Are Americans really all that angry?

Turn on the television these days and you’re likely to think the Republic is about to implode under growing tensions and culture-war rage.

MSNBC and liberal blogs are brimming with outrage and umbrage.

Talk radio and Fox News are chock full of tea partiers and people talking about America tipping at the brink.

Which is why this new survey from the New York Times is so interesting to me.

The study found that only 13% of Americans were “angry” about the Obama administration.

The survey found that 17% are angry about the “way things are going in Washington.”

Not to pick on conservatives, but about half of the respondents hadn’t even heard of the tea party movement, or else had no opinion about it.

I suspect that an even higher percentage would be completely unaware of liberal activist groups.

The great number of Americans fall into two categories:

38% are “disappointed but not angry” with the Obama administration.

37% are “satisfied but not enthusiastic.”

That means 75% of Americans — 3/4s of us! — are basically muddling along, trying to find solutions.

We’re not ideologues, not hero worshippers, we’re not believers in apocalypse or meltdowns. We’re just people who want good solid performance from our government.

So here’s the question: Why doesn’t our media reflect — and cater to — the vast majority of us living in the middle?