Mailbag
In the midst of the insanity, it's inspiring to read what some fellow Americans think about whether our leaders are really working for liberty and justice for all.
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From Feb. 2004 email:
Dear President Bush:
I just have a few questions for you about this newly proposed "Sanctity of Marriage" constitutional amendment, proposed by the Republicans and their religious-right followers.
Would this amendment, Mr. President, if had already been enacted many years ago, have saved Bob Barr's marriage? Would it have saved Bob Dole's first marriage? Would it have saved Newt Gingrich's first two marriages? Would it have saved Asa Hutchinson's marriage? Would it have saved Rita Chenowith's marriage?
Would it have prevented Henry Hyde from having a "youthful indiscretion" (i.e., an extra-marital affair) at age forty-two? Would it have prevented Congressman Bob Livingston of Louisiana from cheating on his wife?
And finally, Mr. President, would it have saved your own brother Neil's marriage, after his extra-marital dalliance with assorted Asian prostitutes? I could go on and on and on, but I think you probably get my point.....
Oh, by the way, have you ever asked your own Vice-President, Mr. Richard Bruce Cheney, how he feels about your proposed marriage amendment to the constitution, when one of his own daughters is a lesbian and might just want to marry another women some day? Thank you for considering these things....
M.H., Mountain View, Ca.
From July 2003 email:
Whenever I am getting down about bush's seemingly tephlon skin (even
though the media coated him in the stuff), i just remind myself that Capone
died in jail because of a tax evasion charge.
T.G.
Kudos on at least bringing some news of this to us who have been wondering where our media is. The same media who took up mega air time on Gore's beard and earth tone clothes. The same media who investigated Clinton and his penis all the way back to his mother's womb. The same damn media who helped try to take down a TWICE elected American president for lies about sex! And they call us peace lovers un-patriotic. Ha!
If the American people did half the homework on the Bush family as they did on Clinton's sexual activities they would throw this bum, (Bush) and his whole family either in prison or out of the country.
Will this stick? I doubt it. Will him sending our troops to Iraq to be murdered on lies stick? I doubt it as well. We can only hope that this woman is not found dead somewhere and the media presenting it as a suicide of a mentally disturbed person.
Terri
Terri's Political Gem, RadioLeft
http://msterri2.tripod.com/politicalgem/
I do not watch Oprah Winfrey's show, but I do, make that did, respect her for being one celebrity who seems to use her fame and wealth in positive ways to help others. And usually I don't bother to e-mail people to complain about their choice of which politician to support because I never vote for someone because some celebrity endorsed him or her.
But I made an exception after reading in your article posted on Buzzflash that Oprah is considering endorsing Arnold S. in his campaign for governor of California. Oprah will not give a rat's ass about my opinion, and I will not hold my breath waiting for a response, but I just had to ask what is she thinking? She's glad she helped Dubya steal the presidency? She thinks his policies of war, poverty, famine, plague and pestilence, plus plundering the environment and decimating our civil rights, are good things, so she wants to do the same for California?
I did watch her shows when she had Gore and Dubya on before the last presidential election. She conducted a very good interview with Gore, but during Dubya's show, after someone yelled out something from the audience, she started fawning all over Dubya. She tried her best to make the ignorant twit seem competent and coherent. She did everything but come right out and beg people to vote for him.
I thought at the time maybe she was just trying to compensate for him being heckled and ended up going too far, inadvertently leaving the impression that Bush was her choice for president. But if she's even considering supporting Arnold, there can be only one conclusion -- she just likes republicans who are out to destroy this country and everything it stands for. And what's up with her double standard on the sex thing? She never missed an opportunity to snipe at Bill Clinton, even going so far as to join in with the republicans to try to deem his association with Monica Lewinsky child abuse.
Ms. Lewinsky was a sexually experienced adult who admitted to making the first move herself. Unlike Arnold, Clinton was not out groping every woman who came within reach of him -- he just wasn't running away when he should have.With Arnold, however, there are very credible allegations that he had an affair with a 16-year-old, and that he grabs pretty much every t & a that comes within ten feet of him. Why does this not offend her?Unfortunately there are a lot of people in this country who will listen to her recommendation. Let's hope most of them are not in California.
OhioHawg
If the GOP takes over the California governorship, it will help them immensely in the 04 presidential campaign. With a GOP governor in California they have a huge boost in stealing all of those presidential electoral votes. What does California have 54 votes? It is a sad day that this guy Issa, a Californian GOP politician , an operative inspired by Rove probably, can recall a guy who isn’t doing a bad job.
To me, it is just a continuation of GOP tendencies. As in your book, recently they stole the presidential election. Then the DeLay, isn’t his nick-name “the exterminator” gets into Texas local politics and tries to gain GOP seats via redistricting there. I read in Wash Post today that the estimate is that the Democrats will lose House seats because of redistricting nationwide.
The GOP has no respect for the US citizens’ intelligence, or even interest in politics, and this California scam is just a logical outgrowth of that. Lee Atwater would be in awe of Rove.
Bob Connors
Though I did sign your petition, I remain amazed at the thought that folks
other than the constituency can foster such a move.
I have forwarded the petition and hope that you get a full million
signatures, even if it is just to send a message.
DeLay belongs in hypocrisy heaven....a very large island -- hopefully, in
far outer space -- with a very large and rapidly growing population.
Why ruin a good thing? Impeach Bush now. We've seen enough!!!
John Machado
As someone who worked very hard to stop the impeachment of President Clinton, and after, worked to help unseat some of the House Impeachment managers, nothing would make me happier than to see those who brought about that unscrupulous chapter in our nation's history figuratively go up in flames. That said, it is an embarassment to read about this woman's lawsuit, and a further embarassment to read your defense of it.
When George W. Bush and Dick Cheney, Condelezza Rice, and Collin Powell were touting Iraqi's weapons cache last fall, they were often questioned on the evidence. At every turn, without fail, they would say that even if the US evidence seemed shakey, we could not take that chance. It might be true. It might even be worse. To millions of Americans, these seemed like very poor reasons to go to war.
Your "you never know" defense of this poor disturbed woman employs just such false logic, or, in fact, no logic at all. Bush *might* have raped her. FBI agents *might* have drugged her. The Sugar Land police *might* have cooperated. This is all the same muck as saying that Aliens *might* have abducted her and violated her, or that the CIA is going through her trash and listening to her thoughts.
Last night, I had a call from a distant relative on psychiatric medicines. She lives in low income housing and complained that her new neighbor had friends over and she could not eat her dinner nor watch her television shows because "they are all talking about me." I don't have to go there to know that no one in this neighbor's apartment was talking about her. She can hear the muffled voices through the wall and is convinced that those voices are directed at her. I might be wrong, but I am not. The earth might be flat and the center of the universe, but it is not.
The Republicans stole the 2000 election by hijacking the process, but the election in Florida was very, very close and the system was flawed, and Gore and Leiberman caved in on the counting of illegal military ballots. Bush manipulated the intelligence to get us into Iraq, but too many Democrats voted to give him the permission to use force. Bush's tax cuts are decimating the economy, but the Democrats did not do everything they could to stop them. John Aschcroft is tearing apart our civil liberties but the Democrats dropped objections to his nomination in order to obtain a slender majority in the Senate.
Items like your promotion of this sad woman's deluded accusations only distract from the real battles we face to win back America.
Best,
John Cork
Always like your writing Jackson. I think the Margie S. could be a payoff she took in case admin wants to prove being framed or something. I don't know. I wonder if she is religous. What have her church people to say? She was supposedly raped by the shrub and others? Yes? Ugh.
Lisa
I loved your article about Republicanazi Hell! I, too, lived in Texas for about 5&1/2 years. That was enough for a lifetime!
The land of baseball players and ball team owners turned governors! What can I say? I especially like your idea of moving to a state that is not so Republican controlled, but I live smackdab in Gore country, right in the same town, even, so I better stay here and see what I can do to get him to run again. People here who know the Gores well say he is nothing like the person we saw on the campaign stump - that he laughs, is funny, is the life of the party.
Well, we can now attest to that, as his stint on Saturday Night Live has proven (even if it was an embarrassing hour in the life of Al and Tipper Gore, as far as I am concerned!). I'll stay here and work on Al; you do your part in Maryland; I'll get my friend Jill to get the hell out of Texas, too. She can work on some other state. See? Your idea is spreading already and I am just one person!
Thank you for the articles you write and thank you for caring for the United States of America. Although, I do have to say that I disagree with you on one point: What do you mean that the Bushies have made a mess of things in two years and it all happened so quickly??? Shit! It happened practically overnight, before any of us even knew what hit us! From the refusal to sign the Kyoto Treaty to the bombing of the World Trade Center to the war in Afghanistan, to the war in Iraq...What next??? It was like Bush stole the election and the world fell apart! Personally, I think Bush is the harbinger of the End Times. I think God has had his fill. I HATED what they did to Clinton in Washington...I am just waiting for that motherfucker Bush to get his comeuppance!
But where is God in all of this? Why isn't he taking Dubya by the throat and wringing his neck? Why does George seem to be safe, secure and untouchable? Is it because Satan guards him day and night??? I believe it is! Bush is the Anti-Christ! He is Hitler reincarnated! I have hated him from the time he became governor in Texas.
I have hated him since he beat Ann Richards out of her job! How can anyone in this country have voted for such an evil man?! It makes me wonder about Billy Graham. I realize he is very much a part of the Christian right, but I at least used to respect him; that is, until I found out he was such good friends of the Bush family! How can anyone, who claims to be on God's side, befriend such evil???
Sign me,
Disgusted, flabbergasted, frustrated and heartsick in Nashville, Tennessee
Just read your article "Stop the free fall", and wanted to say thanks. As a 70-yr veteran who is discouraged to the point of depression over what that bastard in the WH is doing to our great country, I too am backing John Kerry &and I hope Gen. Wesley as his VP.
I plan to help with money too. I want to work locally with my generation convincing them that they need to get out & vote and not give up. What I am hoping is that some one will develop a list of 10 to 20 well documented reasons why we cannot stand another term of crazy Bush,so that I can re-type in large print (two pages) and carry with me at all times to give to every senior person I meet along the way. Maybe you oknow someone who can help.
T.F., Mansfield, Ohio
My sister forwarded me your 'Move out of a Bush-league state' article. Sorry we missed you when you visited the park. Jeanette stayed here last night. Expect her back again tonight.
Thomas
I read your piece on the Smirking Chimp website - I couldn't agree with you more. I could never live in Texas - we should give it back to Mexico and see how those nasty Republicans like that. Virginia is every bit as bad as the worst Republican run state - they'd still have slaves growing the tobacco if they could.
And right across the river is the progressive state of Maryland. Like an oasis in the desert. Maryland and Virginia are as different as night and day. When the Washington Beltway was first built back in the early '60's Maryland built a three lane highway.
Ridiculous to imagine today, but revolutionary and far-sighted in those days. Virginia's pin headed penny pinching moron politicians would only put up the money to build two lanes. When you crossed the Cabin John bridge from Maryland into Virginia, you immediately hit a bottle neck. That was over forty years ago, and nothing has changed.
When the Maryland watermen could no longer catch sufficient rockfish (striped bass)in the Chesapeake Bay, Maryland responded by instituting scientific studies on water quality, passed restrictions on pollution and building in the flood zones, started stocking programs to bring the fish back, and most painfully, closed down the fishery with a moritorium for several years. This brought the fish back, but it hurt the fishermen and was politically painful.
Virginia refused to even acknowledge there was a problem, and continued to allow the taking of rockfish from the breeding stocks as they entered the Chesapeake watershed from the Atlantic Ocean. More recently, when fishermen noticed the fish they were catching were full of strange lesions and people were getting sick, Maryland launched an investigation, discovered the Listeria organism and took steps to combat it. Virginia never even acknowledged the problem.
Evolutionists speculate whether modern man ever lived alongside Neanderthals. I can tell you they do today.
But evolution can go backwards instead of forwards - Maryland just elected a Republican governor, and he's trying to do what Republicans do everywhere, destroying the programs that only a strong centralized government can create, cutting the budgets to cripple regulations, defunding social programs and privatizing everything resulting in higher costs and fewer services. He was elected the same way Republicans everywhere get elected, by promising voters to cut their taxes. Marylanders are catching that sickness too.
So welcome to Maryland and please please please register to vote, and help us to defeat Mr. Erlich and the Republicans. Don't let Maryland, the enlightenend and progressive state, become like Texas. In Maryland you must affiliate with a party to vote in the primary elections, so I'd suggest you register Democratic.
GM, A Fellow Maryland Liberal
I just read your editorial on smirkingchimp.com, and I had to email you and tell you that I've been trying to leave the wretched state of Texas for over two years now. I've tried very hard to obtain a job in Portland, OR, and while I have come very close to being hired by a couple of companies, the jobs vanished before the contracts could be drawn - thanks to Bush and his Nazi-like machinations with our economy.
I continue with my efforts to leave Texas, but for now, the best I can do is send my daughter off to college in Portland, while I hope that my fifth job in two years (not to mention two-months' unemployment) will hold steady so that I can afford to keep my daughter in college. I wish you luck on your move outside of Lone Star Hell. Think good thoughts for those of us who wish to follow you out of this dismal state.
E.B., Dallas, TX
I'm a native Texan, and i've been moving north since college (TCU and UT-Austin, where my husband got his doctorate). We lived in Bloomington, IL, where George Lincoln Rockwell is celebrated annually by a nazi parade, before moving to Traverse City, MI, where our daughter attended h.s. at the interlochen arts academy.
Disgruntled republiCONS sit on the executive board of the Democratic Party there! What a crock! I worked my way up from Gore/Levin volunteer to paid Granholm media coordinator last year. My husband is a demographer, who evaluates community programs. His office is in gaithersburg, but we chose downtown baltimore as our home.
I've yet to meet a Republican! You should consider Baltimore when you finally break out of Texas. DC is 45 minutes by train. Doesn't it just break your heart to see what the shrub family has done to our state?
S.E., Baltimore,MD
Enjoyed what you had to say and how you said it!! I have an idea: We draft a letter from the people of the USA to the people of Iraq - sending our deepest sympathies, how our hearts are with them during this time of such hardships for them. And we let them know (by a huge count) that there are many people in the USA who totally disagree with bush. We get it signed by 1 to 5+ million, thinking, caring people.
Of course, this would take some organizing, but I think it could be done - via mass emails, etc., getting volunteers to collect signtures. Its momentum could build quickly. What do you think?
Geoff
A song for you to sing on the way out:
I'm going to leave Old Texas now
I got no use for the longhorn cow
They roped and fenced the cattle range
and the people there are all so strange.
The people there have all been lost
For the love of Bush they'll pay the cost
I'm going to leave Old Texas true
and move myself to a state that's blue.
Happy Trails!
Your faithful reader,
L. Ford
From Spring 2003 email:
I have been investigating the Wellstone crash since it happened. I have a witness who was driving to attend the same funeral that Wellstone and his party were heading for in Eveleth, Minnesota.
According to this person's cell phone records he received a call at precisely the same time Wellstone's King Air veered off course. He was located near the Eveleth airport in the general vicinity of Wellstone's plane when it veered off course. Here is part of his statement: 'The morning of Wellstone's crash, I too was on the way to the funeral of Benny Rukavina. In fact, after the funeral when we first heard about the crash and the approximate time of the crash was reported as 10:21, I immediately thought to myself, "Jeez, I was within a couple of miles of that airport (traveling north on Hwy. #53, due west of the airport) at almost that exact moment."
The reason I was sure of this, was because I arrived at the church at exactly 10:35 after picking up my mother in law who lives just two short blocks away. Having driven this route hundreds of times, I know that it is exactly 10 minutes to Virginia from the Hwy #53 & #37 (to Hibbing) intersection. The airport is just a stone's throw from this intersection.
The weather, although not sunny and warm, was not freezing rain or snow either. Instead it was cloud, hazy, with little or no wind and just above freezing. An occasional mist fell. What was happening 10,000 feet up, may have been another story, but at and near the surface there was nothing that appeared threatening in any way.
More than anything, what caused me to write you is your electromagnetic theory and how such an event could disable the plane. You see, just a few minutes prior to reaching the Hwy #53 & #37 intersection, I distinctly remember receiving a call on my cell phone. Although I have received calls on my cell phone before that have had bad reception and barely audible, this call was in a league of its own. When I answered it, what I heard sounded like a cross between a roar and a loud humming noise. The noise seemed to be oscillating and I could not make out any words being spoken. Instead, just this loud, grotesque, sometimes screeching and humming noise.' What he heard may very well have been electronic interference from an EMP or Microwave Weapon. Your article in Conspiracy Nation, I think, led me to speculate on the internet about the possible use of an EMP type weapon to bring down Wellstone's aircraft.
P.R., Minnesota
It is good to know that in these times that there are people who will act on principle. You are right about the Democrats. Most of them are spineless wimps who would rather kiss George Bush's butt than take a stand.
But now that the war is on what can one do? Should I hope for a quick and relatively painless victory which I know will encourage Bush to continue on the war path against other countries? Or should I hope for a bloody quagmire in which tens of thousands of innocent Iraqi's and thousands of U.S. soldiers die so that the Bush administration thinks twice before doing such foolishness again? I want Saddam out of Iraq as much as anyone but I hate the way this whole thing has played out.
You and I know this war has nothing to do with freeing the Iraqi people and everything to do with access to vast oil reserves. Unfortunately, there seems to be no easy answers.
Rick W.
Thank you for sending me this post. Jack Walters is the genuine article, with a heart and a conscience. Send up a rocket for him. I will try to congratulate him by e-mail.
I am also concerned with the Dems who have bought the garbage line.
Apparently they would be the same old, same old, politician selling out the people.
I have an interest in Dennis J. Kucinich, Representative from Ohio, Dem.
His speeches are superb and he has been vocally opposing this administration. I think he is genuine, and if so, he can really express himself and he is for Peace in a big way, and way before this all got so bad, he was suggesting a Dept. of Peace. Check him out, and I would appreciate your opinion, even if it does not agree with mine.
Peace and love to all, someday
Dorla
I thought I would bring an item of concern to your attention. After the debacle in 2000, Florida decided to get computerized, touch-screen voting equipment. I live in Saint Petersburg, Pinellas County, and used the machines in the mid-term elections.
My concern is this: 1) What controls are in place, if any, to prevent the manipulation of the voting database? Deliberate misdeeds on the part of the clearly less-than-impartial director of elections could easily adjust the computerized record of the voting. For that matter, simple incompetence could have the same effect.
2) I am concerned with any "computerized" system that does not leave a hard-copy ballot in its wake in case the results are questioned. Any database professional can tell you how easy it would be to "tweak" or entirely revise the results. With nothing physical to count, the computer database would be the "last word".
3) Why did the news media suddenly decide not to have exit polls, and why was this not announced in advance of the elections? Without exit polls, how can we compare the official count with the sentiment of the voters, indicating possible tampering? I assure you, almost everyone I talked to had serious misgivings about "devious Jeb Bush".
I am not a conspiracy theorist. I am concerned that none of these questions was addressed in the media, even the historically independent St. Petersburg Times. I would hate for the fascists to walk away with another stolen election in 2004 because no one is watching those managing the voting database.
D.F.
This is a piece I wrote published recently in the Los Angeles Times op-ed page.
John Flores
It was 35 years ago that 21-year-old Marine Sgt. Alfredo Gonzalez of Edinburg, Texas, died while defending his platoon from enemy rocket fire during an ambush in Hue City, Vietnam. It was the opening volleys of the horrific Tet offensive.
Gonzalez was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor a few months later in a ceremony at the White House. He was Dolia's Gonzalez's only child; she had reared him as a single mother, and since his death she has lived alone. She works even now as a waitress in the restaurant at a motel, the Echo, in her little border town.
Photographs and newspaper stories about Sgt. Gonzalez, accumulated over the decades, are all over the walls of the restaurant dining room, and she is something of a celebrity among the townspeople. Last fall, she was even a spokesperson for Tony Sanchez, the first serious Latino candidate for governor in Texas history.
With the Bush Administration coiled and ready to strike Iraq, Gonzalez remembers what happened to her boy. And she offers a solemn, frequent refrain: "My boy was killed in Vietnam, and so were many young men from south Texas and the Rio Grande Valley. Freddy was proud to be a Marine and he gladly put his life on the line. Later, many years later, the truth about Vietnam came out--that many of those young Americans should not have had to die as they did. It was not an essential sacrifice, we've been told by former Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara."
Gonzalez is not bitter. She learned decades ago to roll with the sometimes cruel blows of life. Yet, she is somehow perennially resilient and hopeful, even in the midst of the chaos and confusion that have permeated much of American society since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. She worries about the 300-plus sailors on board the U.S. destroyer Gonzalez, a highly advanced warship carrying Tomahawk missiles named for her son and commissioned under the Clinton Administration.
It is the only U.S. Navy ship named for a Mexican-American. Over the years she has come to view these sailors as part of her family.
"I call them `my boys' and they call me Mom. I don't want anything to happen to them. That's why I've hoped all along that Bush, who doesn't know what war is really about, would find a diplomatic solution to this problem with Saddam. I've thought all along that he should have let the United Nations take this problem. Now it's too late, I know, because Bush has his mind made up. For God's sake, let's not do what they did in Vietnam."
President Bush indeed has never experienced war - as Dolia's son did along with the nearly 60,000 other American troops killed in Vietnam. He was one of many privileged sons of power able to secure havens in the stateside National Guard.
And even that service was questionable, as many news stories have surfaced in recent years that Bush went Absent Without Leave (AWOL) in the midst of his enlistment. He was reprimanded, but never court-martialed. Young men like Freddy--Latinos and blacks, mostly poor, with little or no political influence--were sent in waves to fight.
Some called them "cannon fodder" because of the disproportionately high casualty rate among minorities on tours of duty in war zones. These men also racked up a much higher percentage of Medals of Honor, Silver Stars, Bronze Stars and other top awards for valor in combat.
Dolia Gonzalez hastens to point out that she has no quarrel with those like Bush who come from wealthy families and are able to avoid the killing fields.
But she is upset about a couple of things these days: Not only is the administration moving along with a potentially catastrophic conflict in the Middle East, but it is also pushing to cut vital veterans' benefits, along with restructuring Medicare and Medicaid, and Social Security benefits. Many elderly people on severely limited paychecks, like Dolia, could not survive without those programs.
"I earn about $175 per week as a waitress in a busy hotel dining room, alongside kids right out of high school. But I am 73 now. How long will I have to work?" she asks. "There are many elderly people like me in America who feel abandoned by the government. We are working people, and we like to work, but at my age now I want to take a terminal vacation. It's time for that."
Several years ago, when Bush's father was president, the Veterans Administration cut off the survivor benefits that she had been receiving since her son's death - several hundred dollars per month. That money enabled Dolia to pay all her bills, and even save a little bit for the rainy days she is now experiencing. The government said then, in brief, tersely worded letter, that she was being cut off because she had been working while drawing the benefits.
No one had ever told her she couldn't do that.
"Then, a little while later, I get another letter that says I must pay back about $8,000 in benefits I'd received over a period of years. They called it a clerical error, I think," she says. "I started paying back what I could, about $20 per month. But losing those benefits really hit me hard. It wasn't just the money, it was like losing a connection to Freddy. It was a slap in the face from the government. Imagine, the VA beating on an old lady like me."
Dolia has appealed over and over to have the benefits restored, but so far no one in the government will give her a straight answer. As a journalist, I personally got involved in 1997, working as a journalist in the Valley. She had not questioned the government's letter cutting off her benefits. I told her we would get a lot of publicity about this injustice. We did, and within a few weeks the VA inexplicably canceled the $8,000 debt. At the same time, a large grocery store chain with a store in her hometown wrote her a check for $8,000 and held a widely publicized press conference at one of their new stores that just happened to be located on Freddy Gonzalez Drive.
Still, the VA was adamant about not restoring the benefits. They slammed the door in her face and haven't opened it since then. Without these benefits, Gonzalez must work full time.
"I am old now. It was fine when I was younger, but my health won't hold out forever. Then what? I ask myself that question every day," she says.
Gonzalez is also concerned that she won't be able to afford the expensive medications that she takes for various age-related ailments, especially if Bush has his way in cutting vital social services for working Americans like her.
"It seems like these rich people want us poor people to just dry up and blow off into the sunset like tumbleweeds of something. I guess then we'd be out of their way," she says.
Gonzalez still firmly believe in the clarion call to volunteerism and true patriotism articulated by President John F. Kennedy in his 1961 inaugural address: " ... ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country."
It was a stellar statement of positive purpose that helped propel millions of young men and women toward the service of their country; joining the military, or the Peace Corps, or even through later protesting the war in Vietnam--all forms of patriotism, Dolia says.
"Look, I do not want anything handed to me. That is why I work and do not ask for anything other than what I work for, and what my boy earned by giving his life," she says. "Before he died he sent me a letter and said he was going to come back and take care of me and build a big house for us to live in. He never got that chance."
But even so, there is a big house located at the site he promised to build his mother a house on. It is named the Freddy Gonzalez Elementary School. Dolia is a volunteer there, donating many free-time hours to spend time with the kids. She is called Mom to them also. Now Dolia's mission is to spread the word that people can empower themselves to bring about needed change, whether to protest an unjust war, or to secure what is rightfully theirs, such as basic federal benefits they've earned through work and sacrifice.
"We - the common, average Americans - are the ones who suffer when war is waged, not those who order war. We are the ones who give up our precious children, never to see them again. We are the ones who pay the bills of war. And we are the ones who will keep on paying," she says. "We are the soldiers and Marines in that daily battle. We can either stand up and fight with honor and courage and defend our loved ones and ourselves for what is right, or run away and hide in disgrace. But if we remain quiet, we lose everything."
John W. Flores, Marble Falls, Texas
I've been an admirer of your writing and actions for a long time. However, I'm extremely concerned that the anti-war movement is misdirecting its protests.
A widespread effort has been launched to get people on the streets - success which is ignored by the Bushies entirely - and to write the UN and Congressmen with general opposition to the war. The UN is not accountable to Americans and all representatives are only beholden to their country's self-interests. The majority of Congressmen and Senators believe the American people protesting the war are naive pacifists and they ignore us as well.
I've been trying to elicit support to launch an email campaign to hold the Bush administration accountable through blasting the Senate Committees to launch investigations.
I sent out the following (please read below) and have gotten practically no response. I fear the people have no faith whatsoever in the only legal route we practically have to stop the madness. But we can take back democracy if we let the most responsible leaders know that we know the truth. I beg you to urge your readers to do so.
Eva Adams
Author of Blix vs. Blitzkrieg: The case against the case for war
From our house in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, it is clear to us that brave, strong voices like yours may be the only thing that keeps us free. The corporate media is lost as a protector of the American people, so we rely heavily on you and yours. I will contribute something whenever I can. If you get a moment, please take a look at my primitive web page: http://home.earthlink.net/~todd3205/index.html
It is my reflections on our involvement in the F15 demonstration in NYC.
T.S.
Rest assured you are not alone in your objection to Joe Scarborough appearing on Tweety's Hardball. I, for one, am outraged (a very frequent state of mind since COUP 2000)!
On February 9, I happened to catch Arrogant Joe hosting an afternoon show on MSNBC (duh?). Within minutes my blood pressure was through the roof and I sent the following hastily-written note off to MSNBC (it's not easy to find the appropriate address to MSNBC);
"I happened to catch former congressman and John Wayne wannabe (I was hoping he was long gone), Joe Scarborough on MSNBC this afternoon, doing what he used to do(and, apparently STILL does best), belittle, antagonize, and attempt to shout over anyone who does not necessarily agree with his reactionary policies.
Calling peace demonstrators "communists" is so typical of his breed. A new witch hunt beginning? Sure looks like it. So what else is new since COUP 2000?
Re: Media bias: Hey Joe, how come your "relationship" story with the late Lori Klausutis was silenced in less than a week? Were you a Democrat, the story would STILL be on the front pages. Liberal media bias? Bush guano!"
Jackson, keep up the great writing, we really appreciate it!
Peace,
D.K., DeLand, FL
I just want to thank you for your efforts and congratulate you on the great article in Alternet.
It is so important to exersize our liberties of free speech and right of assembly, and we should do that as a long we have those rights, expecially at a time like this.
There are so many who cannot go to protest, due to health, disabilities and age, distance and affordablity. We thank you for your role and we the people are with you in spirit.
Regards,
Que
I'm really annoyed that no one ever mentions the L.A. demos--we had 100,000!
I am more hopeful tonight than I have been in over 2 years!!
Lynn
Folks here (South Minneapolis) are all demoralized that Paul is dead, and Coleman took his spot. Our new Repub governor is slashing programs, and the impoverished of Minneapolis (my neighborhood has a 35% poverty rate) will lose after-school and summer programs for children and lots more.
The tax cut that Jesse Ventura implemented gave huge amounts back to the richest, and now the poorest are losing important services as a result. Crime in my neighborhood is suddenly skyrocketing along with unemployment and lost programs.
One of our good friends, a 13-year resident of the neighborhood and a strapping 45-year-old man is getting food from the food shelf, and we are helping him pay his rent so he does not end up homeless because he has been unable to find any job for the past 5 months. When does the revolution start?
Wendy
love to read what you write. I have an idea that you could articulate much better than I. This comparison between Colin Powell's "smoking gun" and Adeli Stevenson's evidence is ridiculous.
My point is, (that I haven't heard elsewhere) is that when President John Kennedy had photographs of ICBMs 90 miles from the mainland he called for a "quarentine". The rest is history. This moron bush finds out that there are some empty inert artillery casings in Iraq he is calling for World War III with no allies!
Want a good scare? Watch the movie "13 days" an substitute the monkey boy for Kennedy. We would already be dead.
S.S.
________________________________________________________________________________
From January 2003 email:
Back in 1942, when Americans faced menaces called Adolf Hitler in Europe and
Emperor Hirohito in Japan, Americans then were called to do something
radically different than they are today -- namely, sacrifice. Back then,
when we Americans actually in reality faced Axis powers that conceiveably
could actually take over and control the entire planet (unlike Mr. Hussein,
who now controls a fourth-rate military but a first-rate oil field), we
actually were called by our Federal government to tighten our belts, cut
back our consumption, and give whole-heartedly to the war effort.
And in
that effort, at that time (in my humble and honest opinion) we were in the
right cause. I really believe that at that moment of history, western
civilization indeed was in the balance. We had to do what we did. There
was really no alternative. A complete victory by Germany's and Japan's
forces would have plunged the earth into a new and long dark age. It was
absolutely imperative that America and her allies stood up for freedom,
liberty and democracy at that time, even to the point of arms. It was truly
our Greatest Generation.
I've just seen a picture issued by the American government during World War
II of a ruptured, smoldering oil tanker. The caption reads, "Another Tanker
Torpedoed off the Atantic Coast." The sub-caption reads, "Should brave men
die so you can drive...?"
I now repeat that question to the Bush administration and, indeed, to the
whole American population: "Should brave men die so you can drive?" That's
basically what it comes down to. How many gallons (or even swimming pools)
of American (and Iraqi) blood in exchange for barrels of mid-eastern crude?
What will be the price? And will that heavy price indeed be worth the cost?
But compare that time and those conditions of 1942 to those of right now.
Back then, we had an 18-year-old George Bush, Senior, volunteering to join
the Navy instantly upon his 18th birthday (July 12, 1942) to help serve his
country; now, we now have as our Chief Executive his intellectually lazy
son, who shirked his last year of duty with the Texas/Alabama Air National
Guard, and got scott-free away with it. And this same man now has the
authority to order many thousands of American service men and women into
harm's way and into their possible doom. Oh, how the times have indeed
changed.
You seniors, do you remember back to 1942? And '43, '44, '45? Remember how
you were asked and urged by your American government to plant "victory
gardens," to car-pool to save precious gas (back then, they were called
"Car-sharing Clubs"), to save up rubber, paper, aluminum, tin cans,
toothpaste tubes (for the tiny amount of zinc they held), sugar, coffee,
even kitchen fats (whose glycerin was used for wartime ammunition)?
Remember those days? Remember when neighborhood kids used to bang pots and
pans together and then knock on your door to collect an extra fry-pan or
skillet from your kitchen to raise precious metal for the war effort?
Remember those days?
Now, in contrast, what does the current Washington administration advise us
Americans to do, in this, our desperate days of war against terrorism?
Sacrifice? Give? Cut back? Oh, no. Instead, it's spend, spend, spend.
Buy an airline ticket. Buy a new SUV. Go to the shopping mall and tap out
all your credit cards. Live like there's no tomorrow. Again, I note: My,
my -- how times have indeed changed.
But what else should we expect from a rich, spoiled, Texan frat-boy who
somehow (with the help of his father's friends) weaseled his way into the
most powerful position on the globe? This is all right in line. Ain't no
surprise here....
M.H., Mountain View, Ca.
From Dec. 2002 email:
I think you're giving up a little too easily on 2004. There are any number of Democrats who could put up a competitive race against Bush. It always burns me when people talk about Democrats eyeing 2008; it seems to presume that Bush will win in 2004. We can eye 2008 in 2005. Until then, let's keep our eye on the prize.
Very Respectfully,
D.T.K. USAF, South Dakota
An Open Letter to All Iraqis from an American
Dear Mr/s. Iraqi citizen(s):
Well, it appears to be now inevitable. Whether or not the UN inspections
begin in your country, whether or not the inspectors actually find anything
incriminating, this much is certain -- the United States federal government,
led by the war-mongering Bush administration, will forcefully attack your
country. It is only a matter of time.
And let me tell you right now -- for that, I am deeply, deeply sorry.
I have no bones to pick with any of you. I have nothing against any of you
whatsoever. I realize fully that the vast, vast majority of you are decent,
law-abiding, peaceful Iraqi citizens that want nothing but to leave other
people alone and simply to make better lives for yourselves and your
families. But our vengeful, one-track-minded President doesn't seem to know
or grasp that truth. And unfortunately, his dense mind-set will probably
cost many thousands of you your lives. And that sad fact truly grieves me
very, very deeply.
I realize that the vast majority of you already know, and know well, that
your own leader is far from being a just, kind, and righteous leader. But
you already know that. And you don't need an American to preach that fact
to you.
I really, truly wish that George W. Bush was not now the American President.
I did not vote for him. Most of my American fellow-citizens did not vote
for him, either. But, by hook or by crook (mostly crook) he is now
installed in office. And he has at least two more years in power and (God
help us!) possibly six. I wish as Americans that we could remove him from
power immediately, but short of millions of us taking to the streets (and
risking immediate imprisonment or even massacre at the hands of the National
Guard, et al.,) this seems, at least for the time, totally impossible.
I find it totally ironic (as well as tragic) that this man, the scion of a
rich and powerful family, a man who shirked his duty with the Alabama Air
National Guard for over a year, who was AWOL and nowhere to be found during
that time, is now the most powerful person on the planet, with his finger on
the nuclear button and a pathological fascination/obsession in attacking
your country. Again, I reiterate: I am deeply, deeply sorry to you for
that.
I know my most heartfelt and sincere regrets and apologies to any of you
will not bring back the sons, daughters, husbands, wives, and other family
members and friends of yours that will inevitably be killed within the next
few months to a year in your nation, but, please, accept those apologies
anyway from one American among tens of millions of other Americans who do
not hold anything against your people and do not wish in the slightest to go
to war with any of you. Our American Presidency is out of control. There
is simply no other reason for this great threat to your country.
Again, I am very, very sorry.
M.H., Mountain View, Ca.
From Nov. 2002 mail:
There are millions of us Democrats out here who are so with you! I know how those Republicanazis [love that term] are.
I am 60 years old and still remember the dirty tricks Nixon pulled in the 1960 election! I am Jewish, and we lived in Brooklyn, N.Y., at the time. The day before the election, every Jewish family in the neighborhood received a letter from Richard Nixon stating that John Kennedy's father was a Nazi-lover.
I am proud to say that John Kennedy carried our precinct by 90% to 10%! Those were the days, my friend!
H.H.
Should Hawaii secede?
It is refreshing to see that someone is as outraged as I am regarding the so-called Bush administration. I find myself thinking over and over "what is
wrong with this country?" Are we all so wrapped up in this corporate money
driven consumer madness that we can't see beyond it?!
This whole mess has brought me to the point that I can seriously entertain thoughts such as "could we be behind this whole 9/11 horror?" Or "was that sniper a
clandestine CIA agent?" It is a tragedy when a normal middle class person
like me can think that of my government !
I wanted to respond to your state secession idea. My wife and I have just
moved to the Big Island of Hawaii. Hawaii would be perfect for that. There
is probably the foundation already in place here for just such a movement.
What do you think!
Sincerely (wanting to have pride in my country)
G.N.
From Sept. 2002 mail:
I am an employee of Lowes and your article was very enlightening. I always thought that Strickland was a wheeler dealer but now I know. Their whole corporate culture is right-wing. They came out with that stupid "Power of Pride" campaign after 9/11 and I would not wear that patriotic label we had to put on our apron. It was so phony and opportunistic.
I constantly have a conflict between my disgust with consumerism that Lowe's promotes and earning a living. Every years I drive down to North Carolina and go to the Lowe's stock holder meeting. I see Strickland. Maybe next year I should ask him about his position with that disgusting "Society."
Many of my fellow workers are "big time" right wingers. They like Rush, "I got out of Vietnam because of a hemmoroid", Limbaugh and other "ass"orted groups like the NRA. They are big, tough ChickenHawks so I guess they fit in at Lowes.
Lowe's employee
From Aug. 2002 mail:
I was in the Marines and considered myself a conservative Republican most of my life. I did a complete turn-around about a year ago for two reasons. The first was that a friend suggested that I listen to Rush Limbaugh--who he thought was "brilliant."
So every day at work I listened to Rush rant for 3 hours on how EVERYTHING that was wrong in this country was the fault of liberal Democrats. He seemed especially obsessed with Clinton. (Even though Clinton was out of office not a day went by that Rush didn't go into some froth-at-the-mouth diatribe blaming Clinton for this or that.)
I quickly noticed that not only did Rush have an incredibly big ego--he was fond of saying that he has to tie half his brain behind his back just to make it fair-- he was also cruel and cold-hearted. He would make fun of people who were concerned with the environment. (They are all "environmentalist wackos!") Womens rights. ("Feminazis!") And those who are for programs for the poor. ("Socialists!") For awhile Rush would also do a "Homeless Update" where he would make fun of homeless people and those who tried to help them.
Rush also made fun of the elderly who wanted the government to help them with the skyrocketing cost of prescription drugs. He said that they just wanted something for nothing and that if they were having trouble paying for their prescriptions that they should "go get a job!" His attitude appalled me as did the callous "dittos" to his pronouncements from his moronic call-in followers. So I decided that I would become a Liberal Democrat because I had no desire to be associated with that idiot in any way.
The second thing that changed me was what Bush did after 9-11. I am infuriated that he is chipping away at our civil rights and at his warmongering attitude towards other nations. He must be stopped! So now I am doing everything I can to help fight the Right and I want to thank you for doing your part. People like you inspire me! Keep up the good work!
R.W., Pa.
________________________________________________________________________________
From July 2002 email:
Bravo! Congratulations on launching your web site. Please add mine to your list of links, and I'll do the same for yours.
I've been blasting Republicans through satirical song parodies
since 1995, when Newt Gingrich was at the height of his power.
We should credit Newt with putting right wing extremists and
extremist agenda in Congress. Hence, when I launched my web
site in December 1998, I called it "The Boot Newt Sing Along
Page." I've actually wrote so many songs (over 700) that I've
exhausted my Geocities web space allotment, and I had to relocate
the site.
Like you, I am outraged at the Republican coup of Selection 2000.
Since the Selection, I have written over four hundred song parodies
criticizing Bush, Cheney, Ashcroft, Katherine Harris, Ann Coulter,
Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, Rush Limbaugh, etc.
Like you, I've also posted a hate mail page, which you might
enjoy here.
Thank you, and keep up your Fight The Right.
Bill Tong
THE BOOT NEWT SING ALONG PAGE
Political Karaoke - Over 1,300 Song Parodies
http://bootnewt.tripod.com
Thank you for your July 13 column, "A Tale of Two Americas," which I read at
American Politics.
You have given voice to the single most overlooked aspect of the 2000
election/coup d'etat: By every criteria by which you and I would establish
our residency, Dick Cheney was a resident of Texas. (How ironic that he
wasn't even eligible to run for dog catcher in Wyoming, much less for
Congress.) As a resident of Texas he falsely claimed Electoral votes for
which he was not eligible. He came to office by way of subverting the United
States Constitution -- the very one he has sworn on many occasions to uphold
and defend. Of course Cheney didn't do this all on his own (he's not that
clever). No, he needed and got the help of the Bush Crime Family, most
pointedly a panel of judges who threw out a lawsuit brought by several
patriotic citizens to strip him of the stolen Electoral votes.
Now you tell me that his poor house is sitting empty and forlorn, just
waiting for its master's voice. Why aren't I surprised to hear this?
K.H., Los Angeles, CA
All I can say is... Thank you.
That article ["A Tale of Two Americas"] seemed to sum up, more than any other I
have read (there are so many that describe the
blatantly and shamelessly unethical nature of our
current administration), all that is ailing our
country right now.
I hope you feel a strong sense of pride when you get
these e-mails praising your work. You're a true
patriot, and I just wanted to let you know that it's
greatly appreciated.
R.Q.
Your piece on the 'Two' Americas was most heartfelt and eloquent. I have pondered the same things you have put forward many a sleepless night and still do. I am thankful that people like you are still out there. I only wish that we could get together physically and share in the rebellion. My thoughts are your words.
S.C.
I just read your piece about the recent decision about the Pledge of Allegiance, and I'm old enough to remember when the part about "Under God" was inserted (1954). Although I was in Catholic school at the time, I recall being a little uncomfortable, thinking that this was a little strange.
In recent years, when I'm in a public gathering and the pledge is recited, I leave out those words. My husband won't say it at all, pointing out correctly that it makes no sense to swear an allegiance to a flag, an object. Our government, maybe. Even then, I don't think we should be pledging to uphold an illegal, unelected government. Given that the Supreme Court upheld vouchers going to pay for religious schools, I suppose they will very quickly overturn this decision.
Here's another thought for all those people who want the Ten Commandments posted in various public places: whose version should we post? I was raised Catholic, and learned a slightly different listing of those rules (1. I am the Lord thy God; thou shalt not have strange Gods before me. 2. Remember thou keep holy the Sabbath Day. Forget the exact wording of the rest, but ended up at the end with two separate commandments (Thou shalt not covet they neighbor's wife. Thou shalt not covet they neighbor's goods) where the Protestants of my acquaintance had only one. Who's right?
What's right, is to keep those in the church or synagogue, not in the public schools.
S.H.
Thank you for your reasoned and well written editorial titled, "You Can Steal an Election But Don't Touch the Pledge." These are difficult times with a trend toward acquiescence in many people. The mainstream news and information outlets are following the lines of their plutocrat employers and are not doing the truthful reporting which is their job.
The internet is the refuge for many to find some sanity and accuracy. Keep up the fight. Our country and the world needs honesty and courage in reporting now more than ever before.
J.T., San Andreas, CA
I just read your splendid article, "God Bless the Judges," in Liberal Slant. I find it one of the best articles ever published by Liberal Slant. I shall forward it to everyone in my address book, even the few republicans I know, although I'm sure that the stuff I send them is automatically deleted.
My own son has become a "born-again" and refuses to even look at my website. Where did I go wrong???? You may have read my letter to Ohio State students (also published in Liberal Slant.) One of my readers who wrote me about it said that because I was living in France, I probably didn't know just how bad things in the US really are. Not true.....I know exacly how bad things are and it saddens and discourages me.
I was born in 1921. I lived through the depression, World War II, Joseph McCarthy, Kennedy assassination, Viet Nam, Watergate, Reagan, Iran-Contra, Iran hostages, Poppy Bush, and now this. What we have now in the US of A is the worst I've seen because it's the most dangerous for the entire planet, and because those of us who see clearly are being silenced by outrageous incursions on our constitution, a corrupt media, and a scary religious right.
This last element is almost the most dangerous because it is silencing even our Democratic congressmen. Now we're not only "traitors" and unpatriotic....we're blasphemers!! The 2000 election was a travesty of justice.....but the real tragedy is the fact that Americans did not IMMEDIATELY take to the streets by the MILLIONS to protest it. That could never have happened in France.
Like you said in your article, there is more of an uproar of the "under god" issue than there was over a stolen presidential election.....and the "under god" issue is totally legitimate. Go figure!!
George Bush is an insult to the office of the presidency and an international embarrassment!! I cringe when he comes to Europe. Of course my friends know how I feel about him, but I find myself being apologetic to those who don't...like store clerks. Why is it that the lowliest peasant in Europe can see him for what he is, and so many Americans can't???
Matilda Lipscomb, www.letstalksense.com
From June 2002 email:
Someone said it...and said it truthfully...Thank you for the article 'The Evil Dick Cheney' in Online Journal.
Now, you would write an article about the evil one's wife, Lynn Cheney. There is another evil, horrible person.
J.W.
I live in a very conservative state [Utah]. Most of my friends are Republicans, but I have converted a couple of them to the Democratic Party.
I am a staunch Democrat because I firmly believe that the Democratic Party has a lot of good values, ESPECIALLY when compared with the Republican Party.
The Democratic Party is very lucky to have you as a member. Thank you for all of the wonderful things you do for society.
A.A., Utah
I live in Kansas, and it can be quite lonely here. Most of the people I know, including those who are my friends, are conservative Republicans -- many are also Christian fundamentalists. I'm surrounded by their smug pleasure at what's been happening since November 2000.
One of the reasons I tend to avoid political discussions is that I'm not good at thinking on my feet and cannot come up with the correct information to counter the lies being said by the other parties. I should probably simply print out pieces such as yours and silently hand them out at appropriate times.
I can offer this observation: my 15 year old son attends a private secular school in Kansas City, Missouri [because of their excellent academics] and many of the parents there are Bush's natural constituents, given their income level. My son told me recently that many of his classmates who formerly supported Bush no longer do. There is hope.
S.H., Overland Park, KS
From Jan. 2002 email:
I just read your article on BuzzFlash, & had to write to tell you how
good
it is. I, too, have been told to "just get over it" more times than I
can
count, & I will never understand how anyone could minimize the
outrageous
criminal behavior that put Bush in the White House.
I cannot understand why this atrocity has been downgraded to a minor
inconvenience that people just shrug off.
I guess I'm just totally out of touch with mainstream America. I see
the
recession, budget deficit, thousands of lost jobs, blatant corruption
(i.e.
Enron), & I simply do not understand why Americans are not concerned by
it.
Same with Bush's sky high approval poll ratings. Bush ultimately
"lucked
out" on Sept. 11 - I cannot help but think that without that terrible
tragedy, those ratings would be in the depths where they belong.
Thanks for the great article, & for letting me vent.
M.M.
Neither will I, Jackson.
I will be 60 this summer. Out of work for over 18 months, my retirement funds and plans in disarray and I dread what is coming down the road. Your sentiments are mine. Articulately written, I hope there are more of us out there.
I will not get over what has happened and cannot understand how so many have simply accepted this pResident. I don't.
I told my wife some time back: "Let's see. I'm out of work. There is a recession. We're at war. There must be a Bush in the White House."
If I had the ability, financially, I would leave this country tomorrow.
I wish you good luck. I hope and pray this country is strong enough to survive this doofus. I have my doubts.
D.S.
My brother sent me your essay from the Online Journal. Thank you. Thank
you. Thank you. Thank you.
I'm 44 and I won't get over it either.
Reading your essay made me cry. Seeing this nation roll over and play
dead to a pretender president and his rapacious policies makes me cry
harder.
I have lost faith in the electoral process, the integrity of
the
press, and the Democrats in office now who capitulate to Bush.
K.K.
Thank you for so eloquently describing how I feel about the non-election of the current occupant of the White House... I remain mystified that anyone who professes to value democracy can "get over" the fiasco of the 2000 selection.
How bizarre that we, as Americans, are asked to turn a blind eye toward the sanctity of the ballot boxes at the same time we are called upon to demonstrate our patriotism by accepting wholesale violation of constitutional guarantees. Where is Patrick Henry when we need him?
But I digress... Thank you again for your article. You are not alone. Like you, I will not just get over it. Thanks for reading my rant.
C.H.
Well said! The enemies of freedom and democracy are at work all over it seems, and here in England, basic living-standards of decency thresholds are under attack and civil liberties too. Everyone seems to subscribe to the theory that if the lie is big enough, and you repeat it often enough, people will swallow it.
As a fellow freedom-lover, thanks for standing up on behalf of everyone in the world who is on the side of freedom, justice and democracy for everyone.
D.G., Sheffield, England
I totally agree with you. Many of us in Texas were afraid that Bush would
do to the nation what he did to Texas. Sadly that has been all too true and
has been even worse that we ever imagined.
But the great silence of most
of the media has really been unbelievable. Thank you for writing about what
many of us also feel.
J., Texas
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