American Politics Journal

We Get Letters!

From: Don Phelps
Re: The Bush Crime Family
Date: Jan. 25, 2002

Poppy, Ma (Barker), Dubya, Jeb, and Neil should be in some house of correction.

With the exception of Marvin and Dorothy, the whole Bush clan is totally corrupt, unethical, criminal, dyslexic, and for the most part ignorant.

Only in America can we find that 50% of the voting population is eager to let these walking anachronistic Bozos run our government.

From Tricky Dick Nixon through the colossal dumb-head Reagan to this monkey looking for his next pretzel, were are being victimized by criminal families protected by a corporate press and a stupid electoral college.

From: "Big R"
Re: Freeper Watch!
Date: Jan. 22, 2002

1) FReeper extraordinaire and all-round reactionary Connie Hair is now being paid by MSNBC to be support staff for Alan Keyes' new show.

2) Brian Buckley is back at FR, posting merrily away.

Reply from the Editors: We're shocked -- SHOCKED -- that madman Keyes would hire someone who makes Joe McCarthy look like Gene McCarthy! And as for Buckley -- heck, we always thought the REAL reason he left was because Mac MacArthur, even though suffering from the flu, managed not only to make a general fool of Buckley on the late, lamented Alan Colmes Show, but caught Buckley, a member of the bar, in a lie on national radio.

But then, we're not shocked in the least by his return -- honesty and integrity have never hallmarks of Freak Republic.

From: Kristin Connor
Re: Enrongate
Date: Jan. 22, 2002

You know things are going badly for Bush when he face glows as he breaks the news that his own mother-in-law lost money (nearly $8,000) from investing in Enron.

This shows just how low the Rethuglicans will go to try to claim the "high road".

Bush should be angry by the fact that his wife's mother -- his children's grandma -- was swindled by the very same people who contributed to his campaign. What was she doing investing in that company anyway???

However, he's trying to "prove" how humble his family is and "prove" that they didn't know, because otherwise she wouldn't have lost money too.

What a pile of horse hockey, as some would say.

He and his "family values" are a sham -- and the whole American population should be ashamed by the way he and All the President's Men and Women are taking this country for a ride.

Bob Bennett is representing Enron; David Boies is representing an Enron executive. Maybe this is where their loyalties really lie and maybe they were taking Clinton and Gore for a ride when working for each one of them. However, I guess there are no other lawyers in Texas who can take this case -- because they too all bought Enron stock and either can't afford to take the case or are caught in a conflict of interest.

From: Gary Garland
Re: The draft
Date: Jan. 22, 2002

Republican Congressman Nick Smith, who represents a district in southern Michigan, will introduce legislation calling for universal military service. The first call-ups, according to Smith in comments made during an appearance on the Tom Leykis radio program, could take place as soon as three years from now and would affect all men between the ages of 18-20 years old.

In a particularly sexist facet of Smith's proposed bill, women would be exempt from the draft but could volunteer.

Once conscripted, the youngsters would be sent to boot camps for six month hitches that could be extended to one year if the Secretary of Defense so orders and given instruction in military tactics, homeland defense, international relations and other "education". Furthermore, the inductees, upon completion of said service, would then be eligible for educational benefits given nowadays solely to active duty military, which would be a burden on the federal budget.

Of course, this is just another way for the GOP to create more opportunities for pork and patronage, since it would vastly expand the need for military bases, teachers, weapons for training and other types of procurement to cope with the millions of new yearly inductees. In other words, this is corporate welfare on a massive scale.

The Pentagon is the biggest source of waste in the American government and this will only exacerbate it. Some conservatives, though, seem to have given up on trying to control unnecessary expenditures among the U.S. military establishment. "You can't stop Pentagon waste, give me a break!" said the Weekly Standard's Fred Barnes during a discussion on Fox News.

Moreover, in not requiring women to undergo the same training, it gives them an unfair advantage over their male counterparts in continuing their education or finding jobs while males were away on their obligation. Too, Smith, a combat veteran, says that women should not be in combat, citing the likelihood that they would be raped if they were captured.

Leykis quickly shot back that men were raped in captivity as well and that Smith was essentially saying that it is okay for men to be raped while it wasn't similarly permissible for women, that he was looking at women as "delicate flowers." After going to break, Smith then begged off the interview.

One other possibly controversial aspect of Smith's legislation is that it won't allow for religious objection to it, so Jehovah's Witnesses, who don't even salute the flag, would have to serve, as would Quakers and other sects that believe all war is wrong. This will make for expensive court battles that will increase the volume of red ink in Bush's deficit-ridden budget.

Smith admits that a majority of affected males would not be in favor of having their lives disrupted in the name of compulsory military training, but posited that that was just too bad, that it is in the interest of the country to do this. One of the instances that Smith noted for the inspiration for his bill was Communist China, a phenomenal admission by a conservative.

So Smith intends to ram this down an unwilling America's throat so that they can propound militarist propaganda to the masses and basically put this country on a "1984"-ish permanent war footing. This would allow the GOP to masturbate two of its biggest constituencies, the military-industrial complex and big business. Too, he is also ignoring the fact that resistance to the draft is an American tradition, as American history is riddled with riots that broke out expressing opposition to mandatory induction. This will sew only more division in the country, result in bigger budget deficits, and turn those who don't go along with his neo-fascist scheme into criminals so that they can then stifle dissent. This is a big winner for the GOP, but a big loser for all Americans who cherish their constitutional rights. And another way that the system screws males while allowing women to get off scot-free.

So what else is new?

From: BTW
Re: Pretzelgate!
Date: Jan. 21, 2002

I'm one of the doubters of the "gagged on a pretzel and fainted and hit my glasses on the table" explanation. They scrolled the news during The People's Choice Awards, and it just seems like the White House wanted to get that story out a little TOO much.

Better an embarrassing lie than an emasculating truth, if it is.

(Would the Bush Team tell a lie? Is Ari still alive?)

I worked at a restaurant owned by an "Old World" European. In the off-season, a transient made the mistake of ordering the filet mignon and lobster tail, and asked for the best bottle of wine to compliment his meal. He had no way to pay for the meal, and was the only non-employee left in the building, so the owner beat him up before calling the cops. The owner sprained his wrist on the guy's head.

I wonder if Laura Bush was treated by the White House doctor last week for the same. She was not seen with George, standing by her man, that I know of. She once killed a young man and got away with it; do you think she fears the Yellow Prairie Dog of Crawford? Since this would not fall under "Presidential papers," maybe a Freedom of Information Act request could be filed to see if domestic abuse is happening at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.