by James Glaser
November 19, 2002

Having trust in something or some one is so very comforting. When I was growing up I had perfect trust in my parents and still do. Even being as old as I am I know that I can trust my Mom with anything and that she is only out to help me and all of her kids.

I think it is just great that I trust all my children and Charmaine, my true love. I even have some special friends that I trust totally. Trust takes all the stress out of a relationship. Trusting in someone and having that trust returned makes life good.

Trusting in God makes life complete and with that trust you lose doubts about right and wrong, your purpose in life, and even what the future will hold for you.

I trust that my truck will start in the morning, but that is different. Trusting in things relates back to the people that made that thing or those that maintain it. A machine can't decide that you have earned their trust, a machine is just that, a machine. But a person can create a record for themselves that proves that their integrity has earned your trust in them.

People that you have learned to rely on, that you have confidence in, and those that treat you justly are the same people that you want to be with. That is because having trust in a relationship takes away doubt. When you trust someone you never have to question their motivation about anything and with mutual trust that relationship is solid.

Like I said, I have always had that trust with my parents from my earliest age and back then I had that same trust for my government. Maybe that trust was passed to me by my parents, but as a young child I can remember seeing President Eisenhower going down Summit Avenue in Saint Paul. I think his smile and all the cheering crowds and seeing all the flags made me feel good about him and America.

All my life I felt good about America and had a certain trust that our Nation was out to help this world become a better place. Vietnam changed that somewhat, but I thought it was just that war. America in my mind was still the "good" country trying to help the little guy all over this globe.

I even trusted President Clinton, not with my wife or daughter, but I trusted that he was trying to make America a better place and his great economy helped cover any drawbacks I was starting to think about. I always had doubts about our country ever since the war, but I was still proud to be called an American.

That changed with the election of George W. Bush. There was the election itself that didn't seem quit right to me. Nobody wanted to recount the votes and thousands of "little guys" were turned away at the polls. I didn't vote for Gore so it wasn't sour grapes, just a feeling of some thing wrong.

Then like I said, you need mutual trust for a really fine relationship. This Bush Administration doesn't trust Americans. From the very first, way before that terrorist attack everything they did was a secret, even to the point that the Americans that the administration talked to were a secret. Secrets breed doubt.

Now there are secret shadow governments and secret hiding places for the Vice-president. Four and five hundred page bills just pop up overnight for the Congress to vote on and no one tells us who wrote them, nor does Congress have the time to even read them. If you don't vote for the bill you are unpatriotic and if you aren't with us you are against us.

I have lost my trust for my government. I no longer feel that America is out to help anybody, let alone the that 'little guy" and that makes me feel bad. I have lost the feeling that the President of the United States is honest or that he has any integrity. I fail to see justice in America today, where American citizens are put in prison for ever, with no court hearing, no lawyer, and no hope. Innocent until proven guilty is no longer the law of the land.

I have lost the confidence that I had in my government and that hurts. I am no longer confident that an American President will look out for the "Troops." I feel that President Bush would use troops as pawns in a game and if thousands died, so what! President Bush was a deserter when he was in uniform and therefor has no integrity when it comes to any military action.

I still love this nation and believe that we will come out of this pit the Bush Administration has put us in, but it is so hard to get lost trust back. Not just for getting my trust back, but what about the rest of the world. The hate that Billions of people feel for America will not be changed by a military victory over some third world dictator, nor will putting troops in another fifty countries change hard feelings toward America.

America has to get back the trust of its own people first and that is the millions and millions of citizens that don't even trust this nation enough to vote. If we start now it will still take many decades to gain the trust of even a majority of this world.

Trust is very hard to gain, but oh so easy to lose.