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CNN, not Fox, says the news is worse than it appears.
They say, "Back in 2006, only 52% of Americans disapproved of how President George W. Bush handled government surveillance of Americans. Today, a full 60% disapprove of Obama on the same issue."
This week, the National Journal is featuring a story about the President titled, "Do You Trust This Man?"
Interestingly, James Madison said, "There are more instances of the abridgement of the freedom of the people by the gradual and silent encroachment of those in power, than by violent and sudden usurpation."
Gallup is reporting that confidence in newspapers fell again this year. Only 23% believe the news they read in the newspapers. And only 23% believe the news they see on television is accurate.
No confidence.
Rasmussen reported yesterday that "Distrust is growing." They found 70% believe the IRS decision to target conservatives was made in Washington DC. And 82% of American voters are following the IRS story.
President Abraham Lincoln spoke to this. He said, “If you once forfeit the confidence of your fellow citizens, you can never regain their respect and esteem. It is true that you may fool all of the people some of the time; you can even fool some of the people all of the time; but you can't fool all of the people all of the time." (Speech at Clinton, Illinois, September 8, 1854).
When our present level of distrust occurs toward our government and those whom we have elected to lead our country, the stage is set for tragedy.
Here's one example.
Thomas Sowell raised the issue of mistrust in his column this week. This is part of what he said:
Anyone old enough to remember the Cuban missile crisis of 1962, when President John F. Kennedy took this country to the brink of nuclear war with the Soviet Union, may remember that there was nothing like the distrust and backlash against later presidents, whose controversial decisions risked nothing approaching the cataclysm that President Kennedy’s decision could have led to.
Even those of us who were not John F. Kennedy supporters, and who were not dazzled by the glitter and glamour of the Kennedy aura, nevertheless felt that the President of the United States was someone who knew much more than we did about the realities on which all our lives depended.
Whatever happened to that feeling? Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon happened — and both were shameless liars. They destroyed not only their own credibility, but the credibility of the office.
Even when Lyndon Johnson told us the truth at a crucial juncture during the Vietnam war — that the Communist offensive of 1968 was a defeat for them, even as the media depicted it as a defeat for us — we didn’t believe him.
In later years, Communist leaders themselves admitted that they had been devastated on the battlefield. But, by then it was too late. What the Communists lost militarily on the ground in Vietnam they won politically in the American media and in American public opinion.
More than 50,000 Americans lost their lives winning battles on the ground in Vietnam, only to have the war lost politically back home. We seem to be having a similar scenario unfolding today in Iraq, where soldiers won the war, only to have politicians lose the peace, as Iraq now increasingly aligns itself with Iran.
When Barack Obama squanders his own credibility with his glib lies, he is not just injuring himself during his time in office. He is inflicting a lasting wound on the country as a whole.
Indeed.
While I'm not suggesting we give complete trust to any man, elected or otherwise, there must be some level of trust for a society to function, otherwise it is anarchy .
Some thoughts:
1. Truth Sustains---Lies Destroy.
"Truthful lips endure forever, a lying tongue lasts only a moment" (Proverbs 12:19).
2. Truth Comes From An External Source, Not An Internal One.
Relativism looks within for "truth." Biblical Christianity learns Truth from God through His Word.
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight" (Proverbs 3:5-6).
3. Discern "Good Faith."
"Good faith" is a legal term, but it is also a moral term. People make honest mistakes.
We the people must discern whether our leadership is simply making a bad call on an issue, not capable of the responsibility we have entrusted them with, or if they are purposefully misleading the public.
Discernment is the key. That is the process of deciding between truth and error, right and wrong.
The ability to think with discernment is synonymous with the ability to think biblically. Right thinking is also based on being properly informed.
Support good. Oppose evil.
"But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good, abstain from that which is evil" (I Thessalonians 5:21).
4. Do Not Fear The Future.
"Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God." (Corrie ten Boom).
"Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me. Your rod and your staff protect and comfort me" (Psalms 23:4 NLT).
Many challenges lie ahead for our great country. We are in a moral decline. When morality fails, everything fails. I personally believe that God wants to use His people to carry the lamp of Truth that will light the way to a better future for our country and our families.
And each of us are called to carry the lamp.
"If we abide by the principles taught in the Bible, our country will go on prospering and to prosper; but if we and our posterity neglect its instruction and authority, no man can tell how sudden a catastrophe may overwhelm us and bury all our glory in profound obscurity." (Daniel Webster).
"Finally, let us not forget the religious character of our origin. Our fathers were brought hither by their high veneration for the Christian religion. They journeyed by its light, and labored in its hope. They sought to incorporate its principles with the elements of their society, and to diffuse its influence through all their institutions, civil, political, or literary." (Daniel Webster).
Be Informed. Be Discerning. Be Vigilant. Be Prayerful. Be Active.