THERE IS NOTHING LIKE A POLL

There is nothing like a poll,
Nothing in the world.
There is nothing for the soul
That is anything like a poll.

There's no alibi like a poll,
And nothing lies like a poll.
Gives false hope like a poll.
Or cheats like a poll.
There's not a thing that's wrong with all the politicians
That can't be cured with their frank admissions
Of their absolutely mindless, funky dominance by the poll.

Why, just this week the polls showed that 4 out of 5 people said that tax cuts benefited others but not themselves. Most wanted a balanced budget, NOT a tax cut. 72% declared that they would vote for candidates that would balance the budget.

And the polls also showed high approval for the guy that is doing everything he can to unbalance the budget and do more tax cutting. That's the mantra of the GOP: "cut taxes, go into debt and spend the Social Security Fund." Is anyone out there listening to the Bush nuke-war mantra?

POLLS! WHAT ARE THEY GOOD FOR? ABSOLUTELY WHATEVER! Bush severely criticized former President Clinton for using polls yet when he was appointed president, his use of them makes Clinton's look like an innocent afternoon at the beach.

Maureen Dowd [no Clinton fan] in her piece, Addiction to Addition, has compared the two in their use of polls.

"But the cheesy Clinton obsession with polling seems positively uplifting compared with the black arts of the Bush polling operation. At least Mr. Clinton's impulse was democratic. He yearned to do what we wanted him to do -- he was Sally-Field- desperate for us to really, really like him. Mr. Bush's impulse is autocratic. He wants to do what he (or Cheney & Rove) wants to do -- and is desperate only to find a way to shove it down our throats."

http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/03/opinion/03DOWD.html?ex=1018833721&ei=1&en=009 b6a50bfb10ae

Remember all the polls following 9/11 reporting that the great majority of people in this country were religious? Remember all the polls that declared that because of this we were becoming "a kinder gentler nation?" Remember all of the polls telling of neighbor helping neighbor and how good will toward all abounded in the land. "One Nation Under God" united, considerate and polite?

Well there^Òs a poll by the research group of Public Agenda that reports that 79% of Americans believe that a lack of respect and courtesy in our society is a serious problem. 88% said Americans are rude or disrespectful.

Polls! Even the pollsters admit that many factors influence them. They understand that the way a question is asked may determine the answer that is given. Polls can be, and are, rigged.

One of the commonest ways to rig a poll is to carefully frame the questions leading up to the one prime question being polled [for example: Bush approval]. This can influence the person being questioned to answer the prime question the way the pollster wants.

One of the more insidious results of polls is that many people want to be on the "winning side." The media encourages this by combining "patriotism" with the Cheney/Bush administration making the winning side red, white and blue American. Then it reinforces this unholy union with hourly repetitions.

After being knocked about by most of the foreign press and several media outlets in this country, the polls told Dubya his "approval rating was slipping so he reversed direction on the Israeli/ Palestine conflagration." That used to be called FLIP-FLOPPING when Clinton did it. Today, most of the U.S. media are praising him for his decision to sent DOS's Powell to the hot spot with nary a mention of his flip-flopping. So how can anyone believe media polls?

Here we are with a resident of the White House who believes he was selected by God to fight the "evil doers of evil." http://www.tmtmetropolis.ru/stories/2002/04/05/120.html

He is sustained in this belief by outrageous polls. We are continually being told that he is hunting down terrorists dead or alive and wiping them out wherever they are.

In all our names (America) he warns all other countries that if they aren't fur us they're agin us. He threatens other nations with nuclear attack. He beats our plowshares into spears, our peace missions into patriot games. How can this "God-appointed one" ever explain to us such Biblical phrases as: "Vengeance is mine sayest the Lord." "Love your enemies, love and curse them not." "Forgive those who trespass against us." -?-

"... man, proud man
Dressed in a little brief authority,
Most ignorant of what he's most assured --
His glassy essence -- like an angry ape
Plays such fantastic tricks before high heaven
As makes the angels weep..."

act II, scene 2)
Measure for Measure by William Shakespeare

twanda@gendergappers.org       

2002-014

Copyright 2002 Renee T. Louise and Ruth M. Sprague, Ph.D. These articles may be republished for noncommercial use only, provided that they are copied intact, and that this copyright notice is attached. Address all queries to: twanda@gendergappers.org.