Commentary: Can American Citizens Trust the U.S. Government?

aerial view of The Pentagon

Do you trust the U.S. government? I don’t recommend it.

Consider what John Kirby, a spokesman for the Pentagon, said a couple of days ago at a press briefing. “We believe,” Kirby said, that Russia is planning to stage a fake attack by Ukrainian military or intelligence forces against Russian sovereign territory, or against Russian speaking people,” in order to justify an invasion of Ukraine. Kirby had lots of details: “We believe that Russia would produce a very graphic propaganda video, which would include corpses and actors that would be depicting mourners, and images of destroyed locations, as well as military equipment, at the hands of Ukraine or the West.”

Gosh. Should we be worried? Yes. But not necessarily for the reasons that Kirby and his puppet masters want you to be worried. The United States is sending troops and arms to aid Ukraine, so of course there needs to be an emergency to justify that action. John Kirby just outlined a scary scenario. But inquiring minds want to know: What’s his evidence for this dramatic claim?

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America Ranks Last in Public Trust for Its News Media, Report Finds

A survey released Tuesday ranked the United States last among 46 countries in media trust, falling below democracies and autocracies across the world.

The survey, commissioned by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, was conducted among 92,000 people worldwide, and found that among those in the U.S., just 29% said they trusted their news media the majority of the time. Finland ranked the highest at 65%, while Slovakia, Hungary and France each ranked just above the U.S. at 30%.

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Truth, Trust Are ‘Kryptonite’ To Barry, Metro Council In Promoting $9 Billion Transit Plan

In popular media, Superman fights for “truth, justice and the American way.” The superhero who is “faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive” is vulnerable to a substance known as Kryptonite. Those who back Nashville’s $9 billion transit system are facing their own version of Kryptonite: Trust. Even one prominent supporter now says he has some doubts. The uncertainty comes nearly a week following news that Metro Nashville Mayor Megan Barry, the face of the Let’s Move Nashville Transit Improvement Plan, had an adulterous, years-long affair with veteran police Sgt. Rob Forrest who was in charge of her security. Barry dodged her responsibilities as an elected official having an affair with an employee who resigned, while she kept her job, and it was revealed her affair violated her office’s mission statement of transparency and her own executive order that employees should be ethical and avoid conflicts of interest. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation has been asked to investigate any potential breaking of the law, including “misappropriation of public funds and official misconduct,” District Attorney Glenn Funk spokesman Steve Hayslip told The Tennessean. The Metro Council voted Jan. 23 on a second reading of the plan to hide the…

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