The President Who Cried "Wolf!"

Here's the problem with "lying" or fudging the truth when you are President of the United States. Once you are caught in a lie -- particularly about national security issues -- who can ever believe you again? <!--break--> <font face="Verdana">It's like the boy who cried "Wolf!" one too many times, and the townspeople would not believe him when the wolf truly was at the door. President Bush's lies about the WMDs now make it impossible for most of us to believe him or anyone in his cabinet when they try to call attention to potential danger.</font><br /><br /><font face="Verdana">The fact that Bush lied -- or at the very least distorted reality -- in order to persuade Americans that they had no choice but to go to war with Iraq has made suspect any future claims of danger -- no matter how real those claims may be.</font><br /><br /><font face="Verdana">Yesterday Attorney General John Ashcroft claimed that the United States could be the target of a major terrorist threat some time this summer. As is clear from a </font><font face="Verdana-Italic"><i>New York Times</i></font><font face="Verdana"> <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/27/politics/27terror.html?th">article</a> today, there are a lot of people who question the reasons for Ashcroft's warning -- including people (apparently) in the F.B.I. and the C.I.A. It appears to be a ploy to distract Americans from Bush's downward ratings spiral. </font><br /><br /><font face="Verdana">I'm glad to see I'm not the only one questioning this so-called threat.</font><br /><br /><font face="Verdana">The problem is, every time the Bush administration pulls a stunt like this, its credibility sinks lower and lower. And that is bound to put this country into serious danger. Because when the </font><font face="Verdana-Italic"><i>real</i></font><font face="Verdana"> threat comes, nobody will believe the administration until after the fact.</font><br /><br /><font face="Verdana">And then people will wonder whether the administration actually staged the attack.</font><br /><br /><font face="Verdana">The act of lying to the American public about national security threats by a highly placed Administration official -- </font><font face="Verdana-Italic"><i>or even merely distorting the truth</i></font><font face="Verdana"> -- ought to be a treasonous (and therefore impeachable) offense ... because those lies put us in greater danger. </font><br /><br /><font face="Verdana">President Bush and his cabinet will </font><font face="Verdana-Italic"><i>never</i></font><font face="Verdana"> be able to restore credibility to his administration. That is why, regardless of your political persuasion, patriotism requires that you turn them all out of office. </font><br /><br /><font face="Verdana">Our national security depends on it.</font>

<p>Here's the problem with "lying" or fudging the truth when you are President of the United States. Once you are<br /> caught in a lie -- particularly about national security issues -- who can ever believe you again?</p> <!--break--><p><font face="Verdana">It's like the boy who cried<br /> "Wolf!" one too many times, and the townspeople would not believe him when the<br /> wolf truly was at the door. President Bush's lies about the WMDs now make it<br /> impossible for most of us to believe him or anyone in his cabinet when they try<br /> to call attention to potential<br /> danger.</font></p> <p><font face="Verdana">The fact that Bush lied -- or at<br /> the very least distorted reality -- in order to persuade Americans that they had<br /> no choice but to go to war with Iraq has made suspect any future claims of<br /> danger -- no matter how real those claims may<br /> be.</font></p> <p><font face="Verdana">Yesterday Attorney General John<br /> Ashcroft claimed that the United States could be the target of a major terrorist<br /> threat some time this summer. As is clear from a<br /> </font><font face="Verdana-Italic"><i>New York<br /> Times</i></font><font face="Verdana"> <a></a> href="http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/27/politics/27terror.html?th"&gt;article<br /> today, there are a lot of people who question the reasons for Ashcroft's warning<br /> -- including people (apparently) in the F.B.I. and the C.I.A. It appears to be a<br /> ploy to distract Americans from Bush's downward ratings spiral.<br /> </font></p> <p><font face="Verdana">I'm glad to see I'm not the only one<br /> questioning this so-called threat.</font></p> <p><font face="Verdana">The<br /> problem is, every time the Bush administration pulls a stunt like this, its<br /> credibility sinks lower and lower. And that is bound to put this country into<br /> serious danger. Because when the<br /> </font><font face="Verdana-Italic"><i>real</i></font><font face="Verdana"><br /> threat comes, nobody will believe the administration until after the<br /> fact.</font></p> <p><font face="Verdana">And then people will wonder whether<br /> the administration actually staged the<br /> attack.</font></p> <p><font face="Verdana">The act of lying to the American<br /> public about national security threats by a highly placed Administration<br /> official -- </font><font face="Verdana-Italic"><i>or even merely distorting the<br /> truth</i></font><font face="Verdana"> -- ought to be a treasonous (and therefore<br /> impeachable) offense ... because those lies put us in greater danger.<br /> </font></p> <p><font face="Verdana">President Bush and his cabinet will<br /> </font><font face="Verdana-Italic"><i>never</i></font><font face="Verdana"> be<br /> able to restore credibility to his administration. That is why, regardless of<br /> your political persuasion, patriotism requires that you turn them all out of<br /> office. </font></p> <p><font face="Verdana">Our national security depends on<br /> it.</font></p>