hypocrisy (hi pok rih se) n. The feigning of qualities and beliefs that one does not actually possess or hold, esp. a pretense of piety or moral superiority.

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I am officially tired of being lied to by the Bush administration, of being told that black is white, up is down, and that lies are true. There is a tipping point -- a point where you have had enough and can take no more. I have reached that point. If, after the whole WMD flap, the forged Nigerian connection, the flip flop on a Department of Homeland Security, the "compassionate conservative" crap and all the rest, the American public refuses to acknowledge that they are being shamelessly and bald-facedly lied to, then they deserve everything they get, and don't come complaining to me.

In case you're wondering, what finally set me off is an article on Page 1 of the Wall Street Journal entitled "White House Hurdles Delay 9/11 Commission Investigation." The thrust of the article is that the Congressionally-mandated commission that is examining what the government knew about the 9/11 terrorist attacks before they happened has been hampered by the White House.

First, the Journal reports that "President Bush successfully opposed the creation of the commission for more than a year. He said publicly that an independent investigation would distract leaders from his newly-declared war on terrorism . . . The White House then reversed itself and on Sept. 20, 2002, announced its 'strong support' for a commission."

Later, the Journal notes that once it was clear that Congress intended to establish a commission notwithstanding White House opposition, the White House conceded the necessity for a commission, but pushed for it to finish its inquiry within a year instead of the proposed 2 years. Here, the Journal quotes Dan Bartlett, the White House Communications Director as saying that "The quicker we learn the information that can come from the commission, the better we can protect America against another 9/11." The White House compromised on an 18-month schedule.

So let me get this straight: the work of the commission is so vital to national security that we opposed it for over a year, and now we want it to work on so unrealistic of a schedule that it will fail to discover anything useful or meaningful.

As if the inherent contradiction wasn't clear enough, we can thank Tom Kean, the Republican former governor of New Jersey and chairman of the commission, who spells it out for us. According to Kean, finishing the investigation in the time alloted will be difficult, but he won't ask for an extension because, says Kean, "the White House has made it known that they don't want it [the commission's investigation] to go into the election period." Ahh, so that's what's really going on here. We have to wrap this thing up quickly because a report in Fall '04 that reveals embarrassing lapses by the Bush administration wouldn't look so good during a campaign!

But surely, you say, politics is the farthest thing from the White House's mind when it comes to protecting America from new terrorist attacks, right? Well, here's what Bartlett has to say on the subject (again, as reported by the WSJ): "The White House doesn't want the commission's work to drag late into the presidential campaign, [Bartlett] adds, because 'the last thing we want is for the 9/11 commission to become politicized.'" Right.

Like I said, I'm done. As a famous wit surely once said, "fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me." If people can't see that they're being lied to, manipulated and treated with utter contempt by the Bush administration, I no longer have any sympathy.