Palgrave MacMillan created a blog site for my new book, The Bush Betrayal. The blog site contains an email link for readers to send me their insightful observations.
Many Bush supporters have taken the time to respond and kindly explained to me the error of my ways, especially on my blogs on the torture scandal at Abu Ghraib. Their comments have helped restore my faith in deliberative democracy. Regardless of the election result on November 2, I will know that many Americans have thought long and hard about the fundamental issues at stake.
To<[email protected]> Subject: Response to Palgrave Blog Date: Sat, 25 Sep 2004 015459-0400
You are a communist bastard! How can you justify saying that our President “wrapped himself in a flag drenched with the blood of Americans who died due to the failure of the federal government he commanded…” Can’t you even consider the simple fact that President Bush had only been in office for less than a year and had to sift through all the termoil and mess that former President Clinton left behind? That in it’s self is enough for him to earn another term in office! Quit the “bashing” and “finger pointing” and put yourself in his position. YOU wouldn’t have done half the great job he has done during these trying times in our country. He’s a damn good leader! Let him finish the job. Finish getting those terrorist bastards that threaten our freedoms and our peaceful way of life – that life we are so accustomed to, that we forget where we’ve come from and what it took for us to be where we are today! So don’t forget that there are those out here who put there lives on the line for assholes like you to have the freedom of speech- to say what you will – and so can I!
To<[email protected]> Subject: Response to Palgrave Blog Date: Fri, 24 Sep 2004 205808-0400
Are you dilusional or just trying to make a buck?
To<[email protected]> Subject: Response to Palgrave Blog Date: Thu, 23 Sep 2004 071335-0400
You and your information are more full of crap than George Bush could ever be accused of. How the trash you write could ever get this far is unbelievable.
To: <[email protected]> Subject: Response to Palgrave Blog Date: Tue, 5 Oct 2004 16:38:46-0400
You are a very little man. Those of you who don’t appriciate the freedom our sons and daughters paid for make a mockery of their sacrifice. May God have mercy on your soul, you ignorate little person.
To<[email protected]> Subject: Response to Palgrave Blog Date: Sun, 26 Sep 2004 115016-0400
Colledge hazing is a hell of a lot worse than abu ghraib. Let’s see a story on that.
To<[email protected]> SubjectResponse to Palgrave Blog DateSun, 26 Sep 2004 125445-0400
I think we should be torturing these SOB’s… They are killing and mutilating our people! Your concern over the so called “torture” of the prisoners is ludicrous when one looks at how barbaric they are to begin with. What you are caling “torture,” most people would call callege hazing.
To<[email protected]> Subject: Response to Palgrave Blog Date: Sat, 25 Sep 2004 092838-0400
You will say anything in your book just to make a buck or two. Have you no shame spitting out lies. Nobody wants your piece of crap book.
To<[email protected]> Subject: Response to Palgrave Blog Date: Sun, 19 Sep 2004 070316-0400
Again you make the Terrorist out to be the good guys and the US out to be the bad guys! You talk about debacles, your clinton I noticed is not even mentioned. He had 8 years to sow the seeds of freedom we are now reaping. He stuck his head in the sand gets a blow job from a near minor and throws some missles into the desert. You dont say boo. If you have any back bone which you don’t you might try putting the responsibility on the people how have been attacking the US for the last twenty years! Bush walked into this mess and your right “is kicking ass” good of you to mention that. Your head is partialy out of yours!
To<[email protected]> Subject: Response to Palgrave Blog Date: Sat, 11 Sep 2004 011914-0400
You are nothing but a piece of trash. You and the other scum of the earth who enjoy being called the “elite media” will receive a lot of appreciation from the left-wing activists who, like you, harm the USA with your dribble and made-up sources. You can’t report what any reputable journalist would write. You just write what you want to hear and couldn’t care less for the truth. You are a gutless individual.
To<[email protected]> Subject: Response to Palgrave Blog Date: Sat, 25 Sep 2004 125356-0400
Once again a left wing political opportunist tries to make money and tarnish the reputation of the President of the United States. Hey, where were you when Clinton was lying about getting his knob polished by Ms. Lewinsky in the White House???? The only reason that lying Bill Clinton didn’t get impeached is that the left wing democrats prevented justice from being done. By the way, did you know that President Bush is personally responsible for the four hurricanes that have devastated Florida? He also started the flu epidemics in the 90’s, and my first divorce in 1985. Fair? Balanced? You are hypocritical scum!
To: <[email protected]> Subject: Response to Palgrave Blog Date: Sun, 10 Oct 2004 21:56:26-0400
please grow up and get over your anger we need a strong leader like pre Bush
To<[email protected]> Subject: Response to Palgrave Blog Date: Thu, 16 Sep 2004 010858-0400
Are you basically an unhappy person? Your view of the world seems to be dominated by the theory that large and wide spread conspiracys dominate our daily lives. And many of these are perpetrated by Bush and his minions. Is this basically the line on your existance?
To<[email protected]> Subject: Response to Palgrave Blog Date: Fri, 24 Sep 2004 213206-0400
You are one sick mother fucker. Why not just support the troops instead of criminilizing them. does history not teach you anything? Like John Kerry is a fucking liar/traitor. why not write a book on those facts. The facts are all readily available.
To<[email protected]> Subject: Response to Palgrave Blog Date: Sat, 25 Sep 2004 120628-0400
Another liberal heard from. My heart really bleeds for those poor abused Iraqi prisoners. Why don’t you spend as much time writing about those Americans getting their heads sawn off? Pull your head out of your ass and wake up. Saddam isn’t the 20th hijacker. People like you are…
To<[email protected]> Subject: Response to Palgrave Blog Date: Sat, 25 Sep 2004 101802-0400
All I can say is…You’re an idiot!
To<[email protected]> Subject: Response to Palgrave Blog Date: Sun, 19 Sep 2004 094421-0400
You’re nothing more than a blatant opportunist feeding at the capitalist trough. Your motives are transparent – you care only about enhancing your wealth at the expense of the small minded, through spreading alarmist, reactionary, conspiracy theories. Funny thing is, you probably see yourself as a great American who is sacrificing much to perform a public service.
To<[email protected]> Subject: Response to Palgrave Blog Date: Fri, 24 Sep 2004 052709-0400
People like you and Michael Moore is what brings down our country. Revoke your citizenship and go live in another country, like maybe France. Do you think that had Kerry or Gore been in office that 9/11 would not have happened? I thank God that they were not and that Bush was. I think the blame for 9/11 goes a little further back than Bush. We had our chances to get Bin Laden prior to his day in office and we failed.
To<[email protected]> Subject: Response to Palgrave Blog Date: Fri, 24 Sep 2004 073356-0400
yes I have something to say from some one who has been their and done that, Have you? You liberal pigs are like socialist, get off your ass join the service and be part of the solution and not the problem. Take a look at the Henley Video. I ask you, what side are you on?
To<[email protected]> Subject: Response to Palgrave Blog Date: Fri, 24 Sep 2004 080139-0400
I think it is ironic that you critize my President and we hear nothing from you critizing J. Kerry.The partician media at work.
To<[email protected]> Subject: Response to Palgrave Blog Date: Sat, 25 Sep 2004 033422-0400
Your distortions of current events to me seem paranoid and bizarre. By your definition of torture, a frat house hazing is torture. No one condones the humiliation that some Iraqi prisoners were subjected to. But it is a mute point in contrast to, the gassing of 3000 Kurds, the summary execution video taped and aired on Iraqi television by Sadam’s henchmen. (Please note a documentary on Frontline PBS) Where Sadam stylized his regime after his idol Joseph Stalin, the recent beheadings of foreigners is not something new in Iraq. It was first done to the Iraqi people before the US invasion, Sadam videotaped the execution of a man and had each of his Generals put a symbolic bullet into the dead mans body.
I do not know if your fear and hatred of Bush blind you or you are still smoking that stuff that makes people paranoid, and eliminates articulate thought. But if you were in Sadam’s Iraq and you made these accusations about Sadam that you have about President Bush. You and most of your family would have been slaughtered. But that is Sadams justice, he is a very good student of Joseph Stalin. The current so-called insurgency in Iraq is the people who Sadam hired as his personal guard. They consist of Jordanian Syrian and Arab nationalities, and the caches of arms they are using are from the stockpile of weapons Sadam had. Keeping this in mind there still are many places the Iraqi Survey Group and the UN Weapon Inspectors have not seen. This sir is just common sense, common sense would also dictate that if there are WMD’s in Iraq disclosing their existence and location would place US Servicemen and the American people at an even greater risk of attack.
I am sorry but you writings lack discretion and commons sense. If you have not been smoking anything, quit and then try to think about what you are saying. If not I would suggest you see a therapist, they have made many improvements in the ability for anti-psychotic medications. So there is hope for you.
To<[email protected]> Subject: Response to Palgrave Blog Date: Sat, 25 Sep 2004 043715-0400
The people in the Abu Ghraig prison were there because of suspected crimes. Many were terrorists and murders from Sadaam’s regime. However, the Geneva Convention says that all prisoners will be treated humanly. The fact that North Korea, North VietNam, and the radical Muslims ignored these rules is NOT an excuse for us to ignore them now. But to blame our president for what a few “out on a limb” military personel did is asinine. Of course Bush didn’t know what these “Rambos” were doing after hours. Their immediate supervisors most likely did not know until someone blew the wistle on the prisoner abuse. The people who are ultimately responsible for this behavior are the persons who commited the crimes. Some blame must also go, of course, to the parents who failed to teach Christian morals to their children, the military who did not stress the reasons for the Geneva Convention rules, and also to the public school teachers in charge of guiding young minds. Too often I hear the admonition, “You do whatever is best for you.” This is liberally poured on school children from day one in public schools. Well, humiliating, harassing and frightening past members of a system that did all of the above to others, apparantly was “the right thing” for the American soldiers who chose to ignore the rules for handling prisoners. Their choice. Not what our president has asked of them and of us. Sorry, I can’t blame W.
To<[email protected]> Subject: Response to Palgrave Blog Date: Sat, 25 Sep 2004 120447-0400
what have you been smoking?
To<[email protected]> Subject: Response to Palgrave Blog Date: Sat, 25 Sep 2004 130136-0400
You are an idiot!!!The military has handled the situation already .Those responsible are being delt with. This is old news and by constantly revisiting it does nothing but send a negative message to the very people that we are trying to get rid of. Maybe you should watch the beheading video like I did and if you have any common sense you will see that the prison issue is nothing compared to the true evil acts that they seem to think is normal.
To<[email protected]> Subject: Response to Palgrave Blog Date: Tue, 21 Sep 2004 065056-0400
An unrepentant BUSH-whacker who rails against the (misleading) Campaign Reform Act on “free speech” grounds, but yet remains SILENT on CBS News and Dan Rather’s BIG LIE. So confused. No wonder you are unhappy. Being among America’s intellectual elite is a demanding job, but your destiny lies only within this small band of freedom fighters. (If firefighters fight fires ….) Allah akbar. A midwestern boy in “fly-over” country. (Thank Google for your PAID link, otherwise I would have overlooked America’s Messiah.)
To<[email protected]> Subject: Response to Palgrave Blog Date: Wed, 22 Sep 2004 100302-0400
Bovard, Just reading the short excerpts here make me sick. How dare you try to blame 9/11 on this administration! The fact that it happened while he was in office is coincidental and in no way reflects on this administrations focus, efforts and intent. The fact is that the US government (any administration) is forced to allocate resources on the most immediate issues and threats.
Until 9/11 I’m sure every administration had plans for terrorism but its focus and priority was relatively low since it was largely deemed an oversees threat. Yes, I’m sure there were voices out there trying to make an argument for greater diligence and more focused intelligence and in retrospect they may actually have been right, but why blame Bush when those same voices had years under the Clinton administration trying to make the same case.
There may actually be some kernels of truth in what you are writing but your bias is so vehement it poisons everything you say. In the brief exposure I’ve had to your vitriol I’d classify you right there with the other flim-flam men like Roger Moore. You find an issue that has passionate people on both sides and exploit it by pandering and feeding their greatest fears by selectively picking the information that supports your case.
Just once I would like to see someone with the obvious time you have to create biased junk report something factually and let the readers make up their own minds. Thank you for elevating my resolve to reelect this President.
To<[email protected]> Subject: Response to Palgrave Blog Date: Wed, 8 Sep 2004 191320-0400
Playboy eh? Were ya ever in the mansion? Well, I think you should run for president… maybe you will help bring on the end of the world sooner… quit harassing those who are giving us protection.
October 12, 2004
James Bovard [send him mail] is also the author of Terrorism & Tyranny: Trampling Freedom, Justice, and Peace to Rid the World of Evil (Palgrave MacMillan).
