Betty White: the most trusted celebrity in America

Betty White: the most trusted celebrity in America

Paris Hilton is the least-trusted, followed by Charlie Sheen.

I'm not clear what people are thinking of when they hear the word "trusted." It sounds to me like the poll respondents were actually hearing "liked."

I don't really have any feeling that Betty White is more "trustworthy" than Paris Hilton. But she sure seems a lot smarter, and I sure like her a lot more.

In the trust department, I'd be more likely to choose somebody like Jon Stewart, who may lean hard to the left, but always makes a genuine effort to cut through everybody's bullshit, and is often successful at doing so. In terms of least-trusted, meaning that you can never rely on what they say, I'd have to go with Donald Trump, who seems to be faking everything; followed by Lindsay Lohan, who doesn't seem to have told the truth in years; and then the movie reviewers for The Village Voice, whose opinions are almost always unjustifiable. It goes without saying that all politicians, left and right, are insincere and untrustworthy, possibly excepting Ron Paul, who seems to be an honest man, but batshit crazy.

Either way, although I love Betty White as much as everyone else does, I think we've fallen a bit from the days when Cronkite was "America's most trusted voice."