of those famous Wllm. Bennet/Wllm. Safire/Republican "VALUES" to ignore Americans terrified of going to work or school just miles from the US capitol and White House - While grubbing for Campaign millions, at that??!!!!!!!!!!
LJBK
Bush Should Take a Walk Near Home
Jimmy Breslin
http://www.newsday.com/news/opinion/columnists/ny-nybres242976413oct24,0,3522970.column
October 24, 2002
As national defense begins at home, the sniper in the Washington suburbs was a threat from within. What, then, was George Bush doing in Atlanta, Daytona Beach, Fla., Rochester, Minn., Downingtown, Pa., Bangor, Maine, and other such places where he makes these cheap campaign tours?
While in Washington a 13-year-old boy is shot while going into school and a 35-year-old father of two, a classic American working man, was killed committing the sin of going to work early. He made lunch sandwiches for his kids at home, then got to work early and was standing in the bus he drives at 5:45 a.m. and he is shot dead from somebody out in the darkness.
Subj: Lord, Tell Me It Ain't So . . .
Dear BuzzFlash,
On CNN this morning they reported that "...Bush's patience is running out on Iraq."
Who would have ever thought that the patience of an incompetent dry drunk would take this country into war.
L.
Lemire
Prairie
du Chein, WI
Subj: Damn Sun-Sentinel
Dear BuzzFlash,
I can't believe the Sun-Sentinel. The newspaper that is in the heart of the democratic stronghold in Florida endorsed Bush. I think I may cancel my subscription.
Belinda Berner
* * *
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