LAND OF THE FREE? – AT 9:18 A.M. ET:  The poll cited in the post below has good entertainment value, but is hardly a historic view of presidents.  But another poll is more serious, and should have us concerned, as Americans, especially as we prepare to celebrate our independence.  From the Christian Science Monitor: 

This Independence Day, Americans will celebrate the nation’s core values, especially freedom. But according to a new international poll, Americans have become significantly "less satisfied with the freedom to choose what they want to do with their lives."

Seventy-nine percent of US residents are satisfied with their level of freedom, down from 91 percent in 2006, according to the Gallup survey, released Tuesday.

That 12 point drop pushes the US from among the highest in the world in terms of perceived freedom to 36th place, outside the top quartile of the 120 countries sampled, trailing Paraguay, Rwanda, and the autonomous region of Nagarno-Karabakh.

Only 10 nations experienced as sharp a drop as the United States in terms of the satisfaction of citizens with their level of freedom: Egypt, Greece, Italy, Venezuela, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Romania, Yemen, Pakistan, and Spain.

And...

“Although unclear, the decline in perceived freedom could be more than just economics,” such as how Americans view their government, writes Mr. Clifton.

Since June 2013, confidence of Americans in their government has dropped significantly. In a poll released Monday, Gallup reports a 7 point drop in confidence in the presidency (to 29 percent), a 4 point drop for the Supreme Court (to 30 percent), and a 3 point drop for Congress (to 7 percent, a record low.)

According to another poll also released by Gallup on Tuesday, the portion of Americans who believe there to be “widespread corruption” in the US has jumped from 59 percent in 2006 to 79 percent in 2013.

COMMENT:  We might actually find this poll somewhat encouraging – it indicates that Americans are paying attention, and that they understand the seriousness of at least some of our problems.  Now they have to resolve to do something about them, which begins by not electing another president with few visible qualifications or who, like Hillary Clinton, wallows in corruption. 

July 2,  2014