I don't think that he is *just* a mouthpiece following his masters' orders. I think he totally believes.

There are a lot of folks in the current administration that frighten me (including Cheney, Wolfowitz, others) as they live out the dreams spelled out in previously-unfulfilled think-tank pieces from the 1980s.

There are two administration figureheads that stand out, though, as guys that are *waaaayyy* too tightly wrapped. Guys that I think toss and turn at night afraid that I could be sitting here smoking dope, listening to the Jefferson Airplane, and plotting to go get sushi and not pay. Their voices barely manage to escape their bodies through the tightly wound psychic bands that keep their strictly-regulated egos and ids from any improper behavior.

These two are (no surprise) John Ashcroft and Ari Fleischer.

These guys are way beyond true believers.