(Let me interject here—in my most convincing stage whisper—that journalists are smack dab in the middle of the pack. Now while this strikes me as a little odd in this era of the fourth estate splintering into politically charged variations on a theme, it's encouraging to see my own calling rise above the cellar of the public trust.)

Speaking of which, that's exactly where we find our elected representatives, second from the bottom (almost as bad as my hometown football team). And, yes, this is when (and where) I get back on my soapbox. These clowns already boast the lowest approval ratings ever. And now this newest poll shows that, by far, it's the least-trusted occupation one can aspire to. So, again, I ask you, why do we keep electing these people? We consistently disapprove of the job they do. We already blame them for this fiscal cliff debacle. And now we just reiterated how little we trust them. Yet incumbency re-election rates still hover over 80 percent. Do we really think every other representative (or senator) sucks but our own? Does our collective national narcissism really extend that far?

(And remind me again why we have a term limit for our chief executive but not for members of Congress? Or the judiciary, for that matter? Kinda makes that whole checks and balances thing a little unbalanced...)

Oh, and that not-so-newsy bit? Your neighborhood car salesman's dead last in the trustworthy department, which shouldn't surprise a single one of you. That being said, we should all be concerned that sales-related occupations dominate the bottom half of the Gallup list. So you're telling me you can sell everything but yourself?