I also suspect that alleged public opinion polls that show high "confidence" ratings for a president during critical times, may also be subject to this desire to reinforce support for the political system. While one cannot know what is in the minds of such polled persons, I wonder how many, when responding "yes" to the question "do you approve of Mr. Bush’s performance?," might be trying to communicate nothing more than his or her support for whatever the government is doing. Such declarations, in a time of perceived crisis, may be more a vote of confidence in the political system, rather than in political leaders, per se. In lieu of any real world factual examples, it must be comforting to know that you can just make up a theory to support your analysis.
Ever notice that every single one of these so-called libertarian "thinkers" argue "facts" the same way that liberals do?
Coincidence? I think not.