RateItAll: The Opinion Network

Honesty is a rare quality in a politician, and especially in a President. Bush has proven to be an exception.

A liar's liar.

This president has been caught in his lies as much as any politician out there. When any of them say something, I take it with a *huge* grain of salt...

Honesty and Dubyah? Yeah sure, they go together like peanut butter and dog manure, right! This idiot wouldn't know honesty if it crawled up his leg and bit him on his butt! And all of the low I.Q. Bush believers out there say "He has to lie because he is a patriot! He has to out smart the evil liberals, so he lies because that's the only way he can do what's right for America"! You stupid bunch of idiot Bush wacked morons!

a HUGE liar. Clinton lied about Lewinsky. Bush told us there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Which has caused more problems for the American taxpayer?

He is a pathological liar, meaning he cannot distinguish the truth from a lie. He is self-deluded, and therefore grossly dishonest.

This philanderer makes "Slick Willie" look like a BOYSCOUT! (and that's no mean feat!)

It is amusing to read the constant Clinton/Bush comparisons, as though honesty and other personal attributes are some sort of competitive disciplines. I think that using other politicians as a yardstick to measure the honesty of any given politician is going to give somewhat warped results. As CanadaSucks points out earlier, politicians routinely bend the truth, sometimes in the interests of national security, sometimes in the interests of pursuing a nefarious agenda in foreign policy, which may not be palatable to the general public, and sometimes in the interests of avoiding the heat when having a bit on the side. A challenge to all - pull away the backdrop of the Clinton and his administration and try to judge the Bush and his administration on their own merits and failings. You may find that George is not so honest, based on more objective standards. On the plus find, when you remove the Clinton comparison, you may find that George is not as bad a speaker as you had thought.

As opposed to the Clinton's? Rose Law billing scandal ring a bell? Whitewater Gate sound familiar? Monica Lewinsky? Come on let's not talk about up front.

The Bush presidency has never been forthright and open with the American people. And it has been full of cover-ups and questionable ethics.

Got us involved in a war with deceit and lies. He's the very antithesis of honesty.

For those comparing Clinton to Bush: Lying about b/j= 0 deaths, just a lot of humiliation. Lying about reasons to go to war with Iraq= 1,500 dead American soldiers. So you tell me which one is worse... As for Bush's honesty, it's like his ability to unite nations and Americans: non-exsistant. Heck, even his fellow Republicans know he's a bold-faced liar.

I honestly can't believe there are people who have given him higher than a one on this...I only wish there were negative ratings allowed.

This is a joke, right?

Anyone who believes a politician is honest is extremely gullible and unfortunately those are the people these honest politicians prey upon. You folks need to find some strength and quit allowing these wolves to deceive you into blind obedience.

I think he is actually honest most of the time. He just has wrong information a lot.

I believe in his honesty. I believe his heart is right, I believe that he has 4 more years because, I'm not the only one that trusts his honesty!! *smirk*

Weapons of massdestruction...

I would give zero stars if I could. Bush's honesty is largely accidental, and unintentionally frank and to the point, when it occurs.

LOL. Wubya is the poster child for dishonesty. Lying and manipulation are the only things he is good at. How can anyone believe that this *ss has been honest?

George W. Bush has had probably the most difficult presidency of all time. He is unwavering on his beliefs and really tells it like it is, whether it is popular or not. I don't know of any other person who could have done a better job than President Bush after 9/11/01. The detonation of the artillery round containing the deadly toxic nerve agent sarin comes just days after a separate artillery shell was found containing mustard gas. If it was ever in question to protect our country from Iraq I guess yesterday's news proves it was. Is war ever justified? War terrifies me for my children, my son serves in the military. God, please protect our brave service men and women. Also God give our President wisdom and strenght to continue pressing on.

I agree that all Presidents lie, but you can't lie about issues as important as war.

What? He's a liar. A politician must, by definition, bend the truth (or perception thereof) to consolidate power for his/her voting public. I love listening to Americans: I want politicians to be honest. No you don't. We exploit foreign labor, force treaties and policies that only politically and financially benefit our country. Of COURSE you have to lie- you don't become president by being a boy scout. . .you have to have a few scalps on the wall to have this job. I want my president to take care of the country- if he or she has to offend a few tight-waists by bending the language then so be it. People who claim they want honesty usually want validation of their own philosophies.

Right now, Iraq is expanding and improving facilities that were used for the production of biological weapons. Our intelligence officials estimate that Saddam Hussein had the materials to produce as much as 500 tons of sarin, mustard and VX nerve agent. Intelligence gathered by this and other governments leaves no doubt that the Iraq regime continues to possess and conceal some of the most lethal weapons ever devised. You remember when Colin Powell stood up in front of the world, and he said Iraq has got laboratories, mobile labs to build biological weapons....They're illegal. They're against the United Nations resolutions, and we've so far discovered two. And we'll find more weapons as time goes on, But for those who say we haven't found the banned manufacturing devices or banned weapons, they're wrong. We found them. Bush lied, thousands died. And the lies continue.

George W. Bush is one of the most dishonest presidents ever. He lied about national security and a war on Iraq, and people still say he is honest. Clinton lied; no one died. Bush's lies are leading to the deaths of American soldiers every day.

He is probably the least honest president in mondern history. I didn't think that Clinton was honest either, but at least Clinton didn't lie about issues of national security, terrorism, the cost of the presciption drug benefit, and the reasons for the war in Iraq.

Would someone explain to him that being honest means not telling lies about everything?

This is a hard one to judge. I think he tries to tell the truth as he knows it, but therein lies the rub--he is often fed garbage, misrepresentations, and bald lies by his advisors, and unfortunately he lacks the ability to sort all of this out. He believes they tell him the truth--and he passes it on, largely in good faith. I could be wrong about this but this is my current feeling about his honesty. Honesty in a president MUST be coupled with intelligence to be a complete virtue.

The man does not understand the meaning of truth - nor can he spell it!

This is the easiest thing to judge....just have him hold a "Town Meeting" without having Karl Rove script out the questions. Let the public ask him anything/everything that seems questionable. Ask him about misusing intelligence, ask him about drug use, ask him about his insider trading, ask him about draft dodging, ask him about covertly running the office of President. But I guess we will just have to take his word that he is honest and trustworthy...because we will NEVER get the chance to confront him about it and find out for ourselves.

He's a lying pig. Nothing he says can be believed. Even if he did tell the truth once or twice, it would be about some totally trivial matter. He's a psychopath, so he lies like he breathes, and can't help himself. His whole life is a lie. He should get zero stars, because of his utter absence of honesty. Honesty just isn't there, kind of like how air is missing from interstellar space.

I can't believe some of these coments here. We went through 8 years of the most dishonest and immoral administration in our history. Comparing George W. to Bubba as far as honesty is like comparing a jay walker to a serial killer. I guess it's part of the expectations of each party. Democrats believe in relative moralism which means it's OK if you think it is OK do it. Republicans believe the same moral standards for all. That is why it is OK a Democrat president to sell missle technology to the Chinese for campaign contributions but not OK for a Republican to divert money to fight communism in Central America because a pro-communist Democratic administration and Legislature previously forbade it.

Not only this is guy a baldface liar, he's not a very good one, at that. He lied about his military record, he never came clean with the American public about his alcoholism and drug use, he lied about his business dealings, he tried to keep his drunken driving arrest out of the picture. Despite the fact that his drunken irresponsibility was brought to the public's attention shortly before the election, the droolers voted for him anyway. Evidently, the droolers think that lying about your sex life like Clinton did is a mortal political sin and a sign of total moral absence, but have no problem with someone trying to keep the fact quiet that he was arrested for driving an automobile while drunk. In this, Bush not only broke the law and put both himself and other people at risk due to his recklessness, he tried to hide it from the public. Remember that he also lied about it on a questionnaire when he was called to Jury Duty in Texas. So he not only tried to cover it up, he also directly lied about it in print. And the droolers think this is OK, yet they had real issues with Bubba Clinton's dishonesty. Typical rightwing hypocrisy. What makes Bush even more nauseating is that he tries to put forth this false front of ethics, probity and certitude, when he's more of a sneak and a phony than Bubba, who I thought was the absolute pits. I was wrong about that. What I find particularly amusing is when he lies so blatantly, so clumsily, and then bristles when he realizes people aren't buying it. Like in the case of those two pathetic truck trailers they found in Iraq that were supposed to be cornerstone elements of Saddam's supposed WMD. Not only is such a pretense totally absurd, but it is yet to be established what these trailers were used for (early indications suggest they were not used for the development of chemical/biological warfare, however): still, Bush tells the media "We found the weapons." What weapons? We didn't even find the means to develop weapons. We didn't even find the raw materials to make weapons. All we found were two measly little truck trailers that might have been used or could have been used for weapons development, but it looks more like these vehicles were used to haul pesticides. And even that possibility is unlikely. Yet Bush continues to lie about the WMD that he and his administration, and the Army Special Forces knew did not exist before the start of hostilities toward a sovereign nation that did not directly provoke us, threaten us, attack us, or, as it turns out, imperil the U.S. in any way. The fallout on the failure to find the WMD and the obvious lies the Bush Administration presented to the world to scam over its useless and unnecessary war is yet to be gauged, but Americans don't like to be used, misled, manipulated and conned. So Georgie's well-laid schemes to get re-elected through military engagement is eventually going to lay an egg. In fact, it already has.

He's never met a lie he wouldn't tell.

Yep. More baseless arguments. I havent seen Bush caught in any lies yet. And why not? Well, perhaps because he tell the TRUTH, unlike Clinton and Gore. Clinton couldnt even be honest with his own wife! What a joke!

You got to be kiddng me! Honesty, HA!

People, George W. Bush is a politician who was raised with a silver spoon embedded in his mouth. Of course he lies. 95% of politicians will say and do anything to get elected. However, let's get a little more cynical about politics. What did Clinton lie about? Sleeping with some intern, an ugly one at that. Yes, he committed purgury. Now, what has Bush lied about? The War on Iraq? Let's review the reasons that were given to us by his admnistration. First it was about us. We must get Hussain before he gets us. Next it was about changing the geopolitical landscape of the Middle East. And third it was about liberating the Iraqi people. Now, where are the WMD? Has there been any undisputable evidence that Hussain had weapons that would reach the United States and posed an immediate threat? I suppose it's OK for Bush to lie because he wasn't under oath. I supported the war, but not because I ever swallowed the lie that Hussain had weapons which threatened us. It was about liberating the people of Iraq from harm. I'd be content to give any politician a three for honest unless they have a record of doing the right things for the right reasons and actually were honest. But Bush is a politician like all the rest, and after all, what can we expect from the pig but a grunt?

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!! He's honestly a weasel. But I'll give that's he's usually open about being one. For those who say he is extreemly honest. I'm sorry but your a dope, I usually don't insult peoples opinions like that, BUT DAMN!! HOW THE HELL WOULD YOU KNOW!!?? And what has any other politician shown to make you believe something like that? You obviously have no concept of politics, past or present. Man it takes everything I have not to tear into a stupid comment like "he's an honest decent man". Again, HOW THE HELL WOULD YOU KNOW!!?? WAKE UP!!! And oh yes, even better he's honest because he's never been caught in a lie. SO HAVE MILLIONS OF OTHER PEOPLE, does that mean they are sincerly honest too?

In 1971, W scored only 25% on a pilot aptitude test. But his father knew people, and W. was accepted into the Texas Air National Guard as a pilot . W was suspended during his service in the Texas Air National Guard for failing to take a physical that included a drug test. In May 1972, he applied for a transfer from Houston to Dannelly Air Force Base in Montgomery, Alabama. But, there is no evidence that once in Alabama, Bush ever attended the required training. W's commander for the period in question, Gen. William Turnipseed, claims the young W never showed up for regular drills. He went AWOL for 2 years during the Vietnam War and received no punishment. W took his $50,000 trust fund and in 1977 started his first company, Arbusto Energy Inc. He got friends to invest in various drilling ventures that produced little oil, but did generate big tax deductions. One of the investors in Arbusto was Salem Bin Laden, Osama’s brother. Friendly investors arranged a 1984 deal in which struggling Arbusto was acquired by another drilling company called Spectrum 7. When Harken Energy bought Spectrum in 1986, George wound up on the board with a $120,000 consulting job and $530,380 worth of stock. In the midst of his father's presidency in 1990, Bush unloaded his Harken shares for $848,560. Less than two months later, Iraqi troops marched into Kuwait, throwing the oil business into turmoil. Harken shares plummeted and the company reported a $20-million quarterly loss. The SEC investigated W for improper insider trading but issued no reprimand. An SEC internal report states that George W. Bush violated federal securities laws at least four times. At the time, the SEC was headed by Richard Breeden, a former aide to President Bush. when he was a director of a Texas oil firm in the late 1980s and early 1990s. In 1998, W & Laura reported income of $18,405,524, on which they paid federal taxes of $3,772,252, or 20.5%. Most of their 1998 income came from long-term capital gains.

Some people have no clue what they are talking about! Bush has not told any lies and comes through with what he says.

It has been my experience that there are two types of lies, lies and ommissions of truth. President Bush seems to be guilty of more of the latter then of the first, although he does his share of outright lying as well. One glaring ommission that our President is making and continues to make is the ECONOMY. We now have 12 states on four day school weeks under the President that swore to "leave no child behind". 48 of our great States are in the red and so is the Federal Government. It is just now that we're finding out what this war is going to cost the American People. Before I think we were under the impression that it was going to be free. (an exageration, I hope you'll forgive me) It seems that lies are to expected from Politicians, but ommissions are killing our nation, strangling its economic prosperity.

I repeat, he's the runner up President. He DID NOT win the election. He lies ALL the time. In a few years it will 'really' come out.

yeah right. he stole the election, is that honesty. every time he opens his mouth a lie comes out.

What would be the point of not being honest? There is nothing to be gained from dishonesty.

see sincerity

The stolen election of 2000 has set the tone for honesty in this administration.

W. is very honest and decent man.

The Clinton-bashers have been crowing about the return of honesty and integrity to the White House. Yeah, right. The times have changed, that's all. On a war footing since 9/11, we're less interested in presidential peccadilloes than we were. Bush was a major player in Enron and Kenneth Lay was in his inner circle right up until he was busted. Had the Enron scandal pre-dated 9/11, Bush would have been up to his neck in it. Unlike Clinton, whose sins were of the same poor-white-trash variety that daytime TV likes to exploit for their entertainment value, Bush's willingness to abuse and exploit the privileges of wealth and power (and to encourage like behavior in his cronies) is less colorful and thus less interesting to the popular media. But it is no less dishonest, and its potential harm is far greater.

If his lips are moving, it's a lie.