Federal credibility

[Leadeye]

I can remember days past when many of our federal institutions were considered something special. Today so many have lost almost all credibility. My oldest son considered a career in the FBI when he was a kid but drifted away from the idea over time. I've been trying to figure a time line for this, wondering when it all began. Maybe it was always there, but the increasing speed and quantity of news has just brought it out more. Either way it's going to take a long time to get back to where they were if indeed they ever will. Part of me wonders if maybe these institutions will continue down the path of money, politics and darker purposes.

 

[BiscuitsandGravy]

Barry has left the thread.

 

[Ingomike]

I can remember days past when many of our federal institutions were considered something special. Today so many have lost almost all credibility. My oldest son considered a career in the FBI when he was a kid but drifted away from the idea over time. I've been trying to figure a time line for this, wondering when it all began. Maybe it was always there, but the increasing speed and quantity of news has just brought it out more. Either way it's going to take a long time to get back to where they were if indeed they ever will. Part of me wonders if maybe these institutions will continue down the path of money, politics and darker purposes.

I think we need to add a historical perspective. Coming out of WWII, the organization and competence of the US government seemed amazing, the space race increased that belief in the people. Vietnam and Watergate affected some but, particularly the greatest generation maintained their belief in government.

In that backdrop there always was malfeasance in the but the goodwill earned outweighed the bad. For the last forty years there has been a constant drip of exposure to the bad side that slowly, prior to the internet, and faster after, that has exposed the unseemly side of those organizations.

Those organizations also have gained enormous power and technology to use that power with in the computer era. I believe the intelligence organizations of the US have as much power as the President himself and that the threat of Trump is he is unwilling to be a puppet like GWB or BHO. I further believe Trump intends to upend all of this if elected.

So to your question they gradually lost credibility as their unseemly side was exposed and their biggest fans died off

 

[INPatriot]

...plus the post 9/11/GWOT metastatic growth of the Military Industrial Complex AND the unchecked augmentation of the CIA/FBI/NSA after it was "discovered" those institutions weren't privy to specific intel pre-9/11....

 

[blain]

Part of me wonders if maybe these institutions will continue down the path of money, politics and darker purposes.

Yes, Yes and Oh Yes.

 

[JTKelly]

I believe the fall of credibility in government slide down pretty close to the slip in public education in general.

 

[JCSR]

.gov still has many loyal followers.....

 

[Expat]

I was just talking about this with an uncle yesterday. I think it got worse, if it existed before under Obama. They made a concerted effort to weaponize all bureaucracies against the mainstream of America.

 

[jwamplerusa]

I believe the recognition that the government of the United States no longer operated within the restrictions of the Constitution accelerated after the internet became more widely available in the mid-90s. It has been a continuous acceleration, with large leaps, since then.

The administrative state laid themselves bare both after 9/11 again in 2008, and most assuredly in 2020 with covid. The wanton desire to surveil US citizens, to weaponize government agencies against citizens, and the desire for unfettered and unchecked power became far too obvious for many US citizens to ignore.

Finally with the 2016 through 2020 elections it became increasingly apparent that the United States government was willfully violating the restrictions placed upon it regarding First amendment protected speech. The coercing of private entities to sensor speech government actors did not like undoubtedly furthered both the quantity of those who distrusted government and accelerated the trend as the truth became apparent.

I grew up in an era, and with parents, who believed the government did good. That the government of the United States were the good guys.

Since probably the mid-90s I have had one Epiphany after another that there were no good guys in government. Even if individuals were moral and ethical, the organizations which employed them were not, for they were not humans.

Each time that I have believed I had achieved a proper level of distrust and wareiness of the federal government I have been proven wrong.

 

[INPatriot]

I believe the recognition that the government of the United States no longer operated within the restrictions of the Constitution accelerated after the internet became more widely available in the mid-90s. It has been a continuous acceleration, with large leaps, since then.

The administrative state laid themselves bare both after 9/11 again in 2008, and most assuredly in 2020 with covid. The wanton desire to surveil US citizens, to weaponize government agencies against citizens, and the desire for unfettered and unchecked power became far too obvious for many US citizens to ignore.

Finally with the 2016 through 2020 elections it became increasingly apparent that the United States government was willfully violating the restrictions placed upon it regarding First amendment protected speech. The coercing of private entities to sensor speech government actors did not like undoubtedly furthered both the quantity of those who distrusted government and accelerated the trend as the truth became apparent.

I grew up in an era, and with parents, who believed the government did good. That the government of the United States were the good guys.

Since probably the mid-90s I have had one Epiphany after another that there were no good guys in government. Even if individuals were moral and ethical, the organizations which employed them were not, for they were not humans.

Each time that I have believed I had achieved a proper level of distrust and wareiness of the federal government I been proven wrong.

Bingo!

 

[BigRed]

I suggest erosion of the central state's credibility began somewhere around 1791 when the ******* central state placed a tax on whiskey.

BTW, have I shared my opinion regarding the central state and secession?

 

[firecadet613]

IBTW, have I shared my opinion regarding the central state and secession?

I'm not sure you have.

 

[KJQ6945]

I think the answer is probably generational.

For me, it was the Clinton era. Assault weapons ban, Ruby Ridge, and Waco. The .gov tried really hard to become the bad guys. I had always seen them as the good guys.

I did my military service under Reagan. I felt he was a good commander in chief. I thought Carter was an idiot, but a good guy. I never considered him evil.

The feds became questionable during Bush, downright evil under Clinton. Any respect I had for either Bush has since evaporated. Their hatred of Trump has shown me that they are nothing but Clinton/Obama/Biden, lite. The uniparty. The only thing they are against is us.

 

[printcraft]

There is no penalty for failure in the .gov so there is no accountability and never will be.

 

[bwframe]

There is no penalty for failure in the .gov so there is no accountability and never will be.

 

[Ingomike]

I thought this was good to put here.

Public Trust in Government: 1958-2024

Public trust in government remains low, as it has for much of the 21st century. Roughly two-in-ten Americans say they trust the government in Washington to do what is right “just about always” (2%) or “most of the time” (21%).

www.pewresearch.org

Why the Ruling Class Fears Democracy ⋆ Brownstone Institute

Being unheard has broken trust in democracy. Less than half the people in developed countries trust their government, media, and NGOs.

brownstone.org

 

[BigRed]

There is no penalty for failure in the .gov so there is no accountability and never will be.

Not until citizens deliver the penalty.

 

[NHT3]

Federal and credibility don't belong in the same sentence and in the past 5 years it's been on steep downhill slide.