CNN doesn’t really know how to come up with an original perspective on an issue, so they like to poll the general public about things in which they have no expertise. And now it turns out that Americans are nearly evenly split on whether the Constitution protects gay marriage and whether the U.S. should pass a constitutional amendment negating automatic citizenship for children born in the U.S. of foreign parents. How can our top experts be in such conflict over these things?
It also turns out that 52% of Americans think “gays and lesbians should have a constitutional right to get married.” But the poll questions on gay marriage are generally terrible, because it doesn’t say anything about a right to same-sex marriage. It just says “right to get married,” which is the same wording as is in the first question about whether they already do have a constitutional right to marriage.
Perhaps CNN should ask the general public how to write poll questions.
But there is one clear message from this poll: America fucking HATES that proposed Manhattan community-center complex. 68% say they “oppose this plan,” whereas 29% “support” it, and 3% have “no opinion.” But why do 29% of Americans actively support it? “Yes, I do want that mosque in that place I don’t live,” is this opinion, whereas “no opinion” is, “Do what you want, it’s a free country.” So apparently 3 out of 10 Americans are proselytizing Muslins, secret or otherwise. WATCH YOUR BACK, NEWT.
CNN is good at writing poll questions, and America is good at answering them. [CNN]
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Americans are similarly split about whether they should fight for their right to party (The Boys who are Bestial) or party for their right to fight (The Enemies of the Public).
Aside from the mosque question, the results actually do restore some of my faith in the American people; or at least slightly over half of them.
One other bit of bad question writing: a group of Muslims is not planning to build a mosque near the former World Trade Center, they’re building a religious community center. The mosque has been there since before the WTC was built.
Maybe I’m reading 37a and 37b wrong, but why in the hell would you poll Southerners exclusively for a question about gay marriage, unless of course you really really REALLY want skewed results? Besides that, if they wanted truly verifiable results from this sample, CNN should’ve included a question about marrying your cousin and/or livestock.
CNN doesn’t really know how to come up with an original perspective on an issue….
I’ve noticed this too, and I’ve come to the conclusion that the entire CNN broadcast team should be replaced by the “Crank Yankers” puppets.
Less filling! Tastes great!
CNN asked a sample of 1000 Americans whether they thought the Golbach Conjecture was true. These are the results:
47% said: “No, because it would lead to increased abortions.”
32% said: “Yes, because their child had it in preschool once and had to stay hoem for the day so as not to infect the other kids.”
21% said: “They didn’t know as they’d never heard Rush Limbaugh address the issue.”
1 guy in Vermont said: “Whie it is very likey that all positive even integers can be expressed as the sum of two primes. A proof of this conjecture does not currently exist.”
Gay abortion is definitely a Constitutionally-protected right.
“The man on the street is stunned! For a reaction, we go to a man in the street.”
“Sir, how do you feel?”
“I’m stunned.”
“There you go, Chuck.”
Asking people what their prejudices are is not only not news, it’s not even the foundation for news. It doesn’t even get at a fact, and when a poll question is written like, “Have you stopped beating your wife?” the results are even worse.
Maybe CNN can read some Tweets about the poll results? That would be so awesome!
Also, in related news, 110% of Americans wanted to see Jonah Goldberg belly up to a bushel of goat testicles.
[re=636685]Serolf Divad[/re]:
*Numbers greater than 4.
** Vermont guy’s answer was discarded as statistically insignificant.
[re=636682]queeraselvis v 2.0[/re]: Southerners are, these days, a mix of the entire east coast.
“The South” of Yankee imagination only exists in isolated communities, and there are very few isolated communities. This here Intertube goes to most of them. The major cities of the south are most of the population of the south, and they’re full of yankee yuppy scum in BMW’s driving to “cute bars” with faux “southern” cuisine and “authentic” misspellings in their names, wearing pink and green Madras pants over their bulbous thighs, complaining that the mass transit might reach their district and bring blacks from downtown out to steal their stuff, and they didn’t move to this awful place from New Jersey just to have their stuff stolen by a bunch of those people…
Go… go to Atlanta. Visit with the kind folks there.
Should we nuke all those coloreds in Jamaica? How about Denmark? Vote now, and we’ll see whether anyone cares WTF you ignorant payday borrowers and mail-order suckers think.
Yep, that there’s some fine journalism.
Of course gay people should marry. Larry Craig was married. So was that nice Governor in New Jersey.
Oh, you meant marry each other. Ewwwww.
If it aint about Jersey Shore or who’s hosting American Idol next season, I DONT KNOW SKWAT.
The poll had a margin of error of +/- fish%.
[re=636692]Geogre[/re]: Ah. That certainly explains some things (CNN being based in Atlanta and all). My money’s on the pollsters “randomly sampling” CNN employees and pretending that they were representative Southerners when, in fact, they’re probably folks recently relocated from Trenton and now comfortably settled in to an overpriced condo in Buckhead.
[re=636692]Geogre[/re]: This is good news! Now I can go to Alabama and Mississippi and they will be receptive to my espousing of evolution and arugula eating.
No word yet on what percentage of Americans think the 14th Amendment should protect corporate person-hood or if the First Amendment protects the right to spend as much money as you want, or if an absolute right to private property is located anywhere in the Constitution at all.
Clearly CNN hasn’t understood the concept of “whore diamonds” in statistical polling…on the plus side, however, they do seem to be able to put their entire heads up their asses, a not insignificant achievement…
[re=636709]queeraselvis v 2.0[/re]: They couls always interview the folks on Euclid Ave.
[re=636692]Geogre[/re]: It is difficult to respond to a sweeping generalization with anything but a sweeping generalization, but “The South” remains different than “The North” (or, perhaps more accurately for the way it is typically framed, “The Northeast”).
It can be traced through differences in voting records, for one thing, but despite any sort of melting pot “progress” that has been made, prevailing wisdom on the subject of Man’s Inhumanity to Man is markedly different on the broadest of scales between the peoples of those regions.
The morbidly obese fit in just about anywhere, of course. Except single airline seats.
It is also a well known fact that 5 out 4 people do not understand fractions.
[re=636712]BarackMyWorld[/re]: Come on [re=636712]BarackMyWorld[/re]: You well know that the constitution is ALL ABOUT the rights of private property. Also, the ideas and directions expressed in the sermon on the mount only apply to joos. One you’re a born agin christian, you’re entitled to all the cruelty, fornication an thievery you can manage. Otherwise, why be a christian?
52% think gays and lesbians should be allowed to marry but 68% oppose building a mosque? I call bullshit.
What is September 14th Alex?
What about gays and lesbians marrying at the mosque?
[re=636682]queeraselvis v 2.0[/re]: That, indeed, is very strange. I work for a polling company (not this one) and we would never, ever try to sample the South and project it to the US general population. Another interesting tidbit is that NO Southerners identify themselves as “Liberal” – haha!
I don’t suppose they asked their general public if they think Anderson Cooper is straight?
awhile back a study was made of americans’ attitudes on the Bill of Rights. they did not identify the source of those principles, but asked for opinions.
guess what? a large majority was opposed to most of the Bill of Rights.
let’s face it, americans are uneducated, uninformed, and downright ignorant. just like that dolt Dubya Bush they elected (?) to office not once, but twice.
Southern and 35 or older. Great poll.
[re=636691]Serolf Divad[/re]: Only elitists worry about numbers bigger that 4.
[re=636734]Ducksworthy[/re]: Silly me. The 5th Amendment says something about “due process” and “compensation” which of course literally means the right to pump as much poison into the air and water as possible, even if said air and water is in a constant state of motion and is only on your property for the moment the poison is being pumped into it.
[re=636673]norbizness[/re]:
How about fight for the right to (Republican) Party…just don’t bring any Corona or Tequila to the party because Lindsey Graham and the Republicans are seeking to repeal and replace the 14th Amendment.
According to House Minority Leader, John Boehner, they want to replace it with a 28th Amendment that is twice as strong. They claim that the Democrats slipped the 14th Amendment through as part of the $15,000 Buggy Bailout Bill of 1866.
Read this article. VERY FUNNY.
dailygoat.com/?p=2508
[re=636711]FiftyAmeroBill[/re]: Aha!
Well, note that I said “isolated communities” still do exist. If you go to Jackson Mississippi, you’ll be fine. If you go to any city of Alabama, you’ll be fine.
In the ruralities, though, what you’re up against is not “the South,” and not “isolation.” What you’re up against is Southern Baptist Convention, and it doesn’t just go to the south.
[re=636726]Failed 2 Menace[/re]: As you say, sweeping generalizations.
“The South” is supposed to be, what, eight states? These eight states are all alike? They have a character? I lived in Atlanta from 1972-1989. During that time, I saw the soup change radically. Every time the city grew a hump/suburb, it was populated with a simple mix of professional moving class.
The voting records are a reflection of gerrymandering post “Republican revolution” and the demographic shifts.
The second major change was the Internet wiring. It got out to the agrarian areas and made a huge dent in the culture. At almost the same time, though, the “culture war” started up, and the Baptist Church (which is one of two churches) grew more militant, got an official dogma, and started pushing back. The result is “millenials” who watch “Jackass” and think liberals are the devil.
Should we amend amendment fourteen?
Are you American by birth place or by gene?
Bearing to anchor,
Is causing such rancor,
Is it fairness or fear of Lateen?
For more, google “LimRickNews”.
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