The Woke Effect: Support for Big Business lower than ever

By Rubashov

Over the last year, the antics of woke capitalism have gutted support for major corporations among Republicans – while not improving its already low standing among Democrats. According to the Gallup polling organization’s annual snapshot of America, among Republicans and Republican leaners “satisfaction with the size and influence of major corporations” declined 26 percentage points – from 57 percent a year ago to 31 percent today.

Among Democrats and Democrat leaners, it declined 1 percentage point – from 25 percent a year ago to 24 percent today. Overall, Big Business in America is now less popular than the federal government. Among all Americans, satisfaction with the size and influence of major corporations declined 15 percentage points – from 41 percent a year ago to 26 percent today.

Among all Americans, satisfaction with “the size and power of the federal government” declined 7 percentage points – from 38 percent a year ago to 31 percent today. It lost 15 percentage points among Republicans/ Republican leaners – declining from 35 percent to 20 percent, while going up slightly among Democrats, from 38 to 41 percent.

Overall, Americans are more satisfied with the power of the federal government than with the influence of major corporations – 31 percent to 26 percent. This is a major shift and indicates that support for big corporations among Republican and Republican leaning voters has been wiped out. While many elected Republicans are still pro-Big Business, there is no longer a base for it among the party’s voters.

A decade or more of openly woke corporate activism has done its work. Now government is free to screw big corporations with taxes and regulations until they squeak. All that Big Business has left is its lobbyist shield and the various options of legal bribery open to them.

Overall, the nation is broadly unhappy with its institutions. Reformers take note, satisfaction with “our system of government and how well it works” declined 16 percentage points from 43 percent to 27 percent. Among Republicans and Republican leaners it collapsed 24 percent – from 54 percent to 30 percent. Among Democrats/ Democrat leaners it declined 6 percent from 30 percent to 24 percent.

This points up the mistake cheerleaders of the Establishment make in trying to replace what President Nixon called “the silent majority” of notionally “patriotic” Americans with those who don’t even like the sound of the word. Now that President Biden appears set to make war on them – we wonder, just who will support the Establishment’s foreign adventures? We can’t ever imagine A.O.C. breaking into a chorus of “U.S.A., U.S.A.!” as we embark on some new “adventure”.

Which brings us to the nation’s moral and ethical climate. Again, reformers take note… America’s satisfaction with its “moral and ethical climate” is reminiscent of the 1970’s – the period just before the Reagan revolution. It declined 14 percent in a year – from 32 percent to 18 percent. Among Republicans and Republican leaners it went down 18 percent – from 35 percent to 17 percent. Among Democrats/ Democrat leaners it went down 13 points – from 29 percent to 16 percent.

That said, if you are waiting for a fifth “great awakening” you might wish to pay attention to this data. For the first time in Gallup’s polling, Americans’ satisfaction with the “influence of organized religion” slipped below 50 percent. It fell 11 points in a year – from 59 percent to 48 percent. It does remain high among Republicans/ Republican leaners, however, falling just 4 percentage points – from 70 percent to 66 percent. Among Democrats/ Democrat leaners it fell 12 points – from 49 percent to 37 percent. Well, there are other organized “religions” to believe in these days – like the “original sin” made evident by the paleness of someone’s skin or the very religious notion that you can transubstantiate one’s chromosomes.

Despite the war on them by the federal government, Republicans and Republican leaners are bigger fans of America than Democrats and Democrat leaners. Republicans are more up on America, have more confidence in the idea of America, and generally like it more. 82 percent of Republicans are still satisfied with the “opportunity to get ahead” that America offers. That’s down from 93 percent a year ago, but still far ahead of the paltry 41 percent of Democrats who have the same feeling towards America.

58 percent of Republicans and Republican leaners are still “satisfied with the way income and wealth is distributed’ in America. Although that is down from 65 percent a year ago, it is way ahead of the 18 percent of Democrats and Democrat leaners who feel the same. That’s real funny, given the fact that so many One Percenters are Democrats. It looks like they are asking to have their taxes hiked.

The Democrat Party intends to criminalize the half of America that still likes the idea of America and still has confidence in it. When they are through, the Establishment will have a country without a constituency. Everybody will be a malcontent. That’s some plan.

Here is Gallup’s guy discussing this poll on The Hill…

“That’s what they’re doing now in the United States. They want to make it toxic. They want to make you afraid to fraternize with other Americans. Because it helps their political agenda.

That’s the Democratic Party. The Democratic Party wants you to keep thinking half the country is your enemy.

”

Jimmy Dore
#ForceTheVote
on Medicare for all

N.B. We welcome a conversation on this and all topics raised on this website. Jersey Conservative is entirely open to your ideas and opinions. To submit a column for publication, please contact Marianna at Marianna@JerseyConservative.org.

Bill Hayden: On 2nd Amendment, Lesniak is “laughable”.

By Bill Hayden

Former State Senator Ray Lesniak believes the AR15 is an assault weapon, only owned by white supremacists....laughable.

There are several things wrong with his assumptions.

First, he is already assuming a certain class of people own a product, hence profiling.  A form of racism from the Left?

Secondly, and AR15 assaults nothing, only a person can assault. My rifle can sit peacefully in the corner and not bother anyone for days. The Left’s assumption that you can legislate evil away is insane.

Think of this, the new craze is red flag laws. They come because they believe you have a defect that would prohibit you from owning a weapon. Yet, once gone with your guns, they leave you with the most dangerous weapon known to man, your car.

But let's get to the core of the Second Amendment, freedom. Because at the time of its writing, Americans had just won a revolution against tyranny, using the same exact weapon the tyrants had. Take a look at Venezuela for instance, a country that had all private guns taken away in 2012, and you see that an unarmed citizenry loses its voice, and freedom slips away. The Second is all that keeps the Leftists from really screwing life here in America up. It's the great equalizer.

The Senator also forgets that more people are killed every year with a hammer, than all rifles combined (FBI data), and I haven’t seen a hammer buyback yet.

Maybe the good Senator should read several Supreme Court cases that codify the AR15, as a protected weapon as it is in common use. Heller, and Miller come to mind.

Ray Lesniak should pick a battle he has some level of knowledge on.

Bill Hayden is President of the Skylands Tea Party in Sussex County.  Bill is a leader in the petition drive to Recall Governor Murphy.  On Saturday, May 11th, at 11am, there will be a rally to Recall Murphy on the Newton Green, Newton, Sussex County.

Exchange outs Politico reporter as anti-Catholic bigot

Read this exchange between a woman from Sussex County and Politico reporter Matt Friedman.  It perfectly illustrates what is wrong with so-called "journalism" today.  Politico's Matt Friedman behaves like an ideological combatant -- as if he were the media wing of ANTIFA. 

In this exchange, Friedman places our Judeo-Christian tradition alongside Wicca (the worship of Satan) and trashes Roman Catholicism.  Friedman defends Islam and its practices, including Sharia Law,  as "no worse" than what Christians and Jews get up to.  Friedman also trashes Buddhism. 

Friedman willfully ignores modern day slavery -- with its human trafficking and child exploitation.  He clearly shows that he would rather try to attach someone to the slavery that happened over 150 years ago than to address the slavery happening today.  He even stoops to trashing the Roman Catholic church in an attempt to deflect blame away from his ideological comrades. 

No Republican, conservative, decent Democrat, or traditional liberal should ever be foolish enough to place their trust in this shill again.

From: Sussex Gal
Date: Tuesday, September 5, 2017 at 1:09 PM
To: Matthew Friedman <mfriedman@politico.com>
Subject: LD 24

Good afternoon Matt,

Take a look at this.  Can you believe our Democrat candidates are standing next to a flag with Wiccan symbols on it?  The purpose of this flag is to show that witchcraft is on equal footing with our Judeo-Christian tradition.  Please look into this and let me know what you are doing about it.

- - -

From: Matthew Friedman <mfriedman@politico.com>
Date: Tuesday, September 5, 2017 at 1:13 PM
To: Sussex Gal
Subject: Re: LD 24

Hey. I don’t think I’m interested. Unless Wiccans fought a war to preserve and spread slavery…

I’d need something more than the murder of Hansel and Gretel.

NOTE:  Who is Friedman accusing of fighting a war "to preserve and spread slavery"?   A Hank Williams Jr. flag, a Dukes of Hazard tattoo, is not the same as fighting a war "to preserve and spread slavery". 

Subject: FW: LD 24
From: Matthew Friedman < mfriedman@politico.com>
Date: Tue, September 05, 2017 1:16 pm
To: Sussex Gal

*attempted murder. Gotta brush up on my fairy tales.

- - -

From: Sussex Gal
Date: Tuesday, September 5, 2017 at 1:40 PM
To: Matthew Friedman < mfriedman@politico.com>
Subject: RE: FW: LD 24

So you are good with devil worship?  I guess you forget all those child-molestation trials a few years ago.  Short memory.  

Well, if slavery is your issue, then how about that Islamic crescent? 

Check out where the FIFA cup will be played:   https://www.amnestyusa.org/press-releases/qatar-abuse-of-world-cup-workers-exposed/

This is happening today.  Now will you do something?

- - -

Subject: Re: LD 24
From: Matthew Friedman <mfriedman@politico.com>
Date: Tue, September 05, 2017 1:45 pm
To: Sussex Gal

So in that case I guess you’re going to condemn the Catholic church, too?   

- - -

From: Sussex Gal
Date: Tuesday, September 5, 2017 at 1:52 PM
To: Matthew Friedman <mfriedman@politico.com>
Subject: RE: LD 24

Why did you go there?  Condemn the Catholic church for what Matt?  Why would I condemn the Catholic Church?  Did a Bishop use slave labor to build the new FIFA stadium?

- - -

Subject: Re: LD 24
From: Matthew Friedman < mfriedman@politico.com>
Date: Tue, September 05, 2017 1:54 pm
To: Sussex Gal

You are saying that Wiccans are somehow responsible for child molestation because some people who practice the religion went on trial for it. And you don’t see how that idea is turned around on Catholicism?

- - -

From: Sussex Gal

Date: Tuesday, September 5, 2017 at 2:21 PM
To: Matthew Friedman <mfriedman@politico.com>
Subject: RE: LD 24

Matt, are seriously trying to argue that the Roman Catholic religion is the same as the practice of Wicca witchcraft?  Are you saying that Church practice uses sex in the same way that Wiccans do?  What is wrong with you?  The Church calls what some clergy did by its proper name: evil.  Wicca rejects that.  There is no evil in Wicca.  

Why have you deflected on the issue of the slavery happening today?  Why won't you address that?

- - -

Subject: Re: LD 24
From: Matthew Friedman < mfriedman@politico.com>
Date: Tue, September 05, 2017 2:27 pm
To: Sussex Gal

This is one of the dumbest exchanges I’ve ever had.

You’re painting an entire religion with the actions of a few. If Wicca is responsible for child molestation because a Wiccan priest committed the act, then by your logic Catholicism is responsible for the child molestation committed by some of its priests. That’s your logic, not mine.

And why do the abhorrent labor practices in Qatar represent the entirety of the world’s biggest religion? You’re not going to get an argument from me on how horrible Qatar and some other oil-rich middle-eastern countries treat migrant workers. But don’t you think you could find examples of horrible labor practices and atrocities in predominantly Christian countries? Hindu countries? Buddhist countries? And yet, you’re not holding those religions responsible for the sins committed by some of their practitioners. Why’s that?

- - -

From: Sussex Gal
Date: Tuesday, September 5, 2017 at 2:58 PM
To: Matthew Friedman < mfriedman@politico.com>
Subject: RE: LD 24

Why the insults?  Matt, the Roman Catholic church recognizes evil.  Wicca witchcraft does not.  You put forward YOUR argument that Roman Catholicism and Wicca are on equal footing.  YOU attempted to paint the worship of God and the worship of Satan as one in the same.  It is not my logic, it is your logic.  You raised it.  You argued it.  You own it.  That makes you a bigot.

As for your deflection on behalf of Islam.  Name some religious states (Qatar is an Islamic state) that are doing the same as Qatar?  Name some Christian countries? Hindu countries? Buddhist countries? Name some.  

Now why don't you do your job as a journalist and report fairly on this?  I remember when it was BIG NEWS that a Republican Senate candidate in Delaware was involved in Wicca (but then became a Christian).  Her PAST was a BIG DEAL and got lots of ink.  This is the present.  Report on it.  

- - -

From: Sussex Gal
Date: Tuesday, September 5, 2017 at 3:00 PM
To: Matthew Friedman <mfriedman@politico.com>
Subject: RE: LD 24

Let me add this.  At a time when slavery is happening right NOW.  When the United Nations says there are 48 million in slavery TODAY.  No candidates should be carrying around banners with symbols on it of nations or ideologies that are involved in the slave trade TODAY!

Instead of dredging in the muck of the past, try opening your eyes to what is going on TODAY.

- - -

Subject: Re: LD 24
From:Matthew Friedman <mfriedman@politico.com>
Date: Tue, September 05, 2017 3:16 pm
To: Sussex Gal

Kind of amazing that you don’t even recognize you threw the first insult. Look back at the exchange.

It’s also funny that you’re generalizing about entire religions and calling me a bigot. You can find atrocities committed by people in virtually every major country in the world, by people of virtually every major religion. Yet you only demonize a couple of those religions.

Here’s an example of religious oppression going on in a Buddhist country right now: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/09/05/rohingya-muslims-driven-myanmar-pictures/. What about ethnic cleansing in Serbia in the early 90s?  It goes on and on and on and on…  

Our constitution does not elevate any religion above any others. If you do, that’s your business. But it’s not my concern.

There is nothing newsworthy about some people holding a banner with the symbol for every religion they could think of. There is something newsworthy about an elected official standing in front of the symbol of the confederacy, which launched a war to separate from the United States so it could perpetuate slavery. That’s my news judgement. I really don’t care if you disagree.  

- - -

Subject: RE: LD 24
From: Sussex Gal
Date: Tue, September 05, 2017 4:09 pm
To: "Matthew Friedman" <mfriedman@politico.com>

Did you forget Hansel and Gretel?  Yeah, it is amazing.  

I guess you never read up on Wahhabism.  Under some of the most wealthy, dominant sects of Islam, slavery is not only doctrine but it is practiced.  Nations like Qatar practice state slavery.  You don't care.  You called it in one of your emails a "migrant worker" problem and a "labor practices" problem.  No, not "migrant workers", they are slaves.  They have been trafficked.  No, not "labor practices", it is called slavery.

Am I "generalizing" about Sharia law and what it means to women who must live under it?  In your "news judgment" (whatever that is) I guess I am.

Then there is Wicca.  You call it a "religion" and place it on the same level as our Judeo-Christian tradition.  That's sick.  There is nothing religious about the worship of evil.  

Then you smear Buddhism by claiming that a "Buddhist country" is committing religious oppression.  You obviously don't understand Buddhism, because to do that is a rejection of Buddhism, not the practice of it.  That is not the way with Islam, which clearly instructs believers to wage jihad.  When Christians act un-Christian, you cannot blame the teachings of Christ.  But you do and that makes you a bigot.  You look for an excuse to hate and nurture your excuses.

It is much more important for you to play with symbols because you lack the balls to take on the real evil around you.  Wally Edge taught you well. 

- - -

Subject: Re: LD 24
From: Matthew Friedman < mfriedman@politico.com>
Date: Tue, September 05, 2017 4:18 pm
To: Sussex Gal

Wait a second. Didn’t you write that Wicca rejects the concept of evil? Now you’re saying Wicca is “about the worship of evil.” That’s contradictory. But who am I to argue with you, an expert on religion?

- - -

Subject: RE: LD 24
From: Sussex Gal
Date: Tue, September 05, 2017 5:00 pm
To: "Matthew Friedman" <mfriedman@politico.com>

No Matt, when you reject the Judeo-Christian concept of good and evil and embrace "evil" things for their own sake you do end up worshipping evil.  But why am I even trying with you?  You are obviously an apologist for Wiccan witchcraft and maybe you know more than you are letting on.  

Who would have ever thought that we'd get a member of the media to go on the record in defense of Wicca.

- - -

Subject: Re: LD 24
From: Matthew Friedman < mfriedman@politico.com>
Date: Tue, September 05, 2017 3:19 pm
To: Sussex Gal

This is the Qatari flag. I don’t see it on the banner. Do you?

https://www.google.com/search?q=qatar+flag&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjJwtbL4Y7WAhUJrFQKHdBSATMQ_AUICigB&biw=1242&bih=559#imgrc=608buoVMPNRIbM:

- - -

From: Sussex Gal

Date: Tuesday, September 5, 2017 at 3:44 PM
To: Matthew Friedman < mfriedman@politico.com>
Subject: RE: LD 24

It is all symbols with you isn't it?  Very childish.  Qatar is an absolute monarchy and its official religion is Islam.  Their particular kind of Islam is Wahhabism.

- - -

Subject: Re: LD 24
From: Matthew Friedman <mfriedman@politico.com>
Date: Tue, September 05, 2017 3:44 pm
To: Sussex Gal

Your. Whole. Story. Pitch. Was. About. Symbols.

- - -

From: Sussex Gal
Date: Tuesday, September 5, 2017 at 4:18 PM
To: Matthew Friedman <mfriedman@politico.com>
Subject: RE: LD 24

And no, it was about a political rally.  It was about a flag flown at a political rally, not a rock concert.  But you focus on the rock concert and ignore the political rally.  Some reporter!

You are looking at a long dead emblem of a dead country, with nobody alive today who ever carried it into battle, and you are desperately trying to connect people to it.  To apply meaning to it.  That is a punk move.  So that you can feel better than them "redneck" and go home and buy your cheap products made with slave labor and maybe take a look at something on the internet made with slave labor too. 

- - -

Subject: Re: LD 24
From: Matthew Friedman < mfriedman@politico.com>
Date: Tue, September 05, 2017 4:29 pm
To: Sussex Gal

You are sad.

- - -

Subject: RE: LD 24
From: Sussex Gal
Date: Tue, September 05, 2017 4:55 pm
To: "Matthew Friedman" <mfriedman@politico.com>

Not as sad as a political reporter who ignores campaign rallies but trolls rock concerts looking for a gotcha.  What a joke!

- - -

Subject: Re: LD 24
From: Matthew Friedman <mfriedman@politico.com>
Date: Tue, September 05, 2017 4:57 pm
To: Sussex Gal

And Parker Space’s confederate flag tattoo?

- - -

Subject: RE: LD 24
From: Sussex Gal
Date: Tue, September 05, 2017 5:18 pm
To: "Matthew Friedman" <mfriedman@politico.com>

You obviously know his body a whole lot better than I do.

- - -

What is most shocking about this exchange is that Politico's Friedman refuses to call what is happening in Qatar by its real name -- slavery.  In Friedman's eyes it is an issue about how "Qatar and some other oil-rich middle-eastern countries treat migrant workers."  Friedman likens it to an immigration issue (the better to bash Trump?) when, in fact, the United Nations and groups like Amnesty International have clearly identified it as a case of human trafficking and slavery.   But Friedman dismisses it as merely an issue of "labor practices."  So on top of being a bigot, Politico's Matt Friedman is a slavery-denier too. 

Migrant workers in Qatar helping to construct offices for the 2022 World Cup reportedly haven't been paid after a year of toiling in the desert heat in slum like conditions. Sharan Burrow from the International Trade Union Confederation thinks Qatar should be boycotted until fundamental labor laws are in place.

Once Indicted for Stalking Women, NJ Democrat Leading Push For Stricter Taser Laws

From our friends at the New Jersey Second Amendment Society...

Identity politics kills Labor (and Labor is the hope of the world)

There was a spike in working class representation for a few decades after the Second World War, but since the end of the 1970's, that representation has declined and we are now back to where we were when the robber barons ran things.  In the wake of this, income inequality has turned into a gulf and working class wages have plummeted. 

Of course, America no longer has political debates that center around economic class.  That would be "class warfare" and we wouldn't want to be accused of that, would we?  Instead, the Establishment and its mainstream media stoke culture wars based on who you have sex with and race wars proclaiming that one group's lives matter more than the rest.  Why?  Because it takes the 99 percenters' focus away from what really matters:  jobs, taxes, crony capitalism, poverty, hunger, homelessness, education, debt, honest government, and the lack of democracy. 

Not so long ago, the Labor movement was at the center of Western culture.  In post-WWII America, Labor built the broad middle class -- negotiating a private safety net of secure employment and a growing, living wage, that turned paycheck-to-paycheck workers into consumers with disposable income.  The rise of identity politics saw that smashed to pieces -- with wages driven down and credit card debt replacing disposable income.

Does who we elect matter?  Would the election of more blue-collar workers arrest the death spiral of America's working class?  Or would the juvenile narcissism of identity politics -- fueled by billionaires' checkbooks -- continue to crowd out any broad-based relief for the poor and oppressed?

Duke University's Nick Carnes has studied some of these issues.  His book, White-Collar Government: The Hidden Role of Class in Economic Policy Making, should be read by every policy maker in America.  You can buy the book here:

 https://www.amazon.com/White-Collar-Government-Economic-American-Politics-ebook/dp/B00GE4MJU0?ie=UTF8&ref_=dp_kinw_strp_1

The link above is for convenience only, we recommend that you purchase your copy from an independent bookseller in your community.