I'd Like An Honest Read For Your Area Of The Country

[ThomWV]

About one thing and only one thing.

Do you find that the people you talk to are more or less aware of the problems in our Government now than they were last summer?

Here in north east West Virginia I've been seeing a lot more awareness of the problems in Washington. They also seem to understand which side of the isle the problems are on.

Have you noticed any increased awareness?

[Mz Pip]

1. We're all on hyper drive

here in the San Francisco Bay Area. We have been for years. We're getting tired but will hang in there. :hi:

Mz Pip
:dem:

[NuttyFluffers]

22. yup, pretty much. often exasperated at times.

kinda like rapping our fingers on the table waiting for the rest of the country to 'get it.'

"marie antoinette's head should have been on a pike by now... from several years ago..."

we're been a patient lot, apparently.

[proud2BlibKansan]

2. More, much more

Many people are pissed.

[Jacobin]

3. Red States blues here

South Louisiana (outside of Orleans Parish) RWers are defensive, apologists for the neo-cons. lots of Faux news on public TV's all going "lalalalalal" with their fingers in their ears to any news except 'fair and balanced' good news. Libruls are the cause of any problems admitted to.

Sorry.....

:-(

[ThomWV]

5. That's OK - It Was Like That Here 1 Year Ago.

Fingers in ears, hands over eyes.

[HockeyMom]

11. Woman I work with from NO

She said Karina was "God's punishment" for the sins of the French Quarter. Um, I said to her wasn't that part the least destroyed? She also claimed God punished NYC, too, on 9/11 for it's evil ways.

The woman has been living here in NY for 20+ years and is married to a native New Yorker.

One day I just couldn't take her anymore. I said maybe SHE was the one causing all this everywhere SHE GOES. She had just been back from NO a fews before Karina hit. She just stood there with a blank look on her face as I walked away. I try to avoid her as much as I possibly can.

I give up on these people. They are hopeless.

[Lost-in-FL]

4. Denial here in Orlando...

Don't hear anyone talking about it. Before the elections people were pretty verbal about politics but not now. It seems to be a taboo.

[OffWithTheirHeads]

6. No

I was surprised that my wife didn't even know what the K street project was. This surprises me because we do politics like most people do sports. I don't care who won the super-bowl but I take great joy in knowing that Abramhoff rolled over. I just think most people don't give a shit as long as their game-boy doesn't crap out.

Edited to add:San Jose, California.

[justabob]

7. Definitely more aware but

its still difficult around here. I know you specified people we have talked to, but for what it is worth, I have noticed a change in bumper stickers. Far fewer W stickers and more M, the Moron stickers, yee haw is not a foreign policy, democracy is not a faith based initiative etc... and even more Kerry/Edwards stickers than I recall seeing during the election. I know its just bumper stickers, but it has been a noticable change over the last month or so.

[Art_from_Ark]

8. Northwest Arkansas is prime bu$h Country

On my last visit there, no one I talked to discussed politics, except with very oblique references. Interesting, though, that I didn't see a single bu$h/Cheney bumper sticker while I was there-- not a one-- and just a few "Support Our Troops" yellow ribbon stickers.

[PWRinNY]

9. Bushies changing the subject a lot

Republicans/bush supporters around here who have loved sparring with me have suddenly become very quiet and walk around like blank-faced zombies. They can't even talk about the weather, because well, global warming... I feel so sorry for them I can barely even gloat. NY - Westchester.

[txindy]

10. Definitely more in Texas

The w*04 stickers and black w* stickers have been disappearing at a rapid - and encouraging - rate. It's about d*mn time, too. During and after Katrina, in particular, the stickers vanished. Texans are stubborn, but we're not stupid. The problem is, the news here is heavily filtered. If you don't get it off the internet, you don't get the full story - or any story.

[justabob]

15. Katrina was the turning point I noticed too

You are very right about the news here in Texas... What I get from talking to people is that they know something is terribly wrong, but haven't yet been able to come to grips with what it means. I am irritated at people for not 'getting it', but at the same time, there are a lot of people suffering the political equivalent of a really really bad hangover.

[txindy]

28. That's a great way to phrase it, "They know something is terribly wrong,"

Very true, that. Their whole perception of the world has been shaken, due in large part to the complete absence of any true reporting here. The little truth that's been getting through is completely at odds with what they've been told is true for five years. Plus the years that Junior was Governor. This state has been saturated with propaganda and lies since the early '90s. It's a wonder that the people here realize anything is wrong, at all, yet they do. Finally.

[rox63]

12. We're all over it

here in deepest-blue Massachusetts.

[StellaBlue]

13. East Texas isn't paying attention. n/t

[Lusted4]

23. figures. n/t

[NV Whino]

14. Seems to be more, but

It's difficult for me to make a definite statement since I interact with so few people. What I have noticed is more and more mention in novels I read. I'm an eclectic reader so the novels are all over the spectrum as to genre, but if a novel is set in contemporary times, the author finds a way to comment on the political situation. My current book, Disordered Minds by Minette Walters (British writer) has bashed both Blair and Bush.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

16. Here in mainland Miami, Florida

It's a cross between apathy, complete ignorance about the news, or just those old-fashioned Cuban-American old money fascist views. But then, Miami is weird. This is where lots of people come to hide: Latin drug kingpins, U.S. serial killers, mafiosos, mega movie stars that can't act and mega singers that can't sing, and all the old Cubans that looted the Cuban treasury before leaving Cuba.

[MichiganVote]

17. Conservative W. Michigan, watching, some waiting,most disgusted

[tulsakatz]

18. I think people are more aware now........

......and the thing is, Republicans have been in charge for several yrs now, so that's who will be blamed for the state of the world today.

[panader0]

19. Pretty conservative around here

This is an army town and there are many retirees. There used to be a Bush/Cheney bumper sticker on most cars. (I have the Demo "Kick 'em Out" sticker on my truck) I don't see hardly any cars with the B/C sticker anymore. They must be scrapping them off in their in the middle of the night.

[Lusted4]

20. Detroit MORE! :-)

[Dem Agog]

21. South Carolina - Just as Red and Dumb As Ever

Bunch of stupid redneck hicks around here. Still tons of "W" stickers. But alas, I moved to a state that was known for colossal stupidity and backwards, racist, bigoted idiocy.

SC is filled with morons. That probably won't change much. They're just too goddamned stupid and inbred to have a clue.

[gizmo1979]

24. The only things people

are aware of are the things that directly affect them,the price of gas and natural gas.Most don't watch the news and wouldn't know the name Plame or Abramoff from Jones.That's is the sad state of WI.

[Digit]

25. More awareness where I live in NC

An employee of The Home Depot lit into a tirade about what is happening to our jobs. He used to make 3X as much as he does now...and now is working retail at the Depot.
I sent him an email with a link to DU at his request and I expect him to be signing on soon.

A year ago, you could not speak badly about * without getting gasps of horror from a few out there.
It is rare now to even see a W sticker.

About damned time, too.

[NI4NI]

26. In northern Delaware

some MBNA employees are shocked by losing their jobs even though their company was Chimpy's biggest corporate contributor, so maybe they will finally get the hint. And down south there are 2 families represented by the ACLU against a school board represented by a conservative civil rights group The Rutherford Institute from Virginia who have alot of local citizen support getting ready to go to trial over students saying prayers in a public school. But Delaware is still BLUE!

[William Bloode]

27. Yes i have.

There used to be a lot more koolaide drinkers who swallowed what they were told. At the moring breakfast hole you would often hear * talking points etc.

Very much less right now. Infact you hear great rumblings of disapproval, and not so much koolaide consumption.

My area is N.C. mountain area.

[rucky]

29. Shelby County, OH

Go Buckeyes! is the extent of the political awareness here of late.