For anyone who has been paying attention, I cannot imagine why they would ever take anything the Bush administration says or does at face value. I literally cannot think of a single major issue where they have not either hidden their true intent; twisted the "facts" in ways that are unsupportable upon close inspection; just plain lied or made things up; or cast their opponents' positions in exaggerated or dishonest lights.

The following is a short list of most of the primary initiatives from this administration and significant issues that one would hope they would constructively address. I challenge any Salon reader to make a strong case for the Bush administration having been candid about their intentions/"facts." I also challenge them to make a case that they have ever honestly presented their opponents' points of view on any of these.

Tax cuts and the estate tax

Social security

Stem cell research

The balance between individual liberties and security, e.g., wiretapping, treatment of American citizens accused of terrorism.

The role of the rule of law and our constitution in the "War on Terror"

Iraq war

Iraq reconstruction

African AIDS initiative

Coalition of the willing

Climate change

Environmental policy

Energy policy

Outsourcing/international trade

Feel free to add other points to the list.

I don't think you'll find too many Salon readers all that interested in rebutting your points. Nothing against Salon readers, I certainly wouldn't...

I agree with you and was expecting the same. I was doing two things (I hoped) with my post.

1. Truly soliciting any sort of well-reasoned case that could be made for trusting the Bush administration's position on anything of importance. Although I have watched in horror and frustration as they have done so much damage, there might be some small thing they actually did without being dishonest in some fashion. It might be instructive, if such a case exists.

2. Simply saying that they have so little credibility that it's damn near impossible to even bother with their arguments beyond finding their flaws and then proceeding to expose them for the minority that seem to have been asleep the last six years or that have a twisted faith-based love affair with the administration.

I am so amply convinced of the perfidity of this bunch that just about the only thing I want these days with respect to them is the means to stop them. In that regard, pretty much everything is on the table for me (impeachment, use of the budget by Congress, aggressive use of the media and the internet to make our case, etc.) as long as it doesn't serve to further undermine the Constitution that the crooks and liars have done so much to subvert and destroy. We are losing our democracy without so much as a whimper from so many of our fellow citizens. Somewhere in the last three decades, we've gone incredibly wrong in understanding the nature of our civic responsibilities and how they relate to keeping our form of government. How did we manage to foster democracy in Western Europe after World War II so well and yet lose our sense of urgency about maintaining it here?

I once was a young lad and, while not a complete naif, at least willing to believe that most discourse, political or otherwise, had some core of truth that it intended to communicate. Sure folks could be unclear in their expression of their intent and even spin a bit to sway one to their point, but only rarely was the language so dishonest that it required the mind of a complete cynic to begin to understand its true intent.

No more. The Bush administration has turned me into a hardcore cynic. Every word and concept requires rigorous examination and demands for definition before it can be properly interpreted. Nothing is taken at face value. Everything is designed to deceive the listener; to create an impression other than the truth.

Like Xavier above, I've reached the point where the best thing to do is just assume they're lying. You'll almost never be wrong.

Unless you are completely "off line" in your dealings and communications, Big Brother is real and getting worse. And even being offline isn't enough given the video cameras that are in public spaces, including many roads. 1984 is a couple of decades late, but just as intrusive and destructive as imagined by Orwell.

This is yet another trend that I hope can be reversed after the next election if enough pressure is brought to bear on our government.