Do DU'ers have a general distrust of the government no matter what party is in charge?

[former-republican]

[safeinOhio]

1. Not me as long as we

live in a Democracy and can vote. Even if the other party is in, if they screw up they can be voted out. How else would you want it?

[former-republican]

9. Same as it is now

I'm asking more of a general question when you hear.
It's for your own good , to protect America from terror attacks .
Patriot act stuff ..etc

[eShirl]

33. When I hear slogans like that, I wonder

what are the real details that are being glossed over by the simplistic condescension?

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

2. Depends on what you mean by "the government."

There are lots of parts to "government." There's Congress, and the courts, and the agencies (which are part of the executive branch), and there are the same entities at the state level, as well as the various branches of local governments. All government is comprised of people, some of whom are competent and some not; some are corrupt; some are honest, dedicated public servants. Some agencies are efficient; some are bureaucratic messes.

Presumably, government represents and works for us. Sometimes it does this well; sometimes it doesn't. It's impossible for me to say whether or not I trust "government" because there are so many different parts of it. I can say I don't trust the GOPers in Congress as far as I can throw a grand piano. As to the rest of it, it just depends.

[femmocrat]

3. I don't.

I have a general distrust of corporations, however.

[RKP5637]

8. What really bothers me is the merging between corporations and government, especially with the

MIC and the huge profits.

[RKP5637]

4. Sometimes. No party is perfect IMO. n/t

[enough]

5. I would say that DU is evenly divided between those who mistrust government

no matter which party is in charge, and those who essentially support the D team in all matters.

What has happened in the past couple of months is that we have become unified in the face of the absurdity/falsity/evil of the opposition.

I know that I am personally committed to the re-election of Barack Obama in a way that I was not in the middle of his term, largely because his opposition is so hateful, ignorant, and vicious.

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

6. Yes. nt

[Rosa Luxemburg]

7. No, I like governments

I hate corporations

[RegieRocker]

13. Rofl

Corporate money controls the government. You're fooling yourself.

[former-republican]

14. I would have to agree with that.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

16. Governments are little darlings

[former-republican]

24. Would you say that

corporations and government are intertwined?

[RKP5637]

36. IMO it's heading toward seamless. n/t

[DJ13]

10. Only the sane ones

[geckosfeet]

11. Speaking for myself - no - not in a general sense.

I do distrust the role of big money in influencing policy. I do distrust corporate influence and their lobbyists. And I dislike democratic policy (some of it I even like) much less than I dislike republican policy (most of which I really hate).

[Terra Alta]

12. I think government is necessary

When Republicans talk about less government, and in some cases no government, all one has to do is look to Somalia to see how well that works out.

Republicans put their trust into corporations, I trust my government more than I do any corporation.

[former-republican]

18. Government is necessary in a civilized society

but even civilized governments can go too far in control over it's citizens.

[Ed Suspicious]

19. Government is accountable to me. Corporate tyrannies are accountable only to a select few

shareholders.

[rucky]

15. I'd call it healthy skepticism

can't get caught sleeping

[pscot]

17. I trust it as long as I can see what it's up to

It's the parts I can't see that worry me.

[CJCRANE]

20. Trust but verify.

I remember during the Bush era there were a lot of simple slogans but no real in-depth information.

That's why I joined DU - to find out what was really going on.

[pinboy3niner]

21. Members here don't march in lockstep

The community, while liberal and progressive, is quite diverse in its members' views.

Even when a lot of members here may be expected to share a healthy scepticism about authority, you'll still find a range of diverse views on the subject.

Good luck finding a DU consensus.

[LadyHawkAZ]

22. I distrust anyone with power over others

until they have proven themselves trustworthy.

[gulliver]

23. Well "general" distrust can mean blind distrust.

That's the party you left. I trust the government a hell of a lot, especially concerning facts. The United States government has to be the most transparent organized power center in history. You can find out about practically everything it does, what products it procures from which businesses, where it got its money, what projects it is undertaking... Try that with any other organized power center, commercial or religious.

Now I don't like some things that government does, but at least I know that it is doing them and who is making the decisions. For example, the absurd, self-destroying fact that we incarcerate so many people doesn't make me distrust the government. It makes me angry at the people who keep making the government screw up like that. So-called conservatives and their "if it doesn't hurt someone it must be wrong" attitude are responsible for most of the bad things government does as far as I can tell.

The people who distrust the government never have examples of why. It's just "general" with them. They just have this feeling or they heard something somewhere a while back. They suspect something, but can't say why. That makes them easy prey.

[SidDithers]

25. Absolutely...nt

Sid

[Zorra]

26. Yes. I will have a distrust of the government for as long as corporations

are allowed to buy politicians.

Anyone who trusts a government where the legislators can legally be bought by wealthy private interests is a damn fool.

[no_hypocrisy]

27. Usually when repubicans control a branch or two or three of government, yes.

[aquart]

28. Too simplistic a question.

Implies a yes or no response which would be idiotic.

[elleng]

29. Rather difficult to come up with a consensus response,

as there are more than 150,000 user registrations and 50,000,000 posts since 2001.

[former-republican]

34. So far it seems the consensus is pretty clear by most posters in this thread.

A general distrust no matter which party is in charge.

I didn't expect 150,000 members to post.
Just a general question by the readers logged on now.

[BlueJazz]

30. seldom

[Skittles]

31. well, I would never support a candidate "100%"

but I don't fear the government the way conservative dittomasters teach their moronic fans, no

[kelly1mm]

32. If not, they should. nt

[Blue_In_AK]

35. I've always tended to distrust government to a certain degree,

but Democrats are definitely more trustworthy than Republicans. What I don't like is the whole CYA thing that goes on between Democrats and Republicans in government. Nobody ever has to pay for the REALLY big crimes committed by any particular administration. The main players always seem to get off. It seems to me like there's been more real scandal in Republican administrations, but the Democrats hardly ever enforce consequences on the crimes of previous administrations. Bush war criminals walk away, for example. Nixon is pardoned. The Reagan administration blatantly broke laws, and some were convicted, but still Reagan manages to become a saint, lauded even by some Democrats.

I think we get lied to a lot.

[Marrah_G]

37. I think it's a good thing to have a healthy mistrust of government

[cynatnite]

38. It depends on which part of the government I'm looking at...

If it's an appointee or hired government worker and other factors. It really just depends.

The government is too complex to make a black and white judgment like this.

[Politicub]

39. No. I think democrats do a good job when in office.

And I'm happy with supreme court justice appointments made by dems.

[cherokeeprogressive]

40. It's not "government" that's a problem... it's politicians.

If it were possible to find 535 honest ones who didn't think that once they were elected they owned their seats and absolutely deserved to be re-elected no matter what they did or didn't accomplish, we wouldn't be in the mess we're currently in.

In the Senate there are 17 members who have served more than 36 consecutive years with the longest being 51 years. In the House, there are 48 members with more than 36 consecutive years, the longest being 56 years.

The country is fucked, but these people keep getting re-elected. Mention term-limits though, and people shit their pants.

My notion for term-limits wouldn't be x terms and you're OUT, but x terms then you sit out a term. If you were really that effective, your constituents would vote you back in.

It's not government that's the problem. It's the narcissistic assholes we elect.