Should we trust George W. Bush?

World Net Daily ^ | 8/29/02 | Harry Browne

[feelin_poorly]

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:

• that Iraq, which George Bush is dying to invade, still has "weapons of mass destruction" that threaten Americans directly;

• that Osama bin Laden masterminded the 9-11 attacks (the infamous videotape demonstrated his joy at the success of the attacks, not his participation);

• that the people being imprisoned as terrorists really are terrorists – even though they've received no public trial (whether you believe terrorists deserve to be protected by the Bill of Rights is irrelevant. You don't even know that they are terrorists until they receive a fair trial under the Bill of Rights);

• that the Bush administration won't misuse the private information it's acquiring through its massive violations of civil liberties.

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.

The record

So does George Bush's record inspire confidence in his honesty?

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.

• He's willing to give your tax money to foreign dictators who claim they "need" it (meaning they've gone too deeply in debt by spending money on palaces and other forms of self-aggrandizement);

• He wants to escalate the spending of your tax money on farm subsidies, health care, welfare, government schools, the War on Drugs, propaganda and other programs – none of which are authorized in the Constitution;

• He believes we should trust him and his minions when they tell us the unnamed people they've locked up are not entitled to the protections of the Fourth and Fifth Amendments.

• He claims he can attack Iraq without a congressional declaration of war – even though the Constitution clearly gives such authority exclusively to Congress.

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.

Is honesty important?

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?

[Lumberjack]

You don't know jack, jack.

Gosh, all these months away, I'd forgotten what witty comebacks y'all can make. Wow, nailed me there kemosabe. Yeah. Roll on the floor laughing even.

Of course, you've not refuted my words whatsoever, just resorted to silly sound bites. That is, of course, what this whole thing is about, isn't it? Sound bites in lieu of ideas, sneers in place of rational discourse.

You guys certainly have learned your Marx debating techniques well. I congratulate you on your study.

And in the end, it is much better for you to ignore the fact that Bush is destroying the remaining tatters of liberty left in this nation, isn't it? I know I'd be embarassed to talk about it too, were I you.

[Howlin]

It's quite a simple question: do you agree with Larry Klayman that Dick Cheney is a crook? Yes or no?

[FreedominJesusChrist]

George W. can CONSTITUTIONALLY send U.S. troops over to Iraq, without a formal declaration of war authorized by Congress.

I am glad that the Bush Administration is being tough with Iraq and if people do not like this, they should lobby their legislators to propose an amendment to the U.S. Constitution concerning this issue.

I don't always agree with W., but I fully support him if he were to decide to invade Iraq, kill Sadaam Hussein, and set-up a new government.

[habs4ever]

I was hoping for someone more topical, not someone from your shrine of long dead Presidents, Alan.But I can't say I'm suprised by your tactic, as its so much easier to live in the fog of the by-gone era, as a libertarian, than the reality of today.That's just the burden some of carry for poor souls like you, coping in the day to day, while the libertarian pines and sucks his thumb about a "better time".

Reality or Illusion...the choice that faces all Libertarians, and one from which they run as fast as they can.

[Howlin]

I like their teeth; do you think they use strips? :-)

[Texasforever]

This is satire right?

[FreedominJesusChrist]

That isn't the topic of this thread and I am not going to answer that here, okay? :)

[habs4ever]

Beckie! Baby! What you are you doing here???

[Mulder]

There were 12 nationally televised debates.

LOL! I wouldn't call those debates.

Every candidate had equal time to make his case to the public.

Well.... the media already had the "frontrunners", "longshots", and "darkhorses" picked from day one.

But I think the media was a smaller factor than conservatives falsely believing that anyone else was "unelectable".

[Southflanknorthpawsis]

You need just need to relax, sit back, and enjoy life a little.

You just need to get your first date, get a life, get a grip and get over your obsession with yourself.

But first get the decency to change your screenname and stop frivolously throwing the name of or Lord and Savior around like it's the latest slang.

That is beyond the pale and if you were mature you would understand that.

[FreedominJesusChrist]

I am commenting on George W. I have spent a lot of time criticizing him on FR, but would like to say a few good things about him now.

[A Citizen Reporter]

Oh sure, France aided us during the revolutionary war, due to no self-interests of their own! ROTFLMAO!

[DaughterOfAnIwoJimaVet]

I like their teeth; do you think they use strips? :-)

Very white!

[Southflanknorthpawsis]

or = our

[wimpycat]

And if I can understand the U.S. Constitution, which is not rocket science by any means, doesn't it reason then that I could comment on it in an intelligent manner? And if I, a lowly internet forum poster can accomplish this task, wouldn't you think that others could do so as well?

I can read the Constitution as well as you can, and I agree the writing style is easy, and I agree that it doesn't have a lot of words, and I'm not presuming to be better than you at reading comprehension, but you and I are seeing two different things, now aren't we? So it's not as simple as your Toyota owner's manual, now is it? If it was that simple, we wouldn't need a Supreme Court. If it was that simple, we wouldn't have had a Civil War. If it was that simple, we wouldn't be having these arguments.

[Mo1]

Oh Ok .. I'll leave the steps alone

[Howlin]

Why am I not surprised. You wouldn't even answer it on the thread that it was on.

[VaBthang4]

As a Mature Christian I in no way see FreedominJesusChrist mocking the Lord or offending God with her user id.

???

[deport]

Take your pick.......

---

  2000 OFFICIAL PRESIDENTIAL GENERAL ELECTION RESULTS
General Election Date: 11/7/00
Updated: December 2001                                             Source: State Elections Offices

       CHART 1 OF 3

STATE	BROWN	BROWNE	BUCHANAN	BUSH	DODGE	GORE	HAGELIN	HARRIS
AL		5,893	6,351	941,173		692,611	447
AK		2,636	5,192	167,398		79,004	919
AZ			12,373	781,652		685,341	1,120
AR		2,781	7,358	472,940		422,768	1,098
CA		45,520	44,987	4,567,429		5,861,203	10,934
CO		12,799	10,465	883,748	208	738,227	2,240	216
CT		3,484	4,731	561,094		816,015	*40	*4
DE		774	777	137,288		180,068	107
DC		669		18,073		171,923		114
FL		16,415	17,484	2,912,790		2,912,253	2,281	562
GA		36,332	10,926	1,419,720		1,116,230		*11
HI		1,477	1,071	137,845		205,286	306
ID		3,488	7,615	336,937		138,637	1,177
IL		11,623	16,106	2,019,421		2,589,026	2,127
IN		15,530	16,959	1,245,836		901,980	*167
IA		3,209	5,731	634,373		638,517	2,281	190
KS		4,525	7,370	622,332		399,276	1,375
KY		2,896	4,173	872,492		638,898	1,533
LA		2,951	14,356	927,871		792,344	1,075	1,103
ME		3,074	4,443	286,616		319,951
MD		5,310	4,248	813,797		1,145,782	*176
MA		16,366	11,149	878,502		1,616,487	2,884
MI		16,711	*1,851	1,953,139		2,170,418	2,426
MN		5,282	22,166	1,109,659		1,168,266	2,294	1,022
MS		2,009	2,265	572,844		404,614	450	613
MO		7,436	9,818	1,189,924		1,111,138	1,104
MT		1,718	5,697	240,178		137,126	675
NE		2,245	3,646	433,862		231,780	478
NV		3,311	4,747	301,575		279,978	415
NH		2,757	2,615	273,559		266,348	*55
NJ		6,312	6,989	1,284,173		1,788,850	2,215	844
NM		2,058	1,392	286,417		286,783	361
NY		7,649	31,599	2,403,374		4,107,697	24,361	1,789
NC		12,307	8,874	1,631,163		1,257,692
ND		660	7,288	174,852		95,284	313
OH		13,475	26,724	2,351,209		2,186,190	6,169	*10
OK		6,602	9,014	744,337		474,276
OR		7,447	7,063	713,577		720,342	2,574
PA		11,248	16,023	2,281,127		2,485,967
RI		742	2,273	130,555		249,508	271	34
SC		4,876	3,519	785,937		565,561	942
SD		1,662	3,322	190,700		118,804
TN	1,606	4,284	4,250	1,061,949		981,720	613
TX		23,160	12,394	3,799,639		2,433,746
UT		3,616	9,319	515,096		203,053	763	186
VT		784	2,192	119,775		149,022	219	70
VA		15,198	5,455	1,437,490		1,217,290	*171
WA		13,135	7,171	1,108,864		1,247,652	2,927	304
WV		1,912	3,169	336,475		295,497	367
WI		6,640	11,471	1,237,279		1,242,987	853	306
WY		1,443	2,724	147,947		60,481	411
Total:	1,606 .00%	384,431 .36%	448,895 .42%	50,456,002 47.87%	208 .00%	50,999,897 48.38%	83,714 .08%	7,378 .01%

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          CHART 2 OF 3

STATE	LANE	MCREYNOLDS	MOOREHEAD	NADER	PHILLIPS	SMITH	VENSON	YOUNGKEIT
AL				18,323	775
AK				28,747	596
AZ				45,645	*110	5,775
AR				13,421	1,415
CA		*28		418,707	17,042
CO		712		91,434	1,319
CT				64,452	9,695
DE				8,307	208
DC				10,576
FL		622	1,804	97,488	1,371
GA				*13,432	*140
HI				21,623	343
ID				*12,292	1,469
IL		*4		103,759	*57
IN		*43		*18,531	*200
IA		107		29,374	613
KS				36,086	1,254
KY				23,192	923
LA				20,473	5,483
ME				37,127	579
MD				53,768	919
MA		*42		173,564
MI				84,165	3,791
MN				126,696	3,272
MS				8,122	3,267
MO				38,515	1,957
MT				24,437	1,155
NE				24,540	468
NV				15,008	621
NH				22,198	328
NJ		1,880		94,554	1,409
NM				21,251	343
NY		*2		244,030	1,498
NC		*1,226
ND				9,486	373
OH				117,857	3,823
OK
OR				77,357	2,189
PA				103,392	14,428
RI		52	199	25,052	97
SC				20,200	1,682
SD					1,781
TN				19,781	1,015		535
TX		*63		137,994	*567
UT				35,850	2,709			161
VT	1,044	161		20,374	153
VA				59,398	1,809
WA		660	1,729	103,002	1,989
WV				10,680	*23
WI			1,063	94,070	2,042
WY				*4,625	720
Total:	1,044 .00%	5,602 .00%	4,795 .00%	2,882,955 2.74%	98,020 .09%	5,775 .00%	535 .00%	161 .00%

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          CHART 3 OF 3

STATE	WRITE-IN (MISCELLANEOUS)	NONE OF THESE CANDIDATES	TOTAL VOTES CAST		ELECTORAL VOTE BUSH	ELECTORAL VOTE GORE
AL	699		1,666,272			9
AK	1,068		285,560			3
AZ			1,532,016			8
AR			921,781			6
CA	6		10,965,856				54
CO			1,741,368			8
CT	10		1,459,525				8
DE	93		327,622				3
DC	539		201,894				2##
FL	40		5,963,110			25
GA	13		2,596,804			13
HI	#		367,951				4
ID	6		501,621			4
IL			4,742,123				22
IN	56		2,199,302			12
IA	1,168		1,315,563				7
KS			1,072,218			6
KY	80		1,544,187			8
LA	#		1,765,656			9
ME	27		651,817				4
MD	1,480		2,025,480				10
MA	3,990		2,702,984				12
MI			4,232,501				18
MN	28		2,438,685				10
MS			994,184			7
MO			2,359,892			11
MT	11		410,997			3
NE	#		697,019			5
NV	#	3,315	608,970			4
NH	1,221		569,081			4
NJ			3,187,226				15
NM	#		598,605				5
NY	**		6,821,999				33
NC			2,911,262			14
ND			288,256			3
OH			4,705,457			21
OK	#		1,234,229			8
OR	3,419		1,533,968				7
PA	934		4,913,119				23
RI	329		409,112				4
SC	#		1,382,717			8
SD	#		316,269			3
TN	428		2,076,181			11
TX	74		6,407,637			32
UT	1		770,754			5
VT	514		294,308				3
VA	2,636		2,739,447			13
WA			2,487,433				11
WV	1		648,124			5
WI	1,896		2,598,607				11
WY			218,351			3
Total:	20,767 .02%	3,315 .00%	105,405,100		271	266

NOTES

*     Write-in Votes.
**   138,216 Miscellaneous write-in, blank and void votes were compiled as one total. This figure is not included in Total Votes Cast.
#     Write-in votes for Presidential candidates not permitted.
##   The District of Columbia has 3 electoral votes. There was 1 abstention.

Total Electoral Vote = 538
Total Electoral Vote Needed to Elect = 270

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http://fecweb1.fec.gov/pubrec/2000presgeresults.htm

[Miss Marple]

I will take you at your word. Although I have had heated discussions about Larry Klayman with you, I do appreciate a sincere support of the President during time of war. Thank you.