WITH FRIENDS LIKE THESE ...

It's not often that a White House occupant makes as many enemies within his own putative supporters as the current one has. The latest swipe comes from Charley Reese, a self-professed conservative who vows a more illumated vote this November.

He writes, "People who think of themselves as conservatives will really display their stupidity, as I did in the last election, by voting for Bush.

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.

Welcome to reality, Charley. It's nice to have you with us.