How many here believe the same as O'Reilly in that..

There are no honest politicians. You can not believe a thing that comes out of their mouths. O'Reilly said last night on TDS that he did not believe this Administration but clarified that by saying he didn't believe any politician. Jon then said to him "You're one of us then?" O'Reilly said NO very emphatically but that got me wondering. Does anyone believe anything a politician says of either Party? I know I am not real quick to accept what they say at face value. Apparently Jon does not find politicians very credible. Is it impossible to be a politician and not be a liar? :shrug:

I may disagree with Feingold occasionally but he's honest.

I don't trust politicians in general but I KNOW not to trust certain ones (both sides).

O'Reilly is basically setting up the matter of degree fallacy.

want b/c the repub attack machine can take anything that is said and use it as a weapon. For example during the debates where Kerry said something about caring about the world's opinions in what we do and the RW smear machine went nuts!

While some people may have been honorable and/or honest when they started, a successful career in politics cannot be acheived by being honest, which is tragically ironic and sad.

That is the pat answer of any wingnut apologist, when a republican gets caught doing something bad. My father-in-law suffers from this affliction as do most "independents" I know of.

When a democrat does something bad and/or gets caught (even if it is just heresay or innuendo) then that proves that the democrats are bad and that they are corrupt and that is why this person could never vote for that person or democrats.

When a republican gets caught doing something then it's "well, all politicians are bad/lie/etc."

Debating his moronic musings is like wrestling a pig.

O'Reilly says he doesn't trust politicians, yet his show is one giant political commentary.

your own campaign, and even then, the party committees will gang up on you.
They lie for a living. That's probably why so many of them are lawyers.

Or what guys like O'Reilly say when they try to appear "unbiased".

Truth is, NO one lies ALL of the time (even Bush), and NO ONE is honest ALL of the time (even Honest Abe). But in my experience, most conservative politicians lately are so deficient in the honesty department, it's no contest.

"Willie" may have been "Slick", and he may have played the game. But his most infamous lie dealt with a personal matter.

principle. In that sense, all politicians bend the truth. Still, some politicians do what's expedient for them, personally, while others consistently try to do what's best for the country. In that sense, every lie is not equal to every other lie. Clinton lied in an attempt to protect his personal, private life from public scrutiny--no lives were lost as a result. Bush lied about public policy, and now we're stuck in Iraq with no apparent plan to win or to leave, and tens of thousands have died for no good reason.

and went for an easy answer.
He was out of his depth on a forum which was not carefully stage managed...just like Bush. He's used to his own show...which is as fixed as wrestling.
He just spurted out answers. The French! The French! Hoping to sound witty.
He sounded inane and juvenile.
The slam on politicians was just more childish panic. He couldn't think of anything substantive to say. So he said the obvious.
O'Reilly looked foolish and cowardly.

and a voice on the national news?

Short answer: There would either be mass chaos and rioting or there would be absolute mind-numbing silence.

American people have been fed the lies of our mighty, righteous military quests for so long that the truth of our military transgressions would shock a few into a heart attack. How would American people go about their Wal-Mart shopping when they realize how much blood is on their hands?

How difficult would it be to eat out each night if the American people knew they were directly responsible for the biological weapons Saddam used on his own people?

How could American people continue to sleep at night if they knew that Iraq isn't the first theocracy we've help to build?

How could the American people continue to toil around in their gas-guzzlers if they understood how many governments had been bought off, over-thrown, and otherwise dismantled in order to keep our nation oiled?

I suspect they would simply be ignored. A few might experience a twinge of guilt, walking through the isles of Walmart, but one look at the hoard of cheap goods in their cart will quickly relieve them of that.

People don't want to hear what our government has done in our name with our tax dollars. They don't want to hear that 9/11 was retaliation for our meddling in others affairs & the horrors we have inflicted on other countries in pursuit of cheap resources to support the American way of life. They certainly don't want to hear that it is their apathy & complacence that allowed these policies to be put in place & you know they don't want to hear that the way to change things is to change their way of life.

Everyone wants the world to be a better place but no one wants to make the sacrifice to make it so.

Arghhh! :banghead:

Sadly, I am often disappointed.

to back them up. I think there are plenty of sincere people in politics, but they are at best representatives. If there's no mob demanding that a thing be done, the politician has little chance of getting it done. That only goes for populist causes, of course. Business does it's talking with cash.

But yes- there are lots of self-serving pricks in politics as well. The great majority fit into that category I think. They'll ignore and marginalize popular demands if at all possible, and just cash in.