Al Franken on The Truth

About 16 years ago, there was a book kicking around (so to speak) the green room at the theatre about the Reagan years. I refused to read it, having lived through those years and having no desire to be reminded of anything to do with the man.

However, I just read Al Franken's "The Truth (with jokes)", published in 2005. There were moments of painful memories, but I wanted to extract this one extended quote. Here he is referring to Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz, and the rest of the gang of miscreants that made up the Bush (mis)administration:

   Let's face it. You can't count on them to give you straight information. You can't count on them to tell us straight why we're going to war. You can't count on them to tell us what's happening over there.
   You can't count on them to do their homework. To keep track of our money. You can't count on them to punish war profiteers. You can't count on them to protect our troops.
   You can't rely on them for much of anything. Armor. Veterans' benefits. You can't count on them for the true story of how Jessica Lynch was captured, or how Pat Tillman died. Even for how the "Mission Accomplished" sign went up on the USS Abraham Lincoln. They actually lied about that.
   You can't count on them to count terrorist attacks. You can't count on them to count civilian victims. You can't count on them to listen to military commanders and send in enough troops, or to listen to Colin Powell and not torture people, or to not lie about whether the torture policies started at the tip.
   You can't trust them to care. About Iraqis. About Americans.
   You can't trust them to do the work of actually signing killed-in-action letters. You can't trust them no to lie about not signing killed-in-action letters.
   You can't count on them to acknowledge any mistakes whatsoever. You can't trust them not to lie when confronted with those mistakes.
   You can't trust them no to believe their own propaganda.
   You can't trust them. Period.