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Friday, May 12, 2006
Useless Flash Poll
WaPo does its patriotic duty and carries water for the president's illegal and un-American activities:
A majority of Americans initially support a controversial National Security Agency program to collect information on telephone calls made in the United States in an effort to identify and investigate potential terrorist threats, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll.
The new survey found that 63 percent of Americans said they found the NSA program to be an acceptable way to investigate terrorism, including 44 percent who strongly endorsed the effort. Another 35 percent said the program was unacceptable, which included 24 percent who strongly objected to it.
The article notes that the polling data is rather sketchy at best, so it makes me wonder what value it really has except to give cover to fascist apologists. Once people have a chance to internalize this and put it into the frame of their negative view of Bush's overall performance, handling of national security and honesty, it's a cinch that these numbers will change.
Rather than reporting this as some sort of horserace thing, where legality and constitutionality are determined by American Idol rules, how about providing real analysis of the program, give some appropriate context and act like a skeptical, adversarial media for a change?
ntodd
[Update: apropos of nothing, the only poll worth paying attention to™:
Thirty-nine percent (39%) of Americans Approve of the way that George W. Bush is performing his role as President and 60% Disapprove.
The President earns approval from 43% of white Americans, 7% of black Americans, and 34% of all other Americans.
Wonder if Assmussen will do a poll on the new NSA revelations? They did on the original wiretapping stuff, IIRC.
On an unrelated polling note, they have been following the immigration stuff. With 34% of "all other Americans" support Chimpy, what's his major primetime OHMYGODBROWNPEOPLESTEALINGOURJOBS speech going to do to his support? Drive it further south, methinks...]
['nother update: PERRspectives has a, erm...different perspective.]
May 12, 2006 in Assmussen | Permalink
Comments
OMG, you too??? Its "ITS", not "IT's". :-)
Posted by: NTodd's Pa | May 12, 2006 1:34:14 PM
It is small sample and fast out of the gate, so let’s hope it's an outliner. But I’m never surprised to hear that American’s are willing to compromise their basic freedoms.
Posted by: michaelw | May 12, 2006 2:04:48 PM
Lol, NTodd's Pa. The grammatical error that distracts me is the misuse of I when it should be me. Give that to Bill or I instead of Give that to Bill or me.
But I also write as I speak so have other mangled errors which I ignore.
As to the polls showing NSA support, change the question for the wingnuts to: Will you allow President Hillary Clinton to wiretap your phones with NO OVERSIGHT so she can see if MAYBE terrorists MIGHT be THINKING of attacking the US?
Posted by: ellroon | May 12, 2006 2:25:41 PM
Smirky McDoofus may not even get his speech broadcast on Monday. Apparently the major networks are still thinking about whether to grant the White House's request for 20 minutes of air time in the middle of May sweeps.
Posted by: Michael | May 12, 2006 2:40:16 PM
Shit. Its not my fault: it's proper usage is optional.
Posted by: NTodd | May 12, 2006 2:52:23 PM
Shit. Its not my fault: it's proper usage is optional.
Um. I hope this response was sarcastic because it has the correct usages exactly reversed.
It's = "it is"; it's a contraction.
Its is a possessive (E.g., "The political party lost its way."). No apostrophe here (you wouldn't put an apostrophe in "his" would you?).
That is, the original post was correct. Everybody got that? [Yeah, yeah, my mother was an English teacher. That's my excuse for boring pedantry.]
Posted by: David in NY | May 12, 2006 3:57:36 PM
Yes, I was being sarcastic. And I fixed the original typo.
That's all it was. A typo. Mrs H drilled all that crap into me in English II.
It was a typo. For the love of God, why doesn't anybody believe me? And the hatch...it JUST BLEW!
Posted by: NTodd | May 12, 2006 4:10:55 PM
God, I certainly hope this stupid poll is an example of poor statistical methods, or poor questioning, or a lack of context. I would hate to think that Americans are that lacksadaisical about their basic Constitutional rights.
I wonder if the question included the information that none of the stuff culled from these phone records could in any way be used to protect any Americans. Fruit of the poisonous tree, for those of us who are legally trained.
Posted by: Nora | May 12, 2006 4:19:31 PM
Yes, I was being sarcastic. And I fixed the original typo.
That's all it was. A typo. Mrs H drilled all that crap into me in English II.
Thank God. These things really affect those of us who had Mrs H for a mother.
On the merits, a poll done this fast with a sample of 500 is not very persuasive. On the other hand, didn't somebody say that nobody ever lost money underestimating the intelligence of the American people?
Posted by: David in NY | May 12, 2006 4:43:43 PM
Nobody ever asks me ...
Posted by: blogenfreude | May 12, 2006 4:46:50 PM
Me neither. I get the Nielsens twice in three months and our tv watching is PBS and "Lost." I got the Arbitrons last year, and radio is all-NPR all the time.
But do I get asked about the important issues of the day? Ha!
Posted by: Linkmeister | May 12, 2006 6:00:38 PM
Buy me stuff off my 
