Some disturbing results from a new Newsweek poll out this weekend:
Asked to identify his religion, 58 percent of respondents correctly said Obama was a Christian. But a surprising 11 percent said he was a Muslim. And 22 percent said they did not know what his religion was.
Almost one-fifth of white Democratic voters polled also said they had an unfavorable opinion of Obama because of his name.
As I've written in a previous post, I'm not entirely comfortable with Obama's embrace of religion in the public theatre but while I don't agree with his beliefs, I certainly don't think that it's reason enough to vote against the man. Sadly, many Americans do think this way and for such a significant portion of the voting public to be this ignorant about a presidential candidate while living in an age of instant, easily accessible information is truly depressing, if not entirely unsurprising.
And his name? This is how we're choosing the leader of the free world now? Hard to believe that we've come to this after electing guys named Millard, Grover and Chester, isn't it? Hell, millions of Evangelical Christians even voted for a guy named Bush. Bush! Sometimes white people really bother me.
[Update: Here are some more stats to put this in perspective:
22 percent believe President Bush knew about the 9/11 attacks in advance.These numbers don't make me any more optimistic about the intelligence of the American people but they do explain the aforementioned ignorance.]
30 percent believe Saddam had weapons of mass destruction.
23 percent believe they've been in the presence of a ghost.
18 percent believe the sun revolves around the Earth.
4 comments:
I don't know if I can believe that poll to be a completely accurate cross section of my fellow Americans. I am hoping that this is a gross exaggeration of the uneducated populous in our great nation. The only explanation has to be that the poll was given during the commercial break between Jerry springer and Judge Judy, on a workday. There is no other answer. It's extremely difficult and scary to ponder the possibility that Newsweek got it right with this poll of theirs.
I will say that I do believe most people polled here will not be part of the %56.70 that actually make it to the polls come election day. Yet, that thought doesn't help calm the fear that these stats have brought about in the first place. Not voting for a candidate because of his/her name and it's similarity to the leader of our so-called enemy over there in desert is absolutely ridiculous to me.( but understandable because of the uneducated, impressionable minds that make these rash decisions in the voting booth.)
What can we do?
-and I have been in the presence of a ghost. He sang of jelly doughnuts while juggling Saddam's WMBs.
I don't know what's so unbelievable. Larger percentages than these believe that a shoeless jew died for their "sins" so that they may live eternally. I guarantee you that every single one of those people who thought GWB knew about 9/11 in advance were voting in the last election. They had the most to gain.
It's a tough call for me when you say "W" had prior knowledge of 9/11 attacks because I feel that the specifics are important here. I don't think he got a text from the pilots and received a play-by play as they hit the towers, but I do feel that there was in-tell expressing anger towards America for a long, long time that came across the desk of the president.
The general feeling toward America was never hidden or concealed by Alqaeda. It is this information I feel should have been handled with more seriousness and interest. Perhaps increased security for our borders and more follow up with expired visa. Especially one's from countries that bad mouth us on "utube" every other week. The "untouchable" vibe "W" was throwing around feels really good until someone reaches out and blows up one of your major cities.
It's a shame it takes an atrocity such as 9/11 to get a reaction from the population of "Newsweek pole takers".(or sheer frustration and anger) Instead of feeling honored to perform a civic duty.
Hopefully this year we will again have record turn outs on election day, without a major tragedy. I guess I am grateful for GWB for at least one thing.... f#@king up and pissing off everyone so much that anyone even slightly associated with him or his party doesn't really stand a chance against "The Great White(half black) Hope" known as Mr. Barack Obama, come election day. I just hope he reads that Newsweek article and puts more money into schools and education when he finally does take office.
As far as the inspiring story of "shoeless Joe Jackson" and weather or not our SINS are now exchangeable for bliss currency when we get to the pearly gates solely because of this one carpenter... I belief he did have a couple pairs of Birkenstock.
Don't you remember Roger Moore explaining to Junior that he wrote about those Berks in his Grail Diary... so of course it's true. I mean it was written down a long time ago and that has to account for something.
had to show you my new avitar Sterling...
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