My latest column is up on PJ Media. In it, I look at the Gallup poll that shows 91% of Americans are not satisfied with the way things are going in the US. What about that 9% that thinks otherwise – 16 million adults?
Really now, who are these 16 million optimists?
I didn’t have far to go to find some. They are all over the blogosphere commenting on what they really believe is going on in America. To a few of us, this isn’t just a manufactured crisis; it’s a plot — a dastardly plan to torpedo John McCain’s candidacy. The media is in cahoots with the Democrats to suppress all the good news, not to mention burying the polls showing McCain far ahead and George Bush beloved of our countrymen. The economy really isn’t all that bad, Iraq is virtually a paradise of peace and tranquility, who needs health insurance when we’ve got emergency rooms that won’t turn anyone away, and Republicans are going to take back the House and Senate.
I wish I could say that I made all that up but I didn’t. Such comments have appeared on this site from time to time and if you peruse the comment sections on other blogs, you know I write the truth (the bit about health insurance was actually uttered by a GOP House candidate in my district). Denial ain’t just a river in Egypt. And reality these days can be tough to accept, especially if you’re a partisan Republican.
So I would guess that the overwhelming majority of that 9% of us who are satisfied with how things are going in America simply don’t want to accept that we have bitten into a gigantic crap sandwich and we’ll be on a steady diet of crapola for the foreseeable future.
Read the whole thing.
12:09 pm
Look, the economic recession is going to happen, no matter how many government interventions happen or whoever becomes President. This isn’t the fault of just the GOP, but also the Dems, the Federal Reserve, SEC, big banks and individual consumers.
The main reason, even more than the housing bubble, was a world-wide credit bubble. The credit started in subprime housing loans, but spread to Alt-A loans and Option Arms, auto loans, credit cards (just look at Bank of America’s announcement yesterday that customers have stopped paying their credit cards) and student loans. We’re now just beginning to unwind from that and it’s going to take a few years.
Everyone is trying to keep home prices from falling, but prices falling is exactly what needs to happen. Prices of homes have been artificially high for nearly a decade. They need to fall back down to late 1990’s levels. So no matter who’s President, Obama or McCain, guess what? We turned into Japan. Remember Japan and their 1990’s ‘lost decade’ after the blowup of their own giant real estate and credit bubble? That’s us now.
12:24 pm
Hi Rick,
I just read that over at Pajamas Media and I hope I’m not one of the relentless optimists that leaves comments on blogs that you were talking about… LOL.
I have a lot of things erode my optimism lately, and in general I don’t think the country is going in the right direction. I think in the next 10-20 years we are going to see the United States change a great deal and I don’t know whether to just roll with the punches or feel depressed about it. I think this stream of economic bailouts in particular is the first sign that we are truly saying “goodbye” to the old American way. I was raised to believe that you have to work hard for everything you get, and if you make a mistake you have to deal with it. How do those rules apply today? from everything from the economy to even the media’s coverage of the election, it’s obvious that sometimes people and politicians who make mistakes can get away scott-free. I feel like the media used to keep American politicians honest. I always envision reporters to be like the reporter in that Chicago movie The Untouchables with Kevin Costner and Sean Connery. Even though Kevin Costner was going after Al Capone and he was the new city hero, the press was right there to photograph his every mistake (especially the one where he was sure he was leading a big alcohol bust but the suspicious crates were instead filled with harmless things like umbrellas). But the media doesn’t serve that purpose anymore. The media takes a liking to certain story lines and people, and passes over any news that doesn’t fit the mold.
So my question is, how can we improve our country if we can’t even identify who the crooks are?
12:33 pm
PS and McCain has lost the election all by himself… It’s true that the media hasn’t helped matters, but you have to admit, if the guy is proposing a 300 million bailout for homeowners he’s kind of lost touch with conservatives. At first I thought McCain supporting the bailout bill and going back to Washington was a true sign of leadership, but now I think it’s been the kiss of death in his campaign…
12:41 pm
Rick,
I think it would be more germane to identify WHY 91% of Americans are dissatisfied with the way the country is going than it is to ridicule the 9% that are satisfied.
My point being, I think the country is going in the wrong direction for wholly different reasons than an equally informed Democrat might. I believe rather than having bit into a crap sandwich, we’ve bitten into a Socialist sandwich courtesy of the Democrats and the media which have indeed manufactured fear and cajoled the current crisis in order to implement more of their “new deal” and “war on poverty” economics.
You do a great deal of injustice to the cause of honestly when you belittle those who are working to expose the cover-ups that the mainstream media is engaging in.
I dare you to present just one post by one blogger that suggests that Americans really are satisfied with President Bush. I am a total Bushie and I think the guy has more than earned his dismal performance rating. But again, for different reasons than Democrats would site.
12:44 pm
I’m surprised it took this long to hit 91% “wrong track”. Any values voter would have said “wrong track” if for no better reason than abortion. All Democrats would have said the same these last 8 years. The remaining 9% are illegal immigrants that wish to just stay in the shadows. I’ve thought the country has been going on the wrong track since Kennedy and the Bay of Pigs.
About McCain. For such a target rich pair (Obama and Biden) given McCain is a f-i-g-h-t-e-r pilot, the fight just has not been joined. I suppose after all those years of “mavericking across the aisle”, McCain has been reduced to a kewpie doll with no arms, no legs.
12:50 pm
I’m one of those 9%ers.
I’m a long-term renter who sat out the housing bubble. It sure looked faked and unsubstantable to me and I’ve been proved right.
I build nuclear power plants. Business has never been better, at least since the early 70’s. I got a 50% raise in February, better benefits, longer vacation, nicer office, when I changed jobs. There will be work for the rest of my life doing what I love – health permitting, I won’t want to retire.
Some of us, through our life choices and sometimes astute planning, are contracyclical.
1:05 pm
bourbon springs…
McCain was never a fighter pilot, he flew bombers… perhaps that will give you better insight into his style of campaigning.
1:21 pm
Shelby Said:
“if the guy is proposing a 300 million bailout for homeowners he’s kind of lost touch with conservatives.”
Heh. Conservatives. I’d love to see an actual, real life Conservative who actually conserves anything. The word itself has become a hypocritical joke. The Republican Party divorced conservatism the second they realized that “deficits don’t matter.”
1:38 pm
Jim,
unfortunately I totally have to agree with you. There is plenty of blame to go around and we just have to muddle through.
2:09 pm
I had another thought: does anyone see the irony in writing a piece about 9%’ers that must believe “The media is in cahoots with the Democrats to suppress all the good news” at Pajamas Media, a site with the self proclaimed slogan “Send the MSM down the river”“?? But then again, that’s why I read sites like that and other blogs. I like people who give it to you straight—unlike many stories I find in the MSM. (you know I love ya, Rick!)
Actually I think there are people out there who will be optimistic no matter what they read because that’s just the way they are—just like there are people who will always find a lot to scrutinize and criticize. A lot of that is just personality, although ignorance can certainly enhance it.
PS, Chuck –
you’re right, economic conservatism is like an urban legend nowadays. I think it started to die long ago. (and the # should have been 300 billion, not million – my bad LOL)
2:18 pm
Hey Chuck,
I’d love to see an actual, real life Conservative who actually conserves anything.
Look over here. I am about as conservative as you can get and believe me I conserve almost everything. Water, electricity, fuel, food, etc. I generate one bag, repeat one bag of trash every month. I reuse almost everything I possibly can. I hate waste and I really, really hate hypocrisy!! Algore types who tell us to conserve while they fly in their own Gulfstream G5 jets, live in 25,000 sq. ft. houses, multiple SUVs that aren’t needed. I don’t believe in anthropogenic global warming. We have resources that are for us to use but not waste.
I believe that George Bush was a very good president in many ways; not all by any means but enough so that his tenure was beneficial to the country as a whole. I believe that Conservative principles are vital to our country’s future; especially the concept of minimal government.
Do you want to learn to conserve? Drop by and I will show you dozens of ways you can reduce your consumption without reducing your enjoyment of life!! Life should be fun. The glass is half full and it is there for us to enjoy.
Wramblin’ Wreck
2:36 pm
Wramblin’ Wreck
“I conserve almost everything. Water, electricity, fuel, food, etc. I generate one bag, repeat one bag of trash every month. I reuse almost everything I possibly can. I hate waste and I really, really hate hypocrisy!!”
Sorry to tell you this, but in Republican circles, people like you are laughed at, mocked, and shunned.
The current core of the modern conservative is exactly this:
***
NOBODY will tell me how, and on what, to spend my money. It is my money, and I will use it to consume, without guilt or remorse, regardless of the consequences of my consumption.
***
THAT, is the true definition of modern day conservatism. That is the core, for better or worse.
3:11 pm
I am in neither camp. I think there’s a lot of unseemly and unnecessary panic being spread by the usual suspects – the mainstream media. And I think a lot of this financial flapping is being orchestrated by the one who has the most to gain from Obama’s election – that cute little puppetmaster, the evil troll George Soros.
I am of Hungarian ancestry. While I was growing up my mother made it a point to tell me to avoid Hungarian men like the plague. George Soros is proof her warnings were correct!
3:27 pm
Chuck,
“NOBODY will tell me how, and on what, to spend my money. It is my money, and I will use it to consume, without guilt or remorse, regardless of the consequences of my consumption.”
I completely agree. No greenie is going to tell me not to “pollute” with carbon dioxide; a natural substance needed to maintain the balance of life in the world. No PETA granola is going to keep me from enjoying a nice, thick, juicy steak. 20 years ago trans fats were beneficial and legislators required their use in some circumstances. Now trans fats are bad and the legislators have decreed for us not to use them. This should be something we choose to ingest or not, but is should be our decision, not some legislator. We should be responsible entirely for our actions, not some far off governmental agency.
Another term for conservation is a good business plan.
Chuck, come on over to the dark side. Enjoy the good life. You do not have to feel guilty about conserving. Mother Gaia is not going to fall apart if you conserve and enjoy yourself.
You are right about some republican circles laughing and mocking these ideas, but these poor souls probably live in New York City and plan to vote for the messiah Obama. Don’t worry. They will one day see the error of their ways and come back into the fold of true conservatism.
Life is gooood!
Wramblin’ Wreck
3:30 pm
Just a few thoughts from an open-minded lurker.
Regarding the word “conserve” – as I came to understand back in the late 70’s and early 80’s, the word means “wise use” NOT “no use”. I think we have not wisely used resources available to us and we have fouled the environment and economies by doing so.
To steal a bumper sticker line – your conservative dogma has stomped on your karma. You just can’t possibly conceive that perhaps some aspects of your ideology has contributed big-time to current problems. Bush can shoot but he can’t aim. Osama lives…and some of us believe that was a serious mistake. We are pouring $300 million/day down on rat-hole in the sand. Worship of the “less regulation is better for all” has led to the credit crisis. Rese ipse loquitor – the thing speaks for itself. At least 91% of the people are willing to look and act based on that perception.
While I’m at it – we are tired of conservatives trying to ram your concepts of morality down our throats. Stay out of my bedroom…stay out of my relationship with my doctor…stay out of my hospital room. Life’s a bitch sometimes..so MYOB.
4:07 pm
All I can say to Conservatives nowadays is you better go back to basics. Start reading Edmund Burke and Alexis de Tocqueville.
4:10 pm
Great site you got here!
Would you like a Link Exchange with our new blog COMMON CENTS where we blog about the issues of the day??
http://www.commoncts.blogspot.com
4:46 pm
@wramblin wreck: I believe that George Bush was a very good president in many ways; not all by any means but enough so that his tenure was beneficial to the country as a whole.
I think that’s probably true of his first term. The second, not so much, and I’m still undecided about the legacy of Iraq, but I’ve definitely become a firm believer that pre-emptive wars are just not the way to go.
Kudos on your conservation.
@chuck tuscon: Sorry to tell you this, but in Republican circles, people like you are laughed at, mocked, and shunned.
Um, uh, no. George W. Bush’s ranch in Crawford is a model of green efficiency.
I don’t conserve a lot, sadly. I drive a hybrid Saturn Vue, but we produce about 10 bags of garbage a frickin’ weak. I’d love to cut down on that. But I’ve got the greatest respect from Wramblin’ Wreck. Way to go! That’s great. Any Republicans here laughing or ridiculing Wramblin’ Wreck here, or just the strawman Republican Chuck set up?
5:33 pm
How is it a strawman? Rush all but called people like me and wramblin wreck a communist today. Apparently our conservation strategy is a political stunt and waste of time.
But anyway, you were saying about the straw man?
7:11 pm
Conservatism is wonderful conceptually but as a practical governing technique, nothing but a car wreck. Make government smaller and spend less money? Again, nice idea but the practice has been to expand the role of government in areas friendly to conservative causes and the creation of massive indebtedness by borrowing and spending instead of taxing and spending as liberals are want to do.
Look at history since Ronald Reagan. Republicans run up the national debt. Massively. Reagan, Bush 1, Bush 2, its all the same. The last balanced federal budget was under a Democrat, and a poor one at that.
Why would any sane person look at our history and expect any Republican to create fiscal sanity at the national level? McCain is calling for buying all the bad home loans for people who can’t make their loan payments. This is conservative? More of the same old, same old. What other cockamamy ideas are to come? Despite all my instincts that tell me to be careful, it is now necessary for me to take a flyer on Obama. He looks the safer economic bet.
7:51 pm
I think your post illuminates an interesting phenomena. Both you, and many of the commenters, define “wrong track” in political terms. I would argue that perhaps that 9% are the people who don’t define their lives on the state of politics in the country.
As you have mentioned, a President Obama will not change the character of the Republic. However, if the citizens define their lives, fortunes, and honor on the quicksand of politics, then yes we are in for trouble.
8:49 pm
I suppose I’m in the 9%, because, so far, it hasn’t affected me yet. I live in a great house on the water, my wife and I bring in about 250 large per year, we have decent health insurance, we have a good money manager (I highly recommend Raymond James). So bad things could happen could yet happen to me, but right now, I’m a LOT more angry about the wrong people getting blamed than I am about the situation itself.
On an intellectual level, I am outraged at the financial debacle. On a visceral level, I’m kindof non-plussed. Give me your honest answer here: what percentage of this outrage is media-manufactured? An are you just jumping on the bandwagon?
12:19 am
How is it that so many seemingly bright folks here continue to blame the Dem’s for this bail-out and it’s socialist ramifications?
It was our GOP President that signed this misdeed and shoved it in it’s 3 page format w/ no anti-golden parachutes, no help for RESPONSIBLE homeowners etc…
The Dem’s, bless their little hearts hated it as much as we did and added lots of safeguards to make certain it didn’t make the fat-cats any fatter and had some fundamental intelligence for homeowners. The President huffed and puffed for this thing to go through and even got into the now mythical yelling match w/ the House ‘publicans to no avail.
Let’s keep our facts straight; simply blaming Dems is not what we’re after here. It’s a Conservative Democracy modeled after a smaller, less invasive gov’t. If any of you like “Rick” say “I’m a total Bushie” again I may wretch. No President in modern history grew the gov’t both socially and fiscally and indebtedness like your first term friend and mine- crazy George!