Most Think Truth Was Stretched to Justify Iraq War
Finally, it would seem that Americans are waking up and recognizing the truth. Of course, it's still too early to predict how this will play in November, but it can only be a good thing that the electorate is beginning to see that there is a liar sitting in the Oval Office. That liar is responsible for the deaths of 500+ young Americans, all of whom have been sacrificed to meet a policy objective that was predicated on a lie.
A majority of Americans believe President Bush either lied or deliberately exaggerated evidence that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction in order to justify war, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll....
The survey found that nearly seven in 10 think Bush "honestly believed" Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. Even so, 54 percent thought Bush exaggerated or lied about prewar intelligence.
Honesty and credibility have been central to Bush's appeal since the 2000 campaign, when he benefited from disgust over President Bill Clinton's lies about the Monica S. Lewinsky affair and when Bush's campaign accused then-Vice President Al Gore of "saying one thing and doing another." But a number of factors, including the failure to find unconventional weapons in Iraq and the administration's underestimating of its Medicare prescription drug plan's costs, appear to have undermined perceptions of his credibility.
Bush's possible Democratic opponent, Sen. John F. Kerry (Mass.), has begun to talk about a "credibility gap." Even some Bush allies say they have been misled about Iraq's weapons, and the current Time magazine cover story asks: "Believe him or not -- does Bush have a credibility gap?"
Questions about Bush's use of prewar intelligence, in addition to feeding doubts about his honesty, have sent his performance rating plummeting. Fifty percent of Americans approve of the job he is doing, the lowest level of his presidency in Post-ABC polling and down 8 percentage points from January. The survey found that, for the first time since the war ended, less than half of Americans -- 48 percent -- believe the war was worth fighting, down 8 points from last month. Fifty percent said the war was not worth it.
It is interesting that Republicans demanded Bill Clinton's scalp for his prevarications, but there is nary a peep emerging from official Washington about George W. Bush. I've said this before, and I'll repeat it again for the record- at least no one died when Clinton lied.
Granted, before I go off half-cocked and begin anticipating the joys of an imminent Kerry victory, let us remember that it IS only February. No one has ever won an election in February, but it is possible to lose it. At this point, all John Kerry needs to do is to put himself out there and give voters the opportunity to find out what he is all about.
Without a doubt, the Bushies see Kerry as a clear and present danger. The first televised attack ads directed specifically at John Kerry hit the airwaves yesterday. We could be in for the longest and nastiest Presidential campaign in our nation's history. Are we up for nine months of negativity and personal attacks? If the parties are not careful, they could be running the very real risk of burning out the electorate long before the election.
It will be interesting to see how things play out over the ensuing months. For now, I am beyond excited that the American voting public seems to be recognizing that they were lied to by Our Sainted And Yet Illegitimate President. His daddy couldn't translate a victorious war into an election victory; it's beginning to look as if George the Younger may suffer a similar fate.
