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Jewish World Review April 10, 2003 / 8 Sivan, 5763

Dick Morris

Dick Morris
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Giving government a good name


http://www.NewsAndOpinion.com | The alienation between the government of the United States and its people has narrowed sharply in the past two weeks, as the story of the war in Iraq has unfolded on our TV screens. The conviction that the government will not tell the truth, which lay at the root of that distrust, has been laid to waste by the forthrightness and openness of the war coverage by the Bush administration.

The synapses between the government and the public have narrowed as the war has progressed. People have come to understand that the government says what it means and means what it says.

When we are assured that Washington will do all it can to avoid civilian casualties, we are impressed by the use of precision-guided munitions to make good on this promise. When we are told that American troops will be protected and prisoners of war rescued, we are heartened by the low casualty figures and the gallant mission to free Jessica Lynch. When we hear that the war will be won quickly, we watch breathlessly as American troops slice their way into Baghdad.

A public conditioned by Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton to hearing lies from its president now has begun to develop a trust in government that bridges the most fundamental gap in American politics over the past 30 years - the credibility gap of official Washington.

When a helicopter goes down, the Pentagon strains to tell us exactly who was killed and precisely what caused the crash. It is almost as if it hastens to give us bad news and conceals the good. We don't hear body counts of enemy soldiers, but when an American dies, the military briefers report it instantly and breathlessly.

When something goes wrong, when friendly fire causes American or Kurdish or British deaths, we learn about it immediately - from our own government. When the progress of the war inclines us to euphoria, we learn the bad news of the combat that awaits us in the future - from our own Pentagon.

Unaccustomed to hearing the truth from our politicians, we are getting it squarely from our government.

Those news organs, entertainers and political figures who appeal to us based on a distrust in government are the big losers in this new era of trust and credibility. When The New York Times implies that a quagmire lies ahead but hints that our government doesn't want us to know the truth or when retired generals darkly hint that plans have gone awry, we have only to turn on our televisions and see the war live and in person, reported with all the accuracy and immediacy we could possibly want.

This disjuncture between the dire predictions and ominous warnings we read in the elite media and the reality we see on television footage is widening the credibility gap of the doomsayers and narrowing it for the government.

The line "Trust me, I'm from the government" is no longer a joke.

Extremists of the left and the right still bemoan our loss of privacy and warn of plots to deceive us. But their prophesies increasingly belong to the paranoia of the way-out left and the far right, rather than a rational calculus based on experience.

We are watching, hearing and reading our government telling us the truth, and it is a welcome change for us all.

Do we trust our government to intercept phone calls and monitor Internet traffic? How do we balance the need to protect privacy and stop another terrorist attack? Can we trust police and prosecutors not to abuse the new power the Patriot Act gives them?

These are the central questions of Homeland Security policy. The reservoir of good will and trust engendered by the tenor and nature of the coverage of the war in Iraq is helping us all to see that the government of Johnson, Nixon and Clinton is not the government of George W. Bush.

This government is one that we can, increasingly, grudgingly, guardedly trust.

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JWR contributor Dick Morris is the author of, among others, "Power Plays: Top 20 Winning and Losing Strategies of History's Great Political Leaders" Comment by clicking here.

Up

04/03/03: Polls' message to Bush: Relax and win the war
03/31/03: Bomb as you need
03/28/03: The strong grow weak through inhibition
03/26/03: Carping pessimism of TV anchors and interviewers fails to give Americans a sense of defeatism
03/17/03: Poll: Get on with it
03/13/03: It's time for U.S. to play hardball at U.N.
03/10/03: The whole (Hispanic) world is watching
03/07/03: Anti-war errors
03/05/03: Domino theory II: Toppling Mideast despots
03/03/03: Europe's triangulators: Chirac and Blair
02/27/03: Invasion? More like a coup
02/21/03: The first casualty of Iraq war: Liberal credibility
02/19/03: Old Europe's last hurrah
02/14/03: Corzine throws down gauntlet on Wall St. fraud
02/12/03: An exile deal for Saddam
02/07/03: The Dems give up the House
02/05/03: France: Saddam's ally
02/03/03: War critics will suffer
02/30/03: Even by Clinton standards, it's sheer chutzpah
01/24/03: Rebirth of the balanced budget Republican
01/22/03: Next to Bubba, Dubya's got it good
01/16/03: End racism in affirmative action
01/13/03: The new swing voter
01/10/03: Political e-mailing comes of age
01/07/03: In Dem race: Home field no advantage
12/31/02: Hey, Hillary: Want to appear like a stateswomyn? Stay silent
12/19/02: Kerry in the lead
12/19/02: Lieberman the frontrunner
12/17/02: In defense of Lott
12/02/02: An issue for Bush: Drugs
11/27/02: Women gone wobbly?
11/25/02: The U.N. over a barrel
11/15/02: Gore's suicide
11/15/02 One-party control is an illusion
11/13/02 The House of Extremes
11/08/02 I have egg on my face
11/01/02 Is Bush losing control over events?
10/25/02What is causing Bush's free fall?
10/25/02: Anybody sense a trend?
10/23/02: A deadline for Iraq
10/18/02: Only sure bet of 2002 elections is voter angst
10/16/02: Endangered incumbents
10/11/02: Why multilateralism doesn't work
10/09/02: Hey, Dems: Believe NYTimes polling at your own risk
10/03/02: Dem suicide: Let's count the ways
09/30/02: The Dems just can't stop themselves
09/26/02: The perils of polling
09/19/02: W. boxed in the U.N.
09/19/02: Welfare reform: Keep on keeping on
09/12/02: Are Dems insane on Iraq?
09/09/02: Twin shadows of Election '02
09/05/02: GOP should triangulate
08/28/02: Trust the military
08/22/02: It's not the economy, stupid
08/09/02: As America unites, Gore goes divisive
08/01/02: Bush must focus on big picture
07/23/02: Election 2002: Advantage Dems
07/19/02: Rudy for SEC tough cop
07/17/02: The investor strike
07/15/02: Door open for drug testing students --- go for it, GOP!
07/12/02: Dubya looking out for No. 1?
07/03/02: The DNA war for Bush's soul
06/21/02: Why are conservatives winning?
06/19/02: Learning to love the feds
06/14/02: Hey, journalists and Dems: Dubya is doing just fine
06/12/02: It's terrorism, stupid!
06/10/02: Sanctions are a potent weapon
06/04/02: Al Qaeda's more dangerous new front
05/31/02: Why '04 looks tough for liberal Dems
05/24/02: Democratic self-destruction
05/22/02: The Clinton failures
05/15/02: Pataki positioned to win
05/08/02: A wakeup-call for American Jewry
05/03/02: Give Bush back his focus
05/01/02: Immigration fault li(n)es
04/25/02: It's the war, stupid
04/17/02: Bush goes small bore
04/12/02: Bush must be a gentle partisan
04/10/02: In defense of polling
04/08/02: Focus on Iraq, not the Palestinians
04/01/02: Only Internet will bring real campaign finance reform
03/27/02: Where W's drawn a line in the sand
03/22/02: Enron scandal will not trigger a wave of economic populism
03/20/02: Term-limited --- by war
03/15/02: Europe doesn't have a clue
03/11/02: Bush popularity = GOP win?
03/01/02: Will America be forced to chase its tail in its war on terrorism?
02/27/02: The Arafat/Saddam equilibrium must be destroyed
02/21/02: Campaign finance reform won't hurt GOPers
02/13/02: Dodd scurries for cover
02/11/02: U.S. 'unilateralism'? The Europeans don't have a case
02/06/02: WAR: What women want
02/01/02: They all talk in the end
01/30/01: The odd couple: Chris Dodd and Arthur Andersen
01/22/01: His father's son? Bush better get an 'Act II' fast!
01/18/01: Dubya & the 'vision thing'
01/14/01: The Rumsfeld Doctrine 01/03/01: A President Gore would have been a disaster
01/03/02: Clinton's priority: Political correctness over fighting terror
12/27/01: Terror network grew out of Clinton's inaction, despite warnings
12/24/01: Call 'em back, George
12/18/01: What Bush did right
12/13/01: Libs worry too much
12/11/01: "Open Sesame": Feinstein's proposed bill allows 100,000 non-immigrant students from anti-American countries to our shores
12/07/01: The non-partisan president
12/05/01: Both parties are phony on stimulus debate
11/29/01: When terrorists can enter legally, it's time to change the laws
11/21/01: Go for the jugular!
11/16/01: You are all incumbents
11/14/01: Clinton's failure to mobilize America to confront foreign terror after the 1993 attack led directly to 9-11 disaster
11/12/01: To the generals: Don't worry about losing support
11/08/01: The death of the white liberal
11/07/01: Our leaders are being transformed in a way unprecedented in post-World War II history

© 2002, Dick Morris