AN OVERALL VOTE OF NO-CONFIDENCE – AT 1:44 P.M. ET:   Our institutions are failing to thrill the American people with their abilities.  From the fine reporter, David Martosko, at the Daily Mail: 

The Trump administration is suffering from a trust deficit as the president battles with federal lawmakers and political journalists.

But a new poll that identified the problem found Americans trust Congress and the news media even less.

A survey conducted by Marist College for National Public Radio and the PBS 'NewsHour' program found just 37 per cent of adults in the U.S. trust the Trump administration, compared with 61 per cent who don't.

More than four in 10 said they don't trust the administration 'at all.'

Congress is distrusted by 68 per cent of Americans and trusted by just 29 per cent.

The media tied Congress witl 68 per cent distrust, but had far more in the 'not at all' column.

Thirty per cent of adults said they trust the media either 'a good amount' or 'a great deal.'

The two American institutions that placed highest were intelligence agencies and the courts.

Sixty per cent of adults said they trust the intelligence community, compared with 37 per cent who don't.

Those numbers were the same for the courts. They're also an almost perfect mirror of Trump's.

COMMENT:   Polls are snapshots in time, but they give us a general view of what people are thinking.  We have a trust deficit, and it will be difficult to repair in today's contentious atmosphere.  To a degree, distrust in institutions can be positive, driving those institutions to do better.  But I wouldn't want the nation to have to go to war under current conditions of cynicism.

July 4, 2017