October 27, 2004
The BuzzFlash Mailbag
The opinions expressed in the Mailbag are not necessarily those of BuzzFlash. Read the BuzzFlash FAQ for info on submitting to the Mailbag.
Subject: Scoop Re: the Rehnquist Thyroid Cancer Announcement...
They're saying Rehnquist has thyroid cancer, and that he had a tracheotomy this past weekend to help breathing.
The treatment for thyroid cancer is almost always thyroidectomy -- surgical removal of the thyroid gland -- followed by radioactive iodine treatment to ablate any remaining cancerous tissue. They haven't mentioned any of this re: Rehnquist. Rather, they said they did a tracheotomy -- surgically cutting a hole in the windpipe.
Tracheotomy is RARELY used in thyroid cancer, and even then, only as a palliative treatment to ease difficulty breathing in people with ADVANCED, INOPERABLE and/or LIFE-THREATENING thyroid cancer that has invaded the airway or is infiltrating the trachea.
To ultimately gauge the severity, we need to know what type of cancer it is, and what stage it's in. As is being reported on the wires, etc., it's true that most thyroid cancer is treatable. BUT...mild or treatable thyroid cancer almost never requires tracheotomy. Something is very amiss.
Rehnquist may have anaplastic thyroid cancer -- the most rare, most dangerous, almost always quickly fatal type of cancer, which often presents with a large mass in the thyroid that compromises breathing and requires tracheotomy...
In the meantime, they're saying Rehnquist will be back on bench Mon Nov 1...??? With trach tube and a likely case of advanced/inoperable thyroid cancer???
You have to wonder... especially if they're expecting him to be on the bench Nov 2 to "legislate" the election, as in 2000....
I suspect political motives for the downplaying of the severity of Rehnquist's condition.
http://thyroid.about.com/od/thyroidcancer/a/rehnquist.htm
Mary Shomon
Thyroid Patient Advocate/Author
Kensington, MD
Subject: Washington Post picks up White House Website Scrub story!
The Washington Post confronts the White House about "disappeared" Iraq coalition list! Two articles today in WaPo on the White House Website Scrub!
See http://www.bradblog.com/archives/00000817.htm for more details.
WaPo story now online here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A59555-2004Oct24.html
Good work guys! Keep the pressure on 'em!
Brad
Hollywood, CA
Subject: boycott of Sinclair broadcasting
Hey guys,
I am a fairly new reader and first time emailer... Love your website, I have learned so much.
Just wanted to let you know, I emailed progressive auto insurance about their sponsoring of the sleazefest stolen honor. To my pleasant surprise, I was emailed back a couple of days later, stating that they had NO intention of advertising anywhere near this slimy undertaking and take their customers' opinions very seriously. Just wanted to let you know.
Keep up the great work and GO KERRY!!!
Sincerely,
Debby Johnson
Las Vegas, Nev.
Subject: Re: It Is The Wolves In The White House Who Are Preying Upon Democracy, And Gorging On Its Carcass
Let us not forget, however, that the wolves feed only because the sheep refuse to head anywhere but to slaughter...
vcz
Subject: Contrast
Dear BuzzFlash,
The Washington Post has talked about it. So has the Boston Globe. Even on television, without direct editorial comment, it was obvious. Kerry's campaign is open, welcoming, and inclusive. Bush's campaign is hidden, closed, and invitation-only.
Kerry's campaign stops are so wide open that anyone who wants to can download a rally ticket on the Internet and attend. In fact, even if you don't have a ticket, they'll let you in the gate anyway. Bush's campaign stops, on the other hand, have been indoors, or in controlled areas, under tightest security, and exclusive. The latest news is that they've even gone as far as to require a signed oath of loyalty before a supporter can attend one of the w's invitation-only rallies.
To me, this is a striking difference between the party of inclusion and the party of the elite. No dissent is allowed in the Bush camp. No risk that anyone might say something to embarrass the President while he's running for election. Naturally, the Republican's defense for this stark difference is that such tight security is required for the President of the United States; George Bush would love to open the doors and let as many people as possible come hear him speak, but security just won't allow it.
I'm a wee bit older than most of the folks reading my journal (but not all of you, of course), and I remember the election of 1972. It's the first election that I do remember. I was six years old. My dad was a Nixon supporter. I remember attending two Nixon rallies as well as being there once when Air Force One landed at March AFB, where my dad was editor of the base newspaper. Of course, the Air Force Base was secure, but I want to talk about the two rallies we went to. I don't remember any tickets required to attend.
I don't remember any metal detectors. I do remember the Secret Service presence. I do remember a big crowd gathered in an open plaza to listen to the President talk about "peace with honor," and I remember the hippies and peace protestors mixed in the crowd. Yes, right there in the crowd. People who were there to support the President were standing right next to -- right next to -- long-haired, beaded, barefoot hippies with protest signs. I remember the President speaking at a podium to a regular mix of cheers and jeers, all coming from the same crowd. I remember that not a single person tried to kill Nixon.
Yet today we are supposed to swallow that the reason that Bush's events are so tightly controlled, so closely monitored, and so exclusive is for his personal safety and security. In other words, President [sic] George Walker Bush is more paranoid than Richard NIXON!
The alternative is to admit that it's a blatant and weak excuse for thorough media control. I don't see another option to explain it. Well, maybe it's "a little from column A, a little from column B," to quote Abe Simpson. That I can believe.
Is that what you want in a President? Not me. I want a President with courage, a President who does not screen who gets in to hear him speak based on whether they already agree with him, a President who isn't afraid to answer a difficult question with a difficult answer. I want a President like John Kerry.
Sincerely,
Sean Lewis
Portland, Oregon
Subject: Editorial
I've said it all along.....why is Bush pushing for democracy in Iraq when he is so busy destroying democracy in the US?? If he "wins" again then we had better get used to living in a Theocratic Dictatorship.
Here'a is a quote that says it all...
America has gone from being the world's backslapping, supportive big brother
to being the creepy, paranoid, manipulative uncle that you hope doesn't come to Thanksgiving dinner.
Ginny.........age 83
Auburn, WA
Subject: March on DC
If the wolves do indeed savage our voting rights and our freedom, surely we have to take it to DC....... The writing seems to be on the wall...shouldn't we be planning this now? A massive and peaceful assembly, from ALL OVER America, perhaps even numbering in the millions, cannot be ignored......... As we all know, our country, and the world, hangs in the balance..... Were our fears to materialize, we cannot, we must not, allow ourselves to "roll over." We have to Stand. It is who we Are.
A Deeply Concerned Reader
Subject: Look Under Your Desk George!!
Hi BuzzFlash,
So Bush LOST 380 TONS of Weapons, that the UN had SECURED before the war. I wonder if Bush has looked under his desk for the weapons yet?
Then Bush tries to be Tom Cruise, by having Marine One land in the ballpark in FL, where THE RED SOX play in Spring Training, while the stadium is loudly playing "Highway To The Danger Zone" to a screened audience.
I guess George wanted to rub it in to Senator Kerry with the Red Sox stunt. Hey George, here's a better stunt for you and Dick. Why don't you fly Marine One over to Iraq yourself, with Cheney as Co-Pilot, and find those 380 TONS of MISSING weapons?? The Ineptness of These Republican Clowns is beyond words!!!
Tom Wieliczka
Subject: Bush's Loony Tune Lucidity Re the Looting in Iraq
BuzzFlash,
While reading your news article from the New York Times about the stolen cache of explosives . . . I remember hearing about the looting of everything including small arms during the first part of the Bush invasion of Iraq. Now this. It wouldn't surprise me to find out one day that this was allowed to happen by Bush and his Warhawks. Now Iraq or "someone" has a cache of high-density explosives or Weapons of Possible Mass Destruction.
All the more reason to stay in the Mideast . . . I can hear it from the Bush administration now. Whether it is incompetence in chaos or the control of incompetence in chaos. With an administration such as the Bush administration . . . who knows who really stole those explosives and for what real purpose?
The theft benefits the Bush administration as well as anyone else. Nothing could be more unbalanced than the lies that were told to start a war and the control and filtering of the information coupled with the stubborn, hell-bent attitude to invade a defeated and miserable country, killing thousands of people, including our military without remorse or a sense of any conscience.
It may sound crazy, mad, or demented to suggest . . . but, maybe we have just come full circle with the first lies for the invasion of Iraq. I often wonder, how much has the Bush administration done and then blamed on al Qaeda . . . since they have ruined any attempt to capture the leaders? (Hmmm?) Whatever the Bush administration tells about al Qaeda . . . only makes al Qaeda seem more powerful and they (al Qaeda) probably feel very grateful for that.
Any US administration that will lie to start a war is capable of anything and everything to fulfill their own purpose. The last four years by the Bush administration stand as proof that they have never had America's interests in mind with anything they have done.
The US has incarcerated people for much less (I am reminded of President Clinton and that same Republican Party) and if the Republican Party did not have a majority of all three branches of our government . . . the corruption that has been allowed to take place against this Country would not have happened and Bush would not be on this ticket today.
Thanks BuzzFlash,
Shirley Smith
Subject: voter registration
Dear Buzz,
Next election we should all register as indies or repugs (EW!), and then they won't know who to purge from the rolls or whose registration to tear up. It would cause such havoc, I do believe. If the powers that be continue on their current path, and if they win this one (worst case scenario), changing voter registration would really confuse them and give them a false sense of victory at the time, on down the road. I know it would create its own set of problems, but it can be done I think. We could get into the appearances of the pinhead in chief and let ourselves be heard. If they get worried enough, they would start to weed out the true Repubs. eventually and start pissing them off, questioning their loyalty, etc., they would be so paranoid about who is who.
Ok, I am just dreaming, but wouldn't it be fun? It sounds simple, and hey, they are simpletons. Beat them at their own game. Thanks for all you do!!! Love the Buzz...
Danielle in the panhandle
Subject: Letter to the Editor - Bush is just incompetent
So now we discover that 350 tons of explosives in Iraq - strong enough to detonate a nuclear weapon - have vanished. These explosives were in our control before the war - but now because of the war the terrorists have it. The big question here is - which is worse? Is it worse that Bush allowed terrorists to steal 350 tons of high explosives? Or - is it worse that the Bush administration didn't even know these explosives were missing? It makes you wonder what other weapons and explosives are missing that Bush doesn't even know about. Bush is incompetent - clueless. I'm voting for Kerry because he's at least smart enough to keep track of what's missing. I'm Marc Perkel - And I approved this message!
Marc Perkel
San Francisco, CA
Subject: Attack the Real Enemy
It's really not George Bush that Kerry is running against. He's running against Karl Rove. It would be an educational move for the public if the Kerry campaign were to explain this, because although probably many people recognize "that those ads are full of lies," it's not likely that they realize to what degree.
I don't understand why Karl Rove is so feared and considered to be such a genius. He's not a genius. He's merely unscrupulous and criminal. There's nothing too low for him to pull. Plus he's worked out a few simple tricks that have been successful time after time purely because they're unbelievable. He has a pattern of attacking somebody directly on his strengths. Who would imagine -- I'm sure Kerry didn't -- that Rove would have the guts to attack Kerry on his war record? Because it's so outrageous, and because the innocent public probably imagine that nobody would simply invent from scratch such a massive lie, they think there must be something behind it.
It's almost impossible to defend yourself against a completely baseless accusation. (As Lyndon Johnson famously recognized, insinuating that his opponent was a little too intimate with farm animals.) The attacked person flounders and looks foolish.
Well, the correct way isn't to refute the lie, especially since the press isn't much interested in refutations. They like attacks. So what you do is attack the correct target, and attack with truth, not lies. Attack George Bush -- but more than that, bring the fight directly to the real enemy, Karl Rove. Don't let him hide in the background! Give him the celebrity he deserves! You probably can't prove what he's doing in this particular election. But pick out every filthy trick he's been shown to have done in the past and draw the parallels. Show how Bush via Karl has fought election after election with jaw-dropping lies. Detail them. They make great copy. Let's see the Bushies do some refuting for a change.
Remember that many, many people are ignorant about both Bush and Kerry and everything that's been going on under their noses. They probably base their voting decision on only one or two bits of information they picked up somewhere -- something memorable. If you can memorably discredit Bush's whole campaign he will have nobody left but his groupies to elect him. And it'll be a lot harder for Karl Rove to push through outrageous lies when everybody's saying, "Oh, here comes another illegitimate black baby!"
Elly Raven
Subject: Lou Dobbs on CNN is an idiot!
Lou Dobbs on CNN is an idiot because he thinks a British newspaper editorial that jokes about Bush being assassinated should be the lead story on cable news and newspapers one week before the Presidential election.
So let me get this right, 49 Iraqi soldiers are executed in Iraq this past week and Dobbs wants to lead with a tabloid editorial from England.
350 tons of high explosives are missing in Iraq because of Bush administration incompetence and Dobbs wants to lead with the British editorial (these 350 tons of explosives are at this very minute being turned into car bombs that will kill and maim more US soldiers.)
The United States goes from a budget surplus to the worst deficit in US history and Dobbs wants to lead with some tiny editorial in a British paper.
33% of Bush tax cuts went to the top 1%, who are all millionaires, probably including Lou Dobbs, and he wants to lead with some minor editorial in a British paper.
My God! How stupid can Lou Dobbs get?
My God, how more biased can CNN possibly become?
Michael Reinholz
Seattle, WA
Subject: 350 Tons of explosives
Buzzers,
I thought I would put some perspective on this from a transportation standpoint.
350 Tons is 700,000 pounds....That's right...700,000 pounds...now a Semi Truck can carry about 35,000 pounds...Therefore it would take 20 Semi Trucks to haul away that much explosive.
In order to load that, it would take fork lifts, a convoy of trucks and manpower. All of this in a controlled Munitions Dump in an Iraqi Army base, that probably had been designed for security and limited access. The photos show munitions bunkers similar to the ones on US Army bases, so I would assume that security would be relatively simple.
Some of this material had UN seals forbidding the use of the materials due to its incredible explosive power...in fact they are so powerful that it is the explosive component to Nuclear Weapons....and we didn't think it was necessary to secure it.....!
If this doesn't destroy bushco's security facade and put Kerry in the White House, then I don't know what will wake this country up.
Geoff in Austin
Subject: Moderates will vote for Bush if Clinton campaigns?
NBC and Tom Brokaw think that moderates will change their minds and vote for Bush because Bill Clinton lied about sex. Anyone who would do that, to vote for a guy who lied and cheated on the guys in his military and got over 1100 of them killed, needs to have a full lobotomy.
Karen Webb
Moore, OK
Subject: To Mailbag writer K. Webb
Hi, Buzz
Please tell Karen Webb that Cheney's wife's first name is Lynne, not Liz. We Liz's feelings are hurt to be associated.
Thanks,
Liz W.
[BuzzFlash Note: Sorry that slipped by us on 10/25/04...no offense intended!]
Subject: Jesus God!
Why in the world isn't this being used in an ad?
You can fool some of the people all of the time...and those are the ones you want to concentrate on. -- George W. Bush, joking at a Gridiron Club dinner, Washington, D.C., March 2001
A BuzzFlash Reader
Subject: Re Mailbag - Bush suppressing CIA Report on 9/11 & Dubya's World OBL-Supports-Bush-Cheney Photo
ACT FOR CHANGE (founded by Jerry of Ben & Jerry's; Ben Cohen founded True Majority, a similar site) has an online petition to Bush for pre-election release of the CIA 9/11 Report:
http://www.workingforchange.com/activism/action.cfm?itemid=17900
Another BuzzFlash reader asked for a photo of Osama Bin Laden with a Bush-Cheney promo item. Attached is a jpg photo of OBL with B-C hat from website www.dubyasworld.com.
Karen Kinsman
Hopewell, NJ
Subject: Austin, Texas Newspaper Endorsement of Bush
The Austin, TX Statesman endorsed Bush Sunday. They mildly criticized Kerry about financing for programs he wants and expressed doubts about getting other countries to help in Iraq.
They criticized Bush on Iraq, tax cuts, and civil liberties. This is the strangest endorsement I've ever seen. I'm age 60 and been through many elections.
The editor expects Bush to change. Are they this dumb? or is this a forced by owner endorsement? or what?
I love your website and visit almost every day.
A BuzzFlash Reader
Subject: They Need to Hit Bush With Everything They've Got
Dear BuzzFlash Editor,
I cannot understand how--or why--the Kerry campaign repeatedly lets George Bush get away with murder. Bush's ads and speeches constantly warn that John Kerry will make America more vulnerable to terror. But who was in charge when terrorists attacked on 9/11? Whose administration ignored or overlooked the warning signs that terror was on its way?
Clearly, the incompetence of Bush's White House allowed terrorists to sneak through the cracks and attack the U.S. Now George Bush is, in effect, warning that John Kerry will be just as incompetent!!!
The difference between George Bush and John Kerry is that President Kerry will never, ever tolerate incompetence. I wish the Kerry campaign would use that line of thinking. A lot of Americans are foolishly falling for Bush's fear fuss because they haven't thought through the fear. Who's really better at keeping America safe? George Bush didn't keep America safe on 9/11. Why should we expect him to keep us safe now?
Marc Levenson
Castro Valley, California
Subject: Unlimited Hubris
I just discovered that Tom DeLay, speaking to the Pearland, Texas, Chamber of Commerce on August 18, 2004, said: "It's time now for the American people to understand that we (the GOP) are a permanent majority."
I'm so sorry. It is actually time for DeLay to accept a permanent residency in federal prison. Vote Tom DeLay for Representative of Cell Block 'B'!
Donald L Feinberg
Naperville, IL
Subject: Editorial: It's The Wolves in the White House
Excellent editorial, BuzzFlash. Sums up precisely the extremely precarious state of American democracy. If Bush retains power it will be truly scary. If Kerry prevails, things can turn around overnight.
My hopes are hinged on factors not present in 2000. The electrified Democratic party, and especially the youth vote energized. The 170M cell phone users unaccounted for in the polls. New voter registrations at the highest rates in thirty years. 10,000 election attorneys at the polls along with numerous watch groups, everyone is aware of the voter fraud and is vigilant. Internet activism is a factor not seen before and can be the edge. Rove is on record as counting on the Wolves commercial...and it's a big dud.
And events keep changing. Oil is climbing towards an unbelievable $60 a barrel. The financial markets and dollar are falling. And every day brings some new outrageous failure from Bush Inc. Like the mind-numbing 400 tons of missing explosives in Iraq, about which they were warned, and warned, and warned. Plus Big Dog is back! I believe we're going to win.
Suzanne
San Francisco
Subject: Embarrassing site for GOP campaigners....also on Wonkette
Check out www.georgewbush.org/deadletteroffice.....
The emails are for real, and you will recognize many familiar names...look closely at the senders and receivers of the emails. Check out the phone numbers, they are real. This afternoon, there was an email with an attachment of many people's Social Security numbers, not even encrypted. At DemocraticUnderground, we kinda figured the site would go down soon, and it did, so we mirrored the emails, and saved all the attachments separately. The site is back up now, but you can no longer download all of the attachments. Contact DU for any attachment you can't download from the site. Wonkette picked it up immediately, from a tip from DU: Bush Letters Sent to the Wrong Email Address (So Many Internets to Choose From!)
GeorgeWBush.org has posted email sent to addresses at georgewbush.org intended for addresses at georgewbush.com, including interoffice missives and media strategy memos ("I'd suggest an op-ed piece written by a 'friend' that exposes the injustice of these attacks on a local family owned business."). Conspiracy theorists will find plenty of fodder for 527 coordinating activity and identity thieves will find plenty of Social Security numbers.
We, of course, are most interested in the back-and-forth among BC04 staffers about how hot the Bush girls are (Of Barb: "She and I would look good together...") and a surprisingly uninformed discussion about how one ingests crack: Hack 1: Crack is supposed to be smoked? Hack 2: Would you have rather him said "Mr. Rodriguez is wiping crack."? Hack 1: I was just trying to educate myself.
Yes, it's good to see the young Republicans moving beyond the more familiar powdered form. . . Dead Letter Office [WhiteHouse.org]
Kinda embarrassing, hmmm?
Ann
Subject: Missing explosives. I'm outraged.
Dear Reader,
Are you safer than you were four years ago? Four years ago, the IAEA had people on the ground in Iraq, keeping tabs on about 350 tons of conventional explosives stored at an installation called Al Qaqaa, (not to be confused with al Qaeda which did not operated in Iraq under Saddam). The IAEA had to pull their people out of Iraq just prior to the Bush/Cheney administration's long planned invasion of that nation. The 350 tons of explosives were left unmonitored. During the ensuing chaos of the invasion in the spring of 2003, and protracted fighting since, all those explosives have gone unaccounted for.
During a time when the administration's foreign policy has alienated our allies and made recruitment against us easier for our enemies, the US policy makers failed to secure 700,000 pounds of conventional explosives there for the taking by anyone with trucks. Are our troops in Iraq facing more risks because the explosives are out there in the Iraqi countryside? Have any of the missing explosives been sent out of Iraq to be used against Americans in other parts of the world? Are any of the explosives in one or two of the 95% of cargo shipping containers which come into the US without being inspected?
Dick Cheney continues to warn America is likely to be attacked by terrorists if Kerry is elected. Kerry did not leave those explosives unaccounted for since March of 2003. But our Commander in Chief did it. Mr. Vice President, if there are any explosions in America, it is you and the rest of the current administration who will be held responsible. The policies of the current administration have made the world safer only for those who profit from the manufacture and sale of weapons. The rest of the nation and world are hostages to the climate of hate and violence which war profiteers have fostered to ensure healthy quarterly reports. I'm outraged.
Sincerely,
Francis Marchal
(a concerned New Yorker in Switzerland)
CLICK HERE FOR PART 2 OF THE OCTOBER 27, 2004 BUZZFLASH MAILBAG.