Many observers have wondered how a nation like this could
end up with the Acting President we now have.  Isn't there
someone somewhere who understands the world situation and what
led up to the current set of circumstances better than he does?
Wouldn't it be better if we had a president who could read?  Or
one who could take in new information and process it correctly?
Or one who did not depend on fundamentalist Christian dogma to
provide the clues and axioms from which he did his logical
deducing and inferring?  Or one who could deduce and infer at
all?
     The right-wing pundits have been warning for years now that
"he isn't as dumb as you think."  They refer to his "presidential
qualities," which, they think, outweigh the fact that he was
totally hungover during history classes at Yale.  Personally I
haven't spotted those "presidential qualities."  He grins in a
manner which seems superficial and insincere to me, and he grins
when nothing funny is going on.  Of course, Cheney and Rumsfeld
do that, too, making Wolfowitz' constant scowl seem almost
welcome in contrast.  At least he intends to look unfriendly.
     But maybe the Acting President's stupidity and ignorance are
"presidential qualities," after all.  Perhaps the majority of 
voters are fully aware that they want a president who is as 
stupid as  they. Get those Fulbright scholars, who know how to 
read and  can understand what they read -- get 'em outa here.
     Now Congress enters the discussion.  Senator Lugar, of all
people, declares on a Sunday morning TV news commentary program:
"The President needs to stand up and be the president.  The
President needs to be the president of the Vice-President."
     Oh-oh.  Is truth leaking out here?  The cartoonists have
been onto it for a long while.  Tom Tomorrow is very consistent
with his clarity as to who is in charge.  And many months ago
Ward Sutton, who writes and draws "Schlock 'n Roll," did one
called "The Bushopranos -- Who's da Boss?"
     In it Cheney berates Powell for seeming dovish, assigns 
Ashcroft and Ridge the task of continuing to terrorize the 
American people into submission, calls Rumsfeld an incorrigible 
psychopath, and mocks GWBush's ability to lead anyone.
     I'm afraid Sutton the Cartoonist is right, and that Senator
Lugar is hoping for what can't and won't happen.  Cheney was,
always was and still is, in charge, and we may call this "the War
for Cheney's Oil."  Why else would he be the one with a super-
secret hiding place?
     And I'm not sure Lugar is right in what he's hoping for in 
any  case. What would happen if the stupidest guy in town 
really was  in charge?  I can imagine some very bad possibilities.  
For example,  he says he wants 20,000 new nuclear warheads, 
not as a deterrent,  but to use, really use in anger, in pre-
emptive strikes.  We have a problem.

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