"Trust Me. I know what I'm doing."

It may be hard to believe.

We actually trusted Bush after 9/11. We were told Bin Laden was behind it, and we needed to go into Afghanistan to get him. Everybody gave him the benefit of the doubt. We were shocked and afraid. Hell, the whole world was shocked and afraid.

But the search for Bin Laden didn't go so well. We didn't find him. That's okay, we thought. We had the whole of the U.S. military and the U.S. intelligence community, as well as those of our allies, to help track him down.

Except, well, we didn't. Our intelligence community was being brow-beat into finding a reason to attack Iraq. Bin Laden became a second-rate target for some reason. No one explained why.

We were shown "evidence" of WMD manufacture in Iraq. We were shown "evidence" of "long range drones" that might even be able to attack us here. We were warned that "the smoking gun" could "come in the form of a mushroom cloud."

Iraq didn't have the bomb. Saddam was more interested in keeping his power intact and enjoying the good life at the expense of his own citizens to ever think of attacking the U.S. Some of us were thinking, at the time, "Why in the hell would he attack us? We'd flatten him."

Well, there were no WMDs. It was a mistake. Or a lie. But we're told "Trust us. We know what we're doing."

We grumbled, but there wasn't a lot we could do about it. It was a "war on terror," whatever the hell that means. A perpetual war against a faceless enemy for an indefinite period of time. How do you vanquish an ideology with armed might? It's never worked in the past. Why should any of us believe it'll work now?

President Bush stood before us and said "wiretaps require a warrant." Apparently what he meant was "wiretaps require a warrant. Except when they don't."

Now he says, "we're only listening to conversations that have one end in the U.S. We only listen into the conversations of people who are talking to suspected terrorists. The rest of you have nothing to worry about."

Uh huh. And we're supposed to buy that WHY? Those of us who didn't exactly trust him in the first place (and there were, as you remember, somewhere near 50% of the voting population who didn't) have NO reason to buy what he's selling now.

Listening to Bush at this point is like going back to the same used car dealer who's sold you several lemons in a row and BELIEVING that, somehow, THIS car is actually a good one.

Either you believe this guy or you don't. We don't. He's done NOTHING to deserve our trust. Quite the opposite.

So someone kindly tell us...why do YOU trust this guy? Because he knows how to say the things you want to hear? Because he sounds like a "regular guy?"

You know what? So does your average huckster or con man. He HAS to sound like a regular guy or no one will buy what he's selling.

The Bush Administration has sold you swampland and told you it was beachfront property. It's sold you a broken down old Pontiac and told you it was a Caddilac. It's sold you a piece of a pyramid scheme for $19.95 that's REALLY a detailed plan on how to fleece your neighbors.

Because, make no mistake, that's what you're being led to do. You're stealing from your neighbors, yourself, and, most of all, your children and grandchildren. Because when this bill is due, and it will come do--have no doubt about that--SOMEONE is going to have to pay it.

You've been conned, and you're asking us to help pay the bill.

What I want to know, what I seriously have to ask, is...

Why should we?

And the amazing thing, illustrated again and again, is that so many who have been seriously conned will not only refuse to admit they've been had, but will actually defend the cutthroat slimeball who did them. Tsk tsk (shaking head)

not after 9/11. we KNEW saddam had nothing to do with it, had nothing to do with al-qaeda, etc. etc. we weren't part of the sheeple, thank you very much, and we were doing our best to help others see the truth as well.

I didn't really trust him either.

But his approval rating WAS really high...so in the interest of fairness, I had to say it.

the idiot's approval rating was 90 percent (which I always doubted) that STILL meant that 28 MILLION people did not approve of him.

Didn't notice I hadn't until the editing period was over.

You can't get 90 percent of Americans to agree on ANYTHING, let alone whether they like an obvious dumbass...and yes, Bush was an obvious dumbass MONTHS before 9/11.

I never believed the 90 percent crap. It was total rah-rah propaganda designed to lift our spirits after the attack, and nothing more.