NSA Poll: Shame on WaPo

[jsamuel]

From DailyKos:

by Jeff Huber
Fri May 12, 2006 at 10:07:26 AM CST

Do a majority of Americans really think unlimited government access to phone records is okay by them?

If the Washington Post can be believed, "Most Americans Support NSA's Efforts."

Below the fold: who are these "most Americans?"...

* Jeff Huber's diary :: ::
*

In an overnight poll conducted by WaPo and ABC News, "63 percent of Americans said they found the NSA program to be an acceptable way to investigate terrorism, including 44 percent who strongly endorsed the effort," Not surprisingly, WaPo doesn't tell us what the poll questions actually were or what the multiple choice answers were. It does, however, admit at the bottom of the article that: "A total of 502 randomly selected adults were interviewed Thursday night for this survey. Margin of sampling error is five percentage points for the overall results. The practical difficulties of doing a survey in a single night represents another potential source of error."
more...
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/5/12/12726/3218

Sorry, but I am calling bullshit on that poll. Something isn't right at all. WHAT QUESTIONS DID THEY ASK? HOW WERE THEY WORDED? WHO DID THEY SAMPLE???

Support the program, from online polls?
No - 85% - MSNBC http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12738454
Creepy - 76% - CNN http://www.cnn.com/POLLSERVER/results/24900.exclude.html
It bothers me - 72% - AOL http://articles.news.aol.com/news/article.adp?id=20060511052409990008&ncid=NWS00010000000001http://articles.news.aol.com/news/article.adp?id=20060511052409990008&ncid=NWS00010000000001

Do you care if the government has your phone records? * 21611 responses
Yes - 76% - MSNBC http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3080261/#anc_QOD051106

[titoresque]

1. FUCKING LIARS!

They should be flogged in public, the lot of them! LIARS!!!!!

[Tuesday_Morning]

2. yep

It's obvious bullshit.

[jsamuel]

3. updated with other online polls

[jsamuel]

6. updated with another one

[LilyLibber]

4. Agreed...

The stench of BS is overwhelming here. They are pounding the hell out of this story on the local conservative radio station...it's running in every single newscast as the top story. :puke:

[jsamuel]

5. This response was so fast, it is like it was a Repub "quick response"

propaganda

[LilyLibber]

7. And then there's this...

From the WaPo story:

Half--51 percent--approved of the way President Bush was handling privacy matters.

IMO, if half of ANY "random" sample of American adults approve of the way Bush is handling ANYTHING (except maybe a few terra-related things if we're polling Kool-Aid Kountry), one must automatically begin sniffing the air for traces of steaming excrement...the way these questions are phrased can have a HUGE amount to do with the answers.

[jsamuel]

8. very good point

[LilyLibber]

9. The actual language of the questions...

are here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=132&topic_id=2621602

You will be APPALLED. :puke:

[Supersedeas]

10. You are correct -- I am appalled.

[LilyLibber]

11. Sean Handjobitty...

is salivating all over the WaPo article and saying that shows how far out of the "mainstream" that liberals are. I want to send his producers these poll links and tell them to suck on THOSE for a while. :mad: I hate that pompous, nasal, strident, jowly, windbag jackass.

[DiscoStew]

12. done

[LilyLibber]

13. Well, don't YOU kick ass!

:applause: And welcome to DU! :hi:

[Jack Rabbit]

14. Questions asked

Please click here.

Do you approve or disapprove of the way Bush is handling protecting Americans' privacy rights as the government investigates terrorism?

What do you think is more important right now - (for the federal government to investigate possible terrorist threats, even if that intrudes on personal privacy); or (for the federal government not to intrude on personal privacy, even if that limits its ability to investigate possible terrorist threats)?

It's been reported that the National Security Agency has been collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans. It then analyzes calling patterns in an effort to identify possible terrorism suspects, without listening to or recording the conversations. Would you consider this an acceptable or unacceptable way for the federal government to investigate terrorism? Do you feel that way strongly or somewhat?

If you found out that the NSA had a record of phone numbers that you yourself have called, would that bother you, or not? IF YES: Would it bother you a lot, or just somewhat?

Do you think it is right or wrong for the news media to have disclosed this secret government program?

In none of the questions published by the Post today was there anything about a warrant.

In addition, the second question is based on a False Dilemma. A better question more suitable to the issue would be something like: Do you believe information needed to fight terrorism and prevent terrorist attacks can be gathered in a way that respects Constitutional liberties? I would answer that question Yes.