Screw the media and the pundits, the public is getting it

greenwald...

As polling data conclusively demonstrates, the mindset of the voting public is infinitely more rational and substance-based than the pundits and the Right fantasize when they lyrically praise the Regular American -- at least it is in this time of perceived (and actual crisis). What's happening in this country, and in this election, is rather simple and easy to see:

(1) the country is in total shambles -- possibly far worse than what people even realize;

(2) we have lived for the last eight years under virtually absolute GOP rule;

(3) the public knows this;

(4) the Republican President and his party are therefore intensely -- historically -- unpopular; and

(5) the voting public doesn't want to continue living under the rule of the same faction and same political party that has driven the country into the ground.

kinda sums it up, don't it...?

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Spreading lies about Obama by withholding the truth

newsmax emails regularly land in my spam folder... i occasionally read them for giggles and grins... mostly i just delete them as an inordinate number are ads for miracle cures and get-rich-quick schemes, stuff that seriously detracts from newsmax' already sub-zero credibility quotient...

however, here's a great example of how that odious site distorts the news... check the headline...

Poll: 11% Believe Obama Is Muslim

now, check the article...

A new Newsweek poll out this weekend shows Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama may face serious obstacles in the upcoming general election.

Many Americans aren't even sure of Obama's religion.

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.

Apparently, such bias is having an effect on Obama's chances to secure the presidency. Though the Democrats seemingly have significant landscape advantages this year with Bush's approval ratings in the tank and a weakening economy,

Obama ties McCain in the poll, 46 percent to 46 percent.

ok... ya with me so far...? now, let's take a look at how the above information is presented in the actual newsweek article...

the following is from the first two paragraphs...

Race is a difficult subject to talk and write about. Although the blogosphere is rarely shy, mainstream journalists often tread lightly for fear of giving offense or indulging in stereotypes. Political candidates sometimes slyly play the race card, but rarely overtly. Not eager to call attention to race as an issue, the Obama campaign plays it down as a factor in the election. But if an Obama adviser were writing an honest memo to the candidate, here's how it might read:

The good news is that you have all but won the nomination. The bad news, if we are willing to face reality, is that the country—some parts of it, anyway—may not be ready to elect a black president of the United States.

nine, VERY lengthy paragraphs in to the article, we read this...

The Internet has been a sluice for lies and distortions about your religion and background. It is widely and falsely rumored that you are Muslim (in the NEWSWEEK Poll, 11 percent of voters believe you are); that you chose to be sworn in to the Senate using a Qur'an rather than a Bible, and that you refuse to place your hand over your heart for the singing of the national anthem because, you are imagined to have said, "the anthem conveys a warlike message." As a recent post on Politico.com points out, there is a "Genealogy of Barack Hussein Obama" making the Web rounds, helpfully illustrated by pictures of your dark-complexioned relatives dressed in African garb. The message is not subtle: it says that Barack Obama is not a "real American."

no mention whatsoever in the newsmax story about "lies and distortions"...

let's see how the "muslim rumor" was treated in the original newsweek poll article...

here's paragraph four from the five paragraph story...

Confusion over Obama's religious background may also be hindering his ability to attract white support. Asked to name Obama's faith, 58 percent of participants said Christian (the correct answer), compared with 11 percent who answered Muslim, 22 percent who did not know and 9 percent who said something else.

not that we didn't know this, but newsmax really sucks...

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Polls: public's opinion of economy deteriorating at record pace

well, go--l-l-leeee... the wapo takes a poll and gets a b.g.o...*

The public's ratings of the national economy continue to sour, with assessments deteriorating faster than at any point in Washington Post-ABC News polling. Views on the Iraq war have also turned more negative, with six in 10 now rejecting the notion that the United States needs to win there to effectively battle terrorism.

the bush administration agenda is turning out to be a smashing success... they set out to create a situation where literally everything, world-wide, would fall apart, and, whaddaya know, that's exactly what's happening...

* b.g.o. = blinding glimpse of the obvious...

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Hillary, pay close attention...

look what your insane campaign of ego and bile is doing to the mood of the voting public... or is this the intent...?

Partly thanks to an increasingly likable image, the Republican presidential candidate has pulled even with the two Democrats still brawling for their party's nomination, according to an Associated Press-Yahoo! News poll released Thursday. Just five months ago — before either party had winnowed its field — the survey showed people preferred sending an unnamed Democrat over a Republican to the White House by 13 percentage points.

Also helping the Arizona senator close the gap: Peoples' opinions of Hillary Rodham Clinton have soured slightly, while their views of Barack Obama have improved though less impressively than McCain's.

The survey suggests that those switching to McCain are largely attuned to his personal qualities and McCain may be benefiting as the two Democrats snipe at each other during their prolonged nomination fight.

get the hell out, hillary... NOW...!

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Why hasn't this man resigned?

or, better yet, been prosecuted for war crimes...

2006



2007



2008



here's a closer look...

The latest Gallup poll finds that President Bush’s approval rating has fallen to 28 percent — “a record low” for his administration. Bush’s approval is “lower than that of any president since World War II, with the exceptions of Jimmy Carter (who had a low point of 28% in 1979), and Richard Nixon and Harry Truman, who suffered ratings in the low- to mid-20% range in the last years of their administrations.”

(thanks to think progress...)

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Bush's approval drops in to the teens

quoting atrios, Holy Crap...!

George W. Bush's overall job approval rating has dropped to a new low in American Research Group polling as 78% of Americans say that the national economy is getting worse according to the latest survey from the American Research Group.

Among all Americans, 19% approve of the way Bush is handling his job as president and 77% disapprove. When it comes to Bush's handling of the economy, 14% approve and 79% disapprove.

Among Americans registered to vote, 18% approve of the way Bush is handling his job as president and 78% disapprove. When it comes to the way Bush is handling the economy, 15% of registered voters approve of the way Bush is handling the economy and 79% disapprove.

dismal... also, note the precipitous plunge from january to february...

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Penn and Teller wipe the floor with GOP pollster Frank Luntz

oh, this is rich...!



all together now, "F*** YOU, FRANK...!"

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"2 percent of Basra residents felt that the British military had had a positive impact"

considering the margin of error for polls in general, 2% is equivalent to no support whatsoever...

juan cole...

A recent poll conducted in Basra has little good news in it for the British in the south.

In the poll, only 2 percent of Basra residents felt that the British military had had a positive impact on the security situation in the southern port. Some 86% said that the British impact has been negative! Not suprisingly, 83% said they wanted British troops to leave Iraq altogether. The BBC adds:

Two-thirds felt security would improve in the short term, while 72% said it would improve in the long term. Only 5% said security would deteriorate following the withdrawal.

These number really are suggestive of a colonial experiment gone badly wrong. If the British had been in the Iraqi south as helpmeets to Iraqi authorities, as former PM Tony Blair often alleged, it is hard to imagine that the people there would be this hostile.

"gone badly wrong" is a serious understatement...

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The Foreign Policy Anxiety Indicator

from the report...

Loss of Faith: Public's Belief
in Effective Solutions Eroding

the surprising thing is that anyone would find this surprising… you only have to look at what happened to chris dodd’s campaign when he announced his hold on the fisa bill… as greenwald says, “That is why Dodd’s relatively mild actions have generated such intense enthusaism and support — a drop of water to someone stranded in the desert will seem like a royal feast.” we’re dying for lack of leadership and, as glenn so well puts it, even a tiny bit looks like a LOT when we haven’t seen any for so long…

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24

yeah, there have been plenty of other posts by plenty of other people about this, but i simply cannot pass it up...

Bush's job approval rating fell to 24 percent from last month's record low for a Zogby poll of 29 percent. A paltry 11 percent gave Congress a positive grade, tying last month's record low.

my god, the teens cannot be far behind...

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McClatchy: wrong direction, dump Bush, help the poor

it's ugly out there, as well it should be...

The surveys point to one thing almost all Americans tend to agree on: They're deeply unhappy with the way things are going in the United States and eager to move on. There's virtually no appetite to extend the Bush era, as there was at the end of Ronald Reagan's presidency in 1988 or Bill Clinton's in 2000.

* Just 1 in 5 Americans think the country is going in the right direction, the worst outlook since the Reagan-Bush era ended in 1992.

* Less than one-third of Americans like the way the current President Bush is handling his job, among the lowest ratings in half a century. The people had similarly dismal opinions just before they ended the Jimmy Carter era in 1980, the Kennedy-Johnson years in 1968 and the Roosevelt-Truman era in 1952.

* The ranks of people who want the government to help the poor have risen sharply since the early 1990s — dramatically among independents, but even among Republicans.

The public mood is evident in Iowa, the heartland state that votes first for major-party presidential nominees and a pivotal swing state in the last two presidential elections.

"People are very unhappy, very unsettled,'' said Megan Phillips, a teacher from Centerville, a town of about 6,000 in southern Iowa.

[...]

"People don't trust anything coming out of Washington,'' she said. "When Bush says we're winning the war in Iraq, I say, 'Oh really?' The weapons of mass destruction weren't there. Why are we still there? We want our people to come home. There are so many things at home that need to be taken care of."

[...]

"It's a sour mood," said David Johnson, a former aide to Kansas Republican Bob Dole's 1996 presidential campaign. His public relations firm, Strategic Vision, conducted the poll for corporate clients.

"There's a feeling that things are not going well. There are concerns about the economy, concerns about Iraq. ... They don't want a third term for Bush, not even Republicans. Among Democrats, I've never seen anything like it. And independents just want to be done with him."

well, people are definitely upset, and that's good... now, if they would just get upset over the most CRITICAL issue, one that trumps all the others, even as critical as they are, and that's the methodical destruction of our constitution, an issue that won't go away with the 2008 election...

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Opus on polls

do yourself a favor and check out the current opus in salon...

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Can the teens be far behind?

american research group...

His approval rate is 18 percent among independents.

(thanks to kos...)

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We have no choice, we gotta impeach the bastards

no if's, and's or but's about it... they gotta go...

robert parry...

If some historic challenge is not made to the extraordinary assertions of power by President Bush and Vice President Cheney, the United States might lose its status as a democratic Republic based on a Constitution that adheres to the twin principles that no one is above the law and everyone is endowed with inalienable rights.

[...]

The current Democratic strategy of fighting and losing legislative battles over symbolic resolutions of disapproval or meaningless votes of no confidence only invites the consolidation of the Bush-Cheney vision of an all-powerful presidency.

The Democratic fecklessness also alienates the only logical allies in the fight to save the Republic, millions of citizens alarmed at the Bush-Cheney power grab.

In my neighborhood in Arlington, Virginia, lawn signs have sprung up reading simply “Impeach Him” or “Impeach Them Both.” No one needs to say who the “him” and the “them” are.

From opinion polls, it’s clear, too, that Americans across the country are furious with Bush and Cheney. Many recognize that Bush and Cheney represent an unparalleled threat to core American principles, such as the concept of inalienable rights.

These millions of Americans are searching for some courageous politicians willing to take the lead. Instead, the people get all-night Iraq War debates that go nowhere – and empty promises that, some day down the road, the Democrats will finally get serious.

goddam it, i get so tired of saying the same things over and over and over, but i suppose that's simply the way of advocating for serious changes... so, here goes, yet again...

every congressperson and every 2008 presidential candidate from BOTH parties ought to be sounding the alarm from every courthouse tower in every county seat in the country... our constitutionally-based, democratic republic is in serious danger and there's not a moment to lose... george and dick not only have to go, every unconstitutional provision that they've put in place to exercise unfettered power has to be EXORCISED prior to 20 january 2009... i don't want ANY of those power levers available to ANY president of ANY party...

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Neither over-confident nor crazy, merely dogged and determined

from today's wapo roundup of the nation's op-ed pages...

Today's Hot Topic: Is Bush Confident or Crazy?

In the WaPo, Eugene Robinson worries that the leader of the free world has "really, truly lost touch with objective reality." He writes: "It's bad enough that Osama bin Laden is still out there plotting bloody acts of terrorism, convinced that God wants him to slay the infidels. Now we know that the president of the United States believes God has chosen him to bring freedom to the world, that he refuses to acknowledge setbacks in his crusade, and that he flat-out doesn't care what 'the polls' -- meaning the American people -- might think" ... in the NYT, Paul Krugman writes that Bush's continued optimism is "terrifying," and that it "doesn't demonstrate Mr. Bush's strength of character; it shows that he has lost touch with reality." He adds that "Mr. Bush keeps doing damage because many people who understand how his folly is endangering the nation's security still refuse, out of political caution and careerism, to do anything about it."

suggesting that bush has lost touch with reality misses the point entirely... the bush administration is on the homestretch of its - so far - quite successful campaign to turn our nation into an authoritarian state... a complete and total disregard for any and all external influences other than those that support that agenda is merely symptomatic...

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"Congress is a creature of special interests and no longer represents the American people."

once again, paul craig roberts...

Bush's and Cheney's lies and assaults on the US Constitution and American civil liberty, their plans to attack Iran, and the war crimes for which they are responsible provide an open and shut case for their impeachments. The latest polls show that 54% of Americans support impeachment of Vice President Cheney, with only 40% opposed. Bush hangs on by a hair with 45% favoring his impeachment and 46% opposed. But Democrats, like Republicans, have failed the electorate and refuse to do their duty. Congress is a creature of special interests and no longer represents the American people.

Obviously, some new method is needed for removing incompetent or dictatorial presidents and vice presidents.

[...]

If America is to remain a democracy, the people need refurbished powers to hold "government of the people, by the people, for the people" accountable. One way of doing this would be a vote of confidence by the people. The question can be put to a national referendum: "Shall the President remain in office?" "Shall the Vice President remain in office?"

[...]

As the American people can no longer rely on elected officials to respond to public opinion, the people must do what they can to gather power back into their hands before they become the subjects of tyrants.

i don't particularly care HOW we do it, we just need to DO IT, and NOW...!

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Up is down, black is white, dark is light, backward is forward, and shit doesn't stink

up...

nyt...

[I]nside the administration, debate is intensifying over whether Mr. Bush should try to prevent more defections by announcing his intention to begin a gradual withdrawal of American troops from the high-casualty neighborhoods of Baghdad and other cities.

down...

tony snow...

“There is no debate right now on withdrawing forces right now from Iraq,” Snow said.

black...

ruy teixeira...

Despite four months of a military surge in Iraq, 68 percent of the public either want to withdraw right away (25 percent) or begin bringing troops home within the next year (43 percent). Just 26 percent want to keep troops in Iraq “for as long as it takes to win the war.”

white...

karl rove...

Yesterday on NBC Nightly News, White House correspondent John Yang said that Bush’s senior political aide Karl Rove has apparently calculated that Iraq will not affect the 2008 elections. Rove, who spoke Sunday at the Aspen Ideas Festival, reportedly said “Iraq may not be a big issue in the next election because, he hopes, troops will be coming home by then.”

dark...

wapo...

n the Shiite Turkmen hamlet of Amerli, 50 miles south of the oil-rich city of Kirkuk, grief and anger mixed with bewilderment in the aftermath of one of the single deadliest attacks on Iraqis since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003. Almost everyone seemed to have lost relatives or friends, if not entire families.

The death toll rose to more than 140, but 20 people remain missing, police officials said Sunday. More than 270 people were injured, they added.

light...

tony snow...

The new levels of attacks “fit a pattern that we see throughout the region,” he said, “which is that when you see things moving towards success, or when you see signs of success, that there are acts of violence.”

poverty is wealth, repression is freedom, crony capitalism is free enterprise, fear-mongering is leadership, obstruction of justice is openness, pollution is clean water and air... geeez, i need a lexicon of special terms just to keep up...

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"Either extraordinary self-confidence or out of touch with reality. I can't tell you which."

as his long-time friends and allies jump ship, and as everything he has worked for appears doomed, george w. bush, certainly not out of intellectual curiosity and almost certainly out of inner desperation, is calling in historians and scholars hoping to find justification if not vindication...

Burdened by an unrelenting war, challenged by an opposition Congress, defeated just last week on immigration, his last major domestic priority, Bush remains largely locked inside the fortress of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. in the seventh year of a presidency turned sour. He still travels, making speeches to friendly audiences and attending summit meetings, such as this weekend's Kennebunkport talks with President Vladimir Putin of Russia. But he rarely goes out to dinner, and he no longer plays golf, except occasionally chipping at Camp David, where, as at his Texas ranch, he can find refuge.

"I don't know how he copes with it," said Donald Burnham Ensenat, a friend for 43 years who just stepped down as State Department protocol officer. Rep. K. Michael Conaway (R-Tex.), another longtime friend who once worked for Bush, said he looks worn down. "It's a marked difference in his physical appearance," Conaway said. "It's an incredibly heavy load. When you ask men and women to take risks, to send them into war knowing they might not come home, that's got to be an incredible burden to have on your shoulders."

[...]

And yet Bush does not come across like a man lamenting his plight. In public and in private, according to intimates, he exhibits an inexorable upbeat energy that defies the political storms. ... He still acts as if he were master of the universe, even if the rest of Washington no longer sees him that way.

"You don't get any feeling of somebody crouching down in the bunker," said Irwin M. Stelzer, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute who was part of one group of scholars who met with Bush. "This is either extraordinary self-confidence or out of touch with reality. I can't tell you which."

can i venture a guess...? it may not be until he either leaves office or is thrown out, but, eventually, inevitably, reality will come crashing down on george w. bush, and, as a human being with compassion for my fellow human beings, i can't imagine the pain of the mental and emotional turmoil that he will experience... certainly one of the most painful realizations will be how his personal weaknesses have been used and manipulated, and how he has been only a totemic prop, the sock puppet carefully groomed and placed to carry out the agenda of those who really call the shots... it will be a terrible denouement, but, nevertheless, a completely appropriate one for a man, endowed like all his fellow men, with the gift of free will and the power to choose...

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Our dumbed-down, doped-up, shopping-addicted, celebrity-obsessed, IGNORANT citizens

points to consider...

• 41% of Americans answered 'Yes' to the question "Do you think Saddam Hussein’s regime in Iraq was directly involved in planning, financing, or carrying out the terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001?" **

• [A] majority of people couldn't identify Saudi Arabia as the country of origin of most of the 9/11 hijackers, even given the question in multiple choice format. 20% answered Iraq, while 14% believed the hijackers came from Iran.

• 89% of Americans are unable to name the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.

** now, check THIS...

Do you think Saddam Hussein’s regime in Iraq was directly involved in planning, financing, or carrying out the terrorist attacks of September 11^th, 2001?

	Yes	No	Don't Know
Current Total	41	50	9
Trends
9/30-10/2/04	36	51	13
9/2-3/04	42	44	14
1/29-30/04	49	39	12
9/18-19/03	47	37	16

WTF...?!?!?

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I don't want to hear about 26% in the polls, I just want him GONE

yes, 26% is an abysmally low number for a sitting president with over an entire year and a half left in his presidency, and, yes, there is comfort in knowing that so many americans see george bush for the unsurpassed natural disaster he is, but... given the destruction he and his criminal compadres have already wreaked on the foundations of our democratic republic, on our ability to function as a nation, on our civil liberties, and on virtually every thing that makes the united states worth fighting for, and, over and above that, considering how much time they have left in which to pursue their profoundly evil agenda, we simply cannot sit by and let them proceed... i would think that 26% would be a call to action for my fellow citizens to rouse themselves from their tv- and shopping-induced comas and START TO DO SOMETHING TO GET RID OF THESE BASTARDS...!

Only 26 percent of Americans, just over one in four, approve of the job the 43rd president is doing; while, a record 65 percent disapprove, including nearly a third of Republicans.

it's not going to plateau at 26%, i would bet my last shekel on it...

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