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thepeel
Joined: 08 Aug 2004
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 Posted: Mon May 21, 2007 1:47 am Post subject: War-weary U.S. is down in the dumps |
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This is why Ron Paul, and his message of rebirthing the idea of America, is going to prove so powerful.
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War-weary U.S. is down in the dumps
ALAN FRAM AND TREVOR TOMPSON
Associated Press
May 20, 2007 at 3:08 PM EDT
WASHINGTON � Things are gloomy south of the border. Men and women, whites and minorities � all are feeling a war-weary pessimism about the United States seldom shared by so many people.
Only 25 per cent of U.S. residents surveyed say things in their country are going in the right direction, according to an AP-Ipsos poll this month. That is about the lowest level of satisfaction detected since the survey started in December 2003.
Rarely have longer-running polls found such a rate since the even gloomier days of 1992 ahead of the first president Bush's re-election loss to Democrat Bill Clinton.
The current glumness is widely blamed on public discontent with the war in Iraq and with President George W. Bush. It is striking for how widespread the mood is among different groups of people.
Women and minorities are less content than men and whites, which has been true for years. But all four groups are at or near record lows for the AP-Ipsos poll, and at unusually low levels for older surveys, as well.
Ann Bailey, 69, a retired school secretary in Broken Arrow, Okla., is a conservative who believes the country is on the wrong track. That sentiment should raise alarms for Republicans hoping to hold the White House and recapture Congress next year.
She cites a widespread lack of honesty plus immigration, gasoline prices and Iraq, where a son and grandson are serving.
�As much as I hate it, I think they need to finish up what they're doing and get out of there,� Ms. Bailey said. �I think we should step out and say, �OK, now you solve your problem. We've done the best we can do.�'
Larry Ward, a moderate Republican from Pocomoke, Md., also senses the United States is heading the wrong way.
�We're still fighting a war we can't win,� said Mr. Ward, 47, who operates a tree service. �That's a real big thing for me.�
Three in 10 men and two in 10 women said this month they think the country is on the right track, down from nearly half of each who felt that way at the end of 2003.
By race, 28 per cent of whites and 18 per cent of minorities said the same: just over half their rates of optimism from late 2003.
Asked in April why they felt things were veering in the wrong direction, one-third overall volunteered the war and one-fourth blamed poor leadership.
Nine per cent faulted the economy, 8 per cent a loss of moral values and 5 per cent gasoline prices.
�We need to get out of war, get our economy back up, quit spending money outside of America and bring it here,� said Democrat Lisa Pollard, 45, an insurance company analyst in Arlington, Texas. �It all starts at the White House.�
When voter optimism hits such low levels, �It's not being driven by any specific group. It's a general kind of malaise that's across the board,� Republican pollster Neil Newhouse said.
President Jimmy Carter used the word �malaise� to describe a time of low national self-confidence in the late 1970s. He lost his re-election bid in 1980 to Republican Ronald Reagan.
Today's numbers could bode ill for Republicans and are reflected in polls that show voters prefer the Democratic party to the Republicans to win the White House next year. Early polling, though, shows specific front-running Republican hopefuls largely holding their own against top Democrats.
The mood prevailing in the polls is giving Democrats optimism about an election that is a long 18 months away.
�You connect the dots back to Bush. He's done more to undermine their brand than we could have done spending millions of dollars,� said Cornell Belcher, who polls for Democrats. �I'd rather be us right now.�
The especially low �right direction� numbers for women and minorities result largely because both groups tend to be more Democratic, less supportive of the war and more vulnerable to economic downturns, analysts say.
The percentage of white people who say Mr. Bush made the right decision to go to war in Iraq has exceeded that for minorities by nine points to 25 points in AP-Ipsos polls over the past four years. The spread has been five points to 16 points when comparing men versus women who said it was the right choice.
For women, their pessimism extends across party lines. While 52 per cent of Republican men said the country is heading the right way, only 33 per cent of Republican women agreed.
Those who think the United States is heading in the right direction tend to be white male Republicans in strong financial situations who say they sense a solid economy and are satisfied with the country's leadership.
�I feel like despite the nation's problems, we're going to work our way through them and be better, stronger for it,� said Robert Beard, 49, of Benicia, Calif., a programmer for a bank.
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http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070520.wpessimistic0420/BNStory/International/ |
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EFLtrainer
Joined: 04 May 2005
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| Posted: Mon May 21, 2007 2:16 am Post subject: Re: War-weary U.S. is down in the dumps |
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| BJWD wrote: |
| Those who think the United States is heading in the right direction tend to be white male Republicans in strong financial situations who say they sense a solid economy and are satisfied with the country's leadership. |
Or, said another way, those who feel little of the effects of high fuel prices, mortgage losses, have enjoyed large tax breaks.... etc. I.e. Those feeling little or no pain from any of this. Anyone out there who couldn't have predicted that demographic? |
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sojourner1
Joined: 17 Apr 2007
Location: Where meggi swim and 2 wheeled tractors go sput put chug alugg pug pug
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| Posted: Mon May 21, 2007 3:24 am Post subject: |
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Yes, that small percentage (executives and politicians) who have big money portray everything to be fine when they dam well know it's not, but lie just to protect thier greedy and selfish financial interests. If and when they cause social strife to rise to unprecidented levels leading to the collapse of the country, they will get on thier private jets and go to thier big money they are banking overseas. They careless about protecting the interests of the USA, but only fleecing it for all she has. While things are going very wrong and they set our country up for failure, they sit in thier offices pushing good news (propaganda) as a coverup to justify thier wrong doings and irresponsibilities. They have misled us and there will be a day when all hell breaks loose due to the widening wealth gap and all the big lies fed to working class America while the country is fleeced for everything it's worth. The big wigs are just out to farm people for the fruits of thier labor and what monies they earn through long days in low paying jobs. Besides fleecing Americans themselves through bogus finance and service fees, bogus civil lawsuits, and under compensating the workforce, the big suits other big interest is maintaining global domination for control of oil and people around the world in the name of blatant evil greed. I can see why many see us as the enemy, becuase our intentions on the macro scale of things are not good in my opinion though they once were good such as saving the world during WW2. Of course, if you know a little about history, how Americas leaders are leading us into disaster is nothing new as this story has played out time after time in many nations where big greed and over all system corruption steadily rises in the pinnacle of a civizations history which leads to a great fall. It's sorry arse sh*t, but the truth the majority of us lie to ourselves in disbelief of the truth.
It's well past due for the American people to collaborate and stand up for a revolution to set straight our corrupted systems of politics, law, finance, employment, and international relations.
It's high time the suits responsible for the mismanagement and misleading of the country are held accountable for unnecessary hostile invasions of other countries(Iraq), corrupt greedy companies, rigged financial markets of big insider trading, and corrupted legal systems where big money and bribery supercedes truth. |
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thepeel
Joined: 08 Aug 2004
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| Posted: Mon May 21, 2007 3:38 am Post subject: |
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A tad extreme, in my opinion.
The American population, by any measure, is exceedingly wealthy. Even the poor aren't typically that poor.
But I agree that changes are needed. Every nation needs changes.
In the USA, as an outsider looking in, I'd propose a few changes. The inequality is directly related to education. The return on education is very high right now. Public schools are a total mess. Get the unions out of education and empower parents to chose where their kids study. Fire crappy teachers and teach kids trades (skills) in high schools. There is no reason that a kid can't graduate high school 1 year in a tech-school away from being a mechanic or plumber (I think Illinois does this). Also, the health care system needs an overhaul. I wouldn't propose a Canadian style single-payer system but the French system is likely the one to emulate. Also, get out of Iraq. Nothing good can come of that. End the corporate welfare and move away from income taxes and towards consumption/pollution taxes. Fix the immigration system and enforce the laws on the books. End the drug war.
My two cents.
But the idea that a revolution is necessary... No. I don't agree. A new direction in public policy is only one election away. |
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EFLtrainer
Joined: 04 May 2005
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| Posted: Mon May 21, 2007 4:33 am Post subject: |
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| The inequality is directly related to education. The return on education is very high right now. Public schools are a total mess. Get the unions out of education and empower parents to chose where their kids study. |
Yes, yes, yes, it's the crappy teachers. Bull. I've worked in the public system in the US. While there were some crustaceans about, most teachers actually worked hard at being good. They tried to be creative with limited resources and certainly put in their hours. There are TWO primary problems with US education, and one minor one:
#1. Funding. US schools are funded unequally. Thus, the quality varies greatly from one to another, particularly from one district to another as property taxes are often the primary source of local funds.
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| Fire crappy teachers |
Brilliant! And replace them with *what*, exactly? There are teacher shortages all over already, so, yes, let's fire a few more rather than properly funding them and providing quality continuing ed.
#1b. Inadequate funding. Period. Teachers too often have themselves, a book, a blackboard and some chalk. Every teacher I've ever known in the US paid for supplies out of their own pockets. Every single freakin' one.... and not for extras...
2. The social milieu. It sucks. How do teachers and schools overcome that? By offering something more. You want teachers to be the pseudo-parent, the baby sitter and the moral and ethical compass? See #1.
3.
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| and teach kids trades (skills) in high schools. There is no reason that a kid can't graduate high school 1 year in a tech-school away from being a mechanic or plumber (I think Illinois does this). |
Agreed. A tech track for students so minded would be a good addition t the system, with this caveat: don't use the overly-rigid European system. Allow students to move back and forth, if needed, and if grades remain high enough. If they don't, allow them to test back in or test into Uni. Also, should be voluntary, not mandatory. Further, still should not graduate if functionally illiterate unless verifiable underlying reasons exist.
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| move away from income taxes and towards consumption/pollution taxes. |
I support no regressive taxes. Profit is earned by the work of labor. They've paid enough at the lower tiers. Nothing wrong with a progressive tax. However, a far, far, far simpler system is needed. And ZERO corporate welfare.
Revolution? Hyperbole. |
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EFLtrainer
Joined: 04 May 2005
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| Posted: Mon May 21, 2007 4:41 am Post subject: |
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Back on topic.
Get the freak out
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In one of the most troubling trends, U.S. officials said that Al Qaeda's command base in Pakistan is increasingly being funded by cash coming out of Iraq, where the terrorist network's operatives are raising substantial sums from donations to the anti-American insurgency as well as kidnappings of wealthy Iraqis and other criminal activity.
The influx of money has bolstered Al Qaeda's leadership ranks at a time when the core command is regrouping and reasserting influence over its far-flung network. The trend also signals a reversal in the traditional flow of Al Qaeda funds, with the network's leadership surviving to a large extent on money coming in from its most profitable franchise, rather than distributing funds from headquarters to distant cells. |
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Say it with me: We. Need. To. Get. Out. The sooner the better. Our presence in Iraq is doing nothing for Iraq itself, which is doomed to sectarian civil war no matter what we do. It's actively hindering the destruction of al-Qaeda in Iraq, which will almost certainly proceed more quickly and more ruthlessly once we leave. It's made Iran into a more powerful regional player than it ever could have dreamed of. It's produced a relentlessly worsening foreign policy catastrophe by swelling the ranks of Middle Eastern Muslims who support anti-American jihadism in spirit, even if they don't directly support al-Qaeda itself. And it's turned into a bonanza of recruiting and fundraising among those who do directly support al-Qaeda.
In almost every way you can think of, our continued presence in Iraq is bad for Iraq, bad for the Middle East, and bad for America's own national security. I can't even think of anything on the plus side of the ledger anymore, and every additional day we stay there only makes the ledger look worse. |
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