Charley Reese wrote his last column for the Orlando Sentinel on July 29, 2001.
You wouldn't know it from surfing the Internet. In fact, you wouldn't even get his last column. You'd most likely find a version that the popular columnist wrote for the Sentinel back on Feb. 3, 1984. It still resonates with the public -- maybe more today than 27 years ago -- as Congress and the president wrestle with spending and debt.
You wouldn't know it from surfing the Internet. In fact, you wouldn't even get his last column. You'd most likely find a version that the popular columnist wrote for the Sentinel back on Feb. 3, 1984. It still resonates with the public -- maybe more today than 27 years ago -- as Congress and the president wrestle with spending and debt.
The column's central theme is that all of the nation's domestic problems rest with 545 people who are granted power through the U.S. Constitution -- 435 representatives, 100 senators, nine Supreme Court justices and one president.
"Have you ever wondered why, if both the Democrats and the Republicans are against deficits, we have deficits?" Reese asked back in '84. "Don't you see now the con game that is played on the people by the politicians? Those 545 human beings spend much of their energy convincing you that what they did is not their fault. They cooperate in this common con regardless of party…."
"Have you ever wondered why, if both the Democrats and the Republicans are against deficits, we have deficits?" Reese asked back in '84. "Don't you see now the con game that is played on the people by the politicians? Those 545 human beings spend much of their energy convincing you that what they did is not their fault. They cooperate in this common con regardless of party…."
"When you fully grasp the plain truth that 545 people exercise complete power over the federal government, then it must follow that what exists is what they want to exist.
"If the tax code is unfair, it's because they want it unfair. If the budget is in the red, it's because they want it in the red. If the Marines are in Lebanon, it's because they want them in Lebanon."
You can see how Reese's words might still speak to readers. How much?
Hardly a week goes by that I don't get a question about it from a reader, sometimes asking permission to reprint the column. Most don't bother to ask. Google "Charley Reese's final column" and you get more than 40,000 hits.
Some of them wrongly refer to it as Reese's swan song for the Sentinel. The Sentinel's 1984 version usually shows up, but sometimes it's a variation on the "545 people" theme that Reese used again in 1995.
Some of the online versions of the 1984 column have been doctored, inserting Nancy Pelosi or John Boehner as House speaker for Tip O'Neill, and substituting Afghanistan and Iraq for Lebanon.
I reached Reese at his home in Casselberry, where he's enjoying retirement, reading, old movies and grandkids. After retiring from the Sentinel, which he joined in 1972, Reese continued writing a nationally syndicated column for King Features until 2008.
"I figured I had said everything I wanted to say," Reese explained, though his last column for King Features alluded to health problems as part of the reason he stopped.
He's aware of the online endurance of his "545 people" column, and its manipulation at the hands of users.
"I call it the Frankenstein column," he said. "That's one of the problems with the Internet. Once something goes on the Internet, people rewrite."
Reese is surprised that the column gets praised as a rare moment of wisdom and insight.
"It's a fifth-grade civics lesson; that's all that column was," he said.
But Reese understands why it's still relevant so many years later.
"People are frustrated. As far as they can tell, nothing seems to get done up there. But that's our fault. We elected them. There's a certain defect in democracy. When you have an uninformed electorate, that's what you get."
Still a constitutional purist, Reese says the U.S. is obligated to pay its bills and believes the debt ceiling must be raised. But that, he says, is no excuse for failing to balance the national budget.
But how? Reese says health costs are out of control and care should be rationed. He wonders why a person his age would need a new hip if he broke the old one. "The hip will last longer than you will," he said. "You can't have low-cost health care and millionaire doctors."
Reese's fans will be pleased to know that he views President Obama as merely a garden-variety liberal -- "There's nothing miraculous about the guy" -- but maybe less pleased that he doesn't like any of the Republicans running to replace him.
The reason: "Nobody is as conservative as I am."
Mlafferty@tribune.com
"If the tax code is unfair, it's because they want it unfair. If the budget is in the red, it's because they want it in the red. If the Marines are in Lebanon, it's because they want them in Lebanon."
You can see how Reese's words might still speak to readers. How much?
Hardly a week goes by that I don't get a question about it from a reader, sometimes asking permission to reprint the column. Most don't bother to ask. Google "Charley Reese's final column" and you get more than 40,000 hits.
Some of them wrongly refer to it as Reese's swan song for the Sentinel. The Sentinel's 1984 version usually shows up, but sometimes it's a variation on the "545 people" theme that Reese used again in 1995.
Some of the online versions of the 1984 column have been doctored, inserting Nancy Pelosi or John Boehner as House speaker for Tip O'Neill, and substituting Afghanistan and Iraq for Lebanon.
I reached Reese at his home in Casselberry, where he's enjoying retirement, reading, old movies and grandkids. After retiring from the Sentinel, which he joined in 1972, Reese continued writing a nationally syndicated column for King Features until 2008.
"I figured I had said everything I wanted to say," Reese explained, though his last column for King Features alluded to health problems as part of the reason he stopped.
He's aware of the online endurance of his "545 people" column, and its manipulation at the hands of users.
"I call it the Frankenstein column," he said. "That's one of the problems with the Internet. Once something goes on the Internet, people rewrite."
Reese is surprised that the column gets praised as a rare moment of wisdom and insight.
"It's a fifth-grade civics lesson; that's all that column was," he said.
But Reese understands why it's still relevant so many years later.
"People are frustrated. As far as they can tell, nothing seems to get done up there. But that's our fault. We elected them. There's a certain defect in democracy. When you have an uninformed electorate, that's what you get."
Still a constitutional purist, Reese says the U.S. is obligated to pay its bills and believes the debt ceiling must be raised. But that, he says, is no excuse for failing to balance the national budget.
But how? Reese says health costs are out of control and care should be rationed. He wonders why a person his age would need a new hip if he broke the old one. "The hip will last longer than you will," he said. "You can't have low-cost health care and millionaire doctors."
Reese's fans will be pleased to know that he views President Obama as merely a garden-variety liberal -- "There's nothing miraculous about the guy" -- but maybe less pleased that he doesn't like any of the Republicans running to replace him.
The reason: "Nobody is as conservative as I am."
Mlafferty@tribune.com
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