Another Iraq poll, and you can see the results here. As usual, what never ceases to amaze me are the people who “don’t know.”
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Come for the politics, stay for the snark.
Pessimism assures that nothing of any importance will change.
No one could have predicted…
Whatever happens next week, the fight doesn’t end.
When your entire life is steeped in white supremacy, equality feels like discrimination.
They fucked up the fucking up of the fuckup!
The worst democrat is better than the best republican.
And now I have baud making fun of me. this day can’t get worse.
It’s the corruption, stupid.
They think we are photo bombing their nice little lives.
“Everybody’s entitled to be an idiot.”
Republicans are the party of chaos and catastrophe.
Historically it was a little unusual for the president to be an incoherent babbling moron.
When do the post office & the dmv weigh in on the wuhan virus?
Ah, the different things are different argument.
I wonder if trump will be tried as an adult.
In my day, never was longer.
Peak wingnut was a lie.
Fuck these fucking interesting times.
Incompetence, fear, or corruption? why not all three?
This blog will pay for itself.
When someone says they “love freedom”, rest assured they don’t mean yours.
Some judge needs to shut this circus down soon.
Wow, I can’t imagine what it was like to comment in morse code.
Let’s delete this post and never speak of this again.
KC
Yeah, where do they come from?
rreay
I’ve been hit by one of these kinda polls a while back. “Don’t know” seems like a perfectly reasonable answer to some of these questions to me.
“How likely is it that a stable, democratic government will be established in Iraq?” I don’t know I’m not anything resembling an expert in government establishment.
“Has the military action in Iraq [Increased, Decreased, or had no effect on the threat of terrorism]”. I don’t know, I’m not a terrorist, psychologist, crypto-zoologist, forensic psychologist or have any expertise in any appropriate fields to be able to say.
The question, “Should the United States keep troops in Iraq until the situation has stabilized, or should the United States bring its troops home from Iraq immediately?” offers no middle ground. Answering “I don’t know” is as good of an “Other” answer as the test can record. I’m actually surprised there weren’t more “don’t know”’s for this question.
Finally, I would truthfully answer “don’t know” to that last question, “Do you have a friend, colleague or family member who has served in the military effort in Iraq at any time since March 2003?” A buddy of mine is an operator on AWACS. He’s based across the country from me so I talk to him rarely these days. When we do talk we don’t talk about where he’s been flying, he can’t answer so I don’t ask. Has he been to Iraq? I don’t know.
Marcus Wellby
I am so sick of polls. I mean, of the 1,001 respondents in this poll, how many are completely freaking nuts? They should thrown in a few crazy questions in every poll just so we all get a better idea of the people we are dealing with.
See how many respond yes to “Do you beleive in vampires”. Or better yet, to be more realistic, ask them to locate the Pacific Ocean on a map or name the first 3 presidents.
srv
Refreshing that 87% believe it’s OK to express opposition to the war, especially after that poll last year where 30% or so said the MSM should have to clear all stories with the Gov’t…
KC
Srv, I never saw that poll, but that’s very scary.
tBone
I’m guessing the “don’t knows” are the same people who were “undecided” on the eve of the election last year. Samantha Bee did a hilarious Daily Show segment where she rounded up a bunch of those gomers and ended up shouting obscenities at them.
trost
Amen to the above commenters: The whole WMD intel fiasco just goes to show that “don’t know” is the best answer for many of these questions — not just for the public but for our leaders.
Gary Farber
Many many people don’t read news at all, or watch it on tv, save involuntarily. Easy to forget in the blogosphere, I suppose.
ppGaz
You are absolutely right, it is a perfectly reasonable, and honest, answer.
Our problem is that your government, for whom “I don’t know” was also a reasonable and honest answer, won’t say so.
(Yes, I know it is “my” governemnt too, but it hurts less to call it “your” government. I can almost pretend that I am not stuck with these boneheads.)
Gary Farber
Oh, and as is typical with polls, my answer to #5 would have to be None Of The Above. There’s no option for “begin phasing out troops soon,” and well, what I called for here.
BarneyG
As some one that works in research and opinion polls a 3 to 4 percent “not sure/don’t know” response is very low.
pmm
I’d be fascinated if they tried to identify why attitudes about Iraq are changing for some–maybe a question that identified whether folks had changed their minds from–say November 2004–and if so, why?
As it is, everybody reads the tea leaves and explains (or excuses) shifts in support with whatever argument(s) they want to push at that time.
srv
KC,
Actually, it’s:
43% believe the press has too much freedom
22% believe the gov’t should be able to censor papers
http://www.uconn.edu/newsmedia/2005/may05/rel05033.html
Emma Zahn
I think the number of people who answered yes to the last question may be increasing. Since there was no previous poll data listed, it is hard to tell.
I wonder how many people find out the hard way that they know someone killed or injured in Iraq. It may only be a school mate barely known but it does bring the war closer to home.
…
Jim Caputo
I think these polls should come with some indicator of who actually got polled. For example, when I see results like this….
….then I have to wonder if what the results of this question would be:
Are you a Republican Kool-Aid drinker?
a – It’s not available where I shop.
b – I’ve seen it on the shelf, but I’ve never bought it.
c – I tried it once, but it was too bitter.
d – Occassionally…if nothing else is in the ‘fridge.
e – Republican Kool-Aid tastes better than any part of Jennifer Aniston.
I’m betting that nearly all of that 37% who approve of the way Bush is handling the war in Iraq would pick ‘e’ as their answer.
bains
I wonder the quality of responses, and hence the validity of polls, now that more and more people have caller ID. Anybody that has it, and has listed their numbers in a “no-call list” knows that non-profits and quasi-government agencies still call… and call… and call. Seriously, when you see TOLL FREE, PUBLIC SAFTEY, or any other number of variants do you pick up the phone?
bains
It must really piss you off Mr. Caputo, that Bush won the latest election. Or perhaps, like Krugman, you want to believe that Bush stole both the 2000 and 2004 elections. And if so, the irony that you mention Kool-aide drinkers…
(snark)
Tolerance is important. I applaud all efforts to educate and inform so that we all can become more tolerant. Just as long as everyone agrees with me…
(/snark)
Jim Caputo
Jeez…what gave me away?
Tim F
Oh, fuck.
link
Ahmad Chalabi likes the finalized Iraqi constitution. Anybody who thinks that’s good news has the attention span of a fruit fly.