American's #1 Fear
What do Americans fear the most?
Is it rampaging mobs of liberal snowflakes? Illegal alien rapists? White supremacists?
No, no, and no.
It isn't just one year.
It isn't just one poll.
Three in ten voters (33 percent of independent voters, 32 percent of Democratic voters, and 25 percent of Republican voters) say corruption in Washington is the “most important” topic for 2018 candidates to discuss.
The Trump administration may be the most transparently corrupt in modern history.
Republican politicians clearly state that they are perfectly fine with Trump's corruption.
This open GOP corruption is beginning to show up in the polls.
A majority of respondents in 48 GOP-held congressional districts believe Republicans are “more corrupt” than Democrats, according to a new poll from a progressive policy group.Politico reported that 54 percent of respondents from the GOP districts said in the online survey administered by the Center for American Progress that Republicans are more corrupt.
Of those surveyed, 46 percent said they believe Democrats are more corrupt.
Given all this you might think that Democrats would be running on an anti-corruption platform.
They aren't, and that should tell you a lot.
To be fair, some Democrats have woken up and smelled the coffee.
Over 100 Democratic House candidates penned a letter Thursday calling for Democrats to make campaign finance and electoral reform their highest priority in the next Congress.The letter, signed by 107 Democratic contenders, is the latest sign that the party sees cleaning up corporate influence in Washington and other forms of corruption as a key part of its plan to take control of the House of Representatives.
Three-quarters of the candidates who signed the letter have taken End Citizen United PAC’s pledge to refuse corporate PAC money.
Virtually all of these Democrats are from the progressive insurgency that is fighting against Democratic Party leadership.
Elizabeth Warren, in a rare move, has gotten out in front of the issue as well.
As for Pelosi and Schumer? You can guess.
Comments
And they’ve proven that the fear is justified
I'm tired of this back-slapping "Isn't humanity neat?" bullshit. We're a virus with shoes, okay? That's all we are. - Bill Hicks
Politics is the entertainment branch of industry. - Frank Zappa
Private and public corruption made 20 million homeless
Chain of Title: How Three Ordinary Americans Uncovered Wall Street's Great Foreclosure Fraud
David Dayen
https://www.amazon.com/Chain-Title-Americans-Uncovered-Foreclosure/dp/16...
Obama did jack shit to stop this.
Obama enabled it
Just check out those cuff links
I'm tired of this back-slapping "Isn't humanity neat?" bullshit. We're a virus with shoes, okay? That's all we are. - Bill Hicks
Politics is the entertainment branch of industry. - Frank Zappa
I can't read it
what do they signify?
"Obama promised transparency, but Assange is the one who brought it."
Americans will finally feel the consequences
...of their votes. That has been delayed far too long due to just-in-time "rescues" by the Dems that leave things incrementally worse. But not as bad as they could be. The People win a shit sandwich because both parties sit to the right of center. The US political spectrum is very very narrow and the outcomes are stingy and degrading. All the while, mind you, both parties are voting to throw the People's national bounty down the blackhole of war, filling the pockets of the war profiteers.
I don't know what the Democrats think they smell, but finance and electoral reform is not even on that list. Even the dumb Dems know that goal is a grift. Their elected instant-millionaires like the current electoral system just fine the way it is.
Actually, very few items on that list are authentic. It reads like the key concerns of someone who was locked in a motel room for 24 hours with CNN and the other five propaganda outlets blaring. There's a Pew Poll kicking around that offers a somewhat more credible list of issues, although it smells a bit pushed, too.
Have you noticed that the one thing no politicians wants to talk about are the heart-felt concerns of the People. Candidates are forcefully telling the People what they want. Over and over again.
Anyway, the Dems would be smart to pick a real concern to champion. One with real solutions.
Consequences of their votes?
There is nothing to vote for. Don't blame regular voters; it is almost impossible to crack the PTB even at the local levels.
And the dems won't pick a concern for anything; they don't care about us.
All the political crap is driven by politicians trying to hang on to their offices - there is nothing that matters more to most politicians.
dfarrah
I wonder if the
concern over relatives dying has anything to do with the advancing age of baby boomers. But then, it doesn't seem that would change so much in two years.
Also, I am afraid of anti-fa and other snowflakes on the attack. I used to wear political t-shirts without fear. Now, it is obvious that I cannot wear a non-dem shirt without fear of being mobbed.
I notice there isn't much on this site about the violence caused by dems (or whoever is on that side of the political spectrum). It was reported that a dem supporter has been assaulting republican operatives. The guy has had other complaints lodged against him, but, after all, Soros supports the group he was hired by (which was started by David Brock). I think he ended up in jail and got fired.
I find all of the mobbing and dem rhetoric fomenting the mobbing to be concerning. It doesn't take a whole lot to get a bunch of humans to act violently.
https://qz.com/1423370/a-false-alarm-terrorist-attack-in-london-shows-ho...
Nobody in the US should be encouraging any violence ever.
dfarrah
Heh
And, you are not likely to find any in the future. There isn't much on this site about ufo's, either.
A truth of the nuclear age/climate change: we can no longer have endless war and survive on this planet. Oh sh*t.
I cannot believe
15 people uprated your comment.
All of this is available on video. Go ahead, stick your head in the sand.
dfarrah
Fascists are so misunderstood
All they want is a dictatorship and a culture of hate and violence.
Beware the bullshit factories.
Tell that to the
fascist mobs of left leaning people hunting republicans down just like Maxine Waters told them to.
The left is or has become as fascist as the right - you better adhere to the left ideology, or else.
dfarrah
Thats some serious right-wing talking points
Besides believing Fox News hyperbole, "left leaning" != fascist
Like I said,
you can watch the videos yourself or stick your head in the sand.
If it is any comfort to you, Nancy Pelosi just got mobbed at a restaurant in Florida. Who reported this? Fox News.
People really should watch some diverse sources of news once in a while.
dfarrah
Good
I'm glad Pelosi got yelled at.
Most politicians don't deserve politeness.
After having
a fairly painful discussion here this week about Antifa vs Fascists and the use of violence to prevent speech, I want to affirm what you are saying. Since a couple of truly violent events have happened during demonstrations near our community, my husband and I no longer go to protest marches. We are in our 70s, and we don't feel agile enough to duck when someone swings a bat at our heads. I want to carry a sign saying, LEFTIST FOR FREE SPEECH, but I'm afraid I'd get my head crushed by one side or the other. So there you have it. The numbers of people willing to engage in peaceful protest has diminished.
Thank you.
What is happening is really disgusting. I always thought it was the 'other side,' but it clearly is not.
dfarrah
There's a fairly prominent elected official who's consistently
called for violence:
"If I should ever die, God forbid, let this be my epitaph:
THE ONLY PROOF HE NEEDED
FOR THE EXISTENCE OF GOD
WAS MUSIC"
- Kurt Vonnegut
But it's merely partisanship
to point that out, right? s/
Only a fool lets someone else tell him who his enemy is. Assata Shakur
How many dems
have been surrounded and shouted out of restaurants or theaters? Can you name one?
And at least one of those bubbles was in response to Biden's ridiculous comment about taking Trump on. And I think Avanatti threatened something similar that elicited a similar response from Trump.
Is "he started it" really a good excuse for violence? Especially since Trump hasn't called on 'his people' to surround and harass the other party (Maxine Waters), nor has he said to kick them (Eric Holder), and nor has he said civility will have to wait until...(Clinton).
Rather, a republican was shot during a game, and people are harassed for wearing maga hats or even a police t-shirt or hat in New York (yeah, the guy harassed the women and told her was glad her husband died in 9-11 - she didn't lose her husband in 9-11, but the guy was determined to harass her about anything).
Today, Trump did tweet support of some repub who had body slammed a reporter - shooting from the hip as usual. Oh well.....
I would have never dreamed that lefties and dems could be such poor losers, or that they would work so hard to suppress speech or support violence like they do now.
dfarrah
Why does this bother you?
Why do you care if some corrupt politicians are getting yelled at? Why do you think this is a bad thing?
Why do you think it is
appropriate to yell and harass?
People can't carry on their normal lives anymore? They cannot shop, go to movies, go the airport, go to restaurants without being surrounded and yelled at?
Do you think these people, if in office, would care about your rights?
dfarrah
We aren't talking about "people"
We are talking about wealthy politicians and political operatives who are actively harming the country and you and me.
These "people" who are hired to represent us, don't/won't even listen to us unless someone gets in their face. They probably aren't even aware that the public is unhappy with them, so in a way this is a public service.
As for legally speaking, celebrities don't have the same expectations of right to privacy that you and I have. Politicians included.
No, I don't think they care about you and me in the slightest.
You know, fear of corruption will probably hurt
Democrats more than Repbulicans, right? I mean after all, the biggest promise Trump has failed to deliver on is that he hasn't jailed Hillary. Not exactly something to campaign on, is it?
On to Biden since 1973
I am aware
that if the Dems don't grab hold and own the issue that it will be used against them.
Let he/she who is without sin
cast the first stone.
People who live in glass houses . . .
I will, if you will. You go first.
We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.--Aristotle
If there is no struggle there is no progress.--Frederick Douglass
I wish I could believe
that the repubs are more corrupt than the dems, but it is just impossible for me to believe that anymore.
dfarrah
I have to agree
My major disagreement with you on another issue should not prevent me from pointing out when I agree on others.
This one: both parties (they're just one party imo) are equally corrupt.
And this one: no one should be harassing or verbally attacking anyone, regardless of party affiliation [Waters, Trump calling for it is blatant bullshit imo]. And, regardless of the fact that they're public figures, it's not in their job description. Not to mention, it's flat out immature and wrong. Defending it is equally immature and wrong imo.
Yep.
oh, did we ever disagree?
dfarrah
The republicans have that covered
They've been calling democrats corrupt since Newt Gingrich days. It's a tactic. Eventually they'll either find real or made up "corruption" to exploit, and when they themselves get caught it'd be "well, the democrats did it first, we're just fighting fire with fire, and besides both sides do it". Media blares bothsiderism, republicans inoculated, dems have egg on face and stand around bleating.
Democrats have been corrupt since Tammany Hall.
And before that,
I would bet, given human greed.
It's hard to believe that people post here as if they have never heard of dem corruption. Take Nancy Pelosi, Diane Feinstein, and Maxine Waters (please).
dfarrah
Tammany Hall was first organized in 1786 (three years
before adoption of the Constitution of the United State. (My post was hyperbolic: The Democratic Party did not really come into its own until Andrew Jackson.)
Well, yeah....
but nobodies supposed to know that.
Cat's out o' the bag (whatever that means).
Corruption is so endemic now
that Harvey Weinstein can get some of his charges dropped by greasing a NY police detective, and you won't hear a word about it unless you read the UK press.
"Obama promised transparency, but Assange is the one who brought it."
Stunning isn't it?
Weinstein was being charged with rape in NYC, but after he donated $25,000 to Coumo's campaign the charges were dropped. Mnunchin foreclosed on thousands of homes in California including an elderly woman who owed $.24 for her property taxes. This is just cruel. Harris was attorney general and her office had a slam dunk case against him, buut after he donated to her campaign her office dropped the charges.
Bank CEOs were smart. They donated millions to Obama's campaign first and then he let them off for all of the fraud they committed before and after his election. The SC made bribery legal when they had another slam dunk case against (someone.) Then of course there was that original case of affluenza when a rich kid stole beer, drove drunk and crashed his car killing one person and injuring 4 others including one who was paralyzed from the waist down.
America... what's not to love about its justice systems?
Scientists are concerned that conspiracy theories may die out if they keep coming true at the current alarming rate.
I would have expected
somewhere on that list to see " not having enough money to meet basic needs" since there are so many Americans that can't put together $400 for an emergency. Maybe it's kind of baked in already.
If Americans knew they have been living with corruption
of public officials for decades, they might either be more or less afraid of it. I'm not sure which.
The letter is bs. Democratic members of the House do not communicate with Democratic House leaders via letters. A letter like that is what justifies sending media a press release with which to impress the public. And establishment media dutifully complies. Besides, Nancy already said that campaign finance reform would be the first thing Democrats would tackle.