Pretty good read...
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Polls Show Many Americans are Simply Dumber Than Bush
By Paul Craig Roberts
01/29/06 "ICH" -- -- Two recent polls, a Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg
poll and a New York Times/CBS News poll, indicate why Bush is getting
away with impeachable offenses. Half of the US population is incapable
of acquiring, processing and understanding information.
Much of the problem is the media itself, which serves as a
disinformation agency for the Bush administration. Fox "News" and
right-wing talk radio are the worst, but with propagandistic outlets
setting the standard for truth and patriotism, all of the media is
affected to some degree.
Despite the media's failure, about half the population has managed to
discern that the US invasion of Iraq has not made them safer and that
the Bush administration's assault on civil liberties is not a necessary
component of the war on terror. The problem, thus, lies with the absence
of due diligence on the part of the other half of the population.
Consider the New York Times/CBS poll. Sixty-four percent of the
respondents have concerns about losing civil liberties as a result of
anti-terrorism measures put in place by President Bush. Yet, 53 percent
approve of spying without obtaining court warrants "in order to reduce
the threat of terrorism."
Why does any American think that spying without a warrant has any more
effect in reducing the threat of terrorism than spying with a warrant?
The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which Bush is disobeying,
requires the executive to obtain from a secret panel of federal judges a
warrant for spying on Americans. The purpose of the law is to prevent a
president from spying for partisan political reasons. The law permits
the president to spy first (for 72 hours) and then come to the court for
permission. As the court meets in secret, spying without a warrant is no
more effective in reducing the threat of terrorism than spying with a
warrant.
Instead of explaining this basic truth, the media has played along with
the Bush administration and formulated the question as a trade-off
between civil liberties and protection from terrorists. This formulation
is false and nonsensical. Why does the media enable the Bush
administration to escape accountability for illegal behavior by putting
false and misleading choices before the people?
The LA Times/Bloomberg poll has equally striking anomalies. Only 43
percent said they approved of Bush's performance as president. But a
majority believe Bush's policies have made the US more secure.
It is extraordinary that anyone would think Americans are safer as a
result of Bush invading two Muslim countries and constantly threatening
two more with military attack. The invasions and threats have caused a
dramatic swing in Muslim sentiment away from the US. Prior to Bush's
invasion of Iraq, a large majority of Muslims had a favorable opinion of
America. Now only about 5 percent do.
A number of US commanders in Iraq and many Middle East experts have told
the American public that the three year-old war in Iraq is serving both
to recruit and to train terrorists for al Qaeda, which has grown many
times its former size. Moreover, the US military has concluded that al
Qaeda has succeeded in having its members elected to the new Iraqi
government.
We have seen similar developments both in Egypt and in Pakistan. In the
recent Egyptian elections, the radical Muslim Brotherhood, despite being
suppressed by the Egyptian government, won a large number of seats. In
Pakistan elements friendly or neutral toward al Qaeda control about half
of the government. In Iraq, Bush's invasion has replaced secular Sunnis
with Islamist Shia allied with Iran.
And now with the triumph of Hamas in the Palestinian election, we see
the total failure of Bush's Middle Eastern policy. Bush has succeeded in
displacing secular moderates from Middle Eastern governments and
replacing them with Islamic extremists. It boggles the mind that this
disastrous result makes Americans feel safer!
What does it say for democracy that half of the American population is
unable to draw a rational conclusion from unambiguous facts?
Americans share this disability with the Bush administration. According
to news reports, the Bush administration is stunned by the election
victory of the radical Islamist Hamas Party, which swept the US-financed
Fatah Party from office. Why is the Bush administration astonished?
The Bush administration is astonished because it stupidly believes that
hundreds of millions of Muslims should be grateful that the US has
interfered in their internal affairs for 60 years, setting up colonies
and puppet rulers to suppress their aspirations and to achieve, instead,
purposes of the US government.
Americans need desperately to understand that 95 percent of all Muslim
terrorists in the world were created in the past three years by Bush's
invasion of Iraq.
Americans need desperately to comprehend that if Bush attacks Iran and
Syria, as he intends, terrorism will explode, and American civil
liberties will disappear into a thirty year war that will bankrupt the
United States.
The total lack of rationality and competence in the White House and the
inability of half of the US population to acquire and understand
information are far larger threats to Americans than terrorism.
America has become a rogue nation, flying blind, guided only by
ignorance and hubris. A terrible catastrophe awaits.
Paul Craig Roberts was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury in the Reagan
administration. He was Associate Editor of the Wall Street Journal
editorial page and Contributing Editor of National Review. He is
coauthor of The Tyranny of Good Intentions.He can be reached at:
[email protected]
:::
:::
Polls Show Many Americans are Simply Dumber Than Bush
By Paul Craig Roberts
01/29/06 "ICH" -- -- Two recent polls, a Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg
poll and a New York Times/CBS News poll, indicate why Bush is getting
away with impeachable offenses. Half of the US population is incapable
of acquiring, processing and understanding information.
Much of the problem is the media itself, which serves as a
disinformation agency for the Bush administration. Fox "News" and
right-wing talk radio are the worst, but with propagandistic outlets
setting the standard for truth and patriotism, all of the media is
affected to some degree.
Despite the media's failure, about half the population has managed to
discern that the US invasion of Iraq has not made them safer and that
the Bush administration's assault on civil liberties is not a necessary
component of the war on terror. The problem, thus, lies with the absence
of due diligence on the part of the other half of the population.
Consider the New York Times/CBS poll. Sixty-four percent of the
respondents have concerns about losing civil liberties as a result of
anti-terrorism measures put in place by President Bush. Yet, 53 percent
approve of spying without obtaining court warrants "in order to reduce
the threat of terrorism."
Why does any American think that spying without a warrant has any more
effect in reducing the threat of terrorism than spying with a warrant?
The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which Bush is disobeying,
requires the executive to obtain from a secret panel of federal judges a
warrant for spying on Americans. The purpose of the law is to prevent a
president from spying for partisan political reasons. The law permits
the president to spy first (for 72 hours) and then come to the court for
permission. As the court meets in secret, spying without a warrant is no
more effective in reducing the threat of terrorism than spying with a
warrant.
Instead of explaining this basic truth, the media has played along with
the Bush administration and formulated the question as a trade-off
between civil liberties and protection from terrorists. This formulation
is false and nonsensical. Why does the media enable the Bush
administration to escape accountability for illegal behavior by putting
false and misleading choices before the people?
The LA Times/Bloomberg poll has equally striking anomalies. Only 43
percent said they approved of Bush's performance as president. But a
majority believe Bush's policies have made the US more secure.
It is extraordinary that anyone would think Americans are safer as a
result of Bush invading two Muslim countries and constantly threatening
two more with military attack. The invasions and threats have caused a
dramatic swing in Muslim sentiment away from the US. Prior to Bush's
invasion of Iraq, a large majority of Muslims had a favorable opinion of
America. Now only about 5 percent do.
A number of US commanders in Iraq and many Middle East experts have told
the American public that the three year-old war in Iraq is serving both
to recruit and to train terrorists for al Qaeda, which has grown many
times its former size. Moreover, the US military has concluded that al
Qaeda has succeeded in having its members elected to the new Iraqi
government.
We have seen similar developments both in Egypt and in Pakistan. In the
recent Egyptian elections, the radical Muslim Brotherhood, despite being
suppressed by the Egyptian government, won a large number of seats. In
Pakistan elements friendly or neutral toward al Qaeda control about half
of the government. In Iraq, Bush's invasion has replaced secular Sunnis
with Islamist Shia allied with Iran.
And now with the triumph of Hamas in the Palestinian election, we see
the total failure of Bush's Middle Eastern policy. Bush has succeeded in
displacing secular moderates from Middle Eastern governments and
replacing them with Islamic extremists. It boggles the mind that this
disastrous result makes Americans feel safer!
What does it say for democracy that half of the American population is
unable to draw a rational conclusion from unambiguous facts?
Americans share this disability with the Bush administration. According
to news reports, the Bush administration is stunned by the election
victory of the radical Islamist Hamas Party, which swept the US-financed
Fatah Party from office. Why is the Bush administration astonished?
The Bush administration is astonished because it stupidly believes that
hundreds of millions of Muslims should be grateful that the US has
interfered in their internal affairs for 60 years, setting up colonies
and puppet rulers to suppress their aspirations and to achieve, instead,
purposes of the US government.
Americans need desperately to understand that 95 percent of all Muslim
terrorists in the world were created in the past three years by Bush's
invasion of Iraq.
Americans need desperately to comprehend that if Bush attacks Iran and
Syria, as he intends, terrorism will explode, and American civil
liberties will disappear into a thirty year war that will bankrupt the
United States.
The total lack of rationality and competence in the White House and the
inability of half of the US population to acquire and understand
information are far larger threats to Americans than terrorism.
America has become a rogue nation, flying blind, guided only by
ignorance and hubris. A terrible catastrophe awaits.
Paul Craig Roberts was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury in the Reagan
administration. He was Associate Editor of the Wall Street Journal
editorial page and Contributing Editor of National Review. He is
coauthor of The Tyranny of Good Intentions.He can be reached at:
[email protected]
