Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Study: Over A Third Of America "Not Entitled To Their Opinion"
I think this is exactly right:
The above article is actually from The Onion, but it sure does have a ring of truth. You ever watch "Man on the Street" interviews on local news, listen to talk radio, or sit through a bunch of callers on Larry King? For that matter, you ever listen to Larry King?
CHICAGO—In a surprising refutation of the conventional wisdom on opinion entitlement, a study conducted by the University of Chicago's School for Behavioral Science concluded that more than one-third of the U.S. population is neither entitled nor qualified to have opinions.
"On topics from evolution to the environment to gay marriage to immigration reform, we found that many of the opinions expressed were so off-base and ill-informed that they actually hurt society by being voiced," said chief researcher Professor Mark Fultz, who based the findings on hundreds of telephone, office, and dinner-party conversations compiled over a three-year period. "While people have long asserted that it takes all kinds, our research shows that American society currently has a drastic oversupply of the kinds who don't have any good or worthwhile thoughts whatsoever. We could actually do just fine without them."
The above article is actually from The Onion, but it sure does have a ring of truth. You ever watch "Man on the Street" interviews on local news, listen to talk radio, or sit through a bunch of callers on Larry King? For that matter, you ever listen to Larry King?
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Only a third, eh? Sounds wildly optomistic to me. I suspect that there are only about one in ten, on average, who actually have the necessary experience and knowledge to have an intelligent opinion on any particular subject. Some of the rest of us have a good grasp of who is a real expert in any given area, and rely on their opinions to form our own. The rest have no f___in' clue, and exist only as loose cannons who threaten to crush anyone who gets in the way of their stupidity.
Take particular note of the Liberty U. student who was just arrested with five (napalm?) bombs in his trunk, who was planning to use them to make sure no protest marred the funeral of his hero, Jerry Falwell. There's someone who has not only forfeited his right to an opinion, but his right to contribute to the gene pool, as well.
Take particular note of the Liberty U. student who was just arrested with five (napalm?) bombs in his trunk, who was planning to use them to make sure no protest marred the funeral of his hero, Jerry Falwell. There's someone who has not only forfeited his right to an opinion, but his right to contribute to the gene pool, as well.
# posted by 
: 4:37 AM
: 4:37 AM
Abi, I tried watching larry King last night because Al Gore was on - but King is such a cartoon that I had a hard time taking him seriously. But Gore made a good point about King - at least when King is doing an infotainment show as opposed to news, he tells you up front. The rest of cable does their Missing White Women/American Idol/Find the Best Sunglasses for the Summer segments like they're "real news."
kicksiron, I found that story about Liberty terrifying. It's ironic, but that guy's a terrorist just as much as any Muslim fanatic looking to take out people for Allah. How come he wasn't termed a "terraist"? Is it because he was evangelical? And how come abortion clinic bombers aren't termed "terraists" either?
Scary stuff.
kicksiron, I found that story about Liberty terrifying. It's ironic, but that guy's a terrorist just as much as any Muslim fanatic looking to take out people for Allah. How come he wasn't termed a "terraist"? Is it because he was evangelical? And how come abortion clinic bombers aren't termed "terraists" either?
Scary stuff.
"We have seen the enemy, and he is us." (Pogo)
Yes, they're 'terraists', and there are a lot more just like them -- the so-called 'Minute Men' who stood guard at the border, the pretend-military weirdos who drive trucks painted camo and go out in the woods on manouvers, the KKK, the whole damn lot of those who are so convinced they're right that other people don't count.
Just for the record, the burghers of Farmers' Branch (two suburbs over from me) just voted to approve the city council resolution that apartment owners would be fined for renting to undocumented immigrants, with a 62% majority. It probably won't be upheld in court, and in one respect, that's a shame -- the Little Mexico and Korea Town sections are the only areas with small businesses, and if the good Anglo citizens succeed in chasing them off, their property taxes will skyrocket. That, and they'd have to fix their own roofs, because there isn't a roofing crew in the DFW area that isn't majority Latino of suspect documentation.
Like I said, we'd be lucky to have a third of the population that held intelligent opinions.
Yes, they're 'terraists', and there are a lot more just like them -- the so-called 'Minute Men' who stood guard at the border, the pretend-military weirdos who drive trucks painted camo and go out in the woods on manouvers, the KKK, the whole damn lot of those who are so convinced they're right that other people don't count.
Just for the record, the burghers of Farmers' Branch (two suburbs over from me) just voted to approve the city council resolution that apartment owners would be fined for renting to undocumented immigrants, with a 62% majority. It probably won't be upheld in court, and in one respect, that's a shame -- the Little Mexico and Korea Town sections are the only areas with small businesses, and if the good Anglo citizens succeed in chasing them off, their property taxes will skyrocket. That, and they'd have to fix their own roofs, because there isn't a roofing crew in the DFW area that isn't majority Latino of suspect documentation.
Like I said, we'd be lucky to have a third of the population that held intelligent opinions.
# posted by : 1:31 PM
: 1:31 PM
I remember a Fox News segment on the Iraq war, where a GOP senator gave his views. To balance it, Fred Thompson, a retired GOP senator, gave his as well.
Another memorable segment came when Hillary first rand for the Senate. To their credit, they had a Republican and a Democrat this time. Only the Democrat, Floyd Flake of Queens, endorsed Rick Lazio, as did his GOP colleague.
But they had great graphics.
Another memorable segment came when Hillary first rand for the Senate. To their credit, they had a Republican and a Democrat this time. Only the Democrat, Floyd Flake of Queens, endorsed Rick Lazio, as did his GOP colleague.
But they had great graphics.
Wait'll Rupert gets his hands on the WSJ - there's already rumors that the editorial page politics have bled into the news section. After Murdoch gets control, there will be little doubt.
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