Fright Friday: John McCain ratcheted-up national apprehension when on Friday, Aug. 29, 2008, he named Sarah Palin as his vice presidential running mate, blubbering: “She’s got the grit, integrity, good sense and fierce devotion to the common good that is exactly what we need in Washington today.”
And from that frightful fatal day, US politics has been fueled by animosity made even more nasty by being stupid.

(Illustration found here).

Of course, the real culprit in this dire situation was born Oct. 7, 1996 — Fox News.
Hence, the stage was set for the current ugly, smear-the-truth public debate on just about every subject, and accumulating in a horrific shooting in Tucson nearly two weeks ago — an incident which might have created a watershed change in the perception of US peoples for oral shit.

In a Gallup poll released Tuesday, Palin’s popularity has tanked since Tucson.
Via Raw Story:

The polling firm found that Palin’s favorable rating has declined to just 38 percent, down from a high of 53 percent when she was first introduced on the national stage by Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) during the 2008 presidential campaign (see above).
Another key metric, her unfavorable rating, has also eclipsed its prior high, hitting 53 percent in the latest poll, up from 28 percent since the presidential campaigns.

Gallup understates: Palin’s increasingly negative image suggests she would be in a relatively weak position for winning a national election unless opinions of her shift in a more positive direction over the coming year.

And Fox News — US peoples are sick of it.
In a Public Policy Polling on TV news:  A year ago a plurality of Americans said they trusted Fox News. Now a plurality of them don’t.
Again via Raw Story:

A poll gauging public trust in TV news has found that PBS is the most trusted name in news, while trust in Fox News has dropped significantly.
…
In a survey taken a year ago, PPP found that Fox was the most trusted news network, with 49 percent saying they trusted the network, and 37 percent saying they did not.
In the new poll, 42 percent said they trusted the network while 46 percent disagreed.
The new reigning champion is PBS, which was not included in last year’s inaugural poll.
The public broadcaster was found to be trusted by 50 percent of respondents, and distrusted by 30 percent — the closest any news network has come to gaining the trust of a majority of Americans.

Good grief: PBS?

And the Tea Party — an offshoot of Fox/Palin?
In an ABC/Washington Post poll:

Fifty-two percent of the US public had an unfavorable view of “the political movement known as the Tea Party,” the survey found, as opposed to only 35 percent who approved.

And the Tucson shooting has also raised alarms.
From The Hill:

An overwhelming 91 percent of voters said it’s “very important” or “somewhat important” that members of Congress continue hosting public forums in the wake of the Jan. 8 shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) and 18 others in Tucson, Ariz., the poll found.
But 60 percent said police should be present for those gatherings.

More cops, less nasty, dangerous oral shit.