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Given everything that has happened over the last seven years -- not just with the anthrax attacks but with countless episodes of Government deceit and corruption -- it's astonishing (and more than a little disturbing) how many people are willing, even eager, to assume that the Government's accusations against Ivins are accurate even without seeing a shred of evidence to support those claims.
I find it disturbing, yes, but I don't find it astonishing at all. Sure, there's a tradition in the US of stated distrust of the government, which can manifest in good ways or not-so-good ways. But most people very much want to trust both law enforcement and the military, because it's pretty disturbing to think they might not be trustworthy. First, that would cast doubts on those who are supposed to keep us safe from "the Other". Second, it would cause us to wonder whether we're safe from the protectors themselves.
Sure, US storytelling is full of "dirty cops" and "men in black" and so on. But for one thing, that's comfortable fiction. You turn the last page, or the movie theater lights go on, and the story is over, usually with a comforting ending. Also, in many of those stories, the untrustworthy elements are generally "rogues" and/or are breaking the rules in order to protect civilians. (Note that the Bush Admin and their apologists often invoke the latter storyline, subtly or otherwise.)
