Polls R Confoozing

Strait from the horse’s mouth—though, judging by the results, it appears that either the pollsters or the American people themselves are not sure to which end this refers.

 

The Pew Research Center put together a Mother of All Polls for your wonk-ish delight, at the following link:

 

http://people-press.org/reports/display.php3?ReportID=312

 

In this case, the poll is particularly august. Pew has been conducting the same poll since 1987, and the link provides a basic report of the results—both regarding the most recent and the 20-year trends.

 

Among the most interesting (from my perspective) highlights:

 

Of those questioned,

 

-          From 1996-2007 (sans a brief tie in 2002), the percentage of those who self-identified as “Democrat/lean Democrat” exceed Republicans by anywhere from 4-15 points. This makes the Republican majorities and presidential successes over the last 10 years somewhat vexing, lest one concludes that Democrats (and those who lean on them) have a serious allergy to voting.

-          The percentage of those who agree with the following statement has reduced from 51 to 28: “School boards should have the right to fire homosexual teachers.” You’ve come a long way, baby.

-          The number of folks who agree with the statement, “most elected officials care what people like me think” has dropped ten points since 2002, almost reaching the all-time low since the question was asked: 34% (33% in 1994). Apparently Congressional revolutions occur when people realize that those in power don’t give a damn about them.

-          “Young people continue to hold a more favorable view of government than do other Americans. At the same time, young adults express the least interest in voting and other forms of political participation.” All that is missing from these two statements is, “Voting-age-children are either incapable or unwilling to inform themselves about their own government.”

 

Enjoy.

 

-W.

 

Since when does opinion trump accountability?

Now that his former chief of staff has testified before Congress as to his spotty memory, Gonzales is in deep poop. He is really showing his mettle, however; here is his quote from Friday regarding the testimony:

 

“I believe in truth and accountability, and every step that I’ve taken is consistent with that principle. At the end of the day, I know what I did. And I know that the motivations for the decisions that I made were not based upon improper reasons” (npr.org).

 

Interesting. I was not aware that our legal system takes mens rea so seriously. That is, I didn’t realize that an individual—let alone a public servant, let alone one in such a high position, let alone the top lawyer in the country—can respond to calls for accountability and/or transparency with, “Trust me. I know I didn’t do anything wrong.”

 

-W.