Reply #11: I suspect you're right [View All]

[Jack Rabbit]

And I'm certain there are a lot of people at DU who would love that kind of thing as long as the shoe were on the left foot instead of the right. However, it really wouldn't serve us any better than what we are getting.

The purpose of a free and independent press is to provide the public with facts so that citizens can make informed decisions. That is simply not happening. As recently as a year ago -- one year after the invasion of Iraq -- a survey reported that 60% of Americans had serious misconceptions about the reasons given for taking action; they believed that Saddam had a biochemical arsenal (many actually believed the weapons had been found) or that Saddam had ties to al Qaida (some actually believed that he had a major hand in planning the September 11 attacks).

Surveys taken just before the 2004 election showed that while this level of misconception had been reduced to below half, it was still alarmingly high (about 40%) and that those who held these misconceptions overwhelmingly favored Bush. In fact, most people who held these misconceptions voted for Bush and most people who voted for Bush held these misconceptions. There is no escaping the conclusion that voter ignorance had a lot to do with the failure of America to remove Bush from power.

I don't mind being outvoted, but I would prefer to be outvoted by people who know what they're talking about. A mainstream media that provides Ann Coulter with an undeserved air of intellectual legitimacy and marginalizes opposing viewpoints is a major cause of this level of voter ignorance.