Here Come Da Judge

Since the advent of the TV judge phenomenon, no one, in my opinion, has done a better job with the format than Judge Greg Mathis. His show is very entertaining, and his personal story is, to put it mildly, rather inspiring. And, as uber-pirate Maddox notes, Judge Mathis just doesn't put up with any bullshit.

Judge Mathis, perhaps unavoidably, informs us all that his bullshit detector has been overloaded by the mendacity and dishonesty of the Bush Administration:

After the last presidential debate in Tempe, I am left wondering why it is so hard for our nation’s commander-in-chief to tell the truth. From domestic issues to war to fiscal policy, Bush either ignores the truth, doesn’t understand the truth or can’t speak the truth. Whatever the reason, none of these truths sit well with me—and they should not with anyone else either. For all sakes and purposes, Bush is the leader of the free world. He must be held accountable for his words and actions, and central to that accountability is the ability to discern, discuss and know the truth. This is the central problem of the Bush presidency and his candidacy: he lied.

By now, everyone should know that not only were there no weapons of mass destruction found in Iraq, Saddam Hussein did not even possess the ability to create such weapons. These weapons served as a major reason to go to war and it was a false reason. Additionally, Bush claimed that Iraq had connections with al-Qaeda that had to be severed and could only be countered by war. We know that this is untrue. Not only did Iraq NOT have connections to/with al-Qaeda, evidence suggests that Saddam had successfully kept al-Qaeda out of Iraq. Bush lied.

During the debates, Bush claimed that over 2 million new jobs have been added to the work force under his presidency. This is only half-true. The truth of the matter is that the 2 million jobs, about which the president brags, is over 500,000 jobs short of the nearly 3 million jobs LOST since Bush became president. That means, the truth of the matter is that under a Bush presidency, this country has suffered a net loss of jobs. Jobs have been lost under the Bush presidency, not gained. Bush lied.

The domestic debate brought more of the same from Bush. Bush claimed that health care costs were high because of medical malpractice lawsuits and higher insurance costs. This is not true. The Congressional Budget Office, a federal institution, reported that malpractice insurance accounts for only 2 percent of health care spending. Bush neglected to tell truth about his record on education. Bush claimed to have increased education funding by 49 percent. Putting aside, for now, that the actual percentage is closer to 43, the motivation for the increase has been largely congressional, with opposition from the White House. In plain English, Congress, not the president, has been responsible for the anemic funding education has received under Bush’s presidency. Bush has not funded education. His budgets have proposed cuts in education spending. Bush lied.

America deserves a president who does not feel the need to lie about everything his administration does. For someone so quick to mention what qualities a president should possess, Bush should note that accountability and honesty should be at the top of any such list of qualities/qualifications. Bush either lied straight-faced to the American public, or does not have a clue as to what is going on. In any case, his words and actions are unacceptable. At the end of the day, Bush cannot seem to get the truth to come out of his mouth and that concerns me. At the end of the day, Bush lied.

You tell 'em, judge. Maybe a lawyer or two should listen to you.