Secretary of Defense Robert Gates today announced sweeping cuts to weapons spending programs including the F-22 that I mentioned in a previous post. The rationale is that conventional war is becoming less likely and we are preparing for smaller wars that are most likely ahead. Its really rather remarkable to live through, what would in the future be considered a major turning point in a nation's history, in a more pessimistic description, to see our country be taken to the cleaners before our very eyes. A possible confrontation with either Russia or China or their well supplied surrogates, are the farthest things from the minds of those making these decisions. Every enemy that this nation has, has to be utterly exuberant. Everything is going their way.
The front page of today's (Tuesday) New York Times is very typical of the problems Americans have in discerning what is going on in the world and our nation. The NYT released the results of its latest poll. 998 people were contacted in a country of 300 million. The Pew Research Center released their poll a few days ago. The NYT highlighted the 61% favorable opinion for Barack Obama, the Pew poll highlighted the extreme contrast in opinions of Democrats from Republicans and vice versa.
There is a "science" in taking a small number of responses and applying them to an entire nation, there is also a "science" in forming the questions. For instance, two questions were "Is your opinion of the Republican (Democratic) party favorable or unfavorable?" Republican, Democrat and total results were given. Sounds simply, but the results conveniently ignore that fact that so many Republicans view their own party unfavorably because they have not opposed the machinations of the Democrat Party enough.
Over the years, I have seen polls constructed in very subtle ways to influence the results. The front page article on the defense budget "shift" made it sound like money was just being moved from one area to another. A third article America Seeks Bonds To Islam, Obama Insists" quotes Obama in a speech to the Turkish Parliament, " The United States has been enriched by Muslim-Americans" he said. "Many other Americans have Muslims in their family, or have lived in a Muslim-majority country. I know because I am one of them." The NYT commented "The line was a bold one for Mr. Obama, who has been falsely described as a Muslim. The claim persists on some right-wing Web sites." The problem here is that it implies falsely, as President Obama's rhetoric consistently does, that Republican presidents did not respect Muslim countries or Muslim Americans, or seek greater and friendlier ties. Another persistent problem is the referral to right-wing Web sites. Has the NYT ever used the term left-wing?
I have, on more than one occasion, used the shotgun pattern as a guide to interpreting human actions. If you are not familiar with a shotgun pattern, most pellets hit the center of a target and the holes get fewer the further outside the center. Every group, whether it be liberal or conservative has those on the fringe. William Ayers would be on the outside fringe. Liberals should not be associated with Ayers unless they espouse the same views. The Pew poll doesn't play politics with the poll. There is a polarity in America that is enormous and entrenched, and they highlighted that.
The front page of today's (Tuesday) New York Times is very typical of the problems Americans have in discerning what is going on in the world and our nation. The NYT released the results of its latest poll. 998 people were contacted in a country of 300 million. The Pew Research Center released their poll a few days ago. The NYT highlighted the 61% favorable opinion for Barack Obama, the Pew poll highlighted the extreme contrast in opinions of Democrats from Republicans and vice versa.
There is a "science" in taking a small number of responses and applying them to an entire nation, there is also a "science" in forming the questions. For instance, two questions were "Is your opinion of the Republican (Democratic) party favorable or unfavorable?" Republican, Democrat and total results were given. Sounds simply, but the results conveniently ignore that fact that so many Republicans view their own party unfavorably because they have not opposed the machinations of the Democrat Party enough.
Over the years, I have seen polls constructed in very subtle ways to influence the results. The front page article on the defense budget "shift" made it sound like money was just being moved from one area to another. A third article America Seeks Bonds To Islam, Obama Insists" quotes Obama in a speech to the Turkish Parliament, " The United States has been enriched by Muslim-Americans" he said. "Many other Americans have Muslims in their family, or have lived in a Muslim-majority country. I know because I am one of them." The NYT commented "The line was a bold one for Mr. Obama, who has been falsely described as a Muslim. The claim persists on some right-wing Web sites." The problem here is that it implies falsely, as President Obama's rhetoric consistently does, that Republican presidents did not respect Muslim countries or Muslim Americans, or seek greater and friendlier ties. Another persistent problem is the referral to right-wing Web sites. Has the NYT ever used the term left-wing?
I have, on more than one occasion, used the shotgun pattern as a guide to interpreting human actions. If you are not familiar with a shotgun pattern, most pellets hit the center of a target and the holes get fewer the further outside the center. Every group, whether it be liberal or conservative has those on the fringe. William Ayers would be on the outside fringe. Liberals should not be associated with Ayers unless they espouse the same views. The Pew poll doesn't play politics with the poll. There is a polarity in America that is enormous and entrenched, and they highlighted that.
