It's about trust...

On 9-11 the world watched in horror as two American landmarks were reduced to smoking rubble and several thousand lives were lost in an instant.

This was, without a doubt, the greatest security lapse in American history. Our new President stood in front of us all and said, "we'll punish those responsible."

Except, well, the people who actually did the deed are already dead. The ultimate mastermind, one Osama Bin Laden, is still missing. In fact, not too long ago, as such things can be measured, President Bush admitted "I don't give much thought to him."

So is THAT what he meant when he said "we'll punish those responsible?"

Or, instead, did he mean to take up a crusade against Islamic radicals--people who fight wars using the worst of desperate tactics?

While the rest of the world stood by our side, we went into Afghanistan and tore down one of the most repressive regimes on the planet (who had, up until that point, been OUR friend...many of you might not remember the huge aid package scheduled do go their way for their help in the War on (some) Drugs, but I do).

We were told that OBL was hiding in Afghanistan and so that's where we went. Down came the Taliban.

One problem. We didn't even finish the job. The Taliban may not be in power, but, well, the government we helped install isn't really in power either. Warlords rule the rest of the country.

Mission Accomplished? Hardly.

And then there was Saddam and Iraq. Even granting the fact that he was an asshole dictator (who somehow managed to keep the peace between opposing religious factions in the country) there was no credible evidence to suggest he was actually a threat to us. Why the hell would he have wanted to attack us anyway? To prove he could? No matter what, if he had've tried anything along those lines, he would've been squashed like a bug. And I'd bet he knew it.

So, no, Saddam wasn't a threat to us. Or anyone but his own people. That puts him in the same category as literally dozens of other dictators we've supported over the years. No worse and no better.

The ONLY reason this administration has any credibility whatsoever is because of high-priced media whores who think they have something to gain by trumpeting the smallest of his successes (such as they are) and downplaying his long line of failures.

This administration's foreign policies are the political equivilent of a bull in a china shop. Lots of breakage and no accountability. Afghanistan? Well, at least the Taliban is no longer in power. Iraq? Someone else can fix it. N. Korea? Ditto. Iran? Well, maybe we can start a war down there and Israel can bomb the crap out of them too.

The whole thing is a fiasco, and rather than taking responsibility for its screw-ups, this administration wants to blame those of us who are watching the truly amazing list of disasters and wondering--where is the leadership?

Even his domestic policies are disastrous, but it's not as though THEY would notice that. Or care if they did. THEY are okay, so screw the rest of us.

Gas is nearly two and a half times as expensive as when he came into office. And he's an oil guy. What does that tell you?

That he's got the reverse midas touch, perhaps?

Incompetence and corruption seems to go hand-in-hand in politics. One or the other might not be SO bad. But 'staying the course' when the course is disastrous is not only foolish, it borders on criminal. Or maybe it crosses the border and waves a big red flag.

All I know is that, by now, only the terminally clueless have any trust in these people whatsoever.

And that's the ultimate political capital. Without trust, they have nothing.