DISPATCHES FROM THE TROOPS

BBBR Resistance Fighters Write In

April 19, 2001

 

INFINITE GRATITUDE TO ALL THE BBBR RESISTANCE FIGHTERS

WHO WROTE IN DURING MY "BLUE PERIOD."

HERE ARE SOME OF THEIR E-MAILS:

 

The BardGal Has a New Rant,

And a Great Idea

 

Subj:   Loved Friday's Panda thing!

Date:  04/19/2001 8:39:13 AM Pacific Daylight Time

From: The BardGal

To:       divatex@aol.com

 

 

OK, so I am grossly behind!  My apologies.  Reading the Panda thing just made me want to see it on film!  Absolutely brilliant! 

 

Did you get the link I sent you to my latest rant?

 

 

 

Subj:   Re: Loved Friday's Panda thing!

Date:  04/19/2001 4:25:54 PM Pacific Daylight Time

From: DivaTex

To:       The BardGal

 

Dear Tally:

 

Join the club.

 

When Chuck was in Boston for the Marathon, I couldn't sleep AT ALL.  I just lay in bed, clockwatching, until I couldn't stand it anymore, then I'd get up and back to work -- CLEANING, not writing.

 

Yes, four months of accumulated dirt is a chore to remove.  A major chore, but one that's just about done.  YIPPEE!

 

But now The Conquering Babe has returned from his travels, and I am feeling frisky and fabulous, so the BBBR is about to be back up-to-date.

 

Me, on the other hand, I remain behind on EVERYTHING.  (Well, not EVERYTHING, but just about...)

 

I am posting the link for your latest rant, along with your panda comments.  I think it would be hysterical if an animator took that story and ran with it!  I am laughing just THINKING about it.  Especially the part where the Baby Panda is rolling around dissing the Resident.

 

Anyway, take care, and let me know when we can get together again.  I had a great time last time...

 

Your Fellow Ranter,

Tammy

 WebMistress of BBBR

http://www.coup2k.com

http://www.gorewon2000.net

 

[DIVA NOTE:  So, how about it?  Any animators out there wanna take a whack at the Panda Piece?]

 

********************

 

Fellow Aggielander and Resistance Fighter Karen:

Gives Shot in the Arm, Requests BBBR Uniform

 

From: "Karen B"

To: <thediva@coup2k.com>

Sent: Tuesday, April 17, 2001 10:40 PM

Subject: the resistance

 

Hi Diva-person

 

I'm not sure I could handle life in the post-coup corporate states without your web page.  Thank you for all your hard work!  I'm glad you're there to help counter all the terrible news with information, activist alerts, and most important, humor.  Sometimes it's just all too depressing and I need something to smile at; that's when I run screaming to your site.

 

I'm an Aggie, moved from that bastion of liberal thought to the Deep South (I know, you think I'm kidding, but everyone I knew at A&M really was liberal...or at the very least, an independent thinker).  After ten years in Alabama and Georgia, I finally got the chance to move home to Texas and found out that TEXAS TURNED INTO THE DEEP SOUTH.  I left Governor Richards and returned to *Shrub*.  It was pretty scary.

 

When Shrub stole the presidency and suddenly the entire U.S was the Deep South, I got really depressed.  Hmm, I still am.

 

I'm trying to believe that the fight is what matters, not the winning or the losing, but I have two daughters who will have to live in this mess we're creating.

 

I'm grateful your site is there to help me keep some perspective, or at least help me smile.  Now I need a t-shirt; didn't you have some for a while?

 

Oh, I found your site when you printed your race change.  I laughed myself sick:  my friends had been telling me for weeks that I must be African American cause I was still so upset over the Selection.

 

It's past my bedtime.

 

Thanks for being there!

 

Yours,

Karen B.

Another (tired, discouraged) Freedom Fighter

 

 

 

From: "The Diva (Tammy)" <thediva@respectperfection.com>

To: "Karen B"

Sent: Thursday, April 19, 2001 3:22 PM

Subject: Re: the resistance

 

Dear Karen:

 

I adored your letter, especially coming as it did from a fellow ex-Aggie.  To think:  There are two of us (at least) who are fighting the coup!  (I wonder if George the Elder will pull his Presidential Library from the campus in protest...)

 

:)

 

And actually, I can believe that it changed since I was there.  Nothing lasts forever, as they say, and it's not as though it could have gotten any MORE conservative...

 

I was telling another Resistance Fighter all about my experiences at A&M the other day, and here is what I wrote to her:

 

A&M is the kind of place that makes you choose sides.  There is no middle ground in an environment that conservative.  You're either with 'em, or you're against 'em.  That's what they believe.  I was always a liberal-minded sort, so it didn't take me long at all to figure out that I was against 'em...

 

Quick story that completely sums up the A&M experience:  I was behind on my laundry, and since my dorm only had 1 washer and dryer on each floor, I gathered up my loads, and headed across campus to the laundromat.  I was wearing black leggings (they were in fashion at the time), my aforementioned black leather jingly-jangly boots, and a black shirt.  Well, as I passed through the "quad," a preacher named Josh (he's famous for his campus evangelism) began screaming about me at the top of his lungs:

 

"Do you see her?  Look at her!  Do you think she's sexy?  That's what she wants you to think!  She wants you to believe she wants you!  She wants to make you sin!  To trap you!  She doesn't really want you!  She only wants to use sex to corrupt your soul!  To win you for Satan!"

 

Well, now...  Far be it from me disagree with a man of the cloth...  But I was A VIRGIN!  I'd never even been to third base, for the love of Bill!  I was covered from neck to wrists to ankles!  And this was my first year at A&M, so I wasn't quite used to people treating me like a girl yet, let alone like a whore... Therefore, I basically WENT OFF.  I know the Bible backwards and forwards, inside and out (I have a bit of a photographic memory for things I've read), so I dropped my laundry on the ground, marched right up to Brother Josh, and started screaming at him -- about judgment, and about Jesus' admonition against name-calling (an offense punishable by hell), about lying and bearing false witness, etc...

 

Word got around, so after that I was a BIG target for the KKK (Campus Crusade for Christ -- that's what we deviants called them).  They tried to gang-save me CONSTANTLY.  It got to be rather tedious.  But after a while, I noticed that they were getting more militant -- preaching that women should not be taking up space in the university, since we were all commanded to get married and have babies anyway; talking about how god wants gays to be put to death, and how we should purge homosexuals from our lives -- so I got militant right back.  There was no sitting on the fence for me.  I chose sides.

 

So you could say, in a sense, that A&M turned me into a committed liberal.

 

And I, too, couldn't stand to see Texas pass from the Governance of Ann Richards to Shrub.  Talk about your nightmare scenarios!  But luckily, My Consort was transferred out-of-state, so we made a run for the border before things got totally out of hand (which I've heard they have, at least in my favorite hunk of Texas, Austin).

 

Who would have guessed that I couldn't get away so easily?  Now the whole COUNTRY gets to live the nightmare scenario.  YIKES!

 

But, as you noted, at least I get to live it as a black woman.  That's the good part -- getting a brand new gigantic extended family...

 

And as for T-Shirts...

 

NOW YOU'RE TALKING!

 

T-Shirts?  I got a ton of 'em for ya...

 

Just click on over to the BBBR Coup Couture Mall and Banana Republic Outfitters, at: http://www.coup2k.com/mall.html

 

You can also get there by clicking on the T-Shirt icon on the Site Navigator in the left-hand TOC, or at the bottom of any page, of the BBBR.

 

I still haven't gotten one for myself yet.  I am thinking (what with dropping all this weight since the coup) of doing one for The Amazing Miracle Republic Diet!  I may even wear it to the San Francisco West Coast Voter March...

 

Wouldn't that be the bomb?

 

Your fellow Aggie Diva,

Tammy

 WebMistress of BBBR

http://www.coup2k.com

http://www.gorewon2000.net

 

********************

 

John Has Trouble Getting Into Uniform.

Has NBCi Gone AWOL?

 

From: "John M."

To: <webmistress@gorewon2000.net>

Sent: Thursday, April 19, 2001 7:16 PM

Subject: I would love to order a couple of things...

 

 

I would love to order a couple of things... But I keep getting an "unable to display page" when I click on the item and then "submit" order button.  Any ideas?

 

 

 

From: "The Diva (Tammy)" <thediva@respectperfection.com>

To: "John M."

Sent: Friday, April 20, 2001 12:55 AM

Subject: Re: I would love to order a couple of things

 

 

Dear John:

 

I heard on the news yesterday the NBCi kind of went belly-up, but I didn't realize that it would affect the BBBR stores.  I tried testing the order forms, and had the same problem, so I went through the direct cafepress.com portal instead, and that worked for me.  I've changed all the links at the BBBR Coup Couture Mall to go directly through CafePress now, instead of through the NBCi site.

 

To use the alternate CafePress portal: 

instead of going to http://cafepress.nbci.com/bbbr(and whichever number),

try http://www.cafepress.com/bbbr(whichever number)

 

If that doesn't work, another problem may be that your security settings could be configured so that you can't get onto a secure server, or accept any cookies CafePress is trying to place on your computer.  If that's the problem, you can always call their toll-free line directly, at 1.877.809.1659, to place your order.  Their hours are (I think) 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Pacific Time.

 

If all else fails, send me an e-mail and let me know, and I will send you my phone number.  You can call me anytime except midnight-8 a.m. Pacific Time (that's when My Consort is sleeping), and I will work the problem from my end.

 

Thanks for wanting to "get into uniform..."

 

:)

 

Tammy

"The Diva"

 WebMistress of BBBR

http://www.coup2k.com

http://www.gorewon2000.net

 

********************

 

Julie, Link Scavenger

 

From: "Julie B."

To: <thediva@coup2k.com>

Sent: Thursday, April 19, 2001 8:10 AM

Subject: Can't find a link, thought you might have it

 

Hi Diva,

 

Gotta' question. Do you remember the attorney's explanation of the Supreme Court decision on the Selection that went all over the Net? Do you even remember that guy's name ;-)?

 

I'm trying to find the link. It's my urgent mission to silence another GOP ditto-head. I can't remember the guy's name, let alone his website, and it was the most cogent, easily-understood explanation of the matter that I saw. (If you're truly bored and would like some fun, the Republicans needing a swift kick in the ass are at http://www.patpack.org/; here's the link to the thread in question:

http://www.patpack.org/board/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=1&t=003517.

 

My screen name there is "Missy Vixen". (As you can see, someone doesn't know how to make a link...)

 

In case you're wondering who these nuts are, this BBS is run by fans of a local radio personality in Seattle, WA. While it's not kicking the Resident out of our house, Pat Cashman was unjustly fired two years ago this month from another local radio station. Two hundred people got together and wrote, called, boycotted advertisers, conducted picketing and demonstrations, and basically brought the station to its knees financially. (They lost 2/3 of their advertisers in a six-month period due to our efforts.) We heard the same stuff on the local level we've been hearing on the national level since November 7th: Give up. It's hopeless. Don't you have anything better to do with your time?

 

Pat and his co-worker Lisa were hired at another local station, we're thankful to say.

 

I know that the BBBR may have battle fatigue. I know that I've had it. At the same time, though, the "Mandatory Minimums" got me going once again. The only way our voices will be heard (with a White House and mainstream media determined to filter them out,) is if we all keep their feet to the fire, and continue to urge others to join our battle.

 

I hope that you're having a great day!

 

Julie B.

 

 

 

From: "The Diva (Tammy)" <thediva@respectperfection.com>

To: "Julie B."

Sent: Thursday, April 19, 2001 3:47 PM

Subject: Re: Can't find a link, thought you might have it

 

Dear Julie:

 

I think you might be talking either about Mark Levine's Supreme Court Q&A, or Vincent Bugliosi's excellent piece in The Nation.  They are both lawyers, and both have written awesome works on the coup.  Here are the links:

 

THE GORE EXCEPTION By Mark Levine

http://www.coup2k.com/supremeqanda.html

 

NONE DARE CALL IT TREASON by Vincent Bugliosi

http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20010205&s=bugliosi

 

And I have finally left my BBBR Battle Fatigue behind, not that My Consort is back where he belongs, which is next to me.

 

J

 

Thanks for writing in, and give 'em hell on the boards...  And keep after those "Mandatory Minimums"...

 

Tammy

"The Diva"

 WebMistress of BBBR

http://www.coup2k.com

http://www.gorewon2000.net

 

********************

 

Suzan Pulls Rank

 

From: <HelloDollyLama>

To: <thediva@coup2k.com>

Sent: Tuesday, April 17, 2001 9:17 PM

Subject: Alright....buck up GF

 

I read your site today and it broke my heart.  I just wanted to tell you how much we need you.  I read you almost every day.  Don't you ever wonder what fuels the right?  How did they keep it up for 8 long years?  I read Horowitz' piece in Salon yesterday and I wondered how he sustains the energy. 

 

I have no words of wisdom.  We lost all three branches of government and the press.  But this I do know: the American people are smarter than I usually give them credit for, and they are humane.  I remember a "man on the street" interview after they broadcast Clinton's deposition.  He was from Missouri I think...the "heartland"...and was the blue collar type.  He said "I didn't vote for Clinton and frankly don't much like the man but I watched the deposition and I was struck by how unfairly he was being treated by the prosecutors.  Seeing it changed my mind.  I felt sorry for him.  He should not be impeached."  I was so proud of "us".

 

One more story from the front:  I logged onto AOL one Sat. morning to check my mail and surf around as I listened to NPR.  It was the morning of the Elian "raid."  I'd never joined a "chat" or read bulletin boards but I did join a chat that morning.  The "room" was full but only a couple of people were talking.  All of them nasty and hate-filled.  One particularly vocal guy was saying "Reno broke the law, she is lawless, she didn't have a warrant."  Now, being a lawyer and a former public defender I thought to myself "how could anyone in the world come to the conclusion that Reno, who heads the largest law firm in the world, would have made a mistake that stupid and fatal?" 

 

The next morning, on the Sunday morning talk shows, there was my very own Orrin saying the same thing!  I was aghast.  He's a lawyer but its obvious he has never practiced AND that he allowed his reason and ability to use logic to be colored by his emotionalism.  Trust me.  No first year law student would forget to check to see if a warrant was necessary (it wasn't) or to get one (she did anyway) if it was.  Orrin's agenda was crystal clear.  He wanted to hate Reno.  It had NOTHING to do with Elian.  Nothing to do with Castro.  Sheesh.  He threw out family vales to HATE RENO!  A couple of weeks later, Cokie, near the end of the show, was shocked that the American people overwhelmingly supported Reno.  She wanted to continue her diatribe about jack booted thugs.  That was my first clue that those people have lost all ability to reason outside of the petty gossip that surrounds them in their isolated world of "politics". 

 

Luckily, Americans have not.  Two pieces of good news even today, Bush is putting the brakes on arming Taiwan (I see arming Taiwan as war-mongering shit) and Powell got the Israelis to pull back to their pre-Tuesday position on the Gaza strip, another sign that Rumsfeld might not get his limited nuclear war after all. 

 

There is a part of all of us where we want more than anything in the world to see Bush fail miserably.  But we have to fight it.  We have to say "if he governs like a human being, showing some respect for the governed and the rest of the world, it will be acceptable."  To do otherwise, to allow our hatred for the man (and believe me, I hate him so that I've come to understand how they felt about Clinton which I never understood before) would reduce us to the likes of Orrin and DeLay and Lott and Newt and Rush.  It's not worth it.  Trust me.  I'm older than you are and I'm pulling rank.

 

Keep it up.  Your chin, your spirits and your dander.

 

Suzan

 

 

 

From: "The Diva (Tammy)" <thediva@respectperfection.com>

To: <HelloDollyLama >

Sent: Thursday, April 19, 2001 3:00 PM

Subject: Re: Alright....buck up GF

 

Dear Suzan:

 

First of all, "Yes, Ma'am!"  (Now that Chuck is home, my chin, spirits, and dander should be more obedient...)

 

J

 

Onto the matter of letting hatred get the better of me:

 

It isn't that I want to see Bush fail, although I admit to loathing him as a person, and to despising everything he stands for -- everything he symbolizes.  Nothing would please me more than seeing him hold to the bipartisan center he campaigned from, where little serious irreversible damage can be done to America and the world, but I think we all know now that is not going to happen.  He has campaign contributors to pay off, scores to settle with the administration that defeated his father, a stolen election to cover up (and future stolen elections to enable), and a personal stake financially in robbing the average American not only of their money, but of their rights.

 

What I do want is to see him held accountable for his actions, and the actions of those acting on his behalf, and in his interests.  What happened following the election was nothing short of a crime against America, and no less serious than an act of war, just because it was carried out by citizens within our borders, rather than foreigners outside of them.

 

There is no statute of limitations on treason, is there?

 

Well, that is what I find Bush 'n Thugs, Inc. guilty of.  Treason.  And unless and until I see some evidence of innocence, I'm not trusting the guy, or his co-conspirators, any further than I can throw them.  (I don't look at all like Demi Moore in "G.I. Jane", so that's not far.)

 

How do I want him held accountable?  Do I want the man dead?  No.  Not in a million years.

 

One of my favorite movies of all time is "The Princess Bride".  In this movie, the Evil Prince Humperdink engages in every despicable act under the sun in his quest for power and control, and comes at last to meet the protagonist, Wesley, man-to-man.  Wesley is weak,  but aided by The Princess Bride [Buttercup], and another ally [Inigo] shows up when all is mostly well, asking "Shall I dispatch him [Humperdink] for you?"

 

Wesley's friend, Inigo, is an excellent swordsman, and would make quick work of freeing the world from Humperdink's odious presence.  But Wesley turns him down.  He says, "No.  I want him to live a long life alone with his cowardice."

 

Well, that's what I want.  I want Bush, and his entire filthy family, both in blood and in deed, discredited.  I want them to be the shameful objects of derision, and the laughing stock of all the world.  I want them to live out their days on this planet, knowing that every decent human being knows they are criminal trash. 

 

And I want them all to live to be 200.

 

But that's just me...

 

Tammy

"The Diva"

coup2k.com

 

PS:  I loved your letter!

 

********************

 

Carol the Curious,

On Voter March West

 

From: "Carol S"

Subject: Re: CA **********SF VOTER MARCH************

 

 

Tammy,

 

Is anyone going to record your speech?  I would love to hear it!  If nothing else, will you send me a transcript?  Do you have a topic yet?

 

Yours in solidarity,

Carol

 

 

 

From: "The Diva (Tammy)" <thediva@respectperfection.com>

Subject: Re: CA **********SF VOTER MARCH************

 

 

Dear Carol:

 

As it stands right now, I will be giving a speech at the West Coast Voter March in San Francisco, of no more than 15 minutes in duration (WHEW!), so My Consort, Chuck, should be able to get it all on videotape, and then I can either transcribe and post that, or post the speech (notes) I wrote to prepare, on the BBBR.

 

And speaking of Chuck (I always do...), here is an e-mail I received from him, with suggestions for my speech:

 

Dear Diva:

 

I am working on your speech for San Francisco.  Here are the subject headings I have so far:

 

Voter Rights in the Next Decade

By Tammy "You're goddamn right I'm the Diva!" Talpas

 

I.  Voter Outlook for 2002

II.  Resistance on the Internet

III.  The Role of Peanut Butter in the Fight for Democracy

IV.  Hauptman: Kill Him and Bring His Head To Me

V.  Sleep is For Republican Pussies

VI.  The Freepers Hid My Car Keys

VII.  Only Joe Perry Can Save This Country

LVB.  Who Really Understands Roman Numerals?

 

Chuck I

 

See why I hate it when he's out of town?

 

J

 

Tammy

"The Diva"

 WebMistress of BBBR

http://www.coup2k.com

http://www.gorewon2000.net

 

********************

 

Lisa in Canada,

On The "Gore Landmarks" ACTION ALERT

 

From: <Lisa>

Subject: I'm amazed ....

 

 

Wow -- you managed to find a photo of the Gore Park fountain!  I promise, I'll get you a more up-to-date one when I go home later this year.  Will take a pic of Saanich's Gore Park when I get more film. 

 

Just an update on the links -- Liberal Slant rotates articles off its site to make room for new ones, so the piece I did on Ian Thomas isn't there anymore.  I gave him permission to post a copy at his own site -- and a beautiful site it is too ... so it might pop up there soon:  http://www.maptricks.com/index1.html

 

 

Re:  getting more people involved in tracking down Gore signage... How about putting out an alert at democrats.com?  I know a couple of folks who are active with the party so I'll mention it to them as well.

 

 

Cheers,

 

Lisa

 

 

 

From: "The Diva (Tammy)"

To: <Lisa.>

CC: bob@democrats.com

Subject: http://www.coup2k.com/alertgorelandmarks.html

 

 

Dear Lisa:

 

I am cc'ing Bob at Democrats.com on this e-mail, as you suggested, so he knows what we are up to.

 

J

 

... And I love the old and new pics of Gore Fountain, but if you can get a better new one, I'd love to post it. Canada Rocks!

 

Tammy

"The Diva"

 WebMistress of BBBR

http://www.coup2k.com

http://www.gorewon2000.net

 

********************

 

Cindy in Oklahoma

Finds Gore

 

From: <Cindy>

To: <thediva@coup2k.com>

Sent: Thursday, April 19, 2001 10:10 AM

Subject: Gore, Oklahoma

 

Dear Diva,

 

Just read the Gore Landmarks article from our Canadian ally, and wanted to let you know that there is a Gore, Oklahoma located in the eastern part of the state.  I'll be there in a couple of weeks, and will try to get some pictures.

 

Sincerely,

Cindy Simms

 

 

 

From: "The Diva (Tammy)" <thediva@respectperfection.com>

To: <Cindy>

Sent: Thursday, April 19, 2001 3:37 PM

Subject: Re: Gore, Oklahoma

 

Dear Cindy:

 

Awesome!  Let me know what you get, and send it in...

 

One Diva Salute for Cindy in Oklahoma...

 

Tammy

"The Diva"

 WebMistress of BBBR

http://www.coup2k.com

http://www.gorewon2000.net

 

********************

 

Myra Gives Rob Rogers, His Newspaper,

A Big BBBR Thumbs-up!

 

From: "Myra B."

To: <thediva@coup2k.com>

Sent: Wednesday, April 18, 2001 10:40 PM

Subject: B&B

 

Hi Tammy,

 

I'm sorry you're so bored and bummed and stuck doing taxes alone.  I never used to resent paying taxes until this year, because now I realize that we don't even get a democracy in return for our money.  Hard not to be bummed in light of that harsh reality.  These are dispiriting times.

 

But I regularly depend on your website for news.  For example, I just saw the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette cartoon and wrote them the attached letter.

 

So be assured that your comments aren't totally falling on deaf eyes.

 

Myra

 

[DIVA NOTE:  THE GAZETTE'S WEBFORM IS AT: 

http://www.post-gazette.com/contact/comments_form.asp?Mtype=NEWSletters]

 

 

My thanks to Rob Rogers and to the Post-Gazette for publishing his work.  His April 14 cartoon acknowledging the presidential coup was a relief. It was the rare exception to the obvious rule that post-coup journalists adhere to, which is not to acknowledge the illegitimacy of the bush regime.

 

But just because most journalists are de facto GOP mouthpieces doesn't mean that we voters are fooled or forgetful.  We know we witnessed a crime, and we know what was stolen from us. We were robbed of our votes not our memories. And the exceptional journalist that realizes this will have our gratitude.

 

Thanks to Rob Rogers for being exceptional.

 

Sincerely,

 

Myra B.

 

 

 

From: "The Diva (Tammy)" <thediva@respectperfection.com>

To: "Myra B.>

Sent: Thursday, April 19, 2001 3:59 PM

Subject: Re: B&B

 

Dear Myra:

 

Great letter, and GREAT LETTER!

 

Thanks for taking the time to write and cheer me up, and to write and thank Bob Rogers and the Gazette.  Every bit of praise we can send in the direction of people getting the truth out, even with humor (something I rely on from time to time myself), is desperately needed.

 

I salute you, Resistance Fighter!

 

Tammy

"The Diva"

 WebMistress of BBBR

http://www.coup2k.com

http://www.gorewon2000.net

 

********************

Tom the Troubled

With an Eye on World Events,

And Future Marching Orders

 

From: "Thomas Paine"

Subject: Onward, resistors...

 

 

Hey Tammy,

 

Just popped in on your website, and read your thoughts on the page.  People are still visiting your website...well, I know I certainly am.  Also, I just saw a thing on buzzflash.com called, "Change the heart and you can change the world."

 

You've probably read it.  I did, and it was like holding up a mirror.  Frightening.  I'm not sure, did I send you that Bush-Kennedy thing?  I understand that you wouldn't want to print it...it was a bit over the top, but would you be interested in a toned-down version?    At any rate, I empathize with your missing your "consort", I just broke up with a woman I was deeply in love with.  Now I'm sailing the In-Between (don't want to get caught on the rebound), and feeling so twisted up inside that I don't think I could get very intimate with another soul right now.  Not violent or anything, just very pissed off and powerless.  Jesus, is this what it feels like to be black? (not that I could ever truly understand such a thing, but what a tiny, potent taste of a truly sour brew!)

 

Around the world, right-wingers, dictators, and enemies of freedom are feeling their oats.  Attitude generates from the top down (just your standard primate politics), and we have lost any moral authority to say anything to anyone.  If I'm not mistaken, Malaysia just sent us a letter telling us that we have nothing to say about whether or not they had fair elections.  Of course, they're right.

 

Putin is casually and openly taking control of the media.  Why not?  Bush just had a coup d'etat, so why the hell not?  You think Bush is going to say one lousy word about it?  Hell, if anything, Cheney & Rove could go over and give them tips on how to take it over quietly, so that the fiction of balanced news coverage is maintained long after it is truly gone.  First, get $1,000,000,000 from Richard Mellon-Scaiffe.  Then build and develop a large number of communist think-tanks...   

 

Man, there just ain't enough shotglasses of bourbon to make this go away.

 

Anyway, keep up the good fight (I've been writing on 75% of all bills that pass through my hands), but we both and all of us must pace ourselves for a good, strong, fresh spurt in '02.  I really believe that people like us, if we're going to make a difference, are going to have to throw our shoulders to the grindstone AT THAT TIME if we're going to do anything about this coup d'etat.

 

Tom

 

 

From: "The Diva (Tammy)" <thediva@respectperfection.com>

To: "Thomas Paine"

Sent: Friday, April 20, 2001 2:21 AM

Subject: Re: Onward, resistors...

 

Dear Tom:

 

I am posting your e-mail on the BBBR with the next update.  It's great.  Sorry I haven't gotten back to you sooner, but I finally slept through the night last night (the conquering Consort has returned -- WOO-HOO!), so I am playing catch-up on EVERYTHING, and more so than usual.

 

I read the "Change the Heart..." piece, and thought it was great.  I'm lucky that I have a partner-in-crime around to keep my humor up, and my mood balanced.  If not, I think I'd be a real downer to be around.  Plus, I have more than one magnificent obsession (as you no doubt know), and when I'm not venting my disgust over our national situation (how's that for a euphemism?), I'm dancing around the BBBR Bunker to Aerosmith.  That kind of thing tends to keep a gal from becoming a sourpuss...

 

"Woman shall not live by outrage alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of Steven Tyler (and on some songs, Joe Perry)."

 

:)

 

Speaking of which, I read a great quote by Steven, quite on another subject, but which is a perfect description of my personal reaction to Coup2K:

 

"And I sit there, I swallow, and I don't know what to think. 

It's like finding out the Star of Bethlehem was a UFO! 

I start to wobble, because my whole belief system goes down the shitter."

 

(Another great coupla-liner, from the most quotable man in music...)

 

I'm not sure about the Kennedy-Bush thing... Was it something connecting the Bush family to the Kennedy assassination?  If so, I'm a bit of a pussy (P.M.F.*) when it comes to conspiracy theories that I'm not reasonably sure of personally; but send the link along nonetheless, and I'll give it a look-see.

 

Oh, and I'm sorry about your recent romantic setback.  Been there, done that, and nothing sucks quite as bad, or hurts quite as much.  It seems to be going around though, doesn't it?  Tom and Nicole, Alec and Kim, Ted and Jane...

 

And they are all liberal couples... Maybe it's another manifestation of PCSD (Post Coup Stress Disorder).

 

If so, I better dodge that bullet, because I certainly couldn't do what I'm doing without Chuck here to backstop me.  Matter of fact, I don't think I'd even want to imagine me without him.  (I'm not co-dependent, just madly in love...)

 

Wobbly, But Still Bubbly,

Tammy

"The Diva"

 WebMistress of BBBR

http://www.coup2k.com

http://www.gorewon2000.net

 

* P.M.F. = Pardon My French

 

********************

 

Beverly on Disbelief

 

From: "Beverly "

To: <BBBR@yahoogroups.com>

Subject: [BBBR] Fwd: The unbelievable millennium

 

 

While fretting over y2k, Would you, could you even conceive of EVER believing ANY one who predicted that the US presidential election would be so close in Florida that even a month later a winner wasn't determined?  That the "winner" objected to votes being counted and even sent thugs in "riot" mode to shut down a legally ordered count of yet uncounted ballots?  That the "winner" actually lost the popular vote nation wide but secured the narrowest margin of victory in a deeply divided Supreme Court?  That the Supreme Court actually held that it was unconstitutional to count any more votes in Florida? That even 5 months after the election all the votes remain uncounted and that 200,000 votes in Florida were not included in the November tally? 

 

[DIVA NOTE:  I think this may be a reference to the 200,000 wrongly purged from the voter roles, in the "Voter Cleansing" plan by the State of Florida.]

 

I didn't think you would have.  I certainly would have questioned whether anyone predicting this may not be operating with a full deck of cards!

 

Before the fateful elections in Germany, do you believe, even for one second, that the people could possibly ever ever believe that in a few short years, Hitler and his storm trouper thugs, would rule Germany? That Hitler would successfully use race hate of the Jews to polarize the population.  To demonize the Jews as the enemy of mankind?  To make them their national scapegoats for all of Germany's social and economic ills?  That he did this to divert attention so as to grab extraordinary powers in an effort at world domination? That millions send their children proudly to their death for him? That 6 million Jews and an equal number of the infirm, poor, mentally ill, Poles and Slavs and other "burdens" and inferiors would be systematically eliminated?  That despite all the insanity, he had popular support and untold assistance of well educated? Would you believe this happened in recent history, so recent people are

still alive today who fought and were persecuted in that unbelievable episode?

 

[DIVA NOTE:  Hitler published his philosophy of governance, of racial purity, and his intentions, before ever becoming leader of Germany.  The people were thus warned of what would come, but chose to ignore the warning.  Why?  Because they liked Hitler's style, his return to national pride, his ability to "get things done"...

 

New York Times review of Mein Kampf, October 1933:

 

Vitally interesting. . . . It is with sadness, tinged with fear for the world's future, that we read Hitler's hymn of hate against that race which has added so many names to the roll of the great in science, in medicine, in surgery, in music and the arts, in literature and all uplifting human endeavor.

 

It is also important to remember that other nations refused to heed the warning, or take action when Hitler began to implement his "programs", and that even the Catholic Church, when confronted with the atrocities of the Third Reich, refused to speak out in dissent.]

 

No they didn't and most of their victims did not either.  No many went to their deaths still hoping things would get better before they could possibly get worse.

 

Would you believe that Bush, just days before the November election assured multinational business he would "FAST TRACK FTAA"!  That since the election, while not referring to FTAA, he has been rolling back every barrier to corporate domination of our lives?  Even promoting the privatization (corporate control) of education, health care, utilities, natural resources, parks and monuments?  That he would attempt to bankrupt government while supporting the military expansion?  That he would cut loose the GOP talking heads in an attempt to blame the Black poor for all our social ills from the deficit to stealing money from the rest of us thru fraud by way of social safety net programs?  That he will unveil an energy plan favorable to Enron, a multinational energy company who has lined hid coffers with mega bucks?  That it is likely that he will promote drilling for gas and oil not only in ANWAR but the Great Lakes and every conceivable square inch energy interest ever had an eye on?

 

[DIVA NOTE:  I would.  And I did.  And I think this is true of many of the BBBR Resistance Fighters.  What I think we find shocking is the lack of strong and vocal opposition to these actions, policies, and programs.]

 

Well, he never told us about this before the election. 

 

I will now tell you that he is bent on fast tracking the FTAA and it will ruin this country.  That while the country is plundered, the upper class will get very rich and the middle class poorer and the poor, well I just cannot bare actually writing it, but I am deeply concerned and so should all decent people be. Remember, we are all brothers and sisters and if you are white, you are also as human as the black man.  That even when the bells toll for a teenage black boy murdered in Cincinnati, it tolls for thee.

 

Remember the saying to the effect:

 

When they came for the socialists, I said nothing as I was not a socialist.

When they came for the Jews, I did not say anything because I was not a Jew.

When they came for the blacks I did not say anything as I was not black.

When they came for me no one spoke for me as no one else was left to speak for me.

 

We must not allow the GOP talking heads to get away with scapegoating the black poor and allow Bush to get away with marginalizing them further.  We must not allow him to secretly sign away our environment, sovereignty, workers' rights, human rights, all the while pushing us into a race conflict and use the Chinese as a further scapegoat.  We must oppose him in Quebec City April 20, 2001 at the FTAA.

 

It is a big job, but we all must do our part, how ever big or however small.  It is not inevitable. We do have power. We are not alone.

 

BACK TO THE BUSH BROTHERS BANANA REPUBLIC