A new Gallup survey has revealed that Americans have approximately twice as much confidence in law enforcement personnel -- 52 percent -- as they do in newspapers -- 24 percent -- and television news -- 21 percent.
The telephone poll was conducted June 2-7 and included Gallup's newest survey on confidence in U.S. institutions, which it has updated every year since 1993.
According to an article by Jeffrey M. Jones, “Americans' confidence in most major U.S. institutions remains below the historical average for each one. Only the military (72 percent) and small business (67 percent) -- the highest-rated institutions in this year's poll -- are currently rated higher than their historical norms.”
Jones added that confidence in law enforcement organizations fell five percent this year, matching “the low for that institution recorded in the first year it was measured, 1993. In the past year, the police have been a major focus of news coverage in several incidents in which white police officers' actions resulted in the deaths of black men they were trying to apprehend.
In addition, John Nolte, editor-at-large for the Breitbart.com website, asserted: “For the most cynical and destructive of political reasons, led by president Obama for more than two years now, the national media has led one dishonest hate campaign after another against American law enforcement.”
“None of this should surprise anyone,” Nolte stated, because “certain members of the police force have been caught doing some truly terrible things, no question. But these are individual incidents in individual precincts.
“On the other hand, time and again and again as an institution,” he indicated, “the mainstream media has been caught red-handed lying, fabricating evidence and engaging in the kind of corruption that would put any other institution (the National Football League, police, the Koch brothers) out of business.”
“Thanks to (the) New Media, the MSM can no longer hide its relentless corruption behind a Narrative Monopoly that ensures the protection of one another,” Nolte stated.
“Day in and day out,” he continued, “the media are being exposed with the truth -- even as the media uses mostly lies to attack law enforcement and their enemies on the political right.”
In his article, Jones also noted:
Still, the church and the police rank among the highest-rated institutions, trailing only the military and small business among the 15 institutions tested in this year's poll.
Further back in history, the church ranked first or tied for first in all but one survey from 1973 through 1988. Since then, the military has been the top-ranked institution each year except 1997, when small business was first.
“Americans' confidence in most major institutions has been down for many years,” he explained, “as the nation has dealt with prolonged wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, a major recession and sluggish economic improvement, and partisan gridlock in Washington.”
“In fact, 2004 was the last year most institutions were at or above their historical average levels of confidence,” he asserted. “Perhaps not coincidentally, 2004 was also the last year Americans' satisfaction with the way things are going in the United States averaged better than 40 percent.”
Meanwhile, “Americans were generally more confident in all institutions in the late 1990s and early 2000s as the country enjoyed a strong economy and a rally in support for U.S. institutions after the 9/11 terrorist attacks,” Jones indicated
“Currently, 28 percent of Americans are satisfied with the state of the nation,” he stated, and “only 33 percent expressed confidence in the presidency,” down 10 percent since 12 months ago.
Nolte also asserted:
As far as the presidency, why wouldn’t confidence dip a full 10 percent under Obama -- a serial liar eager to give Iran a nuke, ISIS (the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) a playground called the Middle East, and anarchy in America’s inner-cities?
The police are far from perfect, but at least they are doing much more good than harm. Obama and the media are destructive forces, intentionally so, and the American people see that.
However, Jones stated: “Today's confidence ratings of Congress, organized religion, banks, the Supreme Court and the presidency show the greatest deficits compared with their historical averages, all running at least 10 points below that mark.”
Obama can take some small comfort in the fact that “Congress is the institution in which Americans express the least confidence this year, with eight percent doing so, one point above its seven-percent rating last year -- the lowest Gallup has ever measured for any institution,” he noted.
“Americans continue to show lower levels of confidence in most of the major institutions central to U.S. society, with only the military and small business getting ratings in 2015 that are above their historical average,” Jones concluded.
