[Rhodes22-list] Donnerstagsdussligkeiten

[Michael Meltzer]

Dear Sir or Madam:

I am a senior citizen. During the Clinton Administration I had an extremely
good and well paying job. I took numerous vacations and had vacations homes.

Since President Bush took office, I have watched my entire life change for
the worse. I lost my job. I lost my two sons in that terrible Iraqi War. I
lost my home. I lost my health insurance. As a matter of fact, I lost
everything and became homeless.

Adding insult to injury, when the authorities found me living like an
animal, instead of helping me, they arrested me.

I will do anything to insure President Bush's defeat in the next election. I
will do anything that Senator Kerry wants to insure that a Democrat is back
in the White House come next year. Bush has to go.

I just thought you would like to know how one senior citizen views the Bush
Administration. Thank you for taking the time to read my letter.

Sincerely,
Saddam Hussein

 - from Chris Helin

--
"The White House begun airing their TV commercials to re-elect the
president, and the John Kerry campaign is condemning his use of 9/11 in the
ads. He said, it is conscionable to use the tragic memory of a war in order
to get elected, unless of course, it's the Vietnam War."
- Jay Leno

"John Kerry has promised to take this country back from the wealthy. Who
better than the guy worth $700 million to take the country back? See, he
knows how the wealthy think. He can spy on them at his country club, at his
place in Palm Beach, at his house in the Hamptons. He's like a mole for the
working man." - Jay Leno

"I'm worried about John Kerry, he's so confident now that he's already
planning his White House sex scandal."
- David Letterman

"John Kerry will be the Democratic nominee for president. Democrats finally
found someone who is Al Gore without the flash and the sizzle." - Craig
Kilborn

"Kerry has already begun his search for a running mate. They say that
because John Edwards still has $50 million in campaign money, Kerry might
pick him. Pick him? Hey, for $50 million, Kerry will change his position on
gay marriage and marry him." - Jay Leno

"Yesterday Senator John Kerry changed his mind and now supports the ban on
gay marriages. I'm telling you this guy has more positions than Paris
Hilton." - David Letterman

"According to a new study, Botox injections can help back pain. So you see,
that's why John Kerry had all that Botox - his back was killing him from all
that flip-flopping on issues." - Jay Leno

"An Internet report claims that John Kerry had an affair with a young woman,
but that she still loves him and will deny it. When asked if this was
similar to the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal, a spokesman said 'Close, but no
cigar.'" - Jimmy Fallon, Saturday Night Live

"Over the weekend, John Kerry - the big John Kerry juggernaut moves on - he
won primaries in Washington D.C., Nevada and, I think, Canada. And he's so
confident that he's started nailing that intern again." - David Letterman

"The head of the AFL-CIO endorsed John Kerry, saying, 'The time has come to
come behind one man, one leader, one candidate.' Then he said, 'And until we
find that man, we will have to endorse John Kerry.'" - Conan O'Brien

"The Democrats are all over this. Democratic strategists feel John Kerry's
war record means he can beat Bush. They say when it comes down to it voters
will always vote for a war hero over someone who tried to get out of the
war. I'll be sure to mention that to Bob Dole when I see him." - Jay Leno

"John Kerry said today that he wants to get rid of tax cuts for the rich and
his wife said, 'Hey, shut up! What's the matter with you?! Are you
nuts?!'" - Jay Leno

"They had a profile of John Kerry on the news and they said his FIRST WIFE
was worth around $300 million and his SECOND WIFE, his current wife, is
worth around $700 million. His intern (with whom he supposedly had an
affair) was worth several more million. So when John Kerry says he's going
after the wealthy in this country, he's not just talking. He's doing it!" -
Jay Leno

"In his big victory speech last night, Senator Kerry said that he wanted to
defeat George Bush and the 'economy of privilege.' Then he hugged his wife,
Teresa, heir to the multi-million dollar Heinz food fortune." - Jay Leno

"A new poll shows that Senator Kerry's support in the South is strongest
amongst blacks. Kerry's appeal to Southern blacks is obvious. He is an
ultra-liberal, ultra-wealthy white man who lives far, far away." - Dennis
Miller

"The big winner on Super Tuesday was Senator John Kerry. He won 39 percent
of the vote, which is pretty good, and begs the question, why the long
face?" - Jay Leno

"In his speech last night, John Kerry said this was the beginning of the end
of the Bush administration. I agree. Sure, it will probably take another
five years, but this is it." - Jay Leno

 - from Carol Bagshaw

--
In yet another case of corporate media censorship, executives at Disney have
decided not to distribute filmmaker Michael Moore's new documentary
entitled, "Fahrenheit 911". Moore's new film is highly critical of the
financial ties between the Bush family and the Saudi royal family as well as
the action taken by the government in secretly evacuating relatives of Osama
bin Laden out of the country immediately after the attacks on September 11.

Published reports indicate that although the movie is ready for release,
Miramax studios have been told by parent company Disney that it has decided
to ban distribution of the film.

Why? According to one Disney executive, "It's not in the interest of any
major corporation to be dragged into a highly charged partisan political
battle".

Last week, it was Sinclair Broadcasting gagging Ted Koppel, by pre-empting
Nightline's tribute to the Iraq war dead on its ABC affiliates, claiming
that the program was partisan. Now Disney bans distribution of a politically
charged film. Are we going further and further down the road where
corporations determine all that people should see?

The more that media is concentrated in the hands of a few huge corporate
owners, the more likely we'll see this type of corporate censorship. One of
the bedrocks of democracy is the freedom to express all ideas, no matter how
controversial. When ideas are suppressed, our freedoms are diluted. Think of
how outraged we'd be if the local library cleared its shelves of all
controversial books.

Is Michael Moore's film good, bad, or indifferent? Will it offend some
people? Probably. But how will the public ever know? How can the public
decide the merits when a handful of corporate executives decide for us?

 - from Jay Pocius

--