Dunce-Cap Nation......Newsweek Poll ....

[KoKo]

(Is this why Media does Paris Hilton all day? Is this why our Politicians talk down to us? I have trouble believing this poll is accurate. There have been reports of polling having problems because so many use cellphones, and with two people working no one is home if there's a home phone to answer.)
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Dunce-Cap Nation
We asked Americans about current events, history and cultural literacy. And we got some pretty disheartening results.

Even today, more than four years into the war in Iraq, as many as four in ten Americans (41 percent) still believe Saddam Hussein’s regime was directly involved in financing, planning or carrying out the terrorist attacks on 9/11, even though no evidence has surfaced to support a connection. A majority of Americans were similarly unable to pick Saudi Arabia in a multiple-choice question about the country where most of the 9/11 hijackers were born. Just 43 percent got it right—and a full 20 percent thought most came from Iraq.


Still, seven in ten (70 percent) are aware that the United States has not discovered any hidden weapons of mass destruction in Iraq since the war began. And perhaps because most (85 percent) are aware that Osama bin Laden remains at large, roughly half of the poll’s respondents (52 percent) think that the United States is losing the fight against his terror group, Al Qaeda, despite no military defeats or recent terrorist attacks to suggest as much.

Closer to home, more Americans are able to name Jordin Sparks as the winner of the most recent season of American Idol (18 percent) than can identify John Roberts as the Supreme Court’s chief justice (11 percent). Only one in three (31 percent) know that Ben Bernanke is the current Federal Reserve chairman; a quarter (26 percent) think Alan Greenspan, who retired in early 2006, still holds the position. Still, more than half of those polled (59 percent) could identify Nancy Pelosi as House Speaker in a multiple-choice question. (Younger respondents had a harder time with this question though, with 46 percent of those under 40 able to identify Pelosi compared to 68 percent of those older than 40.)

more..........
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19390791/site/newsweek/


The NEWSWEEK Poll, conducted June 18-June 19, has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points for questions based on Census Current Population Survey parameters for gender, age, education, race and population density. In conducting the poll, Princeton Survey Research Associates International interviewed 1,001 adults aged 18 and older.

[BeyondGeography]

1. They did better than I thought they would

I'm surprised 43% even know that Saudi Arabia is a country. Then again, it was a multiple choice question.

[KoKo]

3. I would wonder how they chose their sample and who actually replied

since so many use cell phones today and are too busy to answer polls like this.

[napi21]

2. I keep hearing this, but I wonder what the question was?

If it was "Do you believe Saddam sponsored or was connected to the 9/11 attacks?" then many people really ARE stupid, but what if it wasn't so specific? What if the question was "Do you believe Saddam sponsored terrorism?"

I know I've heard that Saddam was sending money to the families of suicide bombers, and I've never heard that disputed. So from THAT standpoint, he was supporting terrorism...right?

As to the WMD's, Saddam DID have them...back in the 80's!

[WinkyDink]

4. Um, let's see, what do the media KEEP DISCUSSING??

It's not like TV, mags, and newspapers AREN'T the main reason Americans are ignorant.

[Guaranteed]

19. Exactly. This is their fault. nt

[DBoon]

5. Did they ask respondents where they got their news?

I bet that 41% listens exclusively to AM talk radio, or watches only Fox.

This is not just people deliberately ignoring news and current events - this represents a concerted effort to spread disinformation among the American public by right wing media

[blogslut]

6. Too bad Newsweek failed to recognize it's complicity in the disinfo

Where was that grand, concentrated effort by our established media to correct the misinformation? Where are all those articles making it perfectly clear that Hussein had nothing to do with 9/11? I'm looking at YOU, Newsweek.

[Dogmudgeon]

7. Stupid, or burned out?

I'm voting for "burned out".

The whole "everybody is stupid except for me and my friends" conceit isn't just getting old, it's beginning to smell. Get people off the all-day 24/7 treadmill and you'll see much better responses.

--p!

[dkofos]

8. And 43.798746663552% of fundies think pigs can fly, if only god would let them!!

[OHdem10]

9. Reality Check----The Real Americans(70% Population)

Connect these dots::

In the last year, on C-Span, an author was presenting his
book on Education. Here is a point I will never forget.
Around 70% of Americans cannot read and COMPREHEND a compound
sentence, forget compound complex. Those dangling particples
etc.

Dr Frank Luntz (Republican Pollster who was instrumental in
framing issues and arguments for the Gingrich Rout of 94)
cites a serious example which bears out the Professors point.

Luntz formed a poll question asking people to list in order
issues they (particpants in focus group) they considered
important. Infrastructure Repair was among the issues listed.
Interestingly this always showed up as last on people's list.
Luntz decided to work on the list and then repeat exercise.
This time, he used something like "repairing streets, repairing
bridges, improving school buildings" instead of Infrastructure
Repair. AMAZING--"repairing streets, buildings etc" went to
the top of the most important of the focus group lists.

Finally, I am sure most of you have heard of the Left Behind Series
by T.LeHay. fReligious Novels basef on End Times. That is not
important to my point. Out of curiosity I went to BOOk Store
and perused Left Behind and also The Purpose Driven Life
another very popular religious book. What I found made reality
hit me in the face. The "grade level" at which these books are
written. Both these authors have degrees from excellent schools
--one is from Harvard. The sentences are 5-7 words, no "big
words" very direct in approach.
More of these books have gone off the bookshelves than any other
book. These are written for the Real America. Folks, it is
not just because they are religious books that they sold.

We have not accepted a reality in America. Just Dismissing 70%
of the people is not acceptable. Criticizing them is wrong.

News Can be made interesting for any level. Paris, Anna Nicole
Peterson, is the way of lazy journalism. I call it Tabloid TV.

[natrat]

10. something happened

they came over here in the last century and something happened to make them stupid. Coal dust in the minds, bad nutrition in the midwest, inbreeding-something. Now they are incredibly stupid and somehow think they are important and god's chosen. Harder they the harder they fall.

[OHdem10]

11. You are blindly blaming the fundies---Reality

it is 70 percent 70 % of the American People.

[MedleyMisty]

13. Do you think it's an education/socialization problem?

I would tend to think so. I don't think it's so much that they're stupid but that some people just have less of a drive to find out about the world than others. Add to that a society that sees being smart and informed as being uncool and/or pompous and trying to be "better" than other people and schools that weren't all that great to begin with and now have NCLB to deal with....

By the way, the education comment is not bashing teachers, just like not being a fan of the war in Iraq does not equal bashing regular military members. Teachers do the best they can in a f'd up system and are underpaid and overworked.

[muntrv]

12. The remainder of the MSM is in a race to the bottom with faux snooze.

[Disturbed]

14. Most Americans are not stupid.

Most Americans are ignorant of politics and have disdain for politicians. Most Americans find politics to be boring and not relevant to their lives. The details of Govt. are boring to most Americans. Most Americans know more about entertainment and sports figures than political figures. Most Americans only hear sound bytes regarding world events. It is not because most Americans are stupid that they are ignorant about politics. It is because politics does not interest them. The mass media feeds the public pablum because that is what most people like to consume.

[MedleyMisty]

16. Liking to consume pablum on a regular constant basis does not equal stupid?

Hmm.

I agree with the rest of it, though. The way to win elections is not alienating your base by trying and failing to win over the middle of the other party. It's finding a way to galvanize that majority of people who don't vote. Listen to them, not people who hand you huge checks. Show them that you'll work for them, that what you do will matter to them and will help them.

[VP505]

18. I think your right

and something to think about, we have NEVER had a President or Admin like this one. One reason that people in general are so complacent is that past Admins and Congress may have done some crappy things but most people could trust the system of checks and balances to keep those that did in check. Not true anymore, nobody in their right mind would trust this Admin, Pres to do what's right and we MUST watch Congress very closely.

[KoKo]

20. If most Americans were like these Poll Takers...Bush would still be at 65 or higher...

So, I wonder about the methods of these pollsters. The 25% of folks who are his "hard core" would be the most likely source of the folks in this poll given the results about Saddam and Saudi's and 9/11..

[BlooInBloo]

15. "Is this why Media does Paris Hilton all day?" - They're no worse than DU in that regard.

[heidler1]

17. How come blaming sports is taboo? That what most people talk about

and watch on TV while getting high on what ever. Our hero's are sports figures and sports gear. Hot bodies and hot cars take up the remaining time. One improvement, smoking is no longer cool.

[KoKo]

21. Sports is like a Cult in US. But, maybe it's because discussing Politics causes

too much argument and alienation. The only way to relate to people these days "out in the rest of America" is to try to keep "peace" by talking about "American Idol, Paris, crime and Sports."

That's exactly how the RW and NeoCons distract us along with Corporate Owned Media. Force us to talk about anything but truth and what's happening in America by making us talk about "get along" subjects.

:-( It's a kind of "mind control" if one thinks about it.

[MedleyMisty]

22. I have similar thoughts when I hear the word "bipartisan"

It's like no one is allowed to disagree with anyone else.

[hellbound-liberal]

24. I agree that discussing politics, and religion for that matter, is considered taboo in this country

and I think that keeps us from developing our understanding of people who are different from us. Liberals and conservatives should be able to discuss their own positions on things that are important to us and future generations without fear of being attacked for being un-American. Same goes for religion in my opinion. We should all be able to acknowledge that perfectly good people can have widely differing views on matters of religion and ultimate truth and not be seen as evil in another person's eyes. I think our attitude towards important issues and our unwillingness to discuss them leads to our inability to develop a mature understanding of each other and an appreciation for other people and cultures. But, like you said KoKo01, the corporate media likes it that way so we probably won't see any major changes any time soon. Especially if Rupert Murdoch continues to expand his media empire.

[Clark2008]

23. I wouldn't have known who Jordan Sparks was.

:shrug:

[KoKo]

25. Neither would I...but then I didn't know who Paris Hilton was either...so

I guess to "some" I would be WAY ((((woo..wooo))) out of it. :shrug: