Pitchforks and Torches

While Joe Klein and the rest of the D.C./New York punditocracy insists that either A) the public really isn't all that angry at the kleptocracy and the anger is just a made up fantasy by opportunists or B) that public anger is just momentary, a new Quinnipiac poll tells the crystal clear truth:

David Sirota :: Poll: Yes, It's True, The Public Is Extremely Angry

Despite President Barack Obama's efforts to calm the populist rhetoric, Americans remain mad as hell and want to vent their anger on corporations, the wealthy, and anyone else they see as privileged...What we are seeing in public opinion polls is a wave of populism that shows no sign of cresting. It is likely to remain high, and perhaps grow... Consider this: Four out of five voters think politicians in Washington, D.C., should limit the pay of executives at companies that get federal bailout money. Three in 10 voters embrace the historically un-American notion that government should control the pay for executives of firms that don't get any cash from Uncle Sam...Or, how about the finding that only one in seven thinks executives of companies that needed federal help were victims of adverse economic circumstances they could not have anticipated. Three-quarters of Americans think these business leaders were either incompetent or crooked. Perhaps that is why almost half of Americans want federal prosecutors to be more aggressive in pursuing criminal charges against these business leaders, compared to one in 10 who wants them to be less aggressive. Of course these numbers are very, very frightening to those who spend their time defending the status quo from the gilded ramparts of the Establishment media. So I understand the self-interest of Klein and ass-cleaners like him who to try to use their platforms to tamp down the anger. But no amount of spin can obscure these kind of numbers. Yes, newsflash - people are enraged. The problem isn't the anger, as the media would have us believe - it is what everyone is rightfully angry at.* The sooner the Village accepts this, the sooner it will start reflecting reality. * Based on his rhetoric, President Obama (as opposed to many of his aides) seems to grasp exactly this, and thus his poll numbers remain encouragingly strong, which is a very good thing.