Oh, Come On . . .
Paranoia Will Destroy Ya
By Pejman Yousefzadeh Posted in Culture | Featured Stories — Comments (24) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
This can't be serious.
Can it?
Democrats in America are evenly divided on the question of whether George W. Bush knew about the 9/11 terrorist attacks in advance. Thirty-five percent (35%) of Democrats believe he did know, 39% say he did not know, and 26% are not sure.
Republicans reject that view and, by a 7-to-1 margin, say the President did not know in advance about the attacks. Among those not affiliated with either major party, 18% believe the President knew and 57% take the opposite view.
Overall, 22% of all voters believe the President knew about the attacks in advance. A slightly larger number, 29%, believe the CIA knew about the attacks in advance. White Americans are less likely than others to believe that either the President or the CIA knew about the attacks in advance. Americans are more likely than their elders to believe the President or the CIA knew about the attacks in advance.
Conspiratorial much? I'm sorry, but if you actually buy into the belief that the President knew about the attacks in advance, or that the CIA knew, given the evidence that we have after multiple investigations . . . well . . . I'm really not sure there is anything on Earth I can argue to change your mind. Obviously, there are some with an X-Files view of the world, and nothing--not Hades or high water--is going to change it.
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Oh, Come On . . . 24 Comments (0 topical, 24 editorial, 0 hidden) Post a comment »
As a disclaimer I will admit I have partaken of the weed in my day, and I lean toward some form of legalization, but I think that heavy usage of pot--and hallucinogens--skews Left. This has got to be a factor in these poll numbers. Run-of -the-mill ignorance, anger and mental illness are just not enough to explain these scary poll numbers.
I think Michael Moore is a propogandist in the ballpark of Goebels. 'Know your opposition'.
But his 'seven minutes' where he claims Bush did nothing but sit there is just a reference to the time when Bush is told about the twin towers being attacked. I also remember John Kerry saying he sat there for forty minutes in shock. I also remember Yasir Arafat's expression when he made his first public comment after 9/11 (I was just making a point that I didn't believe he knew ahead of time either). I also remember the Palestinians dancing in the streets on 9/11. My memory and thought process is fine my friend, and I partake in the substance every day.
Kind of like Rush in the sense "Half my brain wrapped around a big, fat, giant doobie, just to make it fair".
that is not a reference to Rush's past with drugs. I have total respect for Rush. It is a play on his phrase "Half my brain tied behind my back, just to make it fair".
It means that even when I am so stoned that I can't see straight, I can out think and out logic liberals, moderates and a lot of other people who claim to be conservatives.
I just harken back to my days as a somewhat leftie musician, and watching many bright, motivated friends jump on the Deadhead bandwagon. In a short time, they would turn into dull, listless, paranoiacs who would easily buy into Communism or any other theory which told them they had no power and were just pawns of the Konspiracy.
As the article said, "Americans are more likely than their elders to believe the President or the CIA knew about the attacks in advance." I think it was supposed to say "Young Americans", and I have a hunch that this poll was over-represented by dorm residents who are in the early stages of drug experimentation. They probably don't spend enough time in class or studying, and they probably spend too much time at DKos and/or working to get a Leftie elected somewhere.
Glad to see you let your freak flag fly, but I worry about some of the youngsters these days. I'm not so worried about old Leftard Hippies who buy into "Bush Knew". I just laugh at them.
I tend to think of it as more of a libertarian view.
The fact is that I can out debate anyone on the subject of whether herb should be legal or not, as long as you accept that alcohol is 'the bar' as far as what drugs should be legal and that this is still a free country. I have no excuse for my chronic or addictive use of the substance, but I can totally defend recreational use of marijuana.
See my original disclaimer. Been there, done that, still visit the old neighborhood once in a blue moon, but it's all about the kids now.
I think Dr. Sanity explains it best by labeling the Bush Derangment Syndrome a symptom of displacement: unable to hate the jihadists because of multiculturalism, and unwilling to believe that there are people who are really out to do evil, they hate the safe target, President Bush.
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Gone 2500 years, still not PC.
if multi culturalism is broadened out to include poor history, lack of belonging to anything, and a general lack of knowledge. And I do think multi culturalism encompasses the previously mentioned adjectives.
one scary thing, with so many of us involved, the danger is not just to "them" but to us all.
Molon Labe!
if you asked some follow up questions to that 35%, you'd find that most of them believe that Bush (or others in the administration) knew (1) that bin Laden was determined to attack within the United States, and/or (2) that terrorists were planning an attack using airplanes, but not that he had specific knowledge that the WTC, etc were going to be attacked or that the attack would take place on that date.
No doubt a statistically significant number would still believe that Bush knew that those exact attacks were coming on that exact date, which, ya know, obviously is insane. But then, neither side of the aisle can claim immunity from the tin-foil hat brigade. Remember, at one point, better than 18% of Republicans believed that the Clintons had Vince Foster murdered, many of whom still believe that in spite of the "evidence evidence that we have after multiple investigations."
You believe 35% of Democrats say that Bush knew of the 9/11 attacks in advance, but, if pressed, most would say he did not know they would happen on 9/11, or where they would happen, or how they would happen.
I feel better about my reply to Captain Toke now.
So my spin's not flying here on Redstate?
No doubt I'm looking for a reasonable explanation of those numbers, and I have never had any reason to doubt Rasmussen's methodology. If 35% of Democrats - and 22% of the country - really does believe that Bush was essentially a co-conspirator in the 9/11 attacks, then so be it. Obviously, I can't defend that nonsense. It just seems like an unbelievable high number to me. But then, I guess it shouldn't, since those are about the same numbers who believe Kennedy was killed by members of the federal government and that the federal government is hiding information it has about intelligent life on other planets.
Now I want to know who these 1 in 7 Republicans are who think Bush was in on it.
I agree with much of this posting. It comes down the old saying "Ask a stupid question, get a stupid answer". Polls are inherently garbage because they ask ambiguous, over-simplified baby talk questions about complicated issues.
I think a lot of people respond to these polls by in effect extending their middle finger towards the pollster by giving a smart alec answer. They also "vote" for their parties. An example is the ultimate stupid, hyper-ambiguous question: do you approve or disapprove of the job President Bush is doing? Republicans and Democrats "vote" for their parties when they answer.
I think saying 9/11 was a conspiracy is a lot like saying BusHitler for some on the left. It's just another insult.
Let me make up a bizarre example to prove my point. (One conspiracy deserves another.) Men in black kidnap a group of people in the 35%, those who answered "yes" to "Bush knew about 9/11 in advance". The kidnappers scare the crap out of the hostages by killing one or two of them and then slapping the rest around. Then the hostages are taken one by one into a room and tied to a chair. A man in black holds a gun to the hostage's head and says "We KNOW whether or not George Bush knew about 9/11 in advance. Did he or didn't he? If you give the answer which is true, you go free. Otherwise your brains end up on the table."
I don't think there's a snowball's chance that all of the 35% would say "yes, there was a conspiracy". I don't even think it would be most.
I have no idea what the percentages are, but there are quite a few people who believe FDR had advanced knowledge of Pearl Harbor, quite a few people who believe we never landed on the moon, quite a few people who believe that LBJ was in on JFK's assassination, who think Elvis is alive, etc.
It's all utter nuttiness, of course. But I think it has more to do with a penchant for intrigue, a certainty that so much goes on we don't know or find out about, and a desire to make convenient sense of things than it does about "Bush."
for starters and you will realize that there is a significant percentage of people who will believe anything--so long as it goes against the grain of conventional wisdom. It is not a strictly American phenonomen by any means. The Brits are at least as potty and susceptible to conspiracy theories.
Huffington, Kos, M. Moore, et al simply feed that innate goofiness.
I know a guy who thinks "Bush knew", but he also thinks O.J. is innocent (seriously).
Americans are, by and large, ignorant morons. They have no clue what's going on, and many of them will buy into the most insane conspiracy theories. Just listen to the kooks on "Coast to Coast" some night, talking about alien abductions and the like. And just look at all the crazies lining up behind Obama. People don't have a clue.
conspiracy theories throughout American History. Many people still believe FDR knew that Pearl Harbor would be attacked and he let it happen. It's all a bunch of crap.
http://whatreallyhappened.com/pearl/www.geocities.com/Pentagon/6315/pear...
"President Roosevelt (FDR) provoked the attack, knew about it in advance and covered up his failure to warn the Hawaiian commanders. FDR needed the attack to sucker Hitler to declare war, since the public and Congress were overwhelmingly against entering the war in Europe. It was his backdoor to war."
Also remember the JFK Assassination conspiracy theories.
The American people don't want to believe that 19 little Al Qaeda punks with box-cutters could have created so much mayhem the same goes with the killing of JFK the people didn't want to believe that a lone nut loser with a cheap mail order rifle could destroy a promising young president in the prime of his life. It's a way of coping by thinking that it took greater forces to do so much evil. Thats why so many people are willing to believe this 9/11 bullshit others just hate Bush and want to believe although in their hearts they really don't.
Which at times I wish were real. Could anybody or anything squeeze Hillary into a spacecraft? Do they have large enough cargo bays and would the spacecraft have enough power to lift off? Allow me a moment of serenity while I reflect.
This is where the nation is going, what is meant by the dumbing down of America, and what happens in a media culture the minions of which are as grossly ignorant and deracinated as the audience they shovel the slop to.
As for some of the comparisons of past conspiracy theories, well count me as one who still harbors a dark thought or two about Pearl Harbor, never certain but occasionally wondering.
"a man's admiration for absolute government is proportinate to the contempt he feels for those around him". Tocqueville
I have long ago given up talking politics in a social setting with friends and neighbors whose political views I know not. People I otherwise know and respect suddenly become complete nut jobs to me when I hear some of their political attitudes and viewpoints. Naturally my feelings toward them are negatively affected and it tends to downgrade the relationship. You're better off avoiding the whole subject.
So it doesn't surprise me that there are a lot of people out there in the genral population who give credence to some real whacko ideas.
or however many minutes says it all. Look at the shock on Bush's face when he is told what happened. Look at Yasir Arafats reaction too. He is shocked and scared. Why do you think he didn't want the footage of the Palestinians dancing in the streets shown? He knew the damage the islamists had already done to his cause. He was a terrorist back in the day, but he had turned into a politician who was getting US foreign aid.
Those in America who believe Bush knew are those who listen to Rosie and Charlie Sheen and vote based on sound bites.