Who do you trust?

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WhodoyoutrustA survey of 1,000 Americans asking them to name our country's 100 most trusted individuals revealed that Tim Tebow is more trusted than Anderson Cooper and Alex Trebek ranks higher than former president Jimmy Carter.

Yes, Virginia, Americans place more trust in a washed-up NFL quarterback and a game show host than they do in a respected journalist and former president and humanitarian, respectively. Now, that's scary.

But, wait. It gets better.

According to The Reader's Digest poll, Americans trust TV judges more than Supreme Court judges. So, yes, Judge Judy has more street cred than Chief Justice Roberts.

And Oprah isn't all that trustworthy after all. In fact, she finished a distant 59th, far behind such notably trustworthy folks as Eli and Peyton Manning, Dr. Oz and Muhammad Ali. I feel your pain, girl. I do!

In case you're interested, Tom Hanks is America's most trusted American.

In fact, the top four most trusted Americans are actors: Hanks, Sandra Bullock, Denzel Washington and Meryl Streep. What does it say about our society when the people we trust most earn their living by pretending to be other people?

Not surprisingly, business executives polled poorly. Jeff Bezos of Amazon was the most trusted American businessman, finishing in the 78th spot just behind Ben Stiller. Having seen Starsky & Hutch, I can see why Stiller won.

As for organized religion, not a single Roman Catholic cardinal made the list. So much for the media frenzy surrounding Pope Benedict's successor.

I hate to say it, but the Reader's Digest survey is yet another indicator that the land of the free and the home of the brave is in steep decline.

If our president is ranked 65th (just behind comedian Adam Sandler) and Rachel Ray engenders more trust than Colin Powell, then we're in a world of hurt. Or, to put it more succinctly, a world of denial.

Americans believe most in those who can help them escape reality.

And a tip o’ Rep’s cap to Thomas J. Powers, Jr.* for suggesting this post.

* Thom is a Leukemia and Lymphoma
Society Man of the Year Candidate. Please support this charity and
"vote" for Thom by donating to the LLS: Click here.

One thought on “Who do you trust?”

  1. “Americans believe most in those who can help them escape reality.” I could not agree more, RepMan.
    So many times I hear people say, “I love ”
    In reality, what they “love” is that person’s public personae, not who that person really is. I am sure if they ever met their hero face to face, they’d be in for a shock at how different they appear than the image they project on TV and film.