Americans' Confidence in the Military OK, but Slipping

Strategy Page is touting the fact that the U.S. military is still the most respected institution in America, but they neglect to note the significant slippage in the past three years.

For the 2006 survey, 47% of Americans said they had "a great deal of confidence" in the military, but in 2005 & 2004 62% of Americans agreed, and in 2003, 71% agreed.

And there are some other interesting numbers that don't bode well for America. Here are the percentages of Americans saying they had "a great deal of confidence" in other institutions:

Supreme Court - 33%, down from 41% in 2002
White House - 25% down from 50% in 2002
Public Schools - 22%
Courts & the Justice System - 21%
TV News - 19%
The Press - 14%
Congress - 10%

So, what's the deal here? The easy answer is that the military is slipping because of negative press coverage and one-sided coverage of events in Iraq. However, if only 14%-19% of Americans have confidence in the media, should press coverage really be having that much of an effect?