Let's Talk Sense Archives - May

Message board comments
from January through February 2002


Date:: 05/01/02
Time:: 05:14 PM

Comments

Talking sense is what I do every day on the internet at www.Meria.net I've had many of the protesters that were harassed at "freedom zones" on the show. Everyone from Vincent Bugliosi to Greg Palast. Today Jennifer Van Bergen on the so called "US Patriot Act". All shows are archived for relistening 24/7. Check it out. Many of my listeners found out they "are not alone". In solidarity, Meria

Date:: 05/03/02
Time:: 02:30 PM

Comments

Feds Sneak Privacy Review Past Public Wes Vernon, NewsMax Monday, April 29, 2002

WASHINGTON -- The federal government is quietly slipping through its proposal to break down the walls of the confidential relation between you and your doctor. The idea seems to be to do it when you're not looking.

Friday, April 26 was the deadline for public comment. If you didn't know that, it's because the Department of Health and Human Services did not go out of its way to publicize that date. And the deadline itself, with some notable exceptions, received scant attention in the mainstream media.

HHS plans to eliminate requirements to obtain written patient consent before health records can be disclosed to anyone, even to other doctors. That privacy-invading provision has been added to an already troublesome document.

NewsMax.com has documented the chain of events in the medical privacy fiasco that the Bush administration inherited from its Clinton predecessors. We have examined, line by line, how the nearly 2,000 pages of regulations that claim to protect medical privacy, in fact, do the exact opposite.

Convoluted Verbiage

In trying to cut through the convoluted verbiage in the regulation promulgated in the waning days of the Clinton administration, the Bush people have only made matters worse. In part, this is because they have relied on many of the same bureaucrats who wrote the measure in the first place.

"These rules do little to protect privacy and everything to hinder the ability of doctors to provide quality care, so the Bush administration [would be] right to discard them," declares Dr. Mark Schiller, a practicing psychiatrist, writing in the San Francisco Chronicle.

But the comment period on the additional proposal has slipped by.

NewsMax is urging readers to protest to HHS and to Congress and let the powers that be know they are being closely watched. Even past the official deadline, a strong protest over the stealthy manner in which this comment period has been handled can garner a healthy respect in Washington for an aroused public.

The entire regulation is an outgrowth of the 1996 Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), a measure containing many provisions first devised in former First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton's secret task force, whose legitimacy was ultimately negated by a federal judge.

Originally dubbed the Kennedy-Kassebaum bill, congressional left-wingers made lots of noise, warning of dire political consequences to any lawmaker who dared question it.

But Congress typically ended up taking a bow for "doing something," and left the actual rule writing to unaccountable unelected bureaucrats.

The Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS) filed a lawsuit last year challenging the original document on the grounds that it violates the First, Fourth, Fifth, and Tenth Amendments to the Constitution. Filing Suit Earlier this month, AAPS told NewsMax it would file another suit challenging the latest insult to injury. AAPS Counsel Kathryn Serkes describes the newest proposal to break down doctor/patient privacy as "another 186 pages of mud."

This latest addition to an already confusing picture is not only invasive, but also downright dangerous, says Serkes.

First, it means the patient is likely to be reluctant to share with his doctor information relevant to his proper care. Some patients fear filling a prescription can lead to their being hounded by telemarketers.

The new regulations, if implemented, would "place every American's medical records in the hands of government, by giving HMOs, insurance companies, medical researchers, and other state-favored interests an enhanced right to view medical records without patient consent," charges Rep. Ron Paul, R-Tex.

"HHS is stripping patients of the last remnants of control over their health care," Paul added. The congressman, a practicing physician, has introduced legislation that would scrap the entire 2,000 pages.

Bare to the World

Attorneys have said the new rule would bare to the world personal matters far beyond information required to treat the medical problem at hand: "Infertility, cancer, marriage counseling, there's no end to it, " says privacy rights attorney James C. Pyles.

As explained by psychiatrist Schiller:

"The regulations state that if any physician electronically transmits any bill for his patients whatsoever, then the statute pertains to all the physicians patient records. The statute permits the government access to any and all of a doctor's patient records - without a warrant. The regulations are so vague that it appears that just about any government official at any level can seize the records."

Privacy experts believe only an outraged public can stop the momentum of this assault on the confidentiality of your personal medical records.

Date:: 05/03/02
Time:: 03:23 PM

Comments

Someone should start an organizaztion titled,

"U.S. Patriots afraid of their Government."

Date:: 05/06/02
Time:: 08:16 AM

Comments

More Proof we should back Isreal:

a staged Palestinian funeral photographed by an Israeli drone flying over Jenin on Monday, April 28. Pallbearers repeatedly tried to carry a green blanket wrapped around a man who pretended to be dead, but kept falling out of the blanket.

. "When he came back to life in the middle of the crowd (at approximately 1:35 in the clip), the crowd breaks up because they didn't know that it wasn't really a corpse." Israel Radio reported that many reporters laughed at the point in the tape that the "corpse" seemed to "rise from the dead," causing the people around him to flee in terror.

"The video, said Col. Eisen, "constitutes only one filmed proof of what has been happening in Jenin in the last weeks,"

Israeli intelligence sources reported that Palestinians have been exhuming corpses from nearby cemeteries and burying them in a mass grave of those who fought the Israelis in Jenin.

Link to the video:

http://israelinsider.com/channels/diplomacy/articles/dip_0204.htm#

Date:: 05/14/02
Time:: 03:37 AM

Comments

Patriotism means to stand by the country. It does not mean to stand by the president or any other public official save exactly to the degree in which he himself stands by the country. It is patriotic to support him insofar as he efficiently serves the country. It is unpatriotic not to oppose him to the exact extent that by inefficiency or otherwise he fails in his duty to stand by the country." -- President Theodore Roosevelt, 1908

Date:: 05/17/02
Time:: 05:30 PM

Comments

Wouldn't you think this administration would be ASHAMED to say they had SOME knowledge, but it wasn't specific!!!!!! After all, if a terrorist is going to leak the fact that an attack may take place, the LEAST he can do is specify the place, the time and the method......no?

And besides, if the terrorists don't give us a detailed plan of their attacks, how are our intelligence agencies supposed to know what to do about it??!!!!!! The CIA has an annual budget of 38 BILLION dollars, (and Bush wants to increase it considerably. How are they supposed to operate efficiently on a tiny pittance like THAT !!????

Date:: 05/17/02
Time:: 05:37 PM

Comments

Wouldn't you just love to hear some gutsy senator, congressperson or journalist say to George Bush: "With all due respect, Mr. President, could you please explain to the American people how it was that you saw the FIRST airliner crash into the World Trade Center tower??? You made that statement a number of times, and yet we KNOW that those images were not televised until much later."

Date:: 05/20/02
Time:: 08:20 AM

Comments

"This is a MUST READ from a couple of Republicans with integrity....the kind that remind me that it was once an honorable thing to be a Republican." www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/001/254jciwt.asp

Date:: 05/22/02
Time:: 08:40 AM

Comments

McKinney was vindicated.

http://www.nationalreview.com/goldberg/goldberg051702.asp

Date:: 05/22/02
Time:: 01:00 PM

Comments

This is for the writer of the anonymous comment attacking Congresswoman McKinney. You are obviously NOT reading the current news. Ms McKinney is thoroughly vindicated by the latest news which even Bush and his cronies are not disputing. Many other members of Congress, Republicans as well as Democrats, are now calling for a thorough investigation of 9/11. The warnings that have so upset us all were received in August, the month before the attacks. I would urge you to inform yourself before making any further nasty remarks about a courageous congresswoman. She is an American heroine!!!!!

Date:: 05/23/02
Time:: 06:04 PM

Comments

How refreshing to find this website. I found the link on DemocraticUnderground.com. I look forward to coming back often.

Date:: 05/23/02
Time:: 08:30 PM

Comments

Europe's Irrelevant and knows it. By Don Feder:

Commenting on Secretary of State Colin Powell's meeting with NATO foreign ministers in Iceland last week, The New York Times anxiously informed us that in European eyes, America is "heedless, insular, bellicose, unilateralist."

And in American eyes, Europe is envious, bitter, alienated and -- ultimately -- irrelevant.

That no one pays much attention to their anti-Israel hysteria is an ongoing source of frustration for Europeans. (If it were up to the European Union, Yasser Arafat would have a state encompassing Tel Aviv and Haifa, as well as the West Bank.)

The French applaud themselves on the defeat of Jean-Marie Le Pen (whom they revile as a "fascist"), while French synagogues go up in flames, French Jews are beaten in the streets and President Jacques Chirac insists there's no anti-Semitism in France.

One who knows better, Italian journalist Oriana Fallaci (once the darling of the Euro-left), declares: "I find it shameful that in France, the France of Liberty-Equality-Fraternity, they burn synagogues, terrorize Jews, profane their cemeteries. I find it shameful that the youth of Holland and Germany and Denmark flaunt the kaffiye. ... I find it shameful that in Italy state-run television stations contribute to the resurgent anti-Semitism, by crying over only Palestinian deaths, while playing down Israeli deaths."

sraelis still stand for something. We are among the last defenders of the civilization Europe created, then abandoned. After the great bloodletting of World War I, Europe lost the will to resist evil. It wasn't until German panzer divisions were rolling across Poland that most Europeans awoke to the dangers of fascism.

The French army put up a weak defense, then Vichy France spent the rest of the war collaborating. Italy joined the Axis at the outset. While it's true that the Brits were in it two years before us, if not for Eisenhower, Patton and Omar Bradley, they'd be singing Deutschland Uber Alles in Piccadilly.

During the Cold War, America had to drag our so-called NATO allies (most with burgeoning communist parties) kicking and screaming to the defense of the West.

European moral confusion was epitomized by that pompous nonentity, Charles de Gaulle, who referred to Washington and Moscow as "the two hegemonies" -- as if America (which saved Europe with the Marshall Plan and Truman Doctrine) really wanted to impose a system of gulags on Belgium and France.

Since the fall of the Berlin Wall, little has changed. Europe's contribution to the Gulf War was symbolic. Its armies of doormen and headwaiters are fit only for au pair employment in the Third World.

European greatness is in the dim past. Today, the continent's chief exports are incomprehensible films, freakish fashions, cars that are permanently parked in repair shops and, of course, their perpetual petulance. Europeans' smugness is mystifying. They have pretensions without real intellect.

Europe's few authentic thinks see this clearly. In an essay in the May 13 issue of Forbes ("Ten Reasons for Identifying with America"), British historian Paul Johnson writes, "These days, when young people come to me for advice, I always say to them: 'If you're ambitious, make your life in the U.S.A."'

Europe has no future. Demographically, it's dying and no one is sending sympathy cards. Except for Moslem Albania, there isn't a European nation with a birthrate approaching replacement levels.

Maternity wards are almost as empty as churches. (Religious attendance is lowest here -- another symptom of the general malaise.) Without immigration, in a few generations, Europe would be a wasteland. The Europeans of tomorrow will be Africans, Arabs and Asians. They will wander through the great cathedrals and museums, and wonder what it once meant.

The man without a survival instinct despises those who still struggle for life. Reflecting the Stockholm syndrome, Europeans identify with the Third World thugs and holy warriors who are digging their graves.

European malice is directed exclusively at the United States and Israel. Theirs is the rage of the impotent

Date:: 05/24/02
Time:: 03:57 AM

Comments

You could have provided a simple link to that article. So many words just to prove the point the NY Times made in the first sentence!

Date:: 05/24/02
Time:: 12:40 PM

Comments

Am so impressed by you, Maltilda. Wish you were in Washington fighting for us. Happened to find you mentioned on Democratic Underground site. will visit yours often. Please pray that Janet Reno will take back Florida and save us at least from Jeb. I am a republican soon to be a democrat. God bless and take care. M. Bandlow

Date:: 05/25/02
Time:: 03:38 PM

Comments

Sorry, didn't have the link, a friend sent the article.

Here's a link to a good article:

http://www.nationalreview.com/goldberg/goldberg050102.asp

Date:: 05/26/02
Time:: 08:28 PM

Comments

Re: The Goldberg article above

Seems Matilda could spend some of her time dealing with the problems of her adoptive country less on US politics until she decides to live here again.

Date:: 05/27/02
Time:: 09:05 AM

Comments

Matilda: I have read some of the articles in your website and am appalled at some of the outrageous, unsubstantiated statements you publish as fact. To believe you one has to accept that all Republicans and Conservatives are liars and dishonest traitors and that Palistinian terrorists are justified in killing Americans because we haven't done enough to correct the terrible conditions under which they have lived since the establishment of the State of Israel. Your message is clear. Liberals have all the right answers and Conservatives have all the wrong ones. Such a simplistic view of very complex matters does not engender much confidence in its reliability. I couldn't begin to take the time to comment on the long list of misstatements in your articles. I will leave it at this. The vast majority of the population of the United States disagrees with most of what you say. That is why conservative radio talk show hosts are thriving while liberal TV anchors are losing audience to more balance reporting on Fox News cable. President Bush's popularity remains high because the majority of the people like what he is doing as a president and respect the dignity he has brought to the office after the despicable shame brought on by his predecessor. They also recognize the competence of his cabinet officials and the outstanding jobs they are doing. I believe you would have a much better appreciation for this country, if you would come back and travel around and talk to the people rather than remain overseas reading only articles written by liberals who are livid about President Bush's poll ratings and beside themselves because they sense from the mood of the people that they are going to lose control of the Senate and lose seats in the house in the coming off-year elections. Whether or not that happens the country will survive. We always do. That's what makes our system so great. Happy Memorial Day! Remember all those who gave their lives so that people like you and I would have the freedom to express our views freely even though we totally disagree. Bill Koch

Date:: 05/28/02
Time:: 09:46 AM

Comments

I feel that I MUST respond to the previous comment. To refer to Fox News as "balanced" is truly laughable. Furthermore, the popularity of liars like Rush Limbaugh and his ilk (and they DO lie!) can be ascribed to the virulent hate so common among the extremists on the right. I am not sure what this man means by the “majority” of Americans because the “majority” of Americans do not listen to ANY talk radio and scarcely listen to the nightly news—they are busy enough with day-to-day activities without the added intrusion of news, opinion, and information. If this man really feels that the “majority” of Americans actually ascribe to the hate-filled commentary of the right-wing extremists so representative of talk radio, then perhaps he can cite just ONE right-wing host that has a majority market share. Even when considering Fox News, I think that he would find it difficult to find a single report indicating that this network actually appeals to the “majority” of Americans. Yes, Fox News does quite well because they appeal to a certain niche of the American public, just as Jerry Springer does quite well by being totally outrageous.

As to Bush’s poll numbers, any close examination of these figures demonstrates that support for the so-called war on terrorism is quite high while Bush’s domestic policies are generally rejected. In other words, the support for Bush is broad and thin. As to the upcoming election in November, I remember when all the pundits predicted massive losses for the Democrats in 1998, yet contrary to these predictions, the Democrats actually had a net GAIN in Congress. This election will be less a referendum on Bush’s foreign policy and more a referendum on his domestic and fiscal policies, which leave a lot to be desired by a large proportion of the country. Frankly, I think that it is far too early to tell which way the midterm election will go, but I think that the unemployment rate and the economic state of the country will have A LOT to do with what happens. The midterm election of 1942 shows just how schizophrenic this nation can be with respect to public opinion about the president and electing members of Congress. Does this person really believe that people have changed that fundamentally since 1942? I rather doubt it.

As to the articles posted, I cannot say that I agree with all, or even most, of those posted. And, yes, they present some uncorroborated information. Whether that information is true or false, we will not know without a thorough investigation into Enron, the financial sector, the events leading up to 9/11, and every other issue that taints the current administration. Thus far, Bush’s poll numbers coupled with a generally lazy press corps have staved off any reasonable debate about the administration’s culpability in some of these issues. But the American people are a fickle bunch so it is quite reasonable to predict that these things WILL change. With Richard Shelby, hardly a “liberal”, and other Republicans calling for an independent investigation into 9/11, there is already evidence that the stonewalling by Bush and company will not hold off continuing questions about these issues. And just as George H. W. Bush had astronomical support for the Gulf War and lost the following year, so can Bush’s support vanish in a heartbeat. When that happens, then maybe the American public will actually find out what is true and what is not.

As to any comparison of Bush to Clinton, I think this person should learn a little more about Bush’s background and the many underhanded and unscrupulous things that he has done over the years to make money and to gain political advantage (not to mention his sordid personal history that has included massive alcohol and cocaine abuse as well as sexual escapades that rival or exceed anything that Clinton has ever done). For future edification on the subject, one should check here: http://www.realchange.org/bushjr.htm This particular website is nonpartisan—it takes swipes at ALL presidential candidates. And the information presented is only the tip of the iceberg from some of the stories that I heard when I lived in Texas (please note that Bush won the governorship of Texas with less than 25% of registered voters even bothering to cast a ballot!).

Perhaps this person should present links to information that refute the information presented on this website. Thus far, it is my understanding that no one has even questioned the facts presented in Brisard and Dasquie’s devastating book on the events leading up to 9/11. Furthermore, it appears that information that is now surfacing leads a good deal of credence to some of the more damning allegations made in this book. Even a “popular” president (look what happened to Nixon!) can be brought down by FACTS! I find it very telling indeed that conservatives, such as Bill Kristol and Richard Shelby, are raising the SAME questions that I have been asking for several months now. Hopefully, the truth will come out. Since we never really got all the facts related to the Iran-Contra affair and cover-up, I have far less faith in the system than I once did.

Date:: 05/28/02
Time:: 12:53 PM

Comments

Response to Mr. Koch (see post above)

"I have read some of the articles in your website and am appalled at some of the outrageous, unsubstantiated statements you publish as fact. To believe you one has to accept that all Republicans and Conservatives are liars and dishonest traitors and that Palistinian terrorists are justified in killing Americans because we haven't done enough to correct the terrible conditions under which they have lived since the establishment of the State of Israel".

The non-specificity of this attack is so typical of the average detractor here. Nowhere on this site has Matilda said that ALL Republicans and Conservatives are liars and traitors, but some most certainly are. Many are in lock-step with theocratic psychotics bent on imposing their brand of religious fundamentalism. Many more are sellouts to the highest bidder, bought and paid for by powerful individuals and corporations. Perhaps a few are just not very bright. ***

"Your message is clear. Liberals have all the right answers and Conservatives have all the wrong ones. Such a simplistic view of very complex matters does not engender much confidence in its reliability.
I couldn't begin to take the time to comment on the long list of misstatements in your articles. I will leave it at this. The vast majority of the population of the United States disagrees with most of what you say".

I'm sorry, but your time is no more precious than anyone else's, Mr. Koch. Why can't you take the time to comment on even one of Matilda's "misstatements"? It leaves me to think you're incapable of arguing a point, or at the least, unwilling to take the time.

I live in the United States, and I would argue that the vast majority of the population agrees with more of what Matilda says, than disagrees. Certainly, the Democratic candidate won the popular vote handily, in spite of a badly run campaign and considerable negative coverage by a corporate-controlled media that clearly favored his Republican opponent.

"That is why conservative radio talk show hosts are thriving while liberal TV anchors are losing audience to more balance reporting on Fox News cable. President Bush's popularity remains high because the majority of the people like what he is doing as a president and respect the dignity he has brought to the office after the despicable shame brought on by his predecessor".

Re: thriving conservative talk radio: see above paragraph. Corporate interests control most of what we see on tv, hear on the radio or read in the newspaper.

Re: Fox's "balanced" reporting: see a certain long river in Egypt - the one you're in. Where do you conjure up the balance in not having the first liberal or progressive commentator or program? Honestly, when I read that, I snorted coffee up my nose. For heaven's sake, Mr. Koch, please try not to be so funny.

Re: Bush's poll ratings: that polls are routinely biased or manipulated notwithstanding, his numbers are dropping fast, while Democrats poll numbers are increasing.

Re: the dignity Bush has brought to the office: what dignity? The man can barely talk without contradicting himself (for that matter, he can't talk when he isn't). I recall he told us he would be "a uniter, not a divider," but the only aspect of unity I see is that of the rest of the world in its fear and distrust of us. After a rigged election in a state where his brother is governor failed to produce the proper outcome, he arrived at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue by a partisan decision by a Supreme Court heavy with Reagan-Bush appointees. Almost immediately, a lie was manufactured about the former administration having trashed both the White House and Air Force One -- and yet not one shred of evidence of any kind ever surfaced. I watched the story break on NBC Nightly News, as Andrea Mitchell, grim-faced in front of the White House, without the first bit of corroboration, told Tom Brokaw and the world of this "destruction" and "vandalism." How hard did Mr. Bush try to correct this falsehood about his predecessor? And then there are those nagging questions may of us have about his failure to show up for Air National Guard drill for over a year, along with -- no, wait -- how do you say it? I couldn't begin to take the time to comment on the long list of concerns I have regarding this man's integrity.

"They also recognize the competence of his cabinet officials and the outstanding jobs they are doing. I believe you would have a much better appreciation for this country, if you would come back and travel around and talk to the people rather than remain overseas reading only articles written by liberals who are livid about President Bush's poll ratings and beside themselves because they sense from the mood of the people that they are going to lose control of the Senate and lose seats in the house in the coming off-year elections. Whether or not that happens the country will survive. We always do. That's what makes our system so great".

Competence of his cabinet officials? Competent to do what? To protect the interests of the airlines with a $2 Billion subsidy, while begrudgingly tossing a bone to the 40,000 employees they immediately dismissed? To support any and all oil exploration, no matter how uneconomic or potentially destructive to the environment, while making no attempt to increase CAFE figures for gas-sucking SUV's? To straight out lie about and flip-flop on the Kyoto protocols? To drape the exposed breast on a statue? Once again, I couldn't begin to take the time to comment, other than to agree with you -- the oil-soggy, privileged members of Bush's cabinet are quite competent at representing the corporations from which they were drawn, but bitterly disagree that they are competent to protect the interests of the average citizen.

"Happy Memorial Day! Remember all those who gave their lives so that people like you and I would have the freedom to express our views freely even though we totally disagree". Bill Koch

And a happier one to you, Mr. Koch. If you have a chance, would you please alert Messers. Bush, Cheney and Fleisher that I DO have the freedom to express my views? Somehow I think they may have forgotten.
- Dana Westbrook Moore, true patriot and liberal

Date:: 05/28/02
Time:: 05:17 PM

Comments

Highlights of Amnesty International Report 2002 Covering events from January to December 2001

Although the year has seen some positive developments -- especially regarding the struggle against impunity and the use of the death penalty -- the international climate created by the "war on terrorism" declared by President Bush after the 11 September attacks in the USA posed a serious threat to human rights advances region wide.

The 11 September attacks were followed by intense backlash against Muslims and people of Middle Eastern descent in the USA. Arrests also took place in countries including Paraguay and the Dominican Republic.

In the USA, more than 1,200 people -- mainly non-US nationals -- were detained during investigations into the attacks. The detentions were surrounded by extreme secrecy and there have been reports of incommunicado detention and ill- treatment. Human rights concerns raised by the sweeping "anti-terrorism" legislation passed by Congress were compounded by the establishment by Presidential military order of special military commissions for the trial of non US-nationals suspected of "terrorism". These courts would create a "second class justice system" for foreign nationals as they would expressly flout some of the basic guarantees prevailing in the US justice system.

Date:: 05/30/02
Time:: 02:25 PM

Comments

My good friends, If you have not already done so, I earnestly urge you to visit www.liberalslant.com and read David Jenkins' excellent article, "Beyond Embarrassment". This article also appears, I believe, in Democrats Underground. And here is my letter of appreciation to him for his splendid article:

My dear David.....SUPERB article!!!! And you can easily imagine how much MORE embarrassing it is to be an American in Europe with a jackass like Bush representing my country!! Of course, my good friends here know where I stand, but I found myself almost apologizing to those who don't.....like storekeepers. How can this man be so transparently stupid to even the lowliest peasant in Europe, and still have the support he appears to have in the US of A???

As I told you in one of my letters, I hover between wanting to depart this world before the "meltdown"....and hoping I'll live long enough to see Bush and his evil cronies thoroughly exposed and hanged by the heels in the local market place!!

You say in this article that you've had it...you're quitting. But you won't of course (I hope), and neither will I.

Bless you, Matilda

Date:: 06/07/02
Time:: 09:57 PM

Comments

The following article is a MUST READ!

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/gate/archive/2002/06/03/hsorensen.DTL

In general, I have been pretty skeptical about those who would claim that Bush and company knew a lot more about 9/11 than they have been willing to admit. But this article has really made me re-think my skepticism.

Martha Nunn

Date:: 06/12/02
Time:: 08:05 PM

Comments

Anyone who believes that George Bush or anyone in the GOP would stand by and potentially let 20,000 people die to improve his popularity is an idiot.

If you are one that believes it, do yourself and your family a favor and get some mental help.

Date:: 06/15/02
Time:: 01:19 PM

Comments

Hi Matilda, I was reading your old messages and realized that I was one of your earliest posters. As you know, I've kept in touch with you since then, growing more frustrated all the time. I'm building a web site and have one of your yellow ribbons linked to it already. There will be more.

Actually I am working on two sites: www.Freedoms-News.org and www.GranniesAgainstGeorge.org

I'm going to plaster your yellow ribbons all over both as I go along.

Magginkat

Date:: 06/16/02
Time:: 10:19 PM

Comments

Something to keep in mind:

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/nation/1455502

Date:: 06/17/02
Time:: 03:23 PM

Comments

Tax Cut Quiz:

http://www.flashbunny.org/content/file.16

Date:: 06/18/02
Time:: 04:25 PM

Comments

My dear friends,

One of the people who read my article "BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE" wrote and said it was a good thing I live way over in France because my writing bordered dangerously on sedition!!!

She was kidding, I know. But I recall what Patrick Henry said, "If this be treason, make the most of it." Anyway, I'm 81 years old and ready to face the music if I have to, but it won't keep me from screaming the truth.

Matilda Lipscomb

Date:: 06/18/02
Time:: 10:56 PM

Comments

81 years old?!? Senile Dementia would explain a lot about your line of thinking.

Date:: 06/19/02
Time:: 07:53 AM

Comments

Well, that's a rather facile comment and more than a bit silly… Don't you think? After reading the comments on this message board, I would be very interested in hearing news of just ONE policy of the Bush administration that has benefited ordinary Americans. I have not seen anything other than policies aimed at helping polluters, large corporations, the very wealthy and defense contractors. Perhaps you could enlighten me with something other than "Matilda is senile" or "Yes, but Clinton…" Thanks in advance.

Date:: 06/19/02
Time:: 10:44 AM

Comments

Right on Matilda!

Heads up folks. Sniff your voting preferences carefully. The Repulicans are desparate, and as we learned in the last 'election", and from Tricky Dick, they cheat, lie and steal. Republicans are wearing Democratic clothing to get on the ballots...We don't need another Gary Condit, who never helped the Democratic side...but called himself one to get elected. Excellent website.

April

Date:: 06/20/02
Time:: 05:58 AM

Comments

They only help the large corporations, the very wealthy and defense contractors?

Hmmm, who do these people employ? Who benefits from their tax money and has other jobs from the businesses that move to the area with them like restaurants, Walmarts, etc. Who benefits from the jobs obtained from builing the facilities or the houses of all those that move to the area? Oh yeah, the "ordinary Americans" you mentioned.

You liberals amaze me.

Date:: 06/20/02
Time:: 07:42 AM

Comments

"I don't believe any longer that it's a matter of connecting the dots. I think they had a veritable blueprint and we want to know why they didn't act on it." - Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA), 6/6/02

"Of course President Bush knew about the impending attacks on America. He did nothing to warn the American people because he needed this war on terrorism. His daddy had Saddam and he needed Osama. His presidency was going nowhere. He wasn't elected by the American people, but placed into the Oval Office by the conservative supreme court. The economy was sliding into the usual Republican pits and he needed something on which to hang his presidency... This guy is a joke. What is sleazy and contemptible is the President of the United States not telling the American people what he knows for political gain." - Air Force Lt. Col. Steve Butler, who was suspended after publishing this letter in the Monterey Herald on 5/26/02.

Date:: 06/20/02
Time:: 05:17 PM

Comments

Just because the flaming liberal Arlen Spector says something doesn't mean its fact, just as you would not accept a statement by Rush or Mike Savage as fact.

The officer that published the negative letter about Prsident Bush should have know this was in direct violation of Military Code and could have had a Court Martial and served jail time. Guess he was lucky. We are lucky to have that traitor expelled from the service.

Date:: 06/20/02
Time:: 05:48 PM

Comments

Arlen Specter a flaming liberal? Wow! Details, please.

Date:: 06/21/02
Time:: 10:45 AM

Comments

This is in reply to the last (unsigned) comment on this page. Arlen Specter is a Republican senator from Pennsylvania... hardly a flaming liberal!! And as for Colonel Steve Butler, he knew EXACTLY what he was doing when he wrote that letter. He knew he was putting his whole military career on the line and possibly sacrificing a comfortable retirement. I am overwhelmed by his courage and integrity. You should be too. Matilda Lipscomb

Date:: 06/21/02
Time:: 11:46 PM

Comments

Overwhelmed by him? I guess you have respect for the terrorists that crashed the planes into the World Trade Center. After all, they gave their lives for something they believed in.

Date:: 06/23/02
Time:: 12:06 PM

Comments

The following statement was made by George Bush to evoke laughs in a number of his fund-raising speeches: Is this a sick sense of humor, or WHAT ???? If this is an example of "restoring honor and dignity to the White House", Webster will have to redefine these terms.

“You know, I was campaigning in Chicago and somebody asked me, is there ever any time where the budget might have to go into deficit? I said only if we were at war or had a national emergency or were in recession. (Laughter.) Little did I realize we'd get the trifecta. (Laughter.)” [Emphasis added.]
— White House press release dated February 27, 2002

Click here to hear it for yourself.

Matilda

Date:: 06/23/02
Time:: 12:47 PM

It is absolutely appalling that current occupant of the Oval Office would use the deaths of three thousand people in NY and Washington, the hardship experienced by all Americans in a nose-diving economy and the horrors of war as material for this shockingly tasteless joke! When will SOMEBODY call him on this? The worst part of all this is that this "joke" gets a laugh every time it is used at a GOP fundraiser.

I don't get it. Maybe I'm just not too smart... Why is this funny?

Kevin Lightner

Date:: 06/23/02
Time:: 07:14 AM

Comments

You're right. You are not very smart.

Maybe you just need to lightner up.

(that's pun, get it?)

Date:: 06/24/02
Time:: 06:02 AM

Comments

Go figure!!!

At first the list of countries the US promised to bomb for ("harboring terrorists") was limited to Iraq, Iran, Cuba, Libya, North Korea and Sudan. As we noted in our article, there was no evidence that any of these countries had ties with Osama bin Laden. In fact, the opposite was true:

"... the countries which collaborated to create the Taliban, training and financing the forces of Osama bin Laden, and which have never stopped pouring money into the Taliban - namely Pakistan...Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, and the United States itself - have not been placed on the 'we've got to get them' list. Instead these states are touted as core allies in the New World War against terrorism." - "Why Washington Wants Afghanistan" at http://emperors-clothes.com/analysis/afghan.htm

Date:: 06/26/02
Time:: 05:04 PM

Comments

I pledge allegence to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation, under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all.

Date:: 06/26/02
Time:: 05:17 PM

Comments

The quote by Bush of "hitting the trifecta" is a the result of a damnable LIE! Smirky NEVER made any statements of the kind in Chicago, or anywhere else for that matter during the 2000 election campaign. The pure, simple truth is that the current illicit occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue promised that he would protect Social Security, pay down the debt, and NEVER EVER return us to deficit spending. Now, we are not only cutting into the Social Security trust, red ink has been written into the budget as far as the eye can see! And most of this is the result of Smirky's ill-conceived tax cut that did not change one iota when the economy headed South. Now, Repugnants in Congress are refusing to raise the debt ceiling. The GOP, like their leader, seems to think that if they ignore it long enough, it will go away. Well, like the crisis in the Middle East, it isn't going away! The economic crisis is getting worse, and regardless of how many statements issued by the media, nothing except intelligent, principled leadership will change this. Unfortunately, Smirky has neither intelligence nor principles so we can all sit back and watch our investments disintegrate before our very eyes!

Date:: 06/27/02
Time:: 01:55 PM

Comments

Bush the moron is getting all the scandals he deserves and has earned. Republicans have a long history of scandals. Nixon was stupid enough to break in to Watergate and got caught. Reagan got caught selling arms to right wingers in Nicaragua and lots of other scandals. All they tried to pin on Clinton was oral sex. Heck if that was my orientation I would do it too, everybody would.

Date:: 06/27/02
Time:: 06:39 PM

Comments

As an occasional lurker, I am appalled at the lack of civility on this board. Matilda has her opinions, but she is a wonderful dedicated person who is by no means senile! Regarding the person who refers to Republicans as "Repugnants", I can only imagine the cute little monikers you must have to refer to African-Americans.

The abundance of insults and inane political soundbites may belie a lack of basic knowledge and reasoning. There have been references on this board to the financial scandals at several large companies and the assault on the social security "trust fund" by politicians. I would like to challenge those interested in accounting irregularities to tell me how and where in fact that social security trust fund is kept.

pat

Date:: 06/29/02
Time:: 10:49 AM

Comments

*I* am the person who refers to Republicans as "Repugnants" because everything in their current agenda is repugnant to me, and ironically, it is also repugnant to the vast majority of people of color, including "African-Americans".

As to labeling any particular people based on race, I do not engage in that particular activity because it has been my observation that most Americans (including so-called "African-Americans") have a diverse cultural and ethnic heritage that makes it difficult to put a label on most people. BTW, how many "African-Americans" do you actually know who are of purely African descent? I don't know any, but perhaps my exposure is too limited. After all, I have only known a few thousand people of color in my lifetime.

Date:: 06/29/02
Time:: 10:56 AM

Comments

Matilda, I must say that I agree with eliminating "under God" from the pledge of allegiance. Personally, I do not believe in "God"--I believe in a Goddess. When She created "man", She was only kidding. Unfortunately, the "joke" is on all of us when we have a "man" like Smirky occupying the oval office. How much better off we would all be with principled female leadership!

Date:: 06/30/02
Time:: 03:34 PM

Comments

As an atheist, I am no more offended by the phrase "in God we trust" than I am by references to leprechauns or the wicked witch of the west. The only good argument I have heard for getting rid of it, ironically, came from a person whose religion forbids saying the word, and who in emails uses G_d.

Date:: 06/30/02
Time:: 03:45 PM

Comments

A bigot is defined by Webster's as a person obstinately or intolerantly devoted to his or her own opinions and prejudices. If you think all republicans are repugnant, you are no different from those who lump all people of any particular race or religion under a bigoted epithet. I should therefore not be surprised that you find the whole Republican agenda as repugnant as all its followers. It is sad that you reject family values and term limits simply because of the party that put forth the idea instead of reflecting on their merit before making your decision. The Republican party was founded by anti slavery activists in the 1850s, pushed for women's suffrage in the 1990s and very recently pushed for committee meeting to be open, for requiring that laws that apply to the rest of the country also apply equally to the Congress, and for an audit of Congress for waste, fraud or abuse. Can we then infer that all those ideas are repugnant to you too? Every group harbors zealots who will follow blindly as mindless robots. Conversely every political party has dedicated, sincere, informed and well meaning supporters, be they Democrats, Republicans, Socialists or Monarchists.

I will not accuse you of prevaricating, but for you have "known a few thousand people of color "(interesting hyperbole of "some of my best friends are ...."), you must be old enough to remember first hand the civil war, if not the revolutionary war.

Repugnantly

pat

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