Bio
"The world we have made as a result of the level of thinking we have done thus far creates problems we cannot solve at the same level of thinking at which we created them." Albert Einstein
my website: http://desententia.com
I am smart enough to know that I do not have all of the answers, and not dumb enough to believe that I do. I live in Seattle with my wife, two incredible kids, and a few pets that have earned a place inside the house. I am an avid soccer player and coach, longtime supporter of KEXP, and love shredding powder. I practice law to pay the bills.
Comments
Stupidity is non-partisan?
The poll also claims that 32% of independents and 27% of Democrats believe that. Other polls show that about a third of the American people believe the nutters who claim 9/11 was an "inside job."
People believe what they want to believe -and look to the news media for confirmation, not information. Not a good thing, but not limited to any particular party.
Can you explain why 27% of
Can you explain why 27% of Democrats and 32% of Independents believe the same thing?
The easiest explanation is actually that people get Saddam and Osama mixed up on the poll question. Doesn't say much for their intelligence, but it would certainly explain things.
Can you explain why 27% of
Can you explain why 27% of Democrats believe the same thing? Or 32% of Independents?
The most likely explanation, in my mind, is that some people still get Saddam and Osama mixed up.
Can you explain why 27% of
Can you explain why 27% of Democrats believe the same thing? Or 32% of Independents?
The most likely explanation in my mind is that some people still get Osama and Saddam mixed up. That could account for a goodly amount of those answers.
UNITED WE STAND, DIVIDED WE FALL
Occam's Razor
Curt,
My explanation for democrats and independents would be the same for republicans. At a base level, we are talking about ignorance. Why people might be ignorant about Saddam NOT being involved with September 11 might vary from group to group, but it still boils down to ignorance, even for democrats. Your own explanation is based on a lack of knowledge, the very definition of ignorance. So why do more people who identify themselves as republicans lack the information?
And this is not just ignorance about 'information', but ignorance that has led to war or is perpetuating a war. Shouldn't we be yelling and screaming for these republicans, democrats and independents to 'wake up', and yelling at (figuratively speaking) those who perpetuate the ignorance to cut it out? (i.e. Dick Cheney, who still links Saddam to September 11.)
Political leaders from the past have manipulated the public, and they will in the future. If this concerned a dispute over health care, I may not feel as strongly about it as I do about war. Stalin said 'a lie told often enough becomes the truth.' Hitler had 'the Big Lie.' Cheney is repeating the 'Saddam September 11" connection in such a way that it may be misleading to a large portion of the (uninformed) public. When that public ignorance is used to justify war, we should all be concerned.
(And no, I am not saying that Cheney is Hitler or Stalin, only that on a certain level he must know that some people will be misled by what he says, and he is using that to his political advantage.)
r.johnson
I'd be interested in knowing
I'd be interested in knowing why 42% of Democrats believe Bush either caused 9/11 or let it happen. Is this a good thing?
UNITED WE STAND, DIVIDED WE FALL
Talk About Misleading
Curt,
First, the numbers. I assume that you are referring to the Zogby poll where 6.3% of the respondents who identified themselves as democrats expressed belief that Bush caused 9/11, compared to 3.7% for republican respondents and 3.4% for independents. With a margin of error of approximately 3 percentage points, the poll could be interpreted as very few people actually believing Bush caused 9/11. However, you lump two categories of the poll together, leading with the more objectionable claim that '42% democrats believe Bush either caused 9/11 'or let it happen.' You fail to mention that the majority of those numbers come from the 'let it happen' category, while you lead with the perjorative 'caused it to happen.' Was this a conscious attempt to confuse the two issues and malign democrats?
Second, if you compare apples to apples, you will see that 27% of independents believe that Bush let 9/11 happen, compared to 36.3 for democrats and 15.5 for republicans. I am not a pollster, but I see little value in using this one category of many to 'explain' the poll numbers. I would think that some 'democrats' would answer 'let it happen' because they want to fault Bush, whether he should be faulted or not, because of anger over Bush and his policies, just as some 'republicans' would choose another response, whether or not Bush should be faulted, simply because he is the head of 'their' party and they think he can do no wrong. So who is more ignorant? You can't just take one category to explain the numbers. I could make the 'let it happen' numbers look pretty silly if I chose to use 'shop at Walmart' or 'attend church' as the sole criteria for comparison.
Third, whether or not this 'a good thing' misses the point entirely. You seem to argue that democrats are ignorant for holding the view that Bush let 9/11 happen. Even if you assume that is true, there is a fundamental difference between 'ignorance' about a perceived fact (the focus of your comment) and a person in a position of power using known ignorance to a dubious end (my post and comment).
r.johnson
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