Don't Vote for a Puppet

I was in Pennsylvania this weekend for a wedding, and on my way home Sunday I saw this column by Charley Reese.

I had never heard of Reese and don't know how widely he is syndicated.  My hope is that millions of Americans read these words over their morning coffee:

Americans should realize that if they vote for President Bush's re-election, they are really voting for the architects of war -- Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz and the rest of that cabal of neoconservative ideologues and their corporate backers.

I have sadly come to the conclusion that President Bush is merely a frontman, an empty suit, who is manipulated by the people in his administration. Bush has the most dangerously simplistic view of the world of any president in my memory.

Interesting too is the fact that Reese is apparently a Republican.  So, if he has a dedicated body of readers, words like these are bound to be more effective than, say, the rantings of such traitors as Michael Kinsley or Maureen Dowd:

People who think of themselves as conservatives will really display their stupidity, as I did in the last election, by voting for Bush. Bush is as far from being a conservative as you can get. Well, he fooled me once, but he won't fool me twice.

Every column like the above inflicts one more cut in the body of the beast Bushco.  I'm growing increasingly confident that Kerry is going to smash Bush in November, mostly because it's becoming increasingly common to hear Bush voters from 2000 declare their determination to get him out at all costs.

•  Charley Reese is old school conservative.

  He's been around for a long time. I don't always agree with him, but he's no neo-con, that's for sure.

  He also doesn't suffer fools gladly.

  by RonV on Mon May 24, 2004 at 08:10:29 AM PDT

•  Excellent article

  o/t, has anyone else noticed the gathering anti-Tucker Carlson storm brewing on the neocon horizon? Someone (sorry, no reference, I just caught it out of the corner of my ear) remarked that Carlson was "never a real conservative" and that the proof of it is in his new deal with CNBC.

  Pfffft. Beware the species which eats its own.

  by Maryscott OConnor on Mon May 24, 2004 at 08:18:36 AM PDT

  •  This isn't new

    They've never liked Carlson. Back when he was going to get his own show on PBS, there was major grumbling from the lunatic element because he is not "a real conservative". They think that he is just an ineffectual and lightweight, not the "red meat" they want. They also think that he is "cute" and that "cute" does not equal conservative (they've got that right!). And my guess is that some of them dream of him only wearing a bow tie and a copy and a "Win one for the Gipper" jockstrap and they have to deal with that as well.

    As for Carlson himself, after he outed David Brock and after his generally snotty attitude towards Democrats and gays (the "I don't have a problem with them, but I'm going to rant and rave about them anyway because my bosses hate them" routine"), I wouldn't put any real faith in him staying off the reservation. If Bush starts regaining popularity, then he'll be on the wagon again.

    by JamesB3 on Mon May 24, 2004 at 08:46:38 AM PDT