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THE PUNK ROCK EDITORIAL
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Charlie Reese writes for the Orlando Sentinel. He's a Conservative
Republican who is anti-abortion, anti-tax-and-spend, loudly critical of
legislation by the judiciary, doesn't think much of multiculturalism or
secularism, has suggested Clinton "turned the Oval Office into a
whorehouse," thinks Ronald Reagan is the greatest thing to come down the pike
since canned beer, and voted for Bush in the last election. So, take a
look at his article which follows.

Vote For A Man, Not A Puppet
Orlando Sentinel
Charlie Reese

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 front man, 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.

It's no wonder the president avoids press conferences like the plague.
Take away his cue cards and he can barely talk. Americans should be
embarrassed that an Arab King (Abdullah of Jordan) spoke more fluently and
articulately in English than our own President at their joint press
conference recently.

John Kerry is at least an educated man, well-read, who knows how to
think and who knows that the world is a great deal more complex than
Bush's comic-book world of American heroes and foreign evildoers. It's
unfortunate that in our poorly educated country, Kerry's very intelligence
and refusal to adopt simplistic slogans might doom his presidential
election efforts.

But Thomas Jefferson said it well, as he did so often, when he observed
that people who expect to be ignorant and free expect what never was
and never will be.

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.

It is not at all conservative to balloon government spending, to vastly
increase the power of government, to show contempt for the Constitution
and the rule of law, or to tell people that foreign outsourcing of
American jobs is good for them, that giant fiscal and trade deficits don't
matter, and that people should not know what their government is doing.
Bush is the most prone-to-classify, the most secretive president in the
20th century. His administration leans dangerously toward the
authoritarian.

It's no wonder that the Justice Department has convicted a few
Arab-Americans of supporting terrorism. What would you do if you found yourself
arrested and a federal prosecutor whispers in your ear that either you
can plea-bargain this or the President will designate you an enemy
combatant and you'll be held incommunicado for the duration?

This election really is important, not only for domestic reasons, but
because Bush's foreign policy has been a dangerous disaster. He's almost
restarted the Cold War with Russia and the nuclear arms race.
America is not only hated in the Middle East, but it has few friends
anywhere in the world thanks to the arrogance and ineptness of the Bush
administration.

Don't forget, a scientific poll of Europeans found us, Israel, North
Korea and Iran as the greatest threats to world peace.

I will swallow a lot of petty policy differences with Kerry to get a
man in the White House with brains enough not to blow up the world and us
with it.

Go to Kerry's Web site (http://johnkerry.com) and read some of the
magazine profiles on him. You'll find that there is a great deal more to
Kerry than the GOP attack dogs would have you believe.

Besides, it would be fun to have a president who plays hockey,
windsurfs, ride motorcycles, plays the guitar, writes poetry and speaks French.
And it would be good to have a man in the White House who has killed
people face to face. Killing people has a sobering effect on a man and
dispels all illusions about war.

Always remember to quit while you're ahead.

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