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TERRORISM: YR DOING IT RIGHT
ITEM [via Fortean Times]: Harris has released a new poll asking Americans what they think about some of the things being said about Barack Obama by his critics.
About 14% think he’s the Antichrist. That’s around 44 million people.
More results:
• 32 percent say he is a Muslim.
• 29 percent think he wants to turn over the sovereignty of the United States to a one world government.
• 29 percent think he has done many things that are unconstitutional.
• 27 percent say he resents America's heritage.
• 27 percent say he does what Wall Street and the bankers tell him to do.
• 25 percent say he was not born in the United States and so is not eligible to be president.
• 23 percent say he wants to use an economic collapse or terrorist attack as an excuse to take dictatorial powers.
• 20 percent say he is doing many of the things that Hitler did.
No prizes for guessing how the results break down along party lines.
Obviously, since this was an online poll – and since we all know that polls and statistics lie, especially when they don’t support our worldview – it’s fair to question the accuracy of the results.
On the other hand, given what we’ve seen at the Tea Party protests, the town hall “discussions” on healthcare and Glenn Beck’s ratings, the exact numbers arguably don’t matter. The sentiment is out there, and it’s not limited to a handful of paranoid militias. And the Big Fear Politics we’ve seen over the last decade has certainly played a contributing role.
To be fair, a third of Americans also think Junior Bush either planned the 9/11 attacks or deliberately did nothing to stop them, though I’m not sure how many of them are either liberals or the same people who think federal govt is evil and Obama is planning to turn America into Nazi Germany.
Like that’s supposed to make me feel better about the state of rational discourse in the country of my birth.
Either way, if I might indulge in a William Burroughs-style analogy, it’s fair to say that at least tens of millions of Americans are on a Fear habit they won’t kick as long as they get that Fear fix and get it regular. And they’re not getting it from Osama bin Laden any more than a junkie scores smack direct from Pablo Escobar.
Or, to put it country simple: Walt Kelly was right.
Which also suggests that just maybe this level of batshit paranoia has always been a part of American culture – it just has better media coverage now. You know things have gotten weird when you find comfort in such notions.
Blame it on the boogiemen,
This is dF
About 14% think he’s the Antichrist. That’s around 44 million people.
More results:
• 32 percent say he is a Muslim.
• 29 percent think he wants to turn over the sovereignty of the United States to a one world government.
• 29 percent think he has done many things that are unconstitutional.
• 27 percent say he resents America's heritage.
• 27 percent say he does what Wall Street and the bankers tell him to do.
• 25 percent say he was not born in the United States and so is not eligible to be president.
• 23 percent say he wants to use an economic collapse or terrorist attack as an excuse to take dictatorial powers.
• 20 percent say he is doing many of the things that Hitler did.
No prizes for guessing how the results break down along party lines.
Obviously, since this was an online poll – and since we all know that polls and statistics lie, especially when they don’t support our worldview – it’s fair to question the accuracy of the results.
On the other hand, given what we’ve seen at the Tea Party protests, the town hall “discussions” on healthcare and Glenn Beck’s ratings, the exact numbers arguably don’t matter. The sentiment is out there, and it’s not limited to a handful of paranoid militias. And the Big Fear Politics we’ve seen over the last decade has certainly played a contributing role.
To be fair, a third of Americans also think Junior Bush either planned the 9/11 attacks or deliberately did nothing to stop them, though I’m not sure how many of them are either liberals or the same people who think federal govt is evil and Obama is planning to turn America into Nazi Germany.
Like that’s supposed to make me feel better about the state of rational discourse in the country of my birth.
Either way, if I might indulge in a William Burroughs-style analogy, it’s fair to say that at least tens of millions of Americans are on a Fear habit they won’t kick as long as they get that Fear fix and get it regular. And they’re not getting it from Osama bin Laden any more than a junkie scores smack direct from Pablo Escobar.
Or, to put it country simple: Walt Kelly was right.
Which also suggests that just maybe this level of batshit paranoia has always been a part of American culture – it just has better media coverage now. You know things have gotten weird when you find comfort in such notions.
Blame it on the boogiemen,
This is dF
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