Credit and Credulity
According to a Harris poll in late April, a plurality of Americans, 49 percent to 36 percent, believe "clear evidence that Iraq was supporting al Qaeda has been found." This oddity often is blamed on officials in the Bush Administration -- especially Cheney -- who often speak as though they believe there was a "connection."
The nuances of the noun "connection" have been parsed out in the Senate Intelligence Committee report and elsewhere, and while it seems there were overtures and some passive connections between Saddam and Osama, nobody in the administration has seriously suggested that Iraq was directly backing al Qaida, bankrolling their flying lessons and whatnot.
Yet a big chunk of the American people believe this, and Bush is said to bear the blame.
Now, according to a National Annenberg Election Survey released today, half of young Americans (age 18 to 29) believe President Bush wants to reinstate the military draft. This despite the denials of the Bush Administration that it desires any such thing. Bush says so. Rumsfeld says so. The House Republicans even went through a very public performance of trouncing and pissing on a "bring back the draft" bill this week. Yet among American adults of all ages, about 37 percent thinks a renewed draft is Bush's dream right now.
Maybe the fact is that about a third to a half of Americans think what they damn well please, no matter what the facts in the reports say, no matter what the administration says or doesn't say. How else to explain the ongoing cottage industry in UFOs, Kennedy conspiracy theories, and Nieman Marcus cookie recipes?
The nuances of the noun "connection" have been parsed out in the Senate Intelligence Committee report and elsewhere, and while it seems there were overtures and some passive connections between Saddam and Osama, nobody in the administration has seriously suggested that Iraq was directly backing al Qaida, bankrolling their flying lessons and whatnot.
Yet a big chunk of the American people believe this, and Bush is said to bear the blame.
Now, according to a National Annenberg Election Survey released today, half of young Americans (age 18 to 29) believe President Bush wants to reinstate the military draft. This despite the denials of the Bush Administration that it desires any such thing. Bush says so. Rumsfeld says so. The House Republicans even went through a very public performance of trouncing and pissing on a "bring back the draft" bill this week. Yet among American adults of all ages, about 37 percent thinks a renewed draft is Bush's dream right now.
Maybe the fact is that about a third to a half of Americans think what they damn well please, no matter what the facts in the reports say, no matter what the administration says or doesn't say. How else to explain the ongoing cottage industry in UFOs, Kennedy conspiracy theories, and Nieman Marcus cookie recipes?
Labels: polls
