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June 22, 2005
What The People Think About Gitmo
Just when the MSM--in spite of the blogosphere, in spite of the election results--has started to grind me into depression, we get this poll from Rasmussen (via Powerlne):
June 22, 2005--A Rasmussen Reports survey found that 20% of Americans believe prisoners at Guantanamo Bay have been treated unfairly. Seven-out-of-ten adults believe the prisoners are being treated "better than they deserve" (36%) or "about right" (34%).
The survey also found that just 14% agree with people who say that prisoner treatment at Guantanamo Bay is similar to Nazi tactics. Sixty-nine percent disagree with that comparison. This helps explain why Illinois Senator Dick Durbin apologized for making such a comparison.
Leaving aside whether Durbin's bleating qualifies as an "apology", this so illustrates the way in which the MSM continues to act as an amplifying conduit for the screeds of a bitter and disenfranchised left wing. The ongoing problem is that the MSM is entrenched, wealthy, and relentless--if they're defeated on one front (Rathergate and Easongate, for instance) they simply press on with dozens of other distortions and shell-games. They are masters of relentless incremental repetition, a human-wave assualt of bias and disinformation.
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Comments
Two comments:
How scary is it, and insulting to survivors, that 14% think it is just as bad as the concentration camps?
Also, the statement, "This helps explain why Illinois Senator Dick Durbin apologized for making such a comparison." really highlights the fact that liberals rarely if ever say what they really believe. They simply say what they think people want to hear. Dick thought people wanted to hear that Gitmo is a concentration camp. He thought it would boost Dem numbers. He fell flat on his face, the numbers didn't pan out like he thought, so he suddenly had a change of heart.
The big mistake Dems are making right now is that they have no real ideology. Their goal is to figure out what the voters want to cater to it. That works if you're a company with a product to sell. But Americans see so much corporate marketing, we can smell it a mile away. What Dems need to do is figure out what they really stand for, what is in their hearts, and present it to the American people.
People vote for candidates who inspire them, not just for candidates they agree with. If you had taken a poll of Americans in 1979 and asked whether the Berlin wall should be torn down and we should make peace with the Soviets, what would the response have been? Reagan didn't care about public opinion. He simply believed what he believed, and inspired the people of America to follow him. He never ran his personal beliefs through an opinion poll to be sure that those really were his convictions.
I'm no historian, but I'm guessing you could say the same about every great president we've ever had.
Posted by: Jim Voigt at June 23, 2005 12:27 PM
Very good comments. I agree completely with you about getting a whiff of marketing--that's what drove me insane listening to Gore and Kerry. Utterly false impressions--their "policies" appeared to be cooked up by focus groups, and probably were.
Posted by: Jeff at June 23, 2005 12:44 PM
