What If

What if the President - this one or any other - and members of his administration actually were lying about national security issues and were using lies and propaganda to deceive the American people into supporting an immoral agenda? Is there any scenario in which critics of such a lying administration could actually be seen as responsible, patriotic Americans?
I'm not talking about Oval Office blow jobs here either. I'm talking about torturing people. I'm talking about hijacking the U.S. military and using it to further the imperial goals of a wealthy ruling class. I'm talking about serious lies and serious misuse of power.
Is criticism of Bush an exception, an aberration of something that would otherwise be considered the right thing to do? Or is the office of President of the United States above reproach no matter what? What ever became of independent thought and critical thinking? Who swapped my America, the one I grew up in, the one I served my country to defend, the one we always compared against countries in which criticism was not allowed, for this ditto-head one that we have now?