Should we trust George W. Bush?

Shortly after 9-11, TV talk-show host Sean Hannity said, "Thank God, we have an honest man in the White House!"

And when you think about it, a great deal of what you might believe about the so-called War on Terrorism is based on statements from George W. Bush. You have only his word, or that of someone in his administration:

Since America is endangered by the "you're either with me or against me" tactics of the Bush administration, it becomes vital to know whether we can trust the man in charge of our government.

Unfortunately, this is the same man who has referred to trillions of dollars in budget surpluses – even though the federal government hasn't had a budget surplus since 1956. (The appearance of any "surpluses" was created by taking excess receipts from Social Security and applying them to the general budget, even as the politicians swore they were protecting Social Security.)

Mr. Bush even has the chutzpah to refer with a straight face (well not exactly a straight face, he loves to smirk) to corporate executives "cooking the books." He neglects to mention that many of the corporate bookkeeping methods the politicians are so incensed about today were motivated by rules imposed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

And George Bush is the same man who in 2000 said he believed in "limited government." Most people assumed he meant a government limited by the Constitution. In fact, he took an oath in which he swore to uphold the Constitution.

But he's violated virtually every one of the first 10 Amendments – especially the Ninth and 10th Amendments, which are meant to impose precise limits on his power.

So his belief in "limited government" apparently means government limited to what he wants to do.

George Bush is the same man who in one breath tries to ingratiate himself with you by saying, "It's your money, not the politicians' money" – but in the next breath, he says he's entitled to one third of "your money."

George Bush is the same man who said he has learned more about political philosophy from Jesus of Nazareth than from anyone else. But he's proven by his actions that he doesn't really believe such things as "Blessed are the peacemakers." And "the meek" who Jesus said would inherit the earth are in Mr. Bush's eyes really just "collateral damage" in his plans to tell the world how it must live.

In these and in so many other ways, George Bush has proven that he's not an honest man – and that we shouldn't trust him with the safety of America.

In fact, Thomas Jefferson understood that we shouldn't put our trust in any politician. He said we should bind them down from mischief "by the chains of the Constitution." And a truly honest man wouldn't even ask you to trust him.

Contrary to what you might have thought, this isn't an article about George Bush. It's an article about you. Are you going to demean yourself by putting your faith in a man who has done so much to demonstrate the folly of such faith?

Are you going to let politicians stampede you into throwing away the Bill of Rights, based on "evidence" you never see, reassured by politicians who have proven that the truth is secondary to their own ambitions?

Don't you have enough respect for your own mind to make your own decisions, refuse to accept conclusions without evidence, and be something better than a cheerleader for a politician or a political party?

Not one single American has lost a right that they didn’t already have before this Administration took office.

Huh? Parse error.

Until you have a single ruling made by the Supreme Court that anything currently taking place is unconstitutional then by definition the above statement is fact.

The people are equally qualified to judge something as unconstitutional. The people are even empowered to set aside laws from the jury box.

No law has been past removing a single right any American has.

There are approximately 900 held now without being allowed a lawyer, without being allowed to review the charges against them, and there are no dates set for their trial. The trials can be conducted in secret, without the accused's presence. This is included in the "Patriot's Act". It passed.

TIPS isn’t a law and even if it were it wouldn’t remove a single right spelled out by our forefathers.

Same thing was said when the Hitler Youth was formed.

Our Nation is under a very cogent threat of Biological as well as nuclear attack. This is not 1776 where we’ll be able to rally the minutemen to protect the Nation from a developing invasion.

Our Nation was under a much more real threat of nuclear attack during the "Cold War". During the Cuban Missle Crisis there was nearly a first strike launch. The extreme measures now being employed were not needed then, are not needed now. The "minutemen" could indeed protect this Nation even now. There is an abundance of American citizens who can watch over our lakes, power plants, and bridges. I can't think of a more formidable foe than the American public. The government places us under suspicion rather than "on the wall". (Besides, the TIPS program is a degenerate form of militia.)

The threat we face requires preemption.

Better security would result from prohibiting immigration from hostile lands, deporting hostiles, sealing the porous Mexican border, and arming air crews. Searching Middle-Eastern athletic males would provide better security than strip searching retired US Army Generals and confiscating his Medal of Honor.

Does any one here want to assert that Thomas Jefferson would sacrifice millions of American lives?

He wouldn't. But he wouldn't "protect us" by allowing proven enemies to continue to train in our flight schools, strip search 88 year-old grandmothers, and prohibit loyal Americans from bearing arms in order to protect themselves.

The threats posed to us now develop in nanoseconds..

You haven't been doing your homework. The Al-Quada threat has been building up over some years. The attackers trained in this country for years. The government that you so highly respect failed to see this coming despite very clear signs and even direct warnings from other counties. Political correctness blinded the entire intelligence community. Don't worry. They all got promotions.

At what point do you sober up and admit that the 1700’s are gone and they are never, ever coming back?

Moral and political principles are ageless. The problems we face in society today are no different than those faced in Socrate's time, let alone the 1700s. The technologies of war have changed, but the meanings of honor, dignity, morality, and freedom are absolutes that don't change.

Our Constitution is indeed the foundation that this Nation stands on but to honestly believe in the possibility of a return to the original state of national and international affairs that our Nation enjoyed when it was written and established is willfully infantile and ignorant. If you do not agree then I find difficulty in you identifying yourself as either Conservative or American.

It is extremely obvious that you are not well versed with the Founding Documents. If you had read them, you couldn't possibly make these statements. Their writings deal mostly with duty, honor, bravery, responsibility, honesty, and selflessness. Do you actually presume these to be obsolete?

Grow up.

I'm 52 years old. I've raised five successful children. I served as an officer in the US Army. You are the one who should grow up and stand firm, and defend your Nation. Not the "next" Nation, this Nation. I took an oath to defend the Constitution and this Nation against all enemies, foriegn and domestic. I meant it then, I never recanted.

Get an education, especially with respect to your Heritage. In the final analysis, it is all you have.

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