Trust

Does a person who gives out his bank account number to a phone scammer make the same mistake twice? How many times does someone have to kick you in the teeth before you decide it's not a good idea to stand too close to them?

The debate over social security and the judiciary misses what matters to most people. Trust. People want to be able to place their trust in their country's leaders. They will, in fact, go a very long way to offer said leaders every benefit of the doubt, even when their own eyes give them evidence to the contrary.

The standard repug line, spoken in an offended tone, goes something like this: "The President of the United States has made it perfectly clear that no one will lose any benefits" if social security private accounts are passed. Here's the problem. How many other things has The President of the United States made perfectly clear?

Iraq had WMD: Look at Duelfer's final report on phantom Iraq WMD.

The war will pay for itself: Here.

The documented list of Bush lies is too extensive to repeat here.

I am convinced this is the key to the shrub's sinking poll numbers. He has lost the trust of the majority of americans, and with every lie he loses more. Most people learn to recognize a huckster once they've been burned. A huckster slaps you on the back with one hand, while with the other he picks your pocket.

What the administration has actually made perfectly clear is that its highest priorities are tax cuts for the already rich and corporate protections for its powerful friends. Why would anyone think that pattern is going to change now?

"There's an old saying in Tennessee — I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee — that says, fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can't get fooled again." —George W. Bush, Nashville, Tenn., Sept. 17, 2002