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Austin, Texas... Politex's

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Dear Politex...

Bush and his team of financial geniuses, often referred to as the "DOW Dream Team" , have announced a new plan to save Social Security. To allow seniors to have more money for food and medicine, they will now begin receiving commodities. Each month, every person on Social Security will receive a coupon for 5 cartons of cigarettes, 10 lbs of lard, 5 lbs of fat back, 10 fifths of liquor, 20 lbs of sugar, and an unlimited supply of Little Debbies. An incentive plan for inactivity is also being considered, as well as some human pharmaceutical trials. This plan is called the Social Security Roll Reduction Plan. It is the brain child of Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill, who, as you may recall, has always been an opponent of Social Security and seniors in general, but has very nobly put aside his personal aversions in favor of the good of the common man.

Further, President Bush has declared that all northbound and eastbound lanes of federal highways will now be designated for use only by seniors and 18 wheelers in an effort to protect senior drivers from the dangers of younger, inconsiderate automobile drivers. On the new "Senior 18" highways, there will be no speed limit and the blood alcohol legal limit will be increased from .08 to 8.0 in order to accommodate the previously announced liquor commodity for seniors. The lanes will be split for two way travel on either side of the median. The seniors and 18 wheelers will be on one side and everyone else will be on the other. If necessary, a 20 foot high concrete wall will be erected between the two sets of highways to protect travelers from flying debris. Critics of the plan say it violates the "equal protection" clause of the Constitution, since the non-senior drivers will be forced to obey all existing traffic laws while the truckers and seniors will not. The Supreme Court is not expected to take up the case because they have recently ruled that they don't really understand the equal protection clause, anyway. This is phase II of the president's new Social Security Roll Reduction plan. The plan is expected to cut the Social Security rolls by two thirds in the first year. Please stay tuned for more exciting news from the President, as his batteries are "newly recharged" from his vacation. --Connie, 9/1/01

Thank you for the daily truth. I am not a Democratic dittohead, but I vote for the best possible candidate from any party. I use common sense, something that seems to have disappeared from the USA. I can't believe people stand for the shit that DUHbyah dishes out. They must all be on drugs. If someone came to your house and looked in your fridge then cooked you a meal with your goods but on their own stove would you pay restaurant prices for the meal? Why do we allow oil companies to go onto PUBLIC land pay a mere pittance (1 dollar) then take the oil and charge the PUBLIC full price for it? There is no risk involved. They already know the oil is there. If we charged them a fair market price for the oil they take we wouldn't even be talking about drilling in Alaska. Why not start a PUBLICLY owned federal utility company to go after the energy on public lands. Pay the workers a real wage and get the oil for the people, then SELL it to the oil companies for a PROFIT. I am sick and tired of being ripped off by DUHbyahs buddies.... --John, 8/31/01

From: David Guterson
Subject: Chainsaws Falling on Cedars?

I've had a personal relationship with our national forests since long before I wrote "Snow Falling on Cedars." As a college student, I worked summers for the U.S. Forest Service burning slash in clearcuts, piling brush, and fighting wildfires. I've seen the wilderness at its most fearsome -- and at its most fragile. Today, it's political cronyism between logging interests and the Bush administration which poses the greatest threat to the survival of the wild. From the Channel Islands in California to the Great North Woods in Maine, this dangerous combination of greed and political favoritism puts some of the most pristine and untamed places in our country at risk. The Tongass National Forest ( http://www.SaveBioGems.org/Tongass) is one of these vulnerable places. The heart of the largest temperate rainforest left on the planet, the Tongass is among the national forest wildlands now slated for logging and development. Alaska's Tongass is home to the world's largest concentration of grizzly bears and bald eagles. This inspiring landscape of misty isles and towering groves of ancient trees supports populations of the Alexander Archipelago wolf, sustains the black bear, and is crisscrossed by streams teeming with salmon. But the Tongass is also coveted by the logging industry. That's why so many have spoken up in support of protecting the Tongass and other national forest wildlands.

The Clinton administration heard your comments and, in January 2001, issued a landmark ban on roadbuilding and industrial logging in undeveloped roadless areas of our national forests. But the Roadless Rule, years in the making, has been waylaid by President Bush. His administration delayed implementing the rule, then refused to defend it in court. Now, despite more than 600 public hearings on the issue and a record-breaking 1.6 million public comments -- over 95 percent of which were in strong support of wilderness protection -- Bush has started a new 60-day public comment period, hoping that the same public support won't materialize a second time. (Prove him wrong at http://www.SaveBioGems.org/Tongass.)

Never mind that one half of our national forest system has already been developed by commercial interests. Never mind that there are already 378,000 miles of access roads carved into our national forests, more than eight times the length of the U.S. Interstate system. Never mind that Attorney General Ashcroft assured the Senate before his confirmation that he'd defend the Roadless Rule. Since he's been confirmed, he's done nothing to oppose lawsuits brought by industry and others hostile to this historic decision. Never mind that Americans have resolutely voiced their support for protecting the Tongass in overwhelming numbers. We don't want to see the timber industry destroy our natural wonders. And we sure don't want to be dragged back to square one on this issue. But here we are. Bush has decided to ignore these facts -- and your comments. With this 60-day window for additional "public" comment, Bush has waged a bet. He's betting you won't find out that the Tongass is once again on the chopping block. He's counting on running out these 60 days without letting you know that the clock is ticking. But you can bet your national forests that insider logging interests know when and where to put in their two cents.

I urge you to join me in this fight for the Tongass National Forest. It only takes a minute or so to make your voice heard. Visit http://www.SaveBioGems.org/Tongass and, with a click of the mouse, you can send an email directly to the Forest Service, or alert a friend to this environmental and ethical crisis. While you're there, you can take action to protect other wild places like Greater Yellowstone, the Everglades, and Utah's Redrock Wilderness now threatened by the Bush administration. Right, you might be saying to yourself, "Logging companies greased political coffers with enough money to convince the White House to attack our Roadless Rule. What's one email going to do?" A lot. Activism on the Web has emerged as one of the most potent grassroots tools we have to speak truth to power. NRDC web activists helped persuade President Clinton to create the Giant Sequoia National Monument. In Belize, your e-activism helped compel Duke Energy to drop out of a planned dam that would flood the Macal River Valley. In Chile, it was the power of a mouse that helped block Boise-Cascade's plans to build the largest wood-chip mill in Latin America. Click. I hope you'll take a minute to visit http://www.SaveBioGems.org/Tongass. The comment period ends September 10th. Tell our leaders in Washington that the Tongass National Forest -- and your vote -- is worth more than any campaign contribution. 8/27/01

As I browse through the variety of headlines displayed on Bush Watch and the myriad of issues they represent, from the disenfranchisement of tens of thousands of voters to the gutting of civil rights to the plundering of the country's financial and natural resources, and all of the official lies,. . . I counterpose that with CNN and other networks that today have been reporting and commenting upon NOTHING BUT Gary Condit interviews. What is wrong with this picture? If nothing else, it supports Mark Crispin Miller's hypothesis that we are in a mass, national, kind of post-traumatic psychosis. To watch the media that is in front, one would think that there are no substantive question of our day, except whether one pathetic congressman is going to going to get a clue....While...the population is raptly focused on the endless analysis and speculation (soap operas NEVER resolve, they simply hold the viewer) those who would take over and control the entire government are busily setting up their infrastructure and looting the store. --SZ, 8/26/01

After what happened during the Connecticut Cowboy's visit to New Mexico the other week, I'm amazed that the press is still complimenting him on his "sense of humor" and "getting along well with kids." (I am trying not to be too cynical, but, believe me, it's getting to be a full-time job.) Mr. Bush was in a second-grade classroom when one of the children asked him if he had ever seen Woodrow the White House Mouse. Apparently, George W. told his eager audience that his cat and dogs kept the mice away. This goes beyond any of my concerns about the guy's policies, or how he managed to get to the Oval Office in the first place. I would be disappointed if ANY public official or head of state responded in this way. The fact is -- Mr. Bush let those kids down.

"Woodrow the White House Mouse" is a children's book, intended to teach under-tens about how government works, and get them excited about democracy and voting. And because the real Washington D.C. is full of tall, serious grownups, Woodrow's creators wrote about a child-sized government of mice, with a Mouse President who lives in the real White House.

Maybe Mr. Bush doesn't know about the book (even though it's sold in the White House gift shop). Maybe he was tired after his whirlwind trip, or was out of sorts because the kids thought he was from Washington D.C., and wouldn't take the hint that he was "from Texas". Maybe, in the back of his mind, he was wondering how many of those children had parents who'd voted for Al Gore and swung the state over to the Dems last November. But those of us who have children, or babysit them, or teach them, know that when kids ask a question like "Have you ever seen Woodrow?", what they are really saying is "Come out and play!"

Most of the kids in that room probably suspected that Woodrow was fictional. They weren't expecting Mr. Bush to tell some outrageous fib, like he was appointing Woodrow to the Cabinet. But he could lean a little closer and confide that he'd sit down at his desk in the morning, and notice that the crumbs from yesterday's peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwich had vanished. That's all. The kids would have been thrilled. It would have made their day, that someone so grown-up and important would want to share something with them. Instead, every time they look at that book, they'll think of a democratically-elected mouse leader being madly pursued through the White House by the Bush family pets. Woodrow for Prez! --Lisa, 8/24/01

The more familiar I become with the way things are going, trying to lead a "normal" life in this country seems immoral. I knew it was going to be bad when Smirk stole the election, but I didn't realize it was going to be this bad. A Buzzflash reader sent this quote from a 1936 book about Hitler in a letter that was published today:

"'He has been adept in the art of reassuring public speech while devastating acts were being directed against his rivals (parties, unions, publishing houses, youth organizations). His enemies often fell out among themselves because they were lulled into underestimating his influence. One of the most interesting problems connected with propaganda and policy, not only under dictatorship, is the direct or inverse connection between words and deeds. Substantial concessions to the 'right' are often couched in the rhetoric of the 'left', and the policy of a minority may be adopted in the wrappings of a new vocabulary.'
Source: Propaganda and Dictatorship, page 111, edited by Harwood Childs, published by Princeton University Press, 1936."

We were right in drawing mustaches on Smirk and his cabal. Maybe every cartoon should automatically include them, lest we forget. --Jerry, 8/21/01

We want to alert your readers to an article by Lisa Kadonaga who studies global environmental change in Victoria, British Columbia. Based on an idea by Salt Lake City radio host Joe Jackson, she is suggesting that Salt Lake City be the next to OPT IN to the Kyoto Accord, following Seattle's lead. It would be wonderful to hear this announced by the Mayor when he opens the upcoming Winter Olympic Games. Lisa has outlined climate-saving measures that every individual can put into practice immediately.

At this crossroads in our country's history, we invite your readers to add their names to a petition that will be e-mailed to every state and local official in the state of UTAH, urging them to declare their solidarity with the rest of the citizens of Planet Earth by pledging to meet or exceed the modest emissions goals set forth in the Kyoto Accord.

Best to you all,
Ann at Go Kyoto, 8/20/01

Excuse me? The Federal Government is having to borrow money to pay for these tax 'refund' checks we're getting in the mail? This isn't a tax refund, money that is borrowed and paid back with interest is rightfully considered a loan. The Bush Administration is no different than those shyster 'Finance' companies that send unsolicited checks to people with low incomes and poor credit, to people that are dazzled by the prospect of instant cash without considering the ruinous interest they will accrue. The only difference is that those people have the choice of refusing to incur that debt, whereas Bush has forced this fraudulent 'tax cut' down all our throats. --Kent, 8/14/01

I loved the letters from Linda Kekumu and Kent!!! [see below] Wish they'd write more. I particularly loved Kent's analogy of bush being the trophy wife, including his brilliant comment about lack of nurturing while portraying the femine ideal--how true in all these rabid GOP wives!!!!!. I mean, who was with Jenna when she...had surgery? She was alone, even grandma Barbara was giving a speech in Boise, laughing at how her own son got his payback time. Laura should have been with both of her daughters and they should have been up front, and sent them some place this summer to "give back" in a volunteer opportunity, but I think Laura is exactly like Barbara, his mom. Dubya "married his mother", in terms of personality, and both true selves are hidden from the public. And the surrogate Karen Hughes has to take his mom's place in directing and controlling his life. All the Bush women are alike, faux femine, no, faux warmth and nuturing, like Kent pointed out. -- Betsy, 8/13/01

I'm at a loss to understand why no one has drawn attention to the bats that were flying around Bush's head while he read Rove and Hughes' statement on stem cell research. Yes, BATS! They come out at night in Texas (and here in Southern California) to feed on insects, and as we all know, insects are attracted by lights -- in this case, television lights. Look at the tape again and watch how they fly -- darting, not swooping. Talk to a scientist who studies bats. They're not birds, they're bats. While telling us how hard he thought about this weighty scientific and ethical problem, BATS WERE FLYING AROUND BUSH'S HEAD!!! You'd think someone who used to live in Austin, the "Bat Capital of America", would know that August is when the bat population is at its peak. (About Texas bats here.) --Steve, 8/12/01

Reflecting on the studied vanity of the 56 yr. old George Bush running for miles in triple digit temperatures at his Texas 'ranch,' as if to prove he's more of a man than all those wimpy football players in the news dying of heatstroke, a further question kept nagging at me, namely, what kind of adult has the freedom to spend so many discretionary hours daily in beautifying exercise? And it hit me - Bush enjoys the lifestyle of a Trophy Wife! The parallels are uncanny: like the Trophy Wife, Bush leaves the heavy lifting to others - strategy to Karl Rove, message to Karen Hughes, implementation to Dick Cheney, wisdom from his own Poppy; leaving Bush blissfully free to pursue his most perfect image of himself. As a Trophy Wife may garner laurels and legitimacy from the arduous tasks of directing interior decorators and the caterers, so too does Bush take 'security briefings' and 'meetings,' (and they must be punctual!) Not that Bush is actually making the decisions, he is obviously not the actual Commander in Chief - from the bombing of Iraq to planned actions off the China coast, military decisions are not being made in the White House; Bush only even hears about them afterward. In any event, little seems to interfere with his schedule of workouts and naps. But then, so goes the life of the Trophy Wife, who presents the perfect appearance of femininity while eschewing its nurturing essence - leaving the raising of the kids to nannies, cooking to the personal chef, etc. And so we have George Bush as the complete embodiment of what's come to be known as ornamental masculinity. He doesn't do the thinking, the doing, or the deciding, nothing at all than can remotely be considered productive. But he's fit! He can run miles in the heat! He's confident in his own mind he's more butch than anyone! And apparently, in Bush's mind, that's enough. --Kent, 8/10/01

I recently said Aloha to CNN...
"I am writing to express my dismay at the article I have just read at Roll Call.

"My family watched CNN for 20 years - it was always our first choice for news as it was good news coverage & fairly balanced until the last few years. During the ascension of Bush we noticed a real leaning to the right. This lean started with the coverage of the trumped up GOP charges of the Clintons but became very noticeable during Election 2000. I wrote several e-mails previously expressing my concern about your favoritism of Bush & finally in my last e-mail I told you that you had lost me as a viewer because of your news policy. Apparently I was not the only one as Roll Call seems to imply that CNN is having problems with its viewer audience. Well, all I can say is Duh! If you have traditionally report the news fairly, then suddenly switch to the right you will loose your more liberal audience because we want the real news, not what Karen Hughes & the Bush machine is spinning. Anyway - I stopped watching CNN for the past 9 months & have just last week started watching Crossfire again. I will take a wait & see position. For the record we have blocked NBC from our channel selector because of their extreme views, even though West Wing was one of our favorite shows.

"Politically, I am a moderate liberal. If your coverage upset me I imagine it would have upset thousands (millions) who are more liberal than I am. This is the reason you are losing your audience. Most Americans just want the truth - we are sick of having the news filtered by the GOP for us. I am greatly concerned about the new CNN look - if it is, as I suspect from this Roll Call article, an overt move to the right, then you can kiss me goodbye again. You may think that I am just one person & who cares what I think, but I have always been one to write letters to the editor & send e-mails when I notice something. Thousands of people think the same way but never write. Please also bear in mind that over half a million more people in this country voted for Al Gore than for Bush. It seems to me that if you really want to capture a wider audience you would halt this pandering after the GOP. There are only so many right wingers in America & NBC pretty much has them as an exclusive audience - I'd just forget about them & concentrate on getting back your moderate liberals/liberals - people like me who were disgusted about your pro-Bush coverage of the election.

"We just want the news, the facts. As a recent example, look at the Levy/Condit thing. The Washington DC police have stated that Condit is not considered to be a suspect, in fact they have stated that he is not even central to the investigation, yet there you are following him across America day in & day out. Why? This is not news, this is another political witch hunt because he's a Democrat & had an affair. How many Republican congressmen have had affairs that you are covering? What about the mysterious death of Lori Klausutis, congressman Joe Scarborough's aide. She was found dead inside the congressman's Fort Walton Beach office! Not a mention by you, not a whimper - oh I know - he's a Republican. So I am asking - why the double standard? Why do you hound the Democrats but stay at arm's length when it's a Republican? Perhaps if you can figure out the answer to this, you will have figured out why your audience is eroding." --Linda Kekumu, Pahoa, HI, 8/9/01

To: Mrs. Nancy (Reagan?)
From: Mr. Jefferson Davis Rushmore IV
Date: August 6, 2001

I am a regular reader of your letters to President Bush and am very impressed by your grasp of the issues facing Americans. Somehow you have managed to get linked to a Communist website run by a Jerry Politbureau, but I'm sure you are clever enough to find someone to unlink you. Anyway Nancy, the reason I am writing is that I have an idea that will help President Bush with his Mexican immigration/Republican party growth plan. Some people on the right are worried that Mexicans might take jobs away from people whose forefathers have been in this country for generations (like me - Son of the American Revolution AND the Confederacy!) But I have a solution to the problem. As you know, Nancy, during the 2000 campaign which Thank God was won by the right person despite the efforts of the lefties in the press, there were many liberals who said that they would leave the country if Bush became president. But they didn't leave, did they? So, instead of just letting Mexicans become citizens, why don't we do a trade? Send the socialist wackos who don't want to live in the greatest country in the world down to Mexico and let the Mexicans stay here. People like celebrity Alex Basinger and his brothers can go to Mexico where they will be able to spend as much time as they like practicing their Spanish and badmouthing President Bush. And the Mexicans, like that nice lady Maria who cleans my house twice a week, can stay up here where they will show the welfare louts what a good day's work is all about. 3 million liberals to Mexico and 3 million future Republicans to America!

You know, it would be nice if we could send the Senator from New York down to Mexico too, but I don't think her husband would go along. The girls down in Mexico are all good Catholics so they wouldn't be susceptible to his philandering talk. And by the way Nancy, your husband was the greatest leader this country has ever had. I mean it. W. Bush is right up there, but your man was number one.

Yours in conservatism,
Jefferson D. Rushmore

PS: Nancy, I am sure you were as excited as I was to see our Attorney General on the cover of the NRA magazine this month. It is such a relief to have John Ashcroft leading us instead of that unbalanced freak, Janet Reno. Reno was the "Attorney" (as in lawyer) and Ashcroft is the "General" (as in Eisenhower). By the way, I am going to spend my $300 tax refund on a new hunting rifle as a salute to General Ashcroft and the Bush administration.

I got a chuckle out of reading that apology to the European community. [See below.] We recently returned from Australia where the mood on the street, once people learned we were American, was to pat us on the back to console us, "for that election mess". Australians, being a philosophical people, accept that every once in a while something dreadful will happen, even to the nicest of people. A comment I heard repeatedly was, "Too bad about the election... now that last President of yours, though he had a bit of trouble, he was a smart fellow, wasn't he?" Australians, like Europeans, appear to accept that their leaders are human and fallible, but that the key characteristic one requires of a leader is a keen intelligence. Australians sometimes have problems of their own, though. Apparently the Premier of Australia's Northern Territory, one of their states, has turned out to be a raving right-wing ideologue. Every individual who spoke about that gentleman invariably referred to him as "that ass----". It only occurred to me after I had left Australia that because of how ubiquitous his nickname was, that I never heard the poor man's actual name spoken, and do not know it to this day. One almost wonders what he will be called in future Australian history books. It seems that bad elections can happen anywhere.

On my return to the US I was heartened to hear a caller to an NPR talk show about the IRS rebate program float the suggestion that every recipient of an IRS check should send their $300 to a fund set up for the purpose of raising enough money "to buy a Supreme Court Justice". The caller pointed out that since the Republicans bought Supreme Court Justices in the last election, clearly it COULD be done, so why not take a large number of otherwise powerless $300 checks and combine them into an economic force great enough to achieve something useful. I thought that was a very funny and mischievous idea. The caller left unanswered which of the current Justices he would try to corrupt, which he believed would rise to the bait. Even if none of the Scalia Five could be "turned", the concept makes for interesting political theater. What would it take to buy a Scalia or Thomas? What would be their "number"? Ten million? Fifty million? More? What price democracy? --Arthur, 8/5/01

We can no longer tell where the Bush administration/coup ends and the commercial media begins. The media not only lets Bush get away with lying through his thin little smile, it doesn't just seem to cooperate with the wholesale fraud, it seems to create entire scenarios of 'success' and 'confidence' whole cloth, without the slightest factual evidence in support. I heard on the radio (Pacifica station) this afternoon that Norwood's compromise amounted to making it almost impossible for patients to sue an HMO, which basically negates the usefulness of the whole thing. Something like you have to get the HMO's permission first.... As Rove has been identified as Bush's brains, I think Karen Hughes is in charge of Bush's ego, that fragile and barely tethered child's balloon thing that's always in danger of some accidental puncture or of simply flying away altogether....I see Rove as the stone-hard source of all motive in this administration, channeling his will through the tenuous ego of Bush. Bush and Rove are described as being very close, yet very edgy, as if neither wants to admit being the other's bitch. (So to speak.) It's all very odd, odd, odd. --Kent, 8/4/01

According to gossip columns, George H. W. Bush sometimes refers to his eldest son as "Quincy", an obvious reference to the coincidence of the two cases of father-and-son presidencies. It is worth noticing that John Quincy Adams at age 14 "excelled at" French, read Latin and some Greek, attended Leyden University where the lectures were in Latin, and left there to accompany the first United States ambassador to Russia as secretary and interpreter. (The ambassador did not speak French, the diplomatic language at the Czar's court.) When Quincy left Moscow, he travelled alone to the United States, a daunting trip. David McCullough's new biography of John Adams points out that "at age fifty (John Quincy Adams) had already served as minister to the Netherlands and Prussia, United States senator, Harvard professor, minister to Russia and Great Britain and was soon to assume the second-most important office in the government" (Secretary of State). We are not to think that George W. Bush has not benefitted from his educational opportunities. Schools of education emphasize that an essential function of our schools is to develop and preserve the self-esteem of every student. President Bush has no problem in this regard. --Gus, 8/3/01

Now that the D.C. Police have said they aren't interested in giving Condit a lie detector test, and really, honestly, don't consider him a suspect in the disappearance of poor Chandra Levy; maybe we might spare a little media oxygen for some other news items of interest. Not a lot of people are aware, for instance, that Philip Giordano, the Republican who ran against Joe Lieberman for that Connecticut Senate seat, is in jail for soliciting sex from girls as young as nine. Bet the GOP is grateful Lieberman won, huh? Speaking of Republicans who did win, there's the little matter of the dead woman in Rep. Joe Scarborough's office. Say what? Yup, a 28 yr old aide by the name of Lori Klausutis; and a week after her body was found, no cause of death has been announced! Some might compare the media's treatment of Condit versus these Republicans to how Clinton was treated with his sex scandal, when the majority of his Republican accusers were every bit as promiscuous as he and weren't called on it. Some of us have even concluded that the commercial media, owned as it is by the same people who give so much support to the Republican party, has become in effect the propaganda arm of the GOP. Spokesmen for GE's Jack Welch are at present giving evasive answers as to whether Welch ordered NBC News to call the election for Bush, for example. Something else a lot of people probably aren't aware of, which is pretty much the point. --Kent, 8/2/01

Thought you'd find the Rightguide's Conservative Directory interesting, if you all didn't know about it already. What do you think about posting it at some point, urging...people on the "left" to really study more about opposition research on the "right"? We've simply got to know the other side (remember the Art of War: Know your Enemy?), as I am totally convinced that Al Gore and Joe Lieberman, for example, were and STILL have absolutely no knowledge of those who opposed them, no clue at all!! Or else Lieberman wouldn't be so "central" now, especially on "faith-based" issues, of all things!! I am so disappointed in him, of all the Dems, and can't stand to see his face making the rounds of Sunday morning talk shows, smiling, smirking, agreeing arrogantly with the Republicans, and clueless about the other side's "goals"... especially since the war on the gays, for example, is the exact equalivent of another country's war on Jews in a previous era. Right Wing totalitarian groups always must have a "victim" group to scapegoat, no matter what period in history, even currently. Lieberman just doesn't get it at all. We've got to study, research, and learn more about their goals for future policy in America....The "religious" side of the ultra=right is the scariest-- and the most powerful!! Attending protests is o.k, but getting involved locally in grassroots is more effective. My parents were on just about all the right's mailing lists, being elderly, life-long Republicans, and I can tell you from reading those direct mails, the scary kooks of the past are now in the highest legitimate offices of the American government. --Betsy, 8/1/01

Here's what I wrote to the European community:

Just a friendly note to let you know, that the imposter who is flitting around the globe, purporting to "represent" the United States,does not represent the majority of us. We would like to take this opportunity to apologize for foisting this idiot upon the world stage.

You see, we had an election in November 2000, and the majority of our nation voted for the other guy...Unfortunately, for us and you too, the imposter and his henchmen, through devious means,managed to usurp the wishes of the nation and weasel their way into power. Being the civilized , law-abiding people that we are, we were under the assumption that "things would work out" correctly....

What we hadn't counted on, was that this guy's Daddy had people in high places who were evidently able to "call in some favors" and the not-so Supreme Court "appointed" him to the presidency...

We apologize to Mother Earth...This guy is going to rape you, drill holes in you, fill your atmosphere with noxious fumes,pile excrement on you, and expect you to say "Thank You George Bush"...

We apologize to the poor of the world...This guy doesn't care that you even exist.. The payback to his "Oily Buddies" comes first...so please step to the back of the line...

We apologize to the freedom-loving countries of the world, but this person seems determined to break any treaty that stands in the way of repaying the "military complex" who footed the bill for a large portion of his coup d'etat...

We apologize to the animals and resources of the world...You are an "asset" that he wants to exploit...Animals are "game" to him and trees are but "potential plywood"....

41 months is a long time, but believe us when we say to you..We are MAD AS HELL and we won't take this a second longer than we have to...We appreciate the fact that you are brave enough to protest and stand up to this puny excuse of a human...

We do try to protest here, but the Ultra-Conservative Right Wing has purchased control of our media, so that whenever a protest is waged, it is not widely reported here..

Please fly your protest banners high... Please keep your media involved in exposing the truth....When you protest and bare your behinds it DOES make news here... Please continue, and flash some behind for us...

When Europe was in danger in the past , the people of the United States came to your aid and stood shoulder to shoulder to redeem democracy and freedom.. Now it is your turn to repay the favor to the majority of the Americans, who are being opressed from within...

We may not have the media voice to get the word out to the world,but we are many, and order will be restored with your help....

Again, please accept our sincerest apologies....."

I sent this to every european newspaper and embassy that I could find the address for.. I even got some responses.. One was a one word reply..."Bravo" --Bush Watcher, 7/30/01

New dimensions were added to the surpassing surrealness of George W. Bush with the advent of his second European adventure. Pressed by Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair as to what exactly Bush wanted him to agree to in regards to the missile shield proposal, Bush admitted he had no answer because he only had "vague notions" about the whole thing himself. Later, Bush refused reporter's questions about climate change, saying he would discuss this matter in private with the European heads of state. But it seems Bush retained his Sphinx-like silence even during these meetings; not only was climate change not discussed, a staff member present could recall Bush only speaking three sentences on any and all topics. We're only too aware by now that Bush has been graded on his own 'special' curve his entire life; we know by now that in this administration Rove directs things, and Cheney runs things - Bush's only job is to be the personable front man, the chief salesman. But it seems he can't even make the effort to do this, apart from a thin routine of backslapping and mugging before the cameras. He emerges from meetings with Russian premier Putin and declares new breakthroughs, only to have positions change drastically within hours; it would seem Bush feels free to make things up to cover his laziness and incompetence. Is it too early to ask if this is the most dangerous moment in our nation's history? --Kent, 7/27/01

Total US population as of April 1 2001: 281,421,906

Population of all cities over 75,000 in the "blue" states: 128,627,955

If these cities decide to follow Seattle's lead, an estimated 46% of Americans would be covered by strategies for meeting the Kyoto Protocol.

Now, the Republicans never fail to show off those county-by-county Election 2000 maps that paint the interior of the country red, with splashes of blue. To be fair to them, let's acknowledge this. If the blue county residents decide to implement global warming mitigation, this would include cities like Cleveland, Nashville, Memphis, El Paso, and Tucson. And let's not be forgetting New Orleans, St. Petersburg and Miami, who stand to lose a considerable amount of real estate if sea levels continue to rise. And if Austin, Texas comes onside, that brings us up to approximately 16 million additional people, which is well over the 50% mark.

I have completely overlooked the smaller municipalities, who may also wish to join in. So it is quite possible that, on a city-by-city basis, a majority of the American population could voluntarily join the nations supporting the Kyoto process -- thereby telling the Bush Administration "Who cares what you think?" --Lisa in Victoria, B.C., Canada, 7/26/01

I guess I'm the only one who remembers a press conference given by Ford Motors' CEO at the time, Alex Trottman, where he was asked, 'If, by moving so much production to Mexico, will this result in lower prices for American consumers?' Perhaps because Trottman is a Brit, and maybe lacks the genetic propensity to dissemble of the native-born CEO, but Trottman was quite candid: "No, we are under no obligation to do that. Our only obligation is to the shareholder." A follow-up question was directed at Fords' responsibility to its American work force, to which Trottman repeated his previous response. So, you see, this is the only motivation behind so-called 'Globalization' - to maximize profits for the shareholders. It will not enrich workers in poor countries, as George W. Bush shamelessly claims; corporations have moved their production to these countries for the expressed purpose of obtaining the closest approximation of free labor they can find. Nor does cheap production result in cheap prices for consumers - a pair of Nike Air Jordon's costs $3.50 to produce in China, yet they still retail for $150.00 here. My 4-cylinder BMW built by well-paid German workers cost $20,000, and I assume they weren't giving the car away; yet a 4-cylinder VW made in Mexico somehow also retails for about $20,000. Since the Romans and Greeks plied the Mediterranean, trade has been as 'global' as man's knowledge of the world allowed. What so many of us find unacceptable is the pernicious economic structure that is being imposed on global trade. It's the system we see here at home, where a tomato grower gets 2-cents a pound for $2 a pound fruit, with corporate middlemen taking the balance. It is the antithesis of free-enterprise, because individual enterprise is systematically crushed by un-checked corporate power and individual productivity stolen outright. It is undemocratic as these corporate entities increasingly operate outside the law, to the extent of actual subversion of local lawful authority. It amounts to a world-wide tyranny that must be opposed by all right-thinking people. --Kent, 7/25/01

Bush's personal physician, Ken Cooper, has been discussed as a possibility for the new Surgeon General. I was listening to a local radio station in Dallas one sunday afternoon when Dr. Ken Cooper of Cooper's Aerobic Center in Dallas was being interviewed. He said he had just gotten back from DC and talking with Tommy Thompson about being the next SG and that Thompson told him he could hardly wait until he got there and wished he could start tomorrow. Then, for the next 30 minutes Cooper talked about what he would do when he becomes the next Surgeon General of the United States. He was hyped, enthused, I thought I was listening to a religious channel the way they were laughing and talking in a "praise the Lord, hurry up and help us change the nation" tone of voice. One thing Cooper wants to do is to make everyone "healthy," so they can go to their doctor each year and have their cholesterol, blood pressure, etc., taken and get a sticker from their doctor that says they are healthy and put that certified sticker on their personal income tax form to the federal gov't and get a tax deduction for being healthy. Another thing he enthused about was being physically fit, so if you belong to a health club or center and work out regularly you can get another sticker and put that on your income tax so you won't have to pay as much tax. (He didn't say what he would do if you jogged around Austin's Town Lake and who would certify that for you!) There were other ideas he told his radio audience that he had discussed with Tommy Thompson. All I kept thinking about were those old black and white films on the History Channel about the fitness and health movement in Germany in the 30's, and a government that decided who was fit and healthy and who was unfit and "diseased," and what they did with them. Encouraging the nation to eat right, exercise, etc., is a good thing, but we cross the line when it becomes reporting to the federal government about one's personal medical health each year for an income tax reduction. --Betsy, 7/34/01

Hey Politex, I just got my first paycheck that showed a cut in the federal taxes. $2.08 over two weeks. Yep! That tax cut is really benefiting those single white male civil engineers just out of college trying to pay off student loans. That annual $49.92 will make a great down payment on a house or maybe I'll splurge and buy a boat! And it only comes at the expense of our education, health care, social security, and other "wasteful" social programs. What a bargain!!! --Rich, 7/20/01
I think that most of the press has the wrong take on the proposed amnesty for illegal Mexican immigrants. Will three million people vote for Bush just because he signed an amnesty bill into law? Not likely. Most of them may be poorly educated, but they aren't stupid. They will vote where pocketbooks and their families' health lie. My wife and niece are Peruvians, and they work with people from a variety of Latin American countries, both legal and illegal immigrants. Why is Shrub only proposing amnesty for Mexican immigrants? Why not for the thousands of Peruvians, Brasilians, Chinese, Eritreans, etc. who are also here illegally? They are so few, in comparison to the millions of Mexicans. The answer lies with the type of people who immigrate. In Mexico people of the professional, middle and upper classes stay put. They have comfortable lives and status within their societies. The poor underclass are the principle people who come to the United States, people who have nothing to lose, whose lives are so difficult that working at Taco Bell for minimum wage seems a major step up. Their education and expectations are such that they are content with bottom-rung slots, and worry that agetating for higher status will endanger their positions. Bush's cronies need to legalize the several million Mexicans currently working in the United States to take the pressure off the wage market. Legalize them and they will grab for the factory and other unskilled positions that are a step above what they can occupy now. That will leave the lowest positions open for a new batch of illegal immigrants. Reagan did the same thing almost two decades ago, flooding the job market with people willing to work hard for poverty wages, willing to live packed into tenaments without health health insurance, afraid or unwilling to get involved in politics or unions because they had lived with the fear of deportation for so long that it was ingrained. They were able to keep the minimum wage in force and unchanged for a decade that way.
Immigrants from other countries, however, are most frequently of a different social class. They are mostly middle class who come to the United States with the dream of becoming someone important. My wife is a manager in her store. My niece wants to become a computer professional. Our friend Victor is not content with working as a cook. He wants to own the restaraunt. Gabriela wants her own housecleaning business, rather than working for someone else. Chen is studying programming. My brother-in-law only wants to come if he can take the Civil Engineer exam here and bring his title with him. My sister-in-law will only come if she can continue teaching. Both of them could make more money and have more stuff than they do now by coming and working illegally as carpenters or day-care helpers, but why would they throw away everything that they have worked for just to have more stuff? They will both come, when they can do so legally and retain their professions. These are the people that Shrub wants to keep out. People who are traditionally politically active, who participate in and organize unions, who believe that governments, no matter how corrupt, ultimately belong to the voters rather than to the corporations and are willing to say so. Legalizing the Mexican immigrants while keeping the South American immigrants illegal is just another example of Cheney taking what was originally a Democratic idea, twisting it to fit his sponsor's needs, and letting George II take credit for it. It needs to include all illegal immigrants, or none. --Brian, 7/18/01
Re Ask Politex, 7/15/01, there appears to be a general policy on the part of the most ardent supporters of Israel to accuse anyone giving the least bit of support to the Palestinians of being an anti-Semite or of supporting anti-Semitism. There are numerous articles and opinion pieces appearing in the Israeli press pointing out the duplicity and the dangers inherent in the policies of Sharon. As well, the Israeli/Palestinian peace activists also have harsh words for what is taking place. If any of these were published in the US Press, there would be an outcry of "anti-Semitism." Here in West Florida, any letter printed in the St. Pete Times or the Tampa Trib that is the least bit, or can be construed to be , favorable to a Palestinian position or unfavorable to a Israeli position is met automatically with a letter from one of the Jewish groups. A fellow named Norman Gross has unlimited access to the Letters to the Editor space of both papers. The result is that there is not a fair presentation of what is taking place. The papers are censoring themselves.

Your reader may jump on Pravda (them damn commies) but what about the reports in the Israeli press? What about the reports in Janes? The reader needs to do more research. He needs to contact some of the peace movements such as Gush Shalom to find out about what is really going on (gush-shalom.org). Under the exsisting ceasefire plan, one in which each violation of the peace renews the 7 day period of absolute non violance, there can never be a resumption of the peace talks. It is not anti-Semetic to point this out. After all, this idiotic proposal was made by us and Sharon jointly. Sharon seems to be intent on developing a Greater Israel, perhaps one from the Nile to the Euphrates (Genesis 15:18). We seem to be at least tacitly letting him have his way. Sharon was in this country just prior to his march on the Temple Mount (as reported by Safire), a march that destroyed whatever little prospect there was of a successful peace negotiation and precipitated the current situation. Whom diid he see? What deals did he make? Maybe the current administration owes him. It wouldn't be the first time the Republicans made a deal in the interests of winning an election. (Nixon/Vietnam and the Dragon Lady; Reagan/Bush and the Hostages as testified to by Bani Sadr and the former head of French Intellegence, a pal of Reagan.) You don't need to apoligize for Pravda. It didn't say anything that is not being said in Israel and elsewhere. Tell your reader to read Haartz. --Robert, 7/16/01

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