Libby trial, Walter Reed scandal, Iraq war challenge public's ebbing faith in leaders

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http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/politics/20070308-1315-lackingleadership.html

Libby trial, Walter Reed scandal, Iraq war challenge public's ebbing faith in leaders

By Ron Fournier
ASSOCIATED PRESS


WASHINGTON – Lies from the White House. Incompetence in treating wounded veterans. Irrelevance in Congress. Can't anybody do anything right? It's days like these that turn Americans sour on government, stoking a desire for leaders who actually lead.

Exhibit A is the perjury conviction of I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, whose trial cast unflattering light on the Bush White House and the mainstream media.

Exhibit B is the shameful treatment of wounded soldiers from Iraq and Afghanistan at Walter Reed Medical Center, and the likelihood that veterans care problems are systemic – a national disgrace.

And let's not forget Iraq and Congress. Democrats and Republicans alike sometimes seem too busy posturing on the war to help win it – or at least help get out of it.

The lack of leadership is a bipartisan pox.

“The public is dispirited about Washington,” said independent pollster Andy Kohut of the Pew Research Center. “They're dispirited about their leaders.”

This is a moment not unlike the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, when government's fatally slow response caused Americans to question the competence of local, state and federal bureaucracies. Even worse was the lack of accountability from political leaders, including President Bush.

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