A conservative columnist finds Kerry a better choice
 

Passed along to me:

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VOTE FOR A MAN, NOT A PUPPET

by Charley 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
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.

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 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. 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.
-----------------

This man is a genious! I'll let it slide that he's blatantly stealing from my mantra of the last few months.

I too, admit to being one of the unwashed that was initially led astray.

Lord have mercy on my soul, for I have seen the light!

yeah, whatever... just grab a kidney - vote for Kerry.

I can hardly wait for the outrage and apoplexy.

If Kerry did a better job with his message, he might pick up a lot of votes from people who see some truth in that article but are not keen on voting for a liberal, wussy Democrat.

How about:
- I went to Yale
- I'm rich
- I drive an SUV
- Hey, Democrat is just a name--you gotta be a Democrat to get ahead in Massachusetts
- If the situation calls for it, I will not hesitate to kill lots of brown people, too.

Kerry's already got the votes of all the "anybody but Bush" morons. He could convince a lot of us middle of the road undecideds if he'd show his true Brahmin colors. :D

LOL.

Well, going to Yale sure doesn't mean you can read & write (apparently).

Rich? SUV driver? Still no differentiation from GWB.

I'd say GWB could rightfully claim 'conservative' is just a name. No true conservative would run up the national credit card and grow government that way.

I think he did say he'd kill people. It seems he has personally done so, and that means he knows a bit about the stakes involved. I don't think Kerry would repeatedly make jokes about going to war and the mission while American soldiers were being killed.

I haven't read all of it but the first thing that stands out (and I'm a Kerry supporter) is that this guy claims a drastic disparity in the education of both candidates.

Both Kerry and Bush graduated from Yale - I don't believe one has much over the other. One certainly speaks more intelligently than the other but I'll be the last fella to call President Bush unintelligent.

Back to my reading...

ok, finished.

I agree of course with him but the major point is that I and many others don't think that Bush qualifies as a true conservative.

He doesn't meet the definition of most of the ones I know but a lot of them won't be crossing party lines.

Mike:

Sometimes I think the label is more important to followers than the deeds.

I have never even heard about this guy until now.

It is not at all conservative to balloon government spending.

Can't argue with that one...But it amazes me that liberals have a problem with it.

Something is fishy about this guy. If he was a conservative I would think he would pick a couple things like amnesty to illegals, campaign finance, Rx handouts, to criticize...But this guy has taken the whole ultra-left party line and spewed it in one article...Most not even half true.

You don't have to be a liberal to oppose Bush.


-MAS

It would be good to have a man in the White House who has killed people face to face.
Interesting...Does he mean the war crimes that Kerry admits to?

Something fishy I say.

http://www.kidcrosswords.com/kidread...pping_fish.gif

I think communists agree with you brother.

Hey... Mulholland what kind of Porsche to you drive? I don't think I've seen you on any of the other forums (although I could be wrong). I assume it's not a 911... So what's your P-car?


-MAS

Conservative compared to who? You tech?

Hell, Mule, everybody's conservative compared to me. Except real conservatives -- but they are few and far between.

No, look the guy up. He's definitely a conservative columnist, even though he is not in favor of the Iraq war.

An archived column:

http://www.lewrockwell.com/reese/reese94.html

I just did. Most of the responses were on left wing web sites. Regardless of that , the guy is either A. ill-informed or B. so eaten up with ideaology that he is confused. His column can be ripped to shreds by anyone with a cursory knowledge of current events.

Example:
"it would be fun to have a president who plays hockey,
windsurfs, ride motorcycles, plays the guitar, writes poetry and speaks French."

I would hope that voters would choose based on a candidate's competency & integrity over their hobbies.

"It would be good to have a man in the White House who has killed people face to face."

It appears that from a number of folks who were there, JFK shot a wounded guy in the back so Kerry would not fit his bill here.

This guy is a clown.

Subaru WRX -- 4.2 second 0-60...320 to the wheels

Am I disqualified from your critique of a country not your native as a result?

On this board we do not measure our dorks starting at the tailbone, that's a ricer thing. ;)

Why would you be disqualified? ... you're entitled to your opinion.

As for the WRX... nice car. I take it you have had some mods done to get 320 at the rear wheels. Chipped, higher boost, etc.?

-MAS

I guess that you need to have heard of somebody for them to be credible? You've heard of Barry Goldwater? The socialist liberal?

Well, anyway, here's an essay on one of your pet topics:

--------------------
Bush Betrays Border Patrol
by Charley Reese


The Christian Science Monitor recently published a report that noted that U.S. Border Patrol agents are demoralized and feeling betrayed by their own government.

This is because President Bush – the Enron Kid, as I call him (Enron had contributed more than $600,000 to his political aspirations) – has increased the incentive for more illegal immigrants to cross our borders with his proposed stupid guest-worker program.

No wonder the agents are down in the dumps. They literally risk their lives and work long and hard hours trying to protect our borders while Mr. Know-Nothing tells people the world over that we are prepared to reward law-breakers by giving them legal status. Of course this is the same Know-Nothing who recently signed an official economic report that said the loss of American jobs to cheap-labor countries was a good thing.

We need to do three things. One, Congress must reduce the number of legal immigrants admitted to the United States. The number (around 600,000 a year) is way out of kilter in the year 2004. Two, the Border Patrol should receive 100-percent support from the U.S. government, which is not likely with the Bush administration. Instead of support, it is scheming to gut the Patrol's union, now that the Border Patrol is part of the so-called Department of Homeland Security. And, three, the United States needs to get tough with Mexico.

The ruling elites in Mexico have for decades failed to provide opportunities for the great mass of the Mexican people. It's no surprise. These relatively few families own practically the whole country and live the luxurious lives of the old conquistadores. The Mexican government encourages its poor to cross the U.S. border. Better they violate American laws, change our culture and send money back to Mexico than fester in Mexican poverty and perhaps one day rebel against their exploiters.

Instead of speaking out against this wrong policy on the part of Mexico, the U.S. government has insanely rewarded it. First, it established the maquiladora program, which encouraged American companies to put their factories on the Mexican side of the border and distribution facilities on the U.S. side. This allowed corporations to exploit Mexican workers and pollute the Mexican landscape while laying off thousands of American workers.

As if that weren't bad enough, the United States signed the North American Free Trade Agreement. This allowed the American big three in the grain-export business to impoverish what was left of the small Mexican farmers as well as encourage more American corporations to move their jobs south, where, for the price of a few bribes, they need not concern themselves with such bothers as decent wages and health, safety and environmental regulations.

Americans should not worry about terrorists. Our own corrupt politicians and greedy corporations are gutting the nation from within, while much of the corporate media do a poor job of informing the American people, except of course in the area of entertainment.

The Enron Kid likes to talk about national security. Well, the first and foremost task of national security is to protect the borders of the United States. This he is miserably failing to do. And the Congress, so riddled with lobbyists' influence, is failing with him.

If you've never seen a great nation commit national suicide, stick around. You're watching it. The United States today is already unrecognizable from the United States I grew up in, and I fear it will be even more so, in a negative way, for my grandchildren.

Everything that made America great – a government people could trust, the work ethic and frugality, high moral standards, a fine education system, and patriotism based on America's historic values – is being undermined by the present-day corporate and political elite.

So, Tech....

There are hundreds, if not thousands, or even millions of conservatives that have an opposing viewpoint to yours and according to you, they're all wrong. You manage to find ONE who shares them, and you parade him around as your new source of all that is right and wrong in this world? Hmmmmmmm, interesting...:confused:

Randy

Interesting...Are you sure this guy is a Conservative?

Is he simply jealous that he is virtually off the radar and is jumping on the hate-Bush bandwagon made celebrity by Michael Moore?

I am assuming, tech, given you find credibility in detractors, that you must believe the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth. Over 200 Swift Boat Veterans have refuted JFKerry, with facts (unlike the allegations of Mssr. Reese), and have no political points to score and are are not profiting from their dissent...The tone of the the Swift Boat vets is considerably more reasonable and sober than that of this editorialist.

I am certain one can find folks of the "liberal" persuasion that are not happy with the Dems pick as well. The article just goes to show that opinions can differ and in a CIVILIZED way.

On a personal level, there are some points in the article that bring out unsettling aspects of the current president and his administration, but there are also questions unanswered by the Kerry camp as well.

I am concerned about the latest one billion plus "problem" with Halliburton. I do not want our troops placed in any more peril than necessary.

I figured you guys would have some problems with Reese.

The point is that GWB is as far from a 'real conservative' as can be. Elsewhere here, people are calling Bush a 'fiscal conservative' which is demonstrably not true. but labels stick, sometimes, where they don't belong. we had a real conservative running for Governor here in California, and he was beat by a stealth Democrat, which I find hilarious.

All I'm saying is open your minds a bit and see beyond the labels.

One reason for all the hubbub about trivialities in the Presidential race is to keep Halliburton off the front pages.

The Halliburton scandals -- more now related to when Cheney was CEO -- are exploding and the right-leaning press is nearly silent about it. These scandals rise to the level of stink that long ago got Nixon's VP replaced.

It'll be interesting to see if rumors of Cheney being replaced on the ticket come true.

Re: A conservative columnist finds Kerry a better choice
 

Isn't this basically a free ad for JFKerry?...Why are the liberal media allowed to advertise ad nauseum for liberal candidates and bash Conservative candidates?

Why don't Conservatives groups attack organizations like Moveon.org and reporters like Charley Reese?...Like the fascist left does...

"In the complaint to the Federal Election Commission, the watchdog groups argued that Swift Boat Veterans for Truth should have used only limited contributions from individuals known as hard money on the ad and should disclose its donations and spending in reports to the FEC.

"We think this is open and shut, that the only purpose of this group is to influence the presidential election," said Fred Wertheimer, head of Democracy 21."
http://ap.augustachronicle.com/pstories/politics/20040810/2360760.shtml

http://humaneventsonline.com.edgesui...tsAd_800-1.gif

HIS administration leans dangerously close to the authoritarian?

Mul: is there anything in that fax you find untruthful?

Ya, the threatening nature of it and the attempt at impugning Vietnam vets and their right to free speech...untruthful and borderline fascist.

BZZT.

Actually, there is nothing untruthful in that fax.

I don't see a threat stated or implied.

You find the *fact* of the fax to be the problem? But you're only concerned about impugning Viet vets that you like, right?

"The advertisement contains statements by men who purport to have served on Senator Kerry's SWIFT Boat in Vietnam, and one statement by a man pretending to be the doctor who treated Senator Kerry for on of his injuries."

Here is a two-for-one lie tech.

"The entire advertisement, therefore, is an outrageous inflammatory lie."

What Democrats do best, blame the accuser of the very thing they are doing...This lie is an outrageous inflammatory lie, to impugn soldiers who served with Kerry, treated Kerry and served on Kerry's fantasy Holiday in Cambodia.

"Your station is responsible for the false and libelous charges made by this sponsor."

Another twofur...A lie and a threat all wrapped up in one nice little package.

http://humaneventsonline.com.edgesui...tsAd_800-2.gif

If that ain't fascism...I do not know what is.

Both statements are true.

It appears to be using legal remedies to prevent untrue claims by SBVfT.

If allegations of a similar sort, which were able to be legally challenged, were being made against Bush (or anyone else), then they would also be able to write such a letter.

Its not fascism - they can air the ad and take the consequences (if any), based on their own judgement as to whether the SBVfT ads are responsible or not.

Seriously, look back over this thread. You've called:

- Charley Reese's article "ultra-left".
- You've reaccused Kerry of war crimes, but elsewhere insist that his accusations to the Senate of war crimes in Vietnam were false.
- You've called the left "fascist" a couple more times, despite ample evidence that they are anything but
- You posted a fax stating that the SBVfT are producing misleading ads, and by disbelieving the facts in the fax you conclude that the fax is (a) a lie; and (b) threatening, authoritarian and (wait for it...) fascist.

Can you objectively (engage the left side of your brain ;)) look at this list and take yourself seriously?

And, of course, the Prez is now, in his speeches bragging that "Senator Kerry now agrees with me about Iraq", while only telling his audience less than half of Kerry's statement

Sorta like Crawford Texas ranch being "the old homestead" (last nail pounded in Summer 2000) Look it up.

Half truths. Not actually lies; just not the complete story. Hell, Clinton did it, Nixon did it, Johnson did it, why not Bush? It is a time honored political tradition.

I started out wondering whether Kerry was a viable alternative to GWB, and I have come up with the following thoughts:

I think the world is far more complex and dangerous than the President sees it. As such, I fear simple answers to complex questions, and international relations are extremely complex. A have stated many times that Afganistan was necessary since it was the stronghold for some very nasty people. I have, however, also said that Iraq could have waited until the first job was complete.

To manage this morass, a bunch of folks were taken out of eight years of storage and put back in charge. The world had changed drastically in that eight years. But, old grudges had to be addressed.

I would prefer a leader with an active imagination to one who has little imagination. I would prefer a president who would try to morph the cloud of fear into something positive, where the people were involved like they were in WWII, through an updated equivalent of Civil Defense Wardens and Home Guard; empowering the people would be far superior than this constant "be afraid..be very afraid". I grew up learning how to duck and cover under a school desk. THAT was really assuring......

I would like a president who has tried different things and has eclectic interests. Anyone here doubt the value of "transfer" as applied from one discipline to another? In the financial markets, I found my undergrad degree in mechanical engineering was very helpful is seeing relationships.

I would like a president that does not assume that God is on his side but, rather, that he is on God's side. Assuming to know the mind of God makes me wonder about the stability of an individual.

I would like a President that understands the world was given to us to be stewards of, not to destroy as we wish, and that things like medical research must continue and, if "faith" is to be a prime mover, consider that God would not have included stem cells in the plan had He not wished us to discover their uses. And, sending in surrogates to tell people there is little hope in that line of research is, in the true sense of the word, disingenuous particulary when the surrogate does not have the qualifications to make such statements. Statements like that are opinions, not facts, and should be labelled as such.

I would like a President that understands at least the basics of economics and financial theory, and how they can be applied to the New World Order of globalization. Once again, we have had very simple solutions being applied to very complex problems.

Does Kerry fill this bill? Not completely, but neither does Bush. The President, to me, is like a jigsaw man. There are elements to him that seem to be missing, and that makes me uncomfortable. Kerry likewise. But, I know the President and I have a pretty good idea what the next four years may hold.

Personally, I do not think a new face could make things any worse.

BTW..The Halliburton "problem" is now $1.8 billion.

lmao! what? some poor unarmed schmuck in a loincloth? and that after he was sure there was no other hostile fire in the area? yeah, that's what we need