Tuesday, May 23, 2006

Zogby Poll Distorted

Check out this press release by 9-11Truth.org:

The poll is the first scientific survey of Americans' belief in a 9/11 cover up or the need to investigate possible US government complicity, and was commissioned to inform deliberations at the June 2-4 "9/11: Revealing the Truth, Reclaiming Our Future" conference in Chicago. Poll results indicate 42% believe there has indeed been a cover up (with 10% unsure) and 45% think "Congress or an International Tribunal should re-investigate the attacks, including whether any US government officials consciously allowed or helped facilitate their success" (with 8% unsure). The poll of American residents was conducted from Friday, May 12 through Tuesday, May 16, 2006. Overall results have a margin of sampling error of +/- 2.9. All inquiries about questions, responses and demographics should be directed to Zogby International.


But get the slanted way the poll is presented. When 42% believe there has been a coverup, that's big. But when 48% believe there wasn't get how that's described:

"...(only 48% said no)"

Same with the new investigation--"only" 48% said no.

But I poked a little deeper into the poll (Word Document), and found some gems among the dirt:

Both men and women and residents in each of the four regions are more likely to say the U.S. government and 9/11 Commission are not covering up anything. Majorities who agree include Republicans (64%), 50-64 year-olds, married adults, suburbanites (59%), Protestants, those with at least some college education, and people with annual household income of $50,000 or more (57%).

Majorities (50%-56%) of Democrats, 18-29 year-olds, Hispanics, single adults and those who are divorced/widowed/separated, residents of small cities, and adults with less education than a high school diploma believe the government and 9/11 Commission are covering up something. Nearly half of independent voters (48%) agree.


So the more education you have, the less likely you are to believe in the conspiracy theory? Well hush my mouth!

On the new investigation?

Republicans (70%) and people with annual household income of $75,000 or more (64%) are the most likely to say the attacks were thoroughly investigated. Other majorities who agree include up to 58% of whites, 50-64 year-olds, residents of the East and West, college graduates and those with some college education, and people with annual household income of $50,000-$74,999.

Majorities in several sub-groups feel the attacks should be reinvestigated. The most likely are Hispanics (67%) and African Americans (64%). Other majorities include up to 57% of Democrats and independents, 18-49 year-olds, residents of the Central/Great Lakes, high school graduates and those with less education. Between 56%-61% of people with household income less than $25,000 agree.


Now it's tempting to sigh and say, okay, let's have another investigation. But you know what the problem is with that? It's that no investigation will be accepted by the Truthers that doesn't conclude that the WTC was brought down by controlled demolition by Bushitler and his cronies.

17 Comments:

At 23 May, 2006 14:08, Blogger Pat said...

Joan, how many people think Elvis is alive? Shall we investigate that next?

 
At 23 May, 2006 15:26, Blogger Chad said...

Is Charlie Sheen still on cocaine?

 
At 23 May, 2006 16:45, Blogger James B. said...

The problem with Americans is 30% believe the Holocaust was faked and professional wrestling is real.

 
At 23 May, 2006 16:46, Blogger nes718 said...

Republicans (70%) and people with annual household income of $75,000 or more (64%) are the most likely to say the attacks were thoroughly investigated. Other majorities who agree include up to 58% of whites, 50-64 year-olds, residents of the East and West, college graduates and those with some college education, and people with annual household income of $50,000-$74,999.

This WILL change when the economy heads south. We're quickly approaching that right now.

 
At 23 May, 2006 16:49, Blogger nes718 said...

Come on, Pat. This is big.

They know that's why they did some 'digging' to see if they could find some inconsistencies. Basically, these guys are riding on fear and seem to want to do anything so as not to destroy their illusion of a good government.

 
At 23 May, 2006 17:35, Blogger shawn said...

Joan, as I've said before, some polls have results as high as 80 percent believing a conspiracy killed Kennedy. The evidence just isn't there for that conclusion.

More than half of Americans think we've been visited by UFOs.

 
At 23 May, 2006 18:23, Blogger shawn said...

I heard this claim in '01, '02, '03, '04, '05, and plenty of times already in '06; along with the dire consequences of the great housing bubble bursting since late '03.

Hey, if you read that new book FUBAR, you'd know that we're in worse shape than Vietnam or even the Great Depression!

Then you realize an Air America host wrote the book and you just shake your head.

 
At 23 May, 2006 18:45, Blogger shawn said...

Considering how Air America has been doing I can understand his pessimism.

zing!

I work receiving at a Barnes and Noble and laughed at how they made Air America sound like such a big network (in 60 markets!). And then there were quotes from partisan hacks like Kos and Franken.

 
At 23 May, 2006 19:03, Blogger shawn said...

I have my own problems with the Right (I'm a small government guy, and don't like neoconservativism, but the Left can't even correctly identify the real threat to them.

 
At 23 May, 2006 20:14, Blogger James B. said...

The wording of the questions were tailored to get the response they wanted.

24. Some people believe that the US government and its 9/11 Commission concealed or refused to investigate critical evidence that contradicts their official explanation of the September 11th attacks, saying there has been a cover-up. Others say that the 9/11 Commission was a bi-partisan group of honest and well-respected people and that there is no reason they would want to cover-up anything. Who are you more likely to agree with?

For example, if someone believed that the 9/11 commission failed to correctly investigate the Jamie Gorelick "wall" or other failings of the intelligence system before 9/11, they would answer yes.

This is completely different from believing that there is a coverup of the US government's role in carrying out the attack, which is what the conspiracy theorists are implying.

 
At 23 May, 2006 22:18, Blogger Pat said...

James not to mention that it could be that they believe in the shooting down of Flight 93, which as we have discussed here is moderately kooky but not completely psycho.

 
At 23 May, 2006 23:12, Blogger nes718 said...

LOL, check out what Alex Jones posted on his site:

New Zogby Poll Frightens Masters Of Terror Into Releasing 'Bin Laden Tape'

 
At 25 May, 2006 08:53, Blogger Alex said...

As a student of politics, you can go fist yourself.

 
At 25 May, 2006 13:45, Blogger shawn said...

Alex, clearly you are a very thoughtful individual. Your striking clarity and intellectual girth clearly elevates the discourse to a high level. If I could only come up with things like "go fist yourself" I would not need to waste my time reading far and wide on history and political theory. Who taught you the methods of logic and persausive argumentation, I would love to study under them as you are clearly a master of language.

You do realize by trying to sound smart, you actually end up looking like a phony?

If I was writing a paper for peer review, or for a grade, sure I'd type like that, but this is like having a conversation.

 
At 25 May, 2006 17:54, Blogger Alex said...

Hey, whattayaknow! A spammer who thinks he's edumacated. Fancy that.

May I have the honour of analyzing your diatribe, professor?

Your usage of the word "clearly" in both of the first two sentences CLEARLY demonstrates your limited vocabulary. Relying heavily on such a common adjective is highly unprofessional.

The phrase "intellectual girth" seems entirely too forced. In the future you may wish to consider using phrases such as "intellectual prowess", or "stunning intellect".

Using the word "things" in your third sentence to describe a phrase ruins the effect of the entire sentence. A more effective way of phrasing the same thought would have been:

”go fist yourself” Oh! Such wonder! Such beauty! If only I also possessed the wit required to author such poetic phrases!

And how exactly DOES one "read far and wide"? I'd certainly appreciate it if you conducted your reading far, far away; however, I'm rather uncertain as to what it means to "read wide".

Finally, your last sentence should ideally start with the word "Whoever" instead of "Who", and would look much better if you had properly spelled the word "persuasive".

Ya goon.

 
At 26 May, 2006 08:06, Blogger Alex said...

You got it. My initial comment here was written after I got furstrated by seing the same message, posted by you, in about 7 different threads. I hate spammers. I'm not sure WHY you did that, but as long as I don't see it again, I'm more than happy to have a civil discussion with you. You seem like a reasonable guy.

 
At 26 May, 2006 09:39, Blogger Alex said...

Well I'm glad you reckognize the difference. It's deffinitely not wrong to have a healthy skepticism of the government. But to go from doubting their motives, to assuming that they would both desire to and be capable of pulling off the kind of conspiracy that 9/11 CTers allege is deffinitely not a "healthy skepticism". It's both illogical and insane.

Personaly, working for the military, I know the types of screwups that governments, intelligence agencies, and militaries are capable of. That's one of the reasons why I don't need to see the failiures on 9/11 as part of some grand conspiracy.

 

Post a Comment

<< Home