SNIP Funny, but I can remember a time when we did trust our government. That time is long past. I wish it were otherwise and I wish we could trust our government, from the top all the way down.
For myself, I might tweak that a bit.
Keep in mind Thomas Jefferson's view that government was a "necessary evil." Emphasis on
evil for our purposes here. There is a reason government was called something bad. Those in government can never, ever be trusted.
You can track back through fedgov history the putrid stench of self-interest and aquisition of power.
Even the Federalists themselves gave us the Alien and Sedition Acts, directly violating 1st Amendment free speech protections.
So, any trusting in government that I did was because I was taught to by my elementary school teachers. Some of my high school teachers tried to tarnish the shine, but it didn't really "take" as solidly as later personal experience and paying attention did.