On the Soapbox:

What Makes People Believe Bush Lies? Could It Be Media Repetition?

Everyone I’ve talked with who hates Bill Clinton says that they hate him, not because of what he did that day in the Oval Office, but because he lied about it. They can’t abide a liar, they say.

But what of the lies coming from the current White House on a daily and continuing basis? The White House says that the “polls show, the majority of the country is behind the president.” What country would that be? What poll would that be?

The polls I’ve seen online—which, quite honestly, are usually stuffed by conservatives—show only a 28 percent approval rating in some cases. Even NBC (right-wing conservative) news noted that 60 percent of Americans support the war, based on a (right-wing conservative) Newsweek poll. (I say that if only 60 percent of right-wing conservatives support this war, Bush is in serious trouble.)

Bush says that we have support of allies. Yet, France and Germany have spoken out against war in Iraq, and, in England, a recent government poll showed 77 percent of British citizens to not support the UK’s involvement. Even Mandela is calling Bush “arrogant”. (Gee, ya think?)

I’ve heard at least one member of the press refer to the statistics Bush touts as “bogus factoids.” (A cute euphemism for “lie.”)

One particular such reference was made regarding the State of the Union speech, in which Bush apparently stated that over 90 million Americans would receive an average refund of $1,100 if his tax plan went through. The commentator explained that this ‘bogus factoid’ was an average, e.g., similar to the calculation that shows the average American family has 2.4 children. The refund of $1,100 is bogus; e.g., a lie.

Why, I ask myself, are people believing this man? Why do they trust him? It’s not as if he has any credibility. He can’t even speak well. I’m always telling my speech students that people will doubt your information if you don’t know how to pronounce the words that are imperative to your point of view. Yet we have a president in charge of weapons of mass destruction who can’t even pronounce the word “nuclear.”

I would suggest those who support him take another look at some of the “facts” that Bush and his cronies are calling “truth,” and that all of us adults take to heart some advice that every school child knows these days.

As Mrs. Weasley said to Harry Potter, “Don’t trust anything, if you can’t see where it keeps its brain.”