The BuzzFlash Mailbag
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Dear BuzzFlash,
Well if the Bush Administration is trying to distance themselves from Trent Lott and wish him to step down, then why, as Trent Lott says, they said that they think he has been treated unfairly? Are they lying to him or is he lying to us? And who do you think has treated him unfairly? The black people? The right wing? The dems have been fairly quiet.
Katie
Tampa
FL
Subj: Oakland 7-1!
Dear BuzzFlash,
I just called the office of the Oakland Council and found out that the Resolution to oppose Patriot Act passed 7-1 according to the person I spoke to.
Nothing yet on the newswires about the vote outcome to my knowledge.
A BuzzFlash Reader
Oakland City Council votes on resolution to oppose Patriot Act Associated Press
OAKLAND, Calif. - This city was poised to join more than a dozen others nationwide by passing a resolution opposing the USA Patriot Act on grounds it violates civil rights.
Subj: Story about Lott no one is talking about
Dear BuzzFlash,
Trent Lott has been a racist all of his career. This should be no surprise.
What's interesting is that Trent Lott was going to nominate Warren Rudman onto the 9/11 investigation. The BS Whitehorse doesn't want Warren Rudman on the 9/11 investigation. Rudman is the most knowledgeable person to be on this commission. The 9/11 victims families want him on the commission. The Hart-Rudman Commission on terrorism predicted a 9/11 type disaster. He knows too much and would also most likely vote with the democrats with respect to subpoenas (i.e.: White House Staff including Bush and Cheney). This is the real reason the White House is in the backroom bowels of Washington trying to make Lott go away. They don't want anything to come out. Everything must remain secret. They don't want to testify. If they did. . ..................the truth might actually come out.
The fact that Kissinger is no longer the head of the 9/11 commission is the reason the Democrats are not fighting tooth and nail to get rid of Lott. The conservative Right is more concerned.
Just something to think about - no?
Amy Weiss
Subj: a dem tape in 2004!
on the lester holt show on msnbc last night they showed a tape of george bush sr. thanking the enron corporation for everything they have done for the bush family. i damn near fell out of my chair! --- the dems should play the hell out of that tape in a commercial in 2004! there should not be any tv time left uncovered! and what has happened to ken lay? he is still living the high life after ruining the lives of so many others!
km
Dear BuzzFlash,
My brother owns three dry cleaning stores..........he wants to know how to go about bidding on the sheet cleaning contract for the republican senate. He said that must be a mighty lucrative contract! :):):)
A BuzzFlash Reader
Subj: New Job for Gore
Dear BuzzFlash,
In your December 18th mailbag, there was a letter from Cathy regarding Al Gore becoming the Chairman of the D.N.C. I think that is a great idea! The current chairman has certainly shown that he is not capable of doing his job, given the recent result in the Nov. midterms. I am saddened that Al Gore has decided not to run in 2004 but I very much respect his decision and believe that he will keep his promise to "contribute to ending the current administration".
The Democratic Party is lacking leadership and someone to speak for them, I think Al Gore could and should resolve that problem by taking the Chairmanship. I hope others feel the same way and encourage him to do so!
Bev
PS BuzzFlash is the BEST site for anyone who really wants to know the facts!
Subj: CNN's Morning Show
Dear BuzzFlash,
Isn't it time someone started a campaign to get CNN to tell it like it is. The financial guy actually showed the Enron video but did not play the audio because in his mind it was irrelevant, Huh!!!! This was what?? a journalistic decision ??? It really is just one more example of the mornings' shows slant to conservative but this was really blatant. A few weeks ago Paula Zahn practically did a lap dance on Trent Lotts' lap. Jack Cafferty wants to always hang em high and hang em dead. It has become so blatant that I started watching MSNBC.
I wish I could actually do something about the lack of journalistic integrity on CNN and others. It is so frustrating.
C.
Moran
Crystal
Lake, Ill.
Dear Buzz,
Let's try and look at the reality of this -- I mean Gore. Neither he nor any other democratic candidate on this earth have a chance to beat GW in 2004 unless the media is reined in. No democrat, I DON'T CARE IF THEY CURE CANCER, can get past this media wall. Unless the people in this country get the truth rammed up their you-know-whats, nothing can change. There doesn't seem to be anyone around who can, or wants, to really take on the media beast except for guess who? That's right - Al Gore. Think the media would allow Gore to get out any of these truths if he were running? Strongly doubt it. It's not the end of the world that he's not running. First things first. If the truth does not get out, it really doesn't matter if it's Albert Gore, Albert Einstein, Pee Wee Herman, or my cat that's on the democratic ticket. Think of the gold mine of issues out there - and now there's some pretty blatant racism to add to it. Maybe with the help of Gore, we can start a campaign to get rid of Ashcroft next. He's worse than Lott. Let's be patient and see how things play out. Once a different picture starts being presented to the American people, things may not look so bleak for our party. Maybe Gore will be drafted to run in the end but if not, maybe someone else will turn out to look good (OK, not Daschle, Gephardt, Lieberman). But don't give up hope for our party. Gore may be the spokesperson and fighter we've been waiting for. Things happen for a reason. I think some really positive things can develop from this.
Keep the faith
Barbara in NYC
Sent to MSNBC:
dear bill press,
i saw a tape of bush sr. on msnbc last night thanking the enron corp. for all they had done for the bush family. i have not seen it since. did the bush mafia put the word out to stop it?
randi
Dear Buzz,
In Winston Smith's terrific commentary - Is Bush A Coward or a Weasel? - he happens to mention that GW was right next to Lott when Lott made his infamous comments. How funny that it had never even occurred to me that W was there, although I don't know why that wouldn't occur to me. Duh! This tidbit has just made this whole thing even more amazing to me. Boy if we could only get ahold of the tape showing W's reaction - if it hasn't been destroyed already. The repugs keep complaining that the dems are just looking for an issue. Funny, but I don't think we were looking for this one. It just sort of seeped out, didn't it? Gimme a break - we've had issues all along, but the media just wasn't interested in those boring things like healthcare, retirement, unemployment, corporate scandal, etc. Not juicy enough I guess. Boy are the Bushies in a bind. If they take away his leadership, he may quit the Senate. Then we get a democrat - a 50/50 split. Makes it pretty enticing for someone to hop on over to the other side of the aisle. Then again there's always the possibility of Zell Miller and John Breaux officially becoming the republicans that they always have been. This could go on and on and who knows how it will end. Such drama. And what a dilemma.
You're doing such a great job. You've got to be the most credible site on the web. I'm starting to hear your name all over the place (I mean in a good way!). When I wear your t-shirt, people are recognizing it. How exciting! Since I've given up on the mainstream, I feel so much more informed! Keep it up.
Barbara in NYC
Dear BuzzFlash,
Now that I'm officially part of the close to 2 million newly unemployed since the shrub took over the Oval Office, I have a great deal of time to read BuzzFlash and other real information sites. It's interesting to see the broad range of reactions to Mr. Gore's decision.
Personally, while disappointed -- he has really just found his meaningful voice in the past several months -- I don't blame him one bit. The thought of going through again what this country put him through in 2000 would certainly drive me to that decision. The repugs were unrelenting, the media took the easy (and profitable) road of siding with those repugs and the Dems turned their backs. Not just the politicians, but the grassroots "little guy" didn't find the strength to counter the right-wing repulsives that taunted and harassed his family during the challenge of the Florida voting fiasco.
Actually, I believe the sentiment expressed by those who (probably by nature) are looking for a silver lining -- those who believe that Al Gore, hopefully alongside Bill Clinton, will be much more powerful and effective in holding repugs' feet to the fire. He truly is the personification of the word Patriot by stepping aside from what should be his re-election for the ultimate good of the Country.
The circumstances of life change constantly, and it may well be better for him to look at running in 2008 -- we really can't predict what it will be like then (if we haven't all been nuked).
It is very understandable that there is a group wanting to "draft" our esteemed ELECTED President to run for re-election. Evidently they are taking donations to start the process.
At the risk of dampening their enthusiasm, I would like to say the following: the money would be better spent on looking into the voting machine fraud that was apparent in Florida in the 2002 election. There were several other States that experienced VERY dubious "problems" - all involving new touch-screen voting machines that didn't record what the voter intended.
Without exception, ALL OF THE PRECINCTS WITH MACHINE PROBLEMS RESULTED IN REPUBLICAN WINS. Almost all of the Democrats who lost in those areas were either even or ahead in the polls going into voting day. The repugs shake their heads and lament the technical problems and assure us that they'll be fixed for the next election. But common sense tells thinking people that it is virtually impossible for this to be accidental. Many people believe that the companies supplying the machines programmed them to default to the repug candidate. (Companies that just happened to have donated campaign money to the conservatives)
WE LIBERALS CAN COME UP WITH THE PERFECT CANDIDATE, THE PERFECT MESSAGE AND ROUSE ALL ELIGIBLE VOTERS TO COME TO THE POLLS IN 2004 -- BUT IF WE DON'T FIND A WAY TO ASSURE NO VOTE TAMPERING WE WILL LOSE. PERIOD.
I would suggest contacting Greg Palast (he's on the list on the bottom of BuzzFlash's home page). He has written extensively on Florida's fraudulent 2000 election, and touched on the 2002 "problems" at the time. I also believe that your Senators and Congresspeople should be contacted (especially if you're lucky enough to have a Democrat in those positions!)
Thanks again and again to BuzzFlash for providing this forum......
Beautiful Barb
Seattle,
WA
Subj: Re: "Machiavellian Mayberry"
Hi Buzz,
Good research--!
What's good about the impending WAR is that we will have a chance to see GWB giving out all those HUGS!
It is what he does best, I hear.
Best,
Cole...
Subj: Caught on Tape
Dear BuzzFlash,
I just read an interesting item I found on BuzzFlash (http://www.click2houston.com/hou/money/stories/money-184005020021216-101218.html). Do you really think the so-called "press" in this country will even bother to comment on it? They gave the "Idiot-In-Chief" a free ride when he was running in 2000. He's screwed this country so bad since he took office, it'll be years before we recover from him. They tried to hang the Big Dog because he got a blowjob. Bush is in the military and deserts. Or as they like to say, "allegedly" went AWOL. If you check the UCMJ I'm sure you'll find that if you're AWOL as long as Bush, it's no longer called Absent Without Leave. You're considered a deserter. It doesn't matter if they have film of him snorting coke, drinking, or attending a cross burning with Lott, the press in this country have their lips pressed so tightly to his ass, the suction may never broken. Is it an outrage? Damn skippy. Will it be reported on ABC, CBS, NBC, or his propaganda outlet FOX? Not no, but HELL NO!
Sam
Subj: David Obey raising some hopes of a Democrat who . . .
Dear BuzzFlash,
. . . actually is willing to take on the Admin. He will be on Washington Journal on C-Span tomorrow at 7:45 EST. Today he was speaking at the National Press Club and really roused a lot of people over at DU. Link below is to earlier testimony that he gave, which covers much of the same ground. What you might find particularly interesting are the flow charts of the gov. organization BEFORE the creation of the Homeland Security mess vs AFTER and his comments about this. The graphics are mind-boggling....Gloria
http://www.house.gov/obey/item-homelandsecurity.htm
Subj: A Much Needed Voice of Moral Clarity from the Wilderness
Dear BuzzFlash,
Hallelujah, Hallelujah. Thank you President Clinton! It is high time Democrats called the Grand Hypocrisy Party out on the carpet for their sleazy race baiting campaign tactics. Maybe if "Trader" Tom and "Neutered" Dick Gephardt, the co"strategists" of the November debacle had hammered the Rethugs for their exploitation of racist issues and the use of the Confederate flag as a disgusting campaign tactic prior to the election, people would have woke up to the fact that this is a party that repeatedly plays the race card to the hilt for maximum crass political advantage. Between the waving of the Confederate Flag (a decidedly unpatriotic act if you think of it since it is equivalent to waving the flag of Tojo's Japan and Hitler's Germany, both of which, like the Confederacy, were sworn enemies of the United States devoted to its destruction) and the deliberate voter suppression efforts aimed specifically at African Americans, there is no question that in the Deep South the Republicans were running, as always, on the platform of Jefferson Davis. (Perhaps they gathered round Trent's Jefferson Davis Senate desk as the altar of their inspiration)
Unfortunately the current Democratic "leadership" let them get away with it by not forcefully repudiating those tactics very loudly and very publicly. President Clinton has now, thankfully, drawn some much needed attention to this "dirty little secret." It exposes them for the hypocrites that they are. On one hand Bush courts the African American vote with carefully staged photo ops (remember the Republican convention) while quietly embracing and endorsing these racially divisive political strategies. After all the National Rethug Party does nothing now without Herr Rove's approval. So the South Carolina tactics and Georgia tactics were used with the blessing of Rove, and, by extension, Bush. This is again no surprise since Rove and Bush really had no problem saving their political hides by rushing to speak at racist Bob Jones University during the 2000 primary. Of course, this is consistent, since Bush had no problem with the use of the racist Willie Horton ads in his father's campaign. Unfortunately people have short memories, and with the media acting as fawning junior high cheerleaders for Junior we can't expect people to remember these things or call attention to the real Bush views on race, evidenced by his bizarre query of the Brazilian President this year i.e. "were there blacks in his country", as if black human beings, to him, are a different life form. I therefore suggest in the future that instead of Tom and Dick handling these matters, we let President Clinton, President Al Gore or FUTURE President Jesse Jackson Junior remind the American public exactly where the Republican Party stands on issues of race, which is foursquare in the blighted moral neighborhood of Nathan Bedford Forrest.
Dan
Subj: Bring on the Class Warfare!
Dear BuzzFlash,
The very rich are complaining about paying taxes and the current administration is pandering to them. After all, it's these guys who OK the corporate political donations (Other Peoples' Money) that push this agenda. But somebody who makes a couple hundred thousand a year or more has his taxes paid for him already. "How so?" you ask.
It goes like this: Company offers the job for $200K. The guy says, "Well, you know, the government is going to take most of it". Then the company offers $300K and the guy takes it. Shareholders are paying the taxes!
So now, if these guys get a tax cut, it amounts to a huge **TAX-FREE-RAISE** !! Shareholders should demand a pay cut for these guys if the tax cut goes through.
Tom Salicos
Cedar
Mill, Oregon
Subj: Strom Watch and more...
Dear BuzzFlash,
This may be something to push for, too. What are they WAITING for to get that incapacitated cadaver out of there?
FABULOUS JOB, BTW, SKEWERING THE NYTIMES!!!
And the letter from Bush to the Daughter of the Confederates was a great find!
If you have room in these busy days for yet another headline, or an expanded existing one, one of the links you provided (the counter spin site, by hesiod) had a picture of Dubya chortling up with Lott and Strom...with the commentary that Bush is usually cropped from the shot! I thought the BuzzFlash reader editorial made a good point we need to see how Bush reacted THAT DAY.
Another thing I noticed (after reading in one commentary about how the press dutifully glorifies Frist as he prowls around doing doctor-y thing for praise) is that one of your links to a story about him illustrated that very thing---in bizarre fashion. At the end of the article, after saying how much Frist likes to run, like Dubya, they mentioned Frist was going to show up at the National Zoo at 6 AM to give heart exams to gorillas and baboons. Isn't that saintly! Hello---can't the zoo afford REAL veterinarians?? What the hell gives here?
Keep up the great work!
~~robyn su
Subj: Lott vs. Fonda
Dear BuzzFlash,
If Republicans are able to forgive Lott because he was only supporting a strong defense, they must also forgive Jane Fonda because she was only supporting peace. Get it?
-Rick
Dear Buzz,
This is the latest conservative twist on "trent-gate" At first democrats were criticized for saying nothing, and now they are criticized for "leading the charge" Nonsense.
There is no way this story would have continued on the national television unless (some faction of) conservatives were pushing the story. No way. Frankly, I said as much the day before BuzzFlash's piece on Rove being behind it.
Now that the story has been repeated far and wide -- conservatives realized they exposed the fact there are factions within the party -- they are trying to sell us all on blaming on the democrats. And just wait -- the media will play along. The media always plays along -- just like they did when we lost a great Senator in Paul Wellstone (and we couldn't have sympathy for democrats), so the story was not our loss but rather our political rally).
I watched Crossfire last night, and believe me Carville and Carlson went at it hard - they are really charged up about it. Carlson kept saying the same thing that the NYT is saying - the Democrats are pushing this - it is our fault - we are playing the race card....
http://www.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0212/17/cf.00.html
Tony Coelho was on, and he was fantastic. His opening....
"CARLSON: Tony Coelho, here's what I understand the essential Democratic argument to be against Trent Lott and the Republicans. They said, "Look, Republicans may not be actual racists, but they are in some sense pandering to racists for political gain to this large group of people out there who are racists."
Here's where the theory falls down. Not only have I never met this mythical group of racists that's voting Republican, I've never -- despite looking at a lot poll numbers -- ever seen evidence that they exist in numbers large enough to pander to.
Where' the evidence that large numbers of Americans actually are racist? Do you have -- have you ever seen numbers on that?
TONY COELHO, FORMER CONGRESSMAN: I find it intriguing just how defensive you are and how you're spinning the White House line.
CARSON: Why not answer the question.
COELHO: You know, but I think -- I think, pal it is not...
CARLSON: Answer the question.
COELHO: ... pal, what you are basically trying to do is to flip it on us, and it doesn't work.
CARLSON: It's a simple question. If you can't answer it, just say so.
COELHO: There's a lot of examples for it. I tell you what, what's really exciting today...
CARLSON: Where's the research?
COELHO: ... is that -- what's exciting today is not about Trent Lott. This is not about blacks. This is not about the Republican Party. It's really about the maturing of America. It's exciting because basically Americans of all parties of all persuasions are saying, "Enough is enough. We're not going to put up with it anymore."
That is exciting to me.
CARLSON: But I still...
(APPLAUSE)
COELHO: And so I think it's time to get it over with.
CARLSON: I think part of what you said is right, but...
COELHO: And I think it's great.
(APPLAUSE)"
Kathy in Boston
[and to respond to one letter, Boston will host the 2004 Convention which is great. Also, Senator Kerry will likely run for President. However, the two are not linked. Our mayor of Boston worked hard with local business leaders to get this convention (do you know Boston has NEVER hosted the Democratic convention?)]
Subj: White House vs. Lott
Dear Buzz,
Your scoop on the invisible hand behind the drive to oust Trent Lott has finally gotten me to consider a statement about Lott that was floated about the time the long-knives were unsheathed. That was the proposition that Lott was responsible for Jim Jeffords bolting the GHP.
As I recall, Jeffords left because idiot boy was screwing him on support for education legislation. That is, it was BUSH who caused Jeffords to split.
I guess they might as well dump all the trash on Trent as he exits.
Bob Shields
Seattle
Subj: just wanted to forward a letter to the NY Times about Democrats keeping the Trent Lott story alive
To the editor:
In the story ‘Conservatives Are Critical of Their Role in Controversy’, Kate Zernike seems to want to pin this outrage of Trent Lott’s obviously racist views on Democrats. She quotes a minimum of five (5) highly partisan right wingers who blame the Democrats for keeping this story alive, yet does not give one single example of a Democrat pushing the issue. Are we to believe that the Republican party is again being pushed around by the ‘liberal media’ and that Don Nickels, who publicly called for a new vote for the leadership position, is being pressured by Democrats? What the Republicans need is a true leader to step in and defend Trent Lott from this liberal assault; Mr. Bush we are waiting.
Doug Zukowski
Re: The NYT Couldn't Find 150,00 People or Karl Rove's Fingerprints
DAMN! This is absolutely so true.
You folks are so on top of all this, I congratulate you again.
But why let the bastards get away with it?
When things like this happen can't you prevail on your troops (ALL Buzz subscribers) to send E-Mails complaining to the Times. Do you have Howell Raines’ E-Mail address? I am concerned about our effectiveness.
Look, what makes Daschle think he could run for President? If he read Buzz he would not dare. He's the biggest wimp of all. He hasn’t gotten our message. LOL.
WLC
[BuzzFlash Note: You can find contact info for the NYT at this URL: http://www.nytimes.com/ref/membercenter/help/infoservdirectory.html]
Subj: Bush lied to you about taxes during the 2000 campaign
Dear BuzzFlash,
So Bush wants American households earning between $50,000 and $75,000 to pay one third more taxes than they already do! That's a change from what he promised during his 2000 campaign.
Ma Mimi
