In the latest NBC News/Wall St. Journal poll, over two-thirds of the American electorate are fed up with our representative government. The pollsters are blaming the recent decline on Republicans who are running away from President Bush. The news for Congress is even worse: only 23 percent approve of the job that Congress is doing.

So why is Average Joe so surly? For me, it’s not the fact that the government is at a legislative stalemate. The less the government action the better. Rather I think it’s what they are focusing on: constant investigations, the Bush Derangement Disorder sufferers, and yes, the brainlessness of Alberto Gonzales and others in the administration that don’t seem to do the boss any favors.

The constant drumbeat by the media on the bad news coming out of Washington has definitely dinged up the chassis at the White House and Capitol. Who gets inspired by Sen. Reid’s declarations of defeat in Iraq? When the Prez says that his base is misinformed about the new immigration policy, it doesn’t generate faith that this new deal will work.

Psychologists will tell you that anger is a secondary emotion, masking the true feelings of the ticked-off. Perhaps for both Republicans and Democrats living in fly-over land, it’s a sadness that no matter what we try, or who we support, little positive change is realized.