It's the honor, stupid. w/poll

Today on Meet the Press Russert asked David Gregory if Bush misled the American people by stating that Rumsfeld would remain until his term was over.  David Gregory's response has been haunting me all day long.  He said "A lot of people think different things about that."  I think Mr. Gregory has been hanging too long with the Rove crowd to have not been able to state the obvious on that one.  

Now, I know many of us have become so used to Bush lying to us or are so busy revelling that we might miss the significance of his latest whopper and let it slide by, but in doing so we miss the opportunity to really hone the message we sent on Tuesday to Washington.  If we believe the MSM's exit poll reports, the Iraq war moved to second place in the "Why has this happened" answer column for dumbfounded Republican politicians.  However, I think MSM commentators are missing the connection between the number one answer, "Corruption" and the Iraq war.  

Corruption includes a lack of honor, it includes poor character.  Simply, the American people are sick of being lied to, cheated, and deceived.  We're sick of having our intelligence insulted, sick of being condescended to by mediocre leaders and the mediocre press that covers them.  So yeah, it was Abramoff and Enron and Foley, but even more than that, it's the honor, stupid.

Bush is definitely an ends justifies the means guy.  He is unabashed about lying directly to the camera and confident that we'll accept it from our President.  He lied and then not only admitted publicly to the lie, but explained why it was necessary as if this excuses it.  His reason was that if he told the truth, the American people would do something like exercise their judgment and use their right to vote fully informed.  This should be perfectly understandable, in Bush's eyes.  People have "different opinions" about it in David Gregory's eyes.  Well, people who understand honor clearly understand this is plain wrong.  He lied.  Again.

We got a really good idea of how Bush operates in his "thumping" speech.  It's all a "rodeo" really, and this isn't his first one, after all.  It matters not that he now has to work with the people he said were working with the "terrorists."  All is fair in love, war, and slimy Rovian politics.  No hard feelings, really.  He pretty much said out loud that his campaign was all bullshit, and that should be OK with us. Isn't he brilliant, he understands how it all works.  Bush lies, and if it works, that's great, if it doesn't, well, what else did you expect?    

Well, it's not working and damn it all to hell if we don't start expecting not to be lied to.  

Bush's latest lie just slid right through, I don't know if it's because we're all partying from Tuesday's victories, or if it's because the new Democratic think is that we're so afraid of the new power that from day one we're going to start making concessions.  It hardly matters that the President openly lied to all of us and then told us why it was OK to do so, right? After all, the Democratic party has taken Congress and will hold power as long as we don't turn off any Bush supporters by pointing out that the man has broken the law and deserves impeachment.  Why shouldn't he be allowed to lie openly now, everyone can appreciate his political reason for doing so, correct?  God forbid we piss off the two Bush supporters left in Utah by stating the obvious or asking for justice, even.  

Speaking as a person that thinks "differently" about this, I think it's gross that the President of the United States just admitted to lying to the American people and got away with it.  I think it's disgusting that he's pretty much getting a pass.  As many have bothered to point out to me in the months preceding the election on this site and others when I voiced my support for impeachment, it is naive to believe that the truth matters all that much in politics, it only matters when it is politically advantageous to point it out.  It's almost impossible, therefore, to imagine that the President of the United States should be an honest man.   I know it's a waste of time to express insult at the way the MSM and the President and all who hold the cynical idea that the American electorate are disregarded and disrespected.  But my "different" thinking compels me to state that I am appalled once again at the condescension, the utter insult in the idea that Americans should be openly manipulated.  

The fact that it happened the day after we resoundingly told Bush "NO" is simply a matter of his ego and arrogance.  The fact that the media, the Democratic party, and even the recently awakening Republican party have  ignored it is a symptom of how far his wrong-minded tactics have spread.   We have a chance, right now, to do something about the dishonesty associated with our government.  The world is watching while Bush lies outright and everyone just shrugs.  Shall we let him say whatever he likes during his lame duckhood, or shall we demand that we finally receive the respect we deserve, that he finally shows respect for the office he holds.

It seems David Gregory is content to leave it at "people think differently about it."  This is a no-brainer to the American public at this point, that's what Tuesday's vote was about.  It was a "yes" or "no" question, Mr. Gregory.   Liars don't deserve to serve.  When we, everyday Americans, are asked to testify we vow to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth so help us God. Our leaders should know what that means and at the very least not openly lie and then behave as if it was an act of brilliant strategy.  The press shouldn't give it a pass because it's become the habit of the press to do so. Honor matters, we want ours back.