The BuzzFlash Mailbag
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Dear BuzzFlash,
Can anyone out there think of a single reason why the Homeland Security Bill, with or without its endless riders, should be passed?
--- Jo Ann McNamara
dear buzzflash,
if each buzz supporter pledged to kick in $25.00 each to the to the landrieu campaign how much would that total?????
...this would make a great impact.
after we get landrieu on board then mccain and chaffee might be influenced to switch parties.
don't give up on me on this one ok??????????????
i will kick it all off by pledging $25.00 to landrieu on nov. 21st. when i get my paycheck.
look forward to your response.
lawrence
mcmanus
buzz
contributor
san
pedro, california
Subj: The Hypocrisy of the "compassionate" conservative
Dear BuzzFlash,
Click here: Sen. Santorum's wife wins lawsuit
Santorum voted against the Daschle amendment to remove the Republican Party's gift to vaccine manufacturers which would limit compensation to people killed or gravely injured by ANY vaccine at ANY time (even prior to the passage of the bill) to $250,000. I personally know children whose lives have been literally devastated by routine childhood vaccines which are MANDATED by law.
It is unimaginable that a man, whose wife received $350,000 because she claims she has "back pain" and "numbness in one leg" resulting from a VOLUNTARY visit to a chiropractor, could think he could get away with such blatant hypocrisy. Please use this article in your Newsflash alert. Santorum embodies everything that is truly disgusting in the Republican party.
Pam Dawson
Subj: You don't know what you've got till it's gone.
Dear BuzzFlash,
Don't it always seem to go.....
you don't know what you've got till it's gone.Joni Mitchell
A fuel-oil tanker dumps it's load off the coasts of Spain and Portugal, and a Federal Court rules in favor of giving the Bush administration more powers of surveillance.
I had a dream. It started with great rats gnawing at something, and goblins chipping away at something, and ghouls clawing at something, and........I'm sleeping. Others all around me are sleeping and this great snoring is drowning out the sounds of the gnawing, chipping, and clawing. Something is hovering above me. I can't quite make out what it is......it's an.....no.....it's......It's me! I appear to be trying to wake myself up. I'm yelling something at myself......I'm repeating something over and over........it's......"Caesar is at the door!" "Caesar is at the door!"
"You must strengthen the door!" "You must strengthen the door!" Before I can rise from my bed the door is flung open and in rush the rats, goblins and ghouls! They grab me, lift me above their heads, and carry me from the room! I think to resist but I can't seem to get my limbs to move. I'm helpless! As they carry me through the doorway, I can vaguely make out the image of a man dressed in the uniform of..... a Roman Centurion! He appears to be in charge and says something that I can't make out as they rush me by him. I find myself being trundled down a path that leads to a river.....oh no!.....I know what they're going to do! They're going to throw me in!..... I can't move my limbs!..... I'll drown! All around me I can make out fires burning in the darkness, spreading out to the horizon. Around the fires, figures appear to be dancing in the flickering light. "What is going on!" I cry to the sky above me as I'm carried downward to the rivers edge. At the bank of the river the creatures carrying me stop and hesitate as if waiting for something. Suddenly the Centurion appears, leans towards me, and begins to whisper in my ear; "You went to sleep, and while you slept the world changed". "You didn't think it would change, did you?"
"You didn't think the 'Armies of Rome' would march again" "You didn't believe the Republic would fail, did you?" "Now it's too late, my sleepy friend, and we are going to send you to a deeper sleep!"With that they begin to lift me above their heads and......I wake up.
As oil spreads through the ocean off the coasts of Spain and Portugal, and the shadow of "Big Brother" spreads across the face of America, I wonder, will we awaken in time, or will we awaken too late do anything other than regret what we've lost?
Jim
Bush
Portland,
Oregon
Dear BuzzFlash,
If we (the Democrats) couldn't stop the special interest provisions on the Homeland Security legislation from becoming law ... just imagine what will happen once the Republicans get control.
That's scary. I guess folks just don't care.
NR
San
Mateo, CA
I want to thank BuzzFlash for bringing this little piece of nastiness (the Information Awareness Office) to my attention. Frankly, this scares me more than anything else I've seen yet. I welcome other "Buzzies" to check out the official site - http://www.darpa.mil/iao/ - and see if they aren't as freaked out about it as I am.
Big Brother has arrived, in spades!
Sent to BuzzFlash and Ray at Raytal.com
Subj: BRAVO FOR AL GORE FOR EXPOSING POINDEXTER & SECRET COURT!!!
Hi Ray,
Thank goodness we have you and the "BuzzFlash" page getting people to know what's going on. There is some GOOD NEWS -- please talk about it and "BuzzFlash" will you please put Al Gore's discussion up -- Al Gore exposed Bush's dirty plans on the Larry King show on CNN which is being rebroadcast at 9:00 p.m. -- he talked about Poindexter, the Secret Court, wiretapping and data collection plans that Bush has plans for. He is the ONLY person who has really exposed what is going on - and, people really need to know about this. I have spent the last 45 min. calling people here and asking them to tune in. The way I see it is that 95% of the problem is that very few people know or realize what Bush, Et Al would like to get away with. I am really proud of Al Gore!
Thanks,
Barb Mauz
El
Granada, CA (San Mateo County Coastside)
Dear BuzzFlash,
Bush: "I'm the commander -- see, I don't need to explain -- I do not need to explain why I say things. That's the interesting thing about being the president. Maybe somebody needs to explain to me why they say something, but I don't feel like I owe anybody an explanation."
Um, am I the only one who finds this statement scary?
The democrats should pounce on this like rabid hounds on a coon.
A BuzzFlash Reader
Re: Pelosi
Your headline:
Don't hold your breath - she is the same old sell out....I called and FAXed all I could in the House to support her.
So what is her first egregious act? YES ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND SNOOPING. Most House Dems voted against it, as did some very interesting Republicans (Ron Paul comes to mind) - but Pelosi? Did she even side with her own party? No - she voted YES on the whole kit and caboodle. She can't stand up - the weight of the brown stuff dripping off the end of her nose has pulled her over...
She did not even let the ink dry on the reports of her political success before she betrayed us. They should all - except a very few - Byrd, Conyers, Kucinich, Paul among them - burn forever in HELL for all the deaths they are responsible for.
And where is the great liberal? Ted Kennedy? In Paris for a fashion show. Sickening and disgusting the whole lot of them and tar and feathers are too good.
One thing for sure, we can never again ask "How did the German people let it happen?" - So that question never has to be asked again we can just videotape the whole thing for posterity.
Thanks for all that you do - at least for now you are attempting to get the info out there. Wonder how long before they shut you, bushwatch, headblast, indymedia et al down?
Norma Tofanelli
Subj: Be Careful . . .
BuzzFlash is my very favorite site. Yours is the first reading of the morning for me... BUT, be careful that you don't become a participant in the mainstream media's promotion of government propaganda. Your headline repeated the AP garbage that "ALLIED FORCES" once again bombed Iraqi air defenses. That's as much nonsense as CNN's label of COALITION FORCES for the American and British planes doing this bombing. There are no allies....a term which conjures up the good guys who opposed the Axis powers in WWII. The bombing is not a UN action... it is the horrendous, almost daily horror being perpetrated by only the US and the UK on their own initiative, while the world is silent. So please, don't follow the leader. Your people are far too informed and far too concerned about right and wrong to make this kind of error. Thanks.
Reggie
Avraham
Brooklyn,
NY
Subj: A Warning
Dear BuzzFlash,
Yes...and every user that clicks on your headline probably has now been tracked as being a reader of BuzzFlash -- in other words if you arrive at Darpa via BuzzFlash, that's in the logs. Are we scared. Very.
Regards, BC
Dear Buzz,
Well, we're supposed to trust Trent to fix the shameless corporate perks soon. You know, Trent LOTT, the one who recently made a promise about partial birth abortion...causing our (gag) President to remark that HE doesn't take CUES from ANYONE.
For you two smiling Republican female senators who feel so triumphant at having brokered a compromise after the fact: what makes you think Trent will want to, or be able to keep his word?
For the Democrats: what DO YOU believe in?
Lott says we're in a hurry. George Stephanopolous says it's going to take years, we have not the money, we have not the place.
God HELP America. Please.
Pamela of the Poconos
Subj: THANK VENTURA FOR GOP WINNING BILL PASSAGE!
Dear BuzzFlash,
This excerpt from AOL's story on the homeland security bill's passage, points out that Jessie Ventura's vindictive move to "teach" the mourners of late Senator Wellstone, "a lesson" for not mourning the way Ventura personally wanted them to, instead of as the Wellstone family survivors saw fit to mourn their own family member, split the independent vote on this nazi like take over of our personal privacy, and essentially spits on Wellstone's grave. At one point I considered joining this party, but after Nader took cash from Dubya to campaign, and split the democratic party, and this pro GOP move by Ventura, I will never consider this an option again. Here is the excerpt,
John McCain of Arizona was the only Republican to side with the Democrats. The two independents split their vote, with Vermont's James Jeffords voting with the Democrats and Minnesota's Dean Barkley with the Republicans.
Way to go Ventura, your move is the most despicable betrayal of an alleged friends memory, and far more vulgar use of a families tragedy to advance YOUR OWN personal political agenda, than anything the Democrats could have ever done at the memorial service. All I can say to Mr. Ventura is thank you on behalf of Senator Wellstone for making my worst nightmare a reality in the wake of my death, for your own agenda. I sincerely hope Mr. Ventura carries the guilt that this betrayal must surly carry with it, around with him for the rest of his life, and that he knows that each violation committed against any American's civil rights, due the loss of privacy, and the governments misuse of the information acquired on each citizens sensitive personal, previously private information by convicted congressional felon John Poindexter as dictated by this plan, as well as the corporate bonanza, in particular the biggest kickback going to the pharmaceutical industry, is something you personally helped make happen, in Wellstone's memory. I hope this comes back to you every day in spades, and that someday your memory receives the same respect you showed Wellstone.
David
R. Anselm, Jr.
Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania
Subj: Big Win for Bush. Ha!
Dear BuzzFlash,
Over and over today on various news shows, I have heard what a "big win" the Homeland Security Bill is for Bush. Yes, I guess it is, but what a terrible loss for the American people. What on earth is wrong with the Democrats & the Republicans and with us out here in the countryside. I'm going to give some of us out here some credit though. We've called and written and begged and pleaded with the various members to no avail. Remember when "no man is above the law" was the topic of the day (reference Clinton) and "who does he think he is - king or God." How easily we have all forgotten. How can we stop this? We are living under a dictatorship and I am terrified at what is happening to this country. Will someone out there wake up and help stop this. Bush should be removed from office immediately.
Sharon
Dear BuzzFlash,
Well, it is fantastic to note that the John Birch society is viciously opposing the creation of the Dept. of Homeland Security. But, are their heads on straight? Apparently not. In case you missed their September edition of the New American, they claim that Bush espouses a "liberal agenda" and is a master of disguise, masquerading as a compassionate conservative while all along . . . *gasp*, he's really a liberal. (Liberal=big government spender, I gather).
For the sheer ridiculousness of it: http://www.house.gov/paul/tst/tst2002/tst111802.htm
~Ana
Subj: Dems Voting Against Homeland Security Bill
Dear BuzzFlash,
Eight Democrats voted against the bill: Senators Daniel K. Akaka of Alaska, Robert C. Byrd of West Virginia, Russell D. Feingold of Wisconsin, Ernest F. Hollings of South Carolina, Daniel K. Inouye of Hawaii, Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts, Carl Levin of Michigan and Paul S. Sarbanes of Maryland. Senator James M. Jeffords, Independent of Vermont, also voted against it, and Senator Frank H. Murkowski of Alaska was not present.
Nate
Dear Buzz -
Lifetime tenure for certain positions in the judiciary was designed by the founders to ensure that our justice system was free of politics. Unfortunately, the founders had a faith in statesmanship and human nature that was perhaps misplaced, and did not envision a world of such dynamic change as ours. These rules now only serve to ensure that our judiciary is indelibly stamped with ideology for decades at a time.
It is time to pass a constitutional amendment limiting these positions -- including Supreme Court positions -- to twenty year terms. After such a term, a judge or justice would have to be reappointed and reconfirmed to retain the position for another term. Twenty years would serve the original purpose in eliminating contemporaneous political influences of a given party in power; it would also mandate that the record of a judge or justice be reviewed regularly enough to eliminate ideologues who are doing damage to our republic.
A moderate, thoughtful and restrained judiciary leads toward moderate, thoughtful and restrained justice.
Randy
Kirchhof
Dripping
Springs, TX
Subj: Gore on the Information Awareness Office
Hey BuzzFlash,
Don't know if you caught Al Gore on Larry King Live, but he slammed the Bush administration's Information Awareness Office as a move toward an Orwellian state. Haven't seen any media attention to his remarks, but thought I'd pass along the transcript in case you'd like to feature it.
Dan Kurtzman
*************
CALLER: What do you think about the homeland security becoming a cabinet position?
A. GORE: Oh, I don't think it's a bad thing to make it a cabinet position. I think that moving the boxes around on the organizational chart has limited benefit, but I think in this case, it can bring some limited but real benefits. I would like to add one other thing on this.
While making it a cabinet department is a good thing, and many other features of that bill are excellent, I am growing more and more concerned about the violations of individual privacy that are contained in the current draft.
KING: Like?
A. GORE: Well, they have a plan that this guy, Admiral Poindexter has been put in charge of in the Pentagon -- you know, he was the one in the Iran Contra business. It's called Total Information Awareness, and if carried out, this plan would empower the government to collect information on every citizen of the United States and keep it there, and then in the discretion of somebody in the administration, they could use it or not use it, presumably because they were simply focused on countering the terrorism threat.
But fear can cause people to make mistakes, and fear can cause great nations to make mistakes, and just yesterday, the news came out this morning of this secret court dramatically changing the standards for wiretapping American citizens, and giving the Justice Department the right to go in and use a much weaker standard to listen in on conversations. What in the world are they doing here?
KING: Couldn't they say -- I don't want to speak for them -- the fear is warranted?
A. GORE: Well, the fear -- the fear is warranted, but the remedy needs to be matched to the threat. And see, what is -- the objective of terrorists is to destroy our way of life. We should not give them part of their victory by destroying important parts of our own way of life.
And a right to privacy is a part of every American's right. And this whole -- you know, for many years going back to George Orwell and before, there have been these warnings that the new technologies of communication and wiretapping and everything create the possibility of a Big Brother-type state, and we've always pushed that away and said, No, we want nothing like that in the U.S. We will cast our lot with free speech and openness and the rights of the individual.
And now, step by step, we're actually getting into a situation where some of the things they're contemplating would take us big steps down the road to a Big Brother-type approach. I think there ought to be a lot of resistance to this. I think it -- that part of it ought to be defeated overwhelmingly.
KING: Do you think it will?
A. GORE: Well, I don't know. I hope so. One reason I'm speaking out on it here is to try to do my part to add...
KING: So you vote against the whole, or...
A. GORE: If they kept that part of it in, I would vote against the whole darn thing. Yes, I would.
CNN Transcript - Aired November 19, 2002 - 21:00 ET
Subj: bin Laden tops Jesus
Yo Buzz,
Why is anyone surprised that the tel-evangelists are upset over Islam? Please notice that bin Laden has been resurrected many more times than Jesus.
Fran Schultzberg
Subj: OH! MY! GOD!
Dear BuzzFlash,
That DARPA website logo is terrifying. I guess they already have all my last year's correspondence and my shoe size just cause I went there. GOOD GOD! SCARE ME TO DEATH!
Bob DeLay
Dear BuzzFlash,
Well, here's the official logo of the New World Order:
I tried to save it, but it's sliced up into a whole buncha pieces & I don't feel like spending an hour patching it back together. Anyone know how to do a screen grab? Unless someone knows where you can download it intact, that would be an easier way of getting it whole (without as much detail, but still...) & sharing it with like minded folks.
Major change in my mood:
Since 2000, I've been saying it feels like we (the USA) are in a car headed downhill towards a precipice - w/Pres Jr at the wheel, maniacal smile on his face & flooring the gas pedal. Well, in the wake of the midterm GOP takeover & as of last night (GOP loading up the 'Homeland Security Bill' w/their own goodies on the sly, starting to bid out gov't operations to corporate cronies, McAuliffe & Daschle still running the Dems) I now feel like we've shot off the precipice & we're hovering in mid air. In a cartoon you sit there until you notice where you are & then you drop like a rock; in real-life physics you start dropping, slowly at first & then accelerating until you hit maximum speed. Either way you eventually hit bottom - hard. Whether we get up all bruised & dirty (& hopefully a tiny bit wiser) like Wile E Coyote, or wind up a red splat on the pavement (like too many WTC victims) remains to be seen...
- Joe
[BuzzFlash Note: We did a screen shot of the logo and created this image for whomever needs it.]
Dear Buzz,
I think we should be perfectly open about the effect that fear might be having on the Democrats in Congress. It never seems to be the Republican politicians receiving anthrax in the mail, dying in inexplicable plane crashes, being assassinated by mystery hit men (Kennedys), and now, being searched and humiliated by airport security. There is a deliberately cultivated climate of fear in America that I think we should speak about loudly and often. Unacknowledged, systemic FEAR is the only real power that the New Hard Right has over us. It is the currency of mass mind control, the petri dish for propaganda.
I think Democrats in Congress should consider acknowledging openly that they are afraid. They are afraid that if they oppose the BushMeister openly that they might be endangering their lives and their careers. They should arrive for public appearances and for their Congressional duties wearing bulletproof vests and with police bodyguards. Doctors should hover nearby at all times. They might explain briefly that they have had to take these precautions because it is no longer safe to be a Democrat. "There is a credible threat."
When flying or traveling, or just going shopping, or gosh... even around the house, in their bathrooms or in their bedrooms, Democratic politicians, peace activists, journalists, and perhaps, after Poindexter's Infinite Inquisition gets going, all liberal thinkers and voters should wear badges saying "You might want to frisk me. I'm a Democrat." There could also be helpful tee shirts and bumper stickers that would "alert the authorities" to the presence of Democrats and Progressives. In this way we could play a very real part in the war against terrorism.
A. Knox
Click Here: Check out "Salon.com Politics | Joe Conason's Journal"
Buzz,
Why isn't Congress, the media and the public screaming for accountability from George Bush? It is so obviously his ineptness that allowed 9/11 to happen. Just imagine if this had been Bill Clinton.
Gigi
Subj: Homeland Security Act- Another Betrayal
Senators Graham and Nelson:
I would appreciate your explaining the following:
How could the Democrats be concerned about the favors to the Republican corporate donors and attempt to amend the Homeland Security Act, but apparently unconcerned about the civil rights issues of forced vaccinations and Poindexters' "Total Information Accessability"? The latter a much greater danger to the country and every citizen who values his freedom.
How could most of the Democrats vote to support this amendment, and than turn around and vote for the Act?
Why did you two vote for the Act? Have you even read it?
Why were there only 9 honorable men voting against the act and why were you not among them?
The sum total of the Clinton Anti-Terrorism Act, the USA Patriot Act, and the Homeland Security Act is to lay the ground work for a dictatorship with Gestapo like surveillance of every move of the populace. All of the provisions of the latter two can be used against those working on any issue not endorsed by this fascist administration.
As with the USA Patriot Act, with rare exceptions such as Rep. Waxman in the House and Sen. Byrd in the Senate, most of you have either not read the provisions of the Homeland Security Act, or are indifferent to the violations of civil rights and the further weakening of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. You appear to be solely concerned with projecting what you perceive as the "right image for reelection". That the Constitution is being destroyed and power turned over to a fanatical President and a cabal of right wing fascists such as Cheney, Rumsfeld, Ashcroft, Wolfowitz, Feith, Perle and others seems not to bother you one bit.
Once again I accuse you of betraying our Constitution and the people you are supposed to represent.
Robert E. Reynolds, Orange Park, Fl
Subj: Is Anyone Going to the Funeral?
Dear BuzzFlash,
The Fourth Amendment died yesterday.
It was arrested without notice, tried by a secret court in an unmarked courtroom, and shot dead by John Ashcroft.
And nobody noticed.
Consider this: John Ashcroft now has virtually unlimited wiretapping and eavesdropping powers. The mere suspicion of a connection with terrorism (i.e. whim) is sufficient to justify complete electronic intrusion without review by any court.
This enlightened ruling came from three Reagan appellate court appointees, who were cherry-picked by a Chief Justice who lied to the Senate during two separate confirmation hearings. The decision is not subject to further review.
http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20021119/1041562.asp
(For anyone not previously concerned about GOP judicial appointments, you may consider this the second of many chickens coming home to roost. The first, of course, was Bush v. Gore.)
Here is an example of the new regime. Any American Muslim attending a mosque with a suspected terrorist is now subject to potential wiretapping and eavesdropping. If Ashcroft and company don't like what they hear, that person can be arrested, designated an enemy of the United States, detained indefinitely, tried in secret, and executed without ever having been afforded effective counsel, the full right to confront witnesses, the right to a jury of his peers, and the right to judicial review.
Here's the next step. The Talibush have been advertising for the best part of year now that anyone using illegal drugs is supporting terrorism. What if they start to believe their own mumbo-jumbo? There is NOTHING to prevent them from using their broadened (limitless) wiretapping powers to ferret out drug users, declare them enemies, and detain/punish them indefinitely.
Or how about political opponents who challenge the administration? What's to stop the Talibush from arresting, detaining, trying, and eliminating political opponents on the grounds that they are enemies who support terrorism? After all, Ashcroft already labeled anyone opposing the administration as a traitor.
And when convicted felon John Poindexter gets through with his Total Informations system, EVERYONE will be a target. Imagine: someone purchases books on Islam and aviation, a computer tracking purchases alerts the DOJ about this "suspicious" connection, a wiretap is issued, and Katy bar the door.
If WILLIAM SAFIRE says they've gone too far, how can anyone disagree?
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/14/opinion/14SAFI.html
Welcome to the Gulag.
First Amendment, 1791-2001.
Fourth Amendment, 1791-2002.
Fifth Amendment, 1791-2001.
Sixth Amendment, 1791-2001.
Fifteenth Amendment, 1870-2000.
RIP.
The Fourth Amendment died yesterday. Is anyone going to the funeral?
On second thought, stay home. You never know who will be watching and taking names.
Chris
Bennington
Moorpark, CA
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MAILBAG ARCHIVES
