"The people are pissed off"

We hear that a lot these days. Not always so colloquially, but we all hear it.

What do you think is really pissing them off? To answer this, you need to take leave of the noozmedia for a coupla seconds and give the question some critical thought. What has people all pissed off?

Well, we know the teabaggers are the ever-pissed 15% loser contingent. We know the angry left is the 5% loser contingent (of which I find myself a proud member). But what about the people in the middle? Well, a fair bit of that middle is happy as a clam about the country and the direction. Maybe what? Another 10%. Okay, 20% Blissfully happy. Then there are the home teamers. Some here call them Solidarity Dems. They're mostly happy, have a few gripes, but will vote reliably for the Democrats. Let's say another 20% There is a similar contingent on the other side. maybe a little smaller, but not too much. Let's peg this at 15%.

So that's . . . . what? 75%? That 25% that's left are squishy Dems and squishy repubs. And they're the ones who have the anger we need to tap into to retain the congress.

Are they angry that some health care bill "making them buy a different kind of insurance" got passed? Or are they angry they still have to pay some huge-assed bill for their current health insurance or drug copays and don't see that changing anytime in their lives?

Are they angry because the banks got bailed out? Or are they angry that they DIDN'T get bailed out?

Are they angry that we seem to be leaving Iraq? Or are they angry we're STILL IN Afghanistan?

Are they angry their kid's school is still doing testing instead of teaching? Or are they angry that their schools are short of cash and only the testing and subjects supporting it are being funded?

Are they angry we did a stimulus bill? Or are they angry that the stimulus bill didn't seem to help THEM?

I'm sure you can ask similar questions.

What are the they so pissed off about?

people were in a Baaad mood,the Iranian hostage situation was just the icing, this Gulf crap is similar in some ways

but when Obama's disapproval poll numbers jump 10-15 points let me know.

Obama's current approval rating is at 46% Google tells me (I assume there is some wiggle. Let's not quibble over a couple points either way). Looks pretty similar to me.

The unemployment rate is still sitting in the mid 9s and it doesn't seem to be going anywhere despite the stimulus and other efforts. We stabilized the banks through TARP, yet people still can't seem to get financing for their businesses or modify their home loans. Oil continues to spill into the gulf, yet we can't seem to do anything about that either.

I think there's just a lot of frustration that many of our problems seem intractable.

And that's what very few people want to say, and NO politician can ever afford to say. Until we can separate our happiness and success as a society from economic growth, we'll continue to prolong the inevitable, and we'll be screwed.

Obama needs to step it up a huge amount.

It feels like the whole country is gonna blow. :scared:

I've had enough time to build up some cushion - JAYSUS I cannot imagine what it would be like, starting off in this fucked up environment

Today we have a veritable smorgasbord of pissedoffatables.

is the feeling that NO ONE is looking out for me.....what I think just does not seem to matter. And working hard? THAT stopped mattering long ago.

My guess, tops, 15%

20% tops in a non-presidential election year.

They want the President to pull jobs out of his ass,
and when he does create (Government Jobs), then they say...
but these are government jobs, which means we will pay more.
No, we want him to create private sector jobs, but then if he
tries to give incentives for business to hire, he's called a corporatist....
and when he warns that businesses don't pay their fair share of taxes,
then businesses don't hire, then it is said that he's not repairing the economy.

They want the President not to have bailed out the banks,
but they know that if he hadn't, we might be at 15-20% unemployment today,
but they prefer not to go there, although most will speculate in the negative,
when they want to make their own point.

They want Government to safeguard all of their benefits, and provide more,
but they also want the deficit to be reduced, like tomorrow.

They want the hole in the Gulf plugged, want BP to pay for it,
and when BP is made to pay for it, they yawn and say....big deal!
but they don't want it to cost anything for the government to invest in
clean energy, but they want clean energy now, as long as it doesn't disturb
employment in the coal mines and in the oil industry,
and in the meantime, too many still support Deep Sea Drilling,
all the while claiming that their way of life is being threatened.

They expect that Obama should have passed immigration reform by now,
although not long ago they were saying he was taking on too much,
and should focus on the economy.

they want lower taxes, bigger benefits, reduced deficits, full employment,
low energy prices, smaller government which regulates more, but only if it doesn't
cost anything.

People want that age old cake and to eat it too.

That message will won no converts to your side, I'm afraid. It essentially tells pissed off people "tough shit". Better to just give them pots and dead chickens, no? You make it sound like they're at fault. :shrug:

I know you see this as very unfair to Obama, but this is the big leagues. And you know what? He's a grownup and I bet he can handle this.

especially if they kept perspective of the realities that aren't going away,
what government they have been voting into place for the last 30 years.

If they are mad cause life isn't peaches and cream 20 months out.....
someone needs to tell them that it was never gonna be....
and if they don't understand that, then no one can help them
be less pissed off.

"tough shit"

That doesn't win friends.

if it helps you make your case, then yeah.....go for it.

but the type of canvasser that I am, I bring my facts with me, not just a soundbyte.

I know people like for life to be simple without complications and shit,
but most times life isn't that simple....
and sometimes two words doesn't do justice to what we are facing in our politics,
our national and local media, and the difficulties folks are facing, and the damage
of the last 30 years. Difficulties not due to as much the decisions this administration has made, but because the shit was fucked up beyond what a mere 20 months (or earlier, for those who have been complaining and criticizing everything forever) can rectify.

So yeah, go for the "tough shit" thingie...
although it isn't just unjust; it's silly.

find that ignorant Mama Grizzly Pig with Lipstick has been installed in the WH with Tawd sitting in on the meetings of a Cabinet filled with Teabaggers and hasbeens like Armey and Newtie. After watching the media for the past two days start turning the soft focus lenses on this woman and listening to the ever shriller shredding by--yes, leftbaggers, for the first time I think that could happen. They shoved the fratboy drunk and his evil Dick into the WH while we on the left and our feckless leadership picked out bellybutton lint. We got ourselves together last election only to find that no one learned a goddamned thing. At this moment, it seems to me that the left and right have joined and not in a constructive way (need I mention the Hamsher/Nordquist marriage). I'm digusted with what I see and hear now.

. . . . . . Sesame Street gig.

identifying a problem, finding a solution and moving on. Every 10-20-30 years, we deal with the same issues, over and over.

Unnecessary wars.
Immigration.
Healthcare.
Alternative energy.
Pro-choice vs. anti-choice.
Regulation/deregulation.

These issues have been around for most of my life and we never seem to make any progress. We don't take appropriate action and move on as a country, as a society. In many cases we move backward.

DOMA and DADT - it's embarassing that these even exist.

Even this disaster in the Gulf...we've learned nothing since the Exxon Valdez. It's frustrating.

These aren't new problems, and we not making the same progress in these areas that EU democracies are. Why do you think that is?

big and diverse to function effectively as a country. And I wonder if there is something in the American psyche that resists actions that are for the greater good, even if it means some personal sacrifice.

I also think there are systemic problems in our government which are really reaching a tipping point now, with the dominating influence of corporations, lobbyists and special interest groups that work to keep the status quo.

So problems that should have been addressed and/or solved years ago just keep popping up and nothing ever changes.

But with the recent SCOTUS decision regarding corporations right to "free speech" :eyes:, I'm worried about where the change from that tipping point will leave us.

Something's gotta give. :shrug: I hope people are pissed enough to get off the couch, put down the remote, and do something about it.

multitude of messes knows exactly what they're angry about, and most of them can't understand why everybody else isn't. It's only when they get together with other people (tea party anyone?) that they learn that it is not just them.

So far, only one group (see above) is leveraging this, and they are a front group that will make things far worse.

Most people I know don't put enough effort into educating themselves on issues to have a coherent idea of what is happening in this country. A few latch on to slogans and vent, but most people strike me as more afraid than angry.

"A front group that will make things far worse" is an excellent description/evaluation of the Tea Party "movement."

We're talking about people that are too old to be called young, have/had families and mortgages, and have lost or are afraid of losing everything.

But even if we got a hundred million people to protest something the entire media would cover the rally of fifty Teabaggers yelling incoherent slogans to the tune of a dog whistling speaker.

Kinda hard to blame this on the grassroots. The grassroots have done an awful lot, and they're still ignored.

of political activism. But we can get together under different criteria. I'm working the unemployed route, myself. It is a huge and growing demographic that crosses all other division (except the rich, of course).

Unnecessary wars. - fought by cowards for various reasons. We have Ronnie in Grenada, which was pure self-agrandizement. We have George The Lesser in Iraq to upstage Poppy. All of our leaders have fouhgt tfor treasure and empire and to appease the leftover nazis that people the repubican party.

Immigration. - this is the singularly most cowardly issue out there. While no obvious answer appeals broadly, the right answer has long been known. All that lacks is the will to do it. Instead, it gets kicked down the road for the next guy. This is THE most bipartisan example of cowardice on your list.

Healthcare. - I am undecided about the nature of Obama's cowardice on this issue. Was he afraid of attack from his right flank, or from the real power that pulls his strings from deep within his (standard issue politician's) wallet? The Clintons were less cowardly, but they, too caved as evidenced by her stated stand during the primaries.

Alternative energy. - Two men in government leadership have been brave on this: Carter and Gore. Everyone else has been cowardly about standing against the Oil/Coal/Nuke forces. "Clean Coal"? Really?

Pro-choice vs. anti-choice. - Almost all the cowardice on this issue rests with repubicans who failed to pull the trigger when they had the chance. And to be fair, cowardice may not actually be the right word. This is the golden goose for them, useful in stirring up their mouth breathing, knuckle walking base.

Regulation/deregulation. - Not sure what you mean here. Reg/Dereg of what?

spot on. It appears to be almost a deliberate sabotage of progress for the country. And both parties participate. For profit, no doubt.

What I meant about reg/dereg is the inability/unwillingness to create and keep regulations that protect the country and the people.

For example, the 'bipartisan' financial dereg in the 90s, which only Dorgan spoke out against as potentially disastrous - and was right.

And how many oil catastrophes do we need before strict regulations are put in place and enforced? Until we get serious about alternative energy sources? While the GOP is certainly at the forefront of giving carte blanche to the oil industry, we also have "Democrats" like Landrieu sharing that position. And Rockefeller defending coal. And Salazar not cleaning house at MMS immediately upon taking office.

When do we the people wake up and demand that this country move forward and solve some of the problems that we have been tackling (admittedly half-heartedly) for years and years? How much damage to the country do we tolerate?

There are times I hear news and could swear we were back in the 70s or 80s or 90s.

Americans are capable of the most amazing solutions to problems, but only after they have exhausted every half baked crackpot idea on the planet first.

So of course we haven't dealt with the problem. The problem is, in most Americans minds, someone elses problem.

All the damage we did, and all the work we left undone, thinking that only future generations would have to pay the price--that neglect is here now to present the bill.

I think what you're seeing is focus group driven phony astroturf populism, being driven entirely by marketing whizzes tasked with rebranding the GOP.

Other than that, people would like to see the economy get back on track.

What am I angry about? I'm angry that our political party is run by a bunch of clowns masquerading as political geniuses who make regular clowns look competent. These clowns can't even get their clown shoes on right, and there is no wrong way to wear a clown shoe.

. . . . little known fact. Clown shoes are ambifooterous but clown feet are not. It confuses us quite a bit. So you're right. There's no way we can put our shoes on the wrong feet, but we often get our feet on the wrong legs!

Its tough being a clown!

But you're very right about those other clowns. That's because they often put their feet in their mouths. And then the shoes have no place to go.

why keep trying to play this game?

people are pissed at the gov..why try to play this?

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ON ALL LEVELS, BY SO MANY DIFFERENT ASSHOLES THEY DON'T KNOW WHERE TO START.