No More News, Just More New Lies

Steve M at No More Mister Nice Blog is you go-to for the low-down on how the mainstream media is normalizing trump, swallowing all the right-wing lies and bending over for a four-year ass-fuck.

Headline at Politico right now:

Poll: Trump's popularity soars after election

"Soars"?

Donald Trump’s popularity is rising in the days since his election, according to a new POLITICO/Morning Consult poll of registered voters.

Forty-six percent of voters now have a very favorable or somewhat favorable opinion of the president-elect. Twelve percent have a somewhat unfavorable opinion and 34 percent have a very unfavorable opinion of him.

It’s a dramatic uptick since the election. Trump’s favorability has grown 9 points, 37 percent to 46 percent, compared to a Morning Consult poll right before the election -- while his unfavorability has dropped 15 points, from 61 percent to 46 percent.

So in "a dramatic uptick," Trump's favorability "soars" to mere parity, 46%-46%.

How does this compare? The implication is that it's right in line with what happened to previous presidents:

"Trump’s favorability among voters has reached new highs since he became president-elect,” said Morning Consult cofounder and Chief Research Officer Kyle Dropp. "This honeymoon phase in common for new presidents. For example, Obama saw about a 20 point swing in his favor following the 2008 election."

Let's check Polling Report. What were Barack Obama's favorable/unfavorable numbers in polls taken in the five weeks after Election Day 2008?

CNN : 75%-22%
Fox: 68%-24%
Quinnipiac: 67%-19%
CBS: 55%-12%
NBC: 45%-22%

No parity here.

But the Politico headline is right-wing clickbait -- and will probably become mainstream-media conventional wisdom.

Although if we're lucky, this, from Pew, will influence the narrative:



But the Politico headline is probably the story the media likes, so I'm not optimistic.

Beware polls of Kentucky "Democrats"

Kentucky's primary is Tuesday.  Before pissed-off coal miners in West Virginia handed that state's Democratic primary to Bernie Sanders, I would not have given him a chance here in Clinton Country.

But apparently Secretary Clinton's misinterpreted remark about coal jobs hit hard in the Mountain State.  Coal miners - even unemployed ones - are a much smaller percentage of the population here in Kentucky than they are in West Virginia, so I still expect her to win.

Next Tuesday and in November.

Back in March, David Atkins wrote at Political Animal about a poll of Kentucky voters.

The poll also shows Donald Trump capturing a surprising percentage of Democratic primary voters in head-to-head general election matchups against both candidates. Donald Trump receives a shocking 37% of the Kentucky Democratic primary vote in a hypothetical contest against Clinton, and 38% against Sanders.

No.  Donald Trump received in this pretend vote precisely zero percent of the actual Democratic vote. If Donald Trump gets the actual repug nomination, he might possibly take Kentucky even against Hillary Clinton, but not because he'll get any actual Democratic votes. 

 

Kentucky conservatards have been registering Democratic since Jefferson beat Adams in 1800. They stopped voting Democratic in federal races in 1966. But they're still registered Democratic because that's what their traitors-in-defense-of-slavery great-great-grandpappies did, because it lets them fuck with the Democratic primary, because it lets them laugh every year at the pundits who think Kentucky's going blue because voter registration is majority Democratic and because it drives actual Democratic voters like me around the bend.

 

The Socialistic Policies Huge Majorities of Americans Want

It's almost as if a major political party in cahoots with the billionaire class and the Military-Industrial Complex spent last 70 years lying to Americans about what Socialism really is.

Digby:

This is a great piece by Paul Rosenberg at Salon about what really constitutes "mainstream." (Also too about how Sanders agenda exemplifies it.)

Here's just a taste:

You can get a strong sense of this from the results of the “Big Ideas” poll commissioned by the Progressive Change Institute in January, which has thus far gotten far less attention than it deserves. (Full disclosure: I’m a former blogmate with Adam Green, co-founder of PCI’s affiliate, the Progressive Change Campaign Committee.) PCI first solicited ideas online through an open submission process (more than 2,600 specific proposals were submitted) and then let people vote on them (more than a million votes were cast). This bottom-up process was then tested out in a national poll. The following all received 70% support or more:

Allow Government to Negotiate Drug Prices (79%)
Give Students the Same Low Interest Rates as Big Banks (78%)
Universal Pre-Kindergarten (77%)
Fair Trade that Protect Workers, the Environment, and Jobs (75%)
End Tax Loopholes for Corporations that Ship Jobs Overseas (74%)
End Gerrymandering (73%)
Let Homeowners Pay Down Mortgage With 401k (72%)
Debt-Free College at All Public Universities (Message A) (71%)
Infrastructure Jobs Program — $400 Billion / Year (71%)
Require NSA to Get Warrants (71%)
Disclose Corporate Spending on Politics/Lobbying (71%)
Medicare Buy-In for All (71%)
Close Offshore Corporate Tax Loopholes (70%)
Green New Deal — Millions Of Clean-Energy Jobs (70%)
Full Employment Act (70%)
Expand Social Security Benefits (70%)

All of the above are in line with Bernie Sanders’ politics and all are extremely popular, with support across the political spectrum. For example, the infrastructure jobs program (a key element of Sanders’ platform) had 91% support from Democrats, 61% from independents and even 55% support from Republicans—compared to only 28% who were opposed. Donald Trump can only dream of being that popular among Republicans.

If people voted strictly on issues, Sanders would be a bipartisan dream. Unfortunately, the calculation that goes into voting is much more complex. But it's always good to know how people look at this stuff in the abstract. All Democrats should pay heed. So should Republicans but they are hamstrung by a base that's driven by the propaganda they've been feeding them for the past 40 years and they no longer have any actual idea of what government policies are or what the government does. But Democrats do ...

I'd Love to Think That Americans Trust Atheists More Than Socialists

But the poll is probably just stupid.

Ed Kilgore at Political Animal:

In one of the dumber public opinion exercises in recent memory, Gallup has asked a polling question that tests whether Americans would vote for an “otherwise qualified” candidate for president nominated by their own party if she or he had a particular identification, and then listed the following: Catholic; A woman; black; Hispanic; Jewish; Mormon; Gay or Lesbian; An evangelical Christian; Muslim; An atheist; A socialist.

And—shocker!—after mixing one and only one label associated with a political ideology with ten associated with race, gender, ethnicity, religion and sexual orientation, Gallup discovers “socialist” is the only one which a majority is unwilling to support (though not by much: 50 to 47). Here’s the heavy-handed conclusion from Gallup’s Justin McCarthy:

Independent Bernie Sanders, who is seeking the Democratic nomination, is the only Jewish candidate in the race. And while a large majority of Americans are willing to vote for a candidate of his faith, Sanders’ self-identification as a socialist could hurt him, as half of Americans say they would not vote for someone with that background

I have a feeling “constitutional conservative” might have done as or more poorly.

Frankly, the most interesting data-point to me was that 26% of Republicans say they’d vote for “a socialist’ if the GOP found an “otherwise qualified” one to nominate. But they wouldn’t, of course, which is one of the things that makes this question stupid.

I’m a big believer in the “more data” theory of politics and of life, and rarely reject any polling data as useless. But this comes pretty close.

Proudly Liberal

Americans have always supported "liberal" policies and programs, ranging from huge majorities for Social Security and Medicare through strong majorities for infrastructure spending to bare majorities for taxing the fuck out of the rich.

We've just been reluctant, for the past 40 years, to call ourselves liberal in the face of massive anti-hippie hate, lies and shaming.

But that's over.

Digby:

Forty-seven percent of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents now identify as both socially liberal and economically moderate or liberal.

This is compared with 39% in these categories in 2008, when there was last an open seat for their party's nomination, and 30% in 2001.

I don't think the political establishment knows what to do with this. Ever since the late 1960s it has been an article of faith that the country is conservative and that liberal is a dirty word.

*These things are fluid, of course, and what people mean when they identify as liberal or conservative may be very individual. But there is something significant in the fact that Democrats are no longer afraid of the liberal label.

Fuck This Poll: Abortion is a Human Right Not Subject to Public Opinion

They don't poll on the popularity of slavery, because even if a majority of Americans approved of it, their opinion is irrelevant.

They don't poll on the humanity of women, because even if a majority of Americans think women are sub-human (hello, Ann Coulter!), their opinion is irrelevant.

And they don't poll on the right of parents to kill their children for disobedience, because even if a majority of Americans approved of it, their opinion is irrelevant.

So stop fucking polling people on abortion.


Their opinion is irrelevant.

KY Atheists, Rejoice! We're in Second Place

No, 19 percent is not a majority, but it's more than Catholics or Mainline Protestants or anybody but the freakazoids, who don't have anything close to the majority, either.

We're stronger than we think.  Come out, Kentucky atheists!  We have nothing to lose but our minority status.

Steve Benen:

And the Public Religion Research Institute published an interesting report this week, highlighting the religious diversity by state. In quite a few states, especially in the Northeast, “unaffiliated” wasn’t a majority, but it was a plurality.

confrontingbabble-on:

It is time for the religiously unaffiliated to exert their significant influence…to stop religious institutions hijacking the country…

“The U.S. religious landscape is undergoing a dramatic transformation that is fundamentally reshaping American politics and culture,” PRRI Director of Research Dan Cox told The Huffington Post.

Beyond the 23 states with the largest religiously unaffiliated populations, there are 15 states where the second-largest religious group is religiously unaffiliated. Some states have multiple religious affiliations that share the position of largest or second-largest group. That includes Wisconsin, where the largest religious groups are made up of white Catholics (22 percent), the unaffiliated (22 percent) and white mainline Protestants (22 percent).”

Patients in recovery mode:

Alaska: Unaffiliated (28%), Second largest: White evangelical Protestant (15%)
Arizona: Unaffiliated (25%), Second largest: Hispanic Catholic (16%)
California: Unaffiliated (27%), Second largest: Hispanic Catholic (20%)
Colorado: Unaffiliated (28%), Second largest: White mainline Protestant (17%)
Delaware: Unaffiliated (25%), Second largest: White mainline Protestant (20%)
Florida Unaffiliated (21%), Second largest: White evangelical Protestant (17%)
Hawaii: Unaffiliated (26%), Second largest: Other non-white Protestant (24%)
Idaho: Unaffiliated (27%), Second largest: Mormon (20%)
Illinois: Unaffiliated (22%), Second largest: White Catholic (19%)
Maine: Unaffiliated (28%), Second largest: White Catholic (25%)
Michigan: Unaffiliated (24%), Second largest: White evangelical Protestant (18%) and White Catholic (18%)
Montana: Unaffiliated (29%), Second largest: White evangelical Protestant (26%)
Nevada: Unaffiliated (27%), Second largest: Hispanic Catholic (15%)
New Hampshire: Unaffiliated (35%), Second largest: White Catholic (28%)
New Mexico: Unaffiliated (21%), Second largest: Hispanic Catholic (19%)
New York: Unaffiliated (22%) and White Catholic (22%), Second largest: Hispanic Catholic (9%)
Oregon: Unaffiliated (37%), Second largest: White evangelical Protestant (17%)
Vermont: Unaffiliated (32%), Second largest: White Catholic (17%) and White mainline Protestant (17%)
Washington: Unaffiliated (33%), Second largest: White evangelical Protestant (16%)

Condition is still critical:

Connecticut: White Catholic (31%), Second largest: Unaffiliated (22%)
Indiana: White evangelical Protestant (29%), Second largest: Unaffiliated (21%)
Kansas: White evangelical Protestant (26%), Second largest: Unaffiliated (24%)
Kentucky: White evangelical Protestant (39%), Second largest: Unaffiliated (19%)

This is Why We Don't Vote on Human and Civil Rights

If a majority of Kentuckians want to reinstate slavery for African-Americans and lynching for undocumented immigrants, would that be a good reason to do so?

From the Herald:

Bucking the national trend, a majority of Kentuckians continues to oppose same-sex marriage, according to the latest Bluegrass Poll.

Fifty-seven percent of registered voters told pollsters they opposed allowing gays and lesbians to marry in Kentucky, up slightly from two Bluegrass Polls last year. Thirty-three percent favored it, down slightly from last year, and 10 percent were not sure.

These results come as the U.S. Supreme Court prepares to hear arguments April 28 in lawsuits challenging same-sex marriage bans in Kentucky and three other states.

Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2015/03/12/3742741_bluegrass-poll-majority-remains.html?rh=1#storylink=cpy

Turnout, Turnout, TURNOUT

Yeah yeah, Alison's up by two points. You know what I don't see?  I don't see my local Democratic Party knocking on my door to make sure that I am going to acquire the Level-5 Hazmat suit necessary for me to vote for that repug-lite DINO in four weeks.

Not one sniff of an effort to turn out Democratic voters. Gigantic cards every day from the Turtle, but nothing from the Big Dog's Best Girl.

This isn't a U.S. Senate campaign; it's a bad joke.

Meanwhile, the Kentucky House is on the verge of falling to the repugs. That will be a catastrophe.

And when repug Jaime Comer wins the gubernatorial election next year - or rather, when Jack Loser Conway throws away another election any Democratic candidate could win - we will be completely fucked.

AynRandy for President Has Already Lost Kentucky

It's cheating. The Tribble-Toupeed One wants to cheat, and Kentuckians frown on that kind of thing, especially from politicians who can't be bothered attending to the needs of their constituents. Who flit around to primary states and ignore the people who voted for them.

Sam Youngman at the Herald:

Though U.S. Sen. Rand Paul is generating national buzz as he flirts with running for the White House in 2016, voters in Kentucky are not as enthused by the idea, according to the latest Bluegrass Poll.

Kentucky voters still have an overall positive view of Paul, but they're divided and lukewarm about what Paul should do in the future, the poll found.

Two-thirds of respondents did agree on one thing about the senator: They do not support changing Kentucky law to allow Paul to run for president and his Senate seat simultaneously in 2016.

Public Service Announcement: "Right to Work" Means "Right to Get Paid Less"

The biggest mistake organized labor in this country every made was allowing corporations and anti-worker assholes to label laws that turned workers into slaves "Right-to-Work."

Because now even people who desperately need and want a higher minimum wage and better job benefits support "Right-to-Work" because they think such laws give more rights to workers.

It doesn't.  A "Right-to-Work" law takes away the few tattered rights workers still have.

But the motherfucking liars are winning.

Mike Wynn at the Courier:

A majority of Kentucky voters want the federal government to raise the minimum wage, but say workers should be allowed to hold jobs at unionized businesses without joining the union or paying its dues.

Meanwhile, voters are split on whether Democrats or Republicans are best suited to control the Kentucky House of Representatives, which is divided on both issues — largely along party lines.

The latest Bluegrass Poll gauged the opinions of 647 registered voters on all three issues ahead of the Labor Day weekend.

On the question of pay, it found that 55 percent of those surveyed favor proposals for the federal government to raise the minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.10 per hour. Thirty-seven percent oppose the change, while 8 percent are not sure.

"Even if they increase it, you can't live on it," said Lydia Bond, one respondent who supported a higher wage.

 Bond knows what the problem is: slave wages.  She knows what the solution is: a federal law requiring a living wage. But she like millions of others thinks  a "Right-to-Work" law will increase wages, when in fact it will do the opposite.

Wages were never higher, adjusted for inflation, than when more than a third of American workers belonged to unions.

Unions demand and force higher wages and better benefits.  Unions and only unions do that. Without unions, benefits vanish and wages plummet and jobs go overseas.

"Right-to-work" laws tie the hands of unions and allows corporations to abuse workers without consequence.

It's not "Right-to-work" goddammit.  It's "Right to be Turned Into a Slave."

Pass it on.

Marriage Equality Opposition in Kentucky Falling Toward Minority

Down five points in six months, barely clinging to 50 percent.

If Steve Cowardly Worm Beshear had not appealed a federal court decision striking down Kentucky's constitutional homophobia, marriage equality would have a majority.

John Cheves at the Herald:

Half of Kentucky voters oppose gays and lesbians being allowed to marry in Kentucky, but opposition has softened since February when a federal judge began striking down the state's same-sex marriage ban, according to a new Bluegrass Poll.

Fifty percent of respondents told pollsters this month they oppose same-sex marriage in Kentucky, with 37 percent favoring it and 12 percent not sure.

A Bluegrass Poll in February showed 55 percent opposed, 35 percent in favor and 10 percent not sure. 

 In 2004, nearly 75 percent of Kentucky voters amended the state constitution to define marriage as between one man and one woman and to prohibit recognition of valid same-sex marriages or civil unions from outside the state.

What Atheist In Her Right Mind Would Want to Be President of a Country that Prefers Torturers and Psychopaths in the White House?

Point being, of course, is that we've had atheist presidents (none out of the closet, unfortunately) and nobody noticed the difference.

Positive Atheism:

Americans would more likely support a philandering presidential candidate than an atheist one -- by an 18 percent margin -- according to a Pew Research Center poll published Monday.

While 35 percent of respondents said they would be less likely to support a presidential candidate who had an extramarital affair, 53 percent of Americans indicated that not believing in God -- the trait viewed most negatively of the 16 tested -- would make them unsupportive of a candidate.

In accordance with a widely cited study by the University of Minnesota, which found atheists to be the most disliked and distrusted minority group in the nation, only 5 percent of respondents said they would be more likely to vote for a secular candidate.

The Pew survey, which questioned 1,501 adults nationwide from April 23 to 27, also found a significant partisan divide on the issue.

While 70 percent of Republicans and 42 percent of Democrats expressed opposition to an atheist candidate, 49 percent of Democrats viewed a potential candidate’s atheism as irrelevant.

I have no problem with a president who fucks anyone who consents, but I have a big problem with presidents who use their invisible sky-wizard friends to justify unjustified invasions, mass murder and torture.

At least Democrats continue to lead the way in reason.

Americans "Just Want the Fighting to End" Only If Our Side Wins

James Carroll should know better than to cite polls that ask broad questions with multiple interpretations.

There isn't a single sentient person in this country who "just wants the fighting in Congress to end."

Everybody wants her side to win. 

I defy James Carroll or anybody else to find a Democratic voter who wants the fighting to end by President Obama surrendering the presidency to a minority of the repug minority in Congress.

I defy anybody to find a republican voter who wants the fighting to end by repugs in Congress surrendering to President Obama on Obamacare and the budget.

The polarization in Washington perfectly reflect the polarization in the nation as a whole. There are no independents, no swing voters.  Just repugs and Democrats who always vote the party line, and repugs and Democrats who vote the party line when they are sufficiently inspired to get out and vote at all.

I think that is a good thing.  Polarization clarifies issues and where politicians stand on those issues. Polarization forces elected officials to fight for the laws and policies their voters want.

But polarization makes politics a zero-sum game.  For one side to win, the other side has to lose.

The fighting won't end until somebody loses. And nobody wants that somebody to be them.

Poll: Kentuckians Are Not Guntards

That sound you hear, liberals, is opportunity knocking. A door momentarily open to persuasion.

Joseph Gerth at the Courier:

A majority of Kentuckians support gun-control measures proposed by President Barack Obama — even though they believe the right to own firearms is more important than the need to control them, according to the Courier-Journal Bluegrass Poll.

The poll of 700 Kentucky residents, conducted by SurveyUSA, found that 56 percent favor stricter gun-control laws, but 65 percent said they believe guns protect law-abiding citizens more than they make society more dangerous.

Poll respondents also said they favor several specific gun-control measures, including background checks, registration and limits on the amount of ammunition that can be purchased at one time.

Yes, two-thirds still erroneously think guns are more protective than dangerous, but that's mostly ignorance. That 56 percent favoring gun control will listen to the facts. So let's get out there with some.

Time's a Wastin', Ashley: Declare Now

Joseph Gerth at the Courier:

With his re-election bid just a year away, those opposed to U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell outnumber his supporters 2-1 among Kentucky voters, according to the latest Courier-Journal Bluegrass Poll.


In the poll of 609 registered voters, 34 percent said they plan to vote against McConnell — while just 17 percent say they will vote to give him six more years. Forty-four percent said they will wait to see who is running against him before deciding, and 6 percent said they are not sure.

 

This sign is posted just outside Frankfort on Versailles Road, the main drag into the state capitol.  Driving into or out of Frankfort, you can't miss it.

 

This is the same property on which, throughout the Iraq clusterfuck, the owner posted in large wooden figures the total number of American casualties.  This person is not fucking around.

Both Obama And Romney Ignore What American People Want

Via Down with Tyranny, which has long transcribed excerpts.

Sen. Bernie Sanders: Here's where we are. And here's the-- you want to add another irony on top of all this, Bill, is that the American people support what the president is talking about and are vigorously opposed to what the Republicans want. Every poll that you and I have seen, including polls from Tea Party sympathizers, you know what they say? "Do not cut Social Security. Don't cut Medicare. Don't cut Medicaid. Ask the wealthiest people in this country to start paying their fair share of taxes. And by the way, take a look at military spending as well." That is what, by and large, the American people are saying.

Bill Moyers: The polls show that? The polls show that?

Sen. Bernie Sanders: Polls show that. So you would think that even if you were a hack politician who didn't believe any of this, you would stand up and fight for those principles. What I am going to do working with some of my progressive colleagues is say, "No, we are not going to balance this budget on the backs of the elderly, the children, the sick, and the poor. Social has not contributed one nickel to the deficit. We are not going to cut Social Security."

I am waiting. And we're doing everything that we can to beg the president, "Get up and say what you said four years ago.” And that is you're not going to cut Social Security. That's what the American people want to hear.

Obamacare Mandate Penalty is for Rich Assholes, Not You

No, you won't have to pay the mandate penalty.

 

Steve Benen:

* One-in-four Americans believe they'll have to pay the individual mandate penalty. The actual number? One-in-100 Americans will actually be affected.

You only have to pay the mandate penalty IF you don't have insurance AND you earn too much money to qualify for subsidies. In other words, if you can afford health insurance, but refuse to buy it because you're a rich asshole, THEN you have to pay the penalty.

 

You're not a rich asshole, so if you don't have insurance it's because you can't afford it, right? Right. So you will NOT have to pay a penalty under the Affordable Care Act mandate.

 

Stop telling pollsters that  you will.

HA! Poll Results

The way repugs lie about "what Americans want," it's a wonder their tongues don't just snap right off their rollers.

Digby on Wednesday:

Per Bloomberg's poll this morning:

I am going to mention some changes that could be made to decrease the deficit. For each, please tell me if you favor or oppose the change.

Reduce Social Security benefits for high-income earners --- Favor:64%

Repeal the tax cuts for households earning more than $250,000 a year --- Favor: 54%

Raise the amount of salary subject to Social Security tax beyond the current limit of about $107,000 --- Favor: 52%

Gradually increase the Social Security retirement age to 69 --- Favor: 49%

Eliminate all tax deductions, including the home mortgage deduction, in return for lower tax rates for every tax bracket --- Favor: 48%

Let tax cuts for all taxpayers expire as scheduled and return rates to previous levels --- Favor: 48%

Cut defense weapons systems and reduce the number of armed forces personnel --- Favor: 41%

Replace Medicare with a system in which government vouchers would help participants pay for their own health insurance --- Favor: 37%

Increase co-pays for Medicare recipients --- Favor: 33%

Decrease the amount paid to hospitals and doctors who provide Medicare services --- Favor: 30%

Cut benefits by slowing the rate of automatic cost-of-living increases for Social Security payments --- Favor: 29%

Cut Medicaid, which is government help for medical care for low income people --- Favor: 21%

Just saying.

Liberals know that liberal ideas for fixing the economy and restoring the nation are the ideas the vast majority of Americans agree with and want. The key is transforming that agreement and desire into liberal political action.

American Values

Those who have a vested interest in perpetuating lies about what the majority of Americans want from their government will never change their tune, of course, but if you're stockpiling ammunition for debates about real American Values, here is the latest proof that Americans are a bunch of fucking commies.

Steve Benen finds the wheat germ in the repug talking points chaff:

* 88% said the federal government has a responsibility to help rebuild communities affected by natural disasters.

* 68% said the federal government has a responsibility to make sure all Americans have food.

* 66% said the federal government has a responsibility to make sure all Americans have health care.

* 52% said the federal government has a responsibility to provide housing to those who cannot afford it.

* 51% said the federal government has a responsibility to make sure all Americans who want a job have a job.

For a "center-right nation," most Americans seem to have a pretty ambitious vision for what the federal government has a "responsibility" to provide to its citizens.

Fox News polls spreading commie propaganda. What has this nation come to?

Cross-posted at They Gave Us A Republic.