Jackson Free Press

Here's the text of Ron Reagan's piece in the September issue of Esquire—and he seems more willing to speak his mind than he was at the Democratic National Convention: "The far-right wing of the country—nearly one third of us by some estimates—continues to regard all who refuse to drink the Kool-Aid (liberals, rationalists, Europeans, et cetera) as agents of Satan. Bush could show up on video canoodling with Paris Hilton and still bank their vote. Right-wing talking heads continue painting anyone who fails to genuflect deeply enough as a 'hater,' and therefore a nut job, probably a crypto-Islamist car bomber. But these protestations have taken on a hysterical, almost comically desperate tone. It's one thing to get trashed by Michael Moore. But when Nobel laureates, a vast majority of the scientific community, and a host of current and former diplomats, intelligence operatives, and military officials line up against you, it becomes increasingly difficult to characterize the opposition as fringe wackos."

"Does anyone really favor an administration that so shamelessly lies? One that so tenaciously clings to secrecy, not to protect the American people, but to protect itself? That so willfully misrepresents its true aims and so knowingly misleads the people from whom it derives its power? I simply cannot think so. And to come to the same conclusion does not make you guilty of swallowing some liberal critique of the Bush presidency, because that's not what this is. This is the critique of a person who thinks that lying at the top levels of his government is abhorrent. Call it the honest guy's critique of George W. Bush."

"THE MOST EGREGIOUS EXAMPLES OF distortion and misdirection—which the administration even now cannot bring itself to repudiate—involve our putative 'War on Terror' and our subsequent foray into Iraq."

Previous Comments

ID

137083

Comment

I just had a funny thought: "Obama-Reagan 2012" ;-D

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2004-08-11T19:56:06-06:00

ID

137084

Comment

I'd prefer that ticket over "Hillary - Anyone 2012" any day! Not that I think Hillary is the devil that everyone believes but I still don't know how much I trust her. I would have never guessed the Reagan family (including Nancy) would reject this ticket with such energy!

Author

kaust

Date

2004-08-12T09:05:22-06:00

ID

137085

Comment

I'm not a Hillary fan, either. Truth is, I'd rather not see any Clintons, Kennedys or Bushes run again in my lifetime. I think politics would be better off without any of them. Of course, I thought that about Reagans, so you never know. ;-)

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2004-08-12T09:24:05-06:00