🚀 go-pugleaf

There are slanted polls and there are totally worthless polls and this
one leads in both categories.  First, not that in two days only 256
responded. This from a site that has thousands of hits per hour.

I'll make my comments on the questions in {  }  all the rest is their
own.

MSNBC/NEWSWEEK On-Line POLL: The poll was taken September 12-13, 2002
and had a +/- 3 percent margin of error. 
256 web site responses * Percentages may not total to 100% for each
question due to non-responses

1. Would you support using military force against Iraq?			
{ Do they ask or give an option as to a reason?  No!  Only War yes or
no}


Yes	79%	67% 	
No	16%	26% 	
I don't know	4%	7% 	

2. Has the Bush administration done a good job of explaining U.S.
policy toward Iraq?			
{ Less noticeably skewed, but nonetheless flawed.  The POLL is about
going to war So the question should read: "Has the Bush administration
done a good job of explaining the U.S. reasons for declaring war on
Iraq?"}

Yes	70%	63% 	
No	28%	31% 	
I don't know	2%	6% 	

3. Do you think the Bush administration has a well-thought-out plan
for using military force against Iraq?			
{ This question cannot be faulted.  It actually deals directly and
clearly with the polls theme.}
Yes	64%	49% 	
No	21%	34% 	
I don't know	15%	17% 	

4. When, if ever, should the U.S. take military action against Iraq?

{The last option is the flaw here.  Either you oppose war with Iraq
for ANY reason, or you support it for Any reason.  Completely inept
wording.  It has no correlation to the question as to the when and
with whom that the question poses.}

In the next month or so, even if many of our allies still oppose it	
62%	44% 	

We should wait to try to get more support from our allies, even if it
gives Saddam more to prepare	27%	48% 	

We should not attack Iraq at any time	6%	2% 	
I don't know	4%	6% 	

5. Would it help spread democracy throughout the Middle East if U.S.
military action succeeds in establishing a new government in Iraq?

{Not flawed, but certainly inane, and definitely implies that
democracy is spread by war. A recent oddity in logc that has arisen of
late}  

Yes	53%	55% 	
No	31%	34% 	
I don't know	16%	11% 	

6. If Saddam is removed from power, how long should a large number of
American soldiers stay in Iraq to maintain order and help establish a
new government there?			
{ Simply a leading question that presupposes too things.  One that the
thing will require a large military presence, and two it implies that
invasion to change leadership in foreign governments is both ipso
facto proper and that such will yield an 'acceptable replacement.}

Less than a year	15%	13% 	
About a year	21%	22% 	
Several years	40%	35% 	
Up to 10 years	6%	10% 	
More than 10 years	6%	10% 	
I don't know	12%	10% 	


{
But, at this juncture the love of the 'common' American monkey for its
baboon hero will win the day and American young will be ordered to
serve in a hostile area under constant threat of death for an extended
period of time. 
}

Next the statesmen will invent cheap lies, putting the blame upon the nation that is attacked, and every man will be glad of those conscience-soothing falsities, and will diligently study them, and refuse to examine any refutations of them; and thus he will by and by convince himself that the war is just, and will thank God for the better sleep he enjoys after this process of grotesque self-deception. 
-- Mark Twain