When John Kerry's patriotism was attacked, we said, "Oh, nobody's gonna believe that."

When they said Obama isn't an American citizen, we said, "Oh, nobody's gonna believe that."

Well, in a rational world, that may have been true.

But what some Democrats are missing is the extent to which people are under stress and believe themselves to be oppressed by a mysterious "They."

Progressive people seem to make a distinction between the public and private sector. Regular people, not so much. It's not the government who routinely sneaks false charges onto our phone bills. But the corporation who owns the phone company does. It's not the government that seduces us into buying credit cards and then jacks up the interest rates. But the politically-connected credit card companies sure do. We are surrounded by corrupt institutions, constantly preying on us. And whatever "reform" the government enacts always seems bought and paid for by all these other powerful institutions. This is the environment in which we live. The "government" just seems like a corrupt extension of the real power structure. So it's easy to believe that there's a death panel that is going to deny us care when we are old. They deny us care now, when we are not old. So why wouldn't they cut us off for good when we are old? 

Life has been getting harder in the United States of America. Yes, you and I know it is because of a war on the middle class, started in the Reagan administration.

But we, the people who are under attack don't see the government as a knight in shining armor that is going to save us. One of the biggest burdens people have, especially people who are self-employed, is the huge, unfair amount we pay in taxes. The government doesn't seem to give a shit when a person who makes $33,000 a year cannot cough up the $10,000 the government claims is its cut. In an environment like this, when people are besieged on all sides, it is easy to believe that They are out to get us.  And They is all those insiders who seem to know how to make the system work for them - and against us. They are the bankers who are given trillions when they screw up on Wall Street. They are owners of giant corporations who manipulate the laws to enrich themselves. They are the corporations themselves, who put us on hold for hours at a time when we call to complain about how we are treated. They are the insurance companies that turn us down for coverage because of some pre-existing condition. And They are the government bureaucrats who have sold out to these money interests.

This is why the Democrats cannot seem to mount a populist movement. The Party of the People is out of touch with the people. Democrats understand that the government is a well-meaning check on corporate greed - the billions of dollars in campaign contributions that fund the system not withstanding. Democrats understand that the government is trying its best in difficult times, under severe financial restraints. Democrats understand that the government was hijacked by the Republicans and turned into an arm of corporate America.

But us poor dumbfucks out here, all we understand is that there seems to be one giant conspiracy afoot to impoverish and enslave us. Government, corporations, institutions, the news media - they all seem to be in on it.

So when we hear that there are going to be death panels that will refuse us medical treatment at the end of our lives and dress it up in a fancy word like euthanasia, that sounds all-too plausible. The fact that it is false does not matter. They said there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. That was false, but it didn't stop them from going ahead with their trillion dollar war. If They're not gonna screw us one way, They're sure as hell gonna screw us some other way. That's the world we live in.

Is it irony or tragedy that Republicans seem to understand - and manipulate - this feeling better than Democrats? I don't know. You tell me.

But it would be nice if Democrats weren't always dumbfounded when they hear that people don't trust the government. There are some very, very good reasons why we don't see the government as being on our side.