Opening The Files: 5/15/06
Poll Smoking
Last Thursday brought the revelation that the NSA has been collecting our phone records since 9/11, which elicited quite a reaction in both the press and the blogosphere. Almost immediately, a straw poll came out claiming a majority of Americans supported the practice. But then two other polls surfaced showing Americans think the measure goes too far. Which poll is more accurate? Depends on who you ask.
E & P chimed in to give some possible explanations for why the poll results were so dramatically different.
Billmon opines that it doesn't matter what a majority of Americans support because the rights enshrined in the Constitution are not subject to majority rule. That's a good point. You could have a poll showing a majority of Americans favor deporting Kevin Federline but that doesn't mean the government has the right to actually do it. Though now that I think about it...
Poll Vaulting...Or Not
Newsmax reported that President Bush's approval rating jumped 6 percentage points and related the "boost" to the NSA story.
Atrios still has plenty of pony pictures left and I agree he'll probably get to use them. Geogria10 notes that even TIME magazine is trying to push the "good for Bush" narrative.
The Heretik teaches us about numbers. And fruits. Or something.
Last Thursday brought the revelation that the NSA has been collecting our phone records since 9/11, which elicited quite a reaction in both the press and the blogosphere. Almost immediately, a straw poll came out claiming a majority of Americans supported the practice. But then two other polls surfaced showing Americans think the measure goes too far. Which poll is more accurate? Depends on who you ask.
E & P chimed in to give some possible explanations for why the poll results were so dramatically different.
Billmon opines that it doesn't matter what a majority of Americans support because the rights enshrined in the Constitution are not subject to majority rule. That's a good point. You could have a poll showing a majority of Americans favor deporting Kevin Federline but that doesn't mean the government has the right to actually do it. Though now that I think about it...
Poll Vaulting...Or Not
Newsmax reported that President Bush's approval rating jumped 6 percentage points and related the "boost" to the NSA story.
Atrios still has plenty of pony pictures left and I agree he'll probably get to use them. Geogria10 notes that even TIME magazine is trying to push the "good for Bush" narrative.
The Heretik teaches us about numbers. And fruits. Or something.
Labels: OTF
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