We Are a Great Nation of Flip Floppers with a Credibilty Problem

William Saletan points out in an article on Slate that all of Bush's critics have something in common:

1) They first tried to work with Bush -- on a wide range of issues (Clarke on terrorism; Kerry on No Child Left Behind and War in Iraq; O'Neil on economicpolicy)
2) Bush cons them, changing course after they start working (no committment on terrorism; Bush unfunds No Child Left Behind, and lied about WMD; tax cuts not repealed when the surplus turns to deficit, and more tax cuts asked for).
3) All change their mind -- and turn to oppose the administration.

And here's the important point:

4) The administration declares the critic "has a credibility problem" and is "a flipflopper" -- for changing their mind after the President conned them.


To be declared a flip-flopper by Bush means you were dumb enough to have trusted Bush, you worked with him for a time, and changed your mind after you figured out he lied to you.