[notdownwidems]

I wouldn’t say we Americans HATE government - although they certainly mistrust government in general and hate what it has become

I completely disagree...personally I hate hate HATE the federal government, have for decades...I think many people feel like I do, that the U.S. government is COMPLETELY out of control and, if the electorate doesn't do something SOON to change that, our nation (if it isn't already) will be lost.

[Mouton]

“When I was growing up in the post-war era, the government was well-thought of”

I worked for the government investigating corruption at the time you are addressing. You are correct. For us it was the good and moral verses the evil and immoral. Politics was a distant notion to us, we just did our job.

To me, things changed circa the mid 70s. Politics began to trump right from wrong. The “hippys” of the 60s evolved into the dems, mostly, of the 70s. It got worse under Carter. Reagan brought in a bunch of clear thinkers in the executive branch albeit the Congress had a bunch of dem commies. Then the erosion began in the GOP, who hated him, and we had the mellowing of the GOP under Bush I. When Clinton, a draft dodger, beat two successive war veterans in 92 and 96, both of whom where not conservatives themselves, I knew it was all over and time to move on.