According to polls, the American public thinks that Wall Street and the big banks are evil and they want them flayed and staked to anthills:

Most people interviewed in the Bloomberg National Poll say they don’t like Wall Street, banks or insurance companies and favor letting the government punish bankers who helped cause the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.

OK, so maybe I exaggerate a bit, but it has the ring of truthiness, and they did not ask about flaying or anthills in the poll.

Even less shocking is the response of the banks to the news of these attitudes, a brand new PR campaign:

One of Wall Street’s main lobbying groups is starting an image-improvement campaign aimed at showing the financial industry as trustworthy and a positive force after more than a year of being chastised in Washington.

You know, if you stopped making your goal f%$#ing the ordinary American, people might like you more.