Just How Ignorant Are American Voters?
By bluegal Monday Jul 07, 2008 3:15pm
Image modified from Tony Rogers.
Bob Edwards Radio.com explores Rick Shenkman's new book, "Just How Stupid Are We?: Facing the Truth About the American Voter":
--Only 2 in 5 voters can name the three branches of the federal government.
--Only 1 in 7 can find Iraq on a map.
--Only 1 in 5 know that there are 100 federal senators.
And the most chilling...
--Nearly half (49%) of Americans think the President has the authority to suspend the Constitution.
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im glad you asked , obama says it all
Out of idle curiosity . . . is there really anyone with a brain that thinks we live in America anymore?
–Nearly half (49%) of Americans think the President has the authority to suspend the Constitution.
One last thing Bush can change before he leaves...
Why doesn't this voting booth have blocks for the main two parties - Green and Libertarian.
–Nearly half (49%) of Americans think the President has the authority to suspend the Constitution.
Silly buffoons, ALL of us know he can, and did, and will continue to do so, because the Dems aren't going to stop any of it.
We're toast.
As I understand it, in my local school district, civics and government are no longer taught.
This ignorance is what has always been behind the drive to eviscerate the FCC. corrupting the FCC greased the skids to bringing America to the point where it has only one party, with a far right wing and a fascist wing.
It's getting to the point where it is either going to be time to fight or flee.
There are still a number of people in this country who think Saddam Hussein was responsible for 9/11 and that Sen. Obama is a Muslim.
These are the people who believe everything their government tells them.
I've been waiting for years to hear that Democrats cause autism.
How many of the 49%ers are either Senators or Congress(people).
No Child Left Behind.
Ohh, you gotta be kidding...I think POLLs give 'em more credit than they deserve. American Voters have the minds of 5 yr-olds.
Obviously education is not a priority in the United States. Ignorant people are easy to control and manipulate so you can be sure that education will never be a priority in the States.
"There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics."
Mark Twain
ThankGodImAnAtheist @ 11:
education is over rated , look at the educated clods who run this country, all university or college schooled ,
"Just How Ignorant Are American Voters?"
ummm, wat's igorant?
" –Only 2 in 5 voters can name the three branches of the federal government.
–Only 1 in 7 can find Iraq on a map.
–Only 1 in 5 know that there are 100 federal senators.
And the most chilling…
This was a survey of Faux News participants I imagine!
Put a fork in us, we're done.
swampfox @ 13:
don't confuse education with nepotism
steamed clams have a higher IQ than
most americans. the citizens of this country
are too lazy to do anything about their future,
so, americans with a small letter "a" is appropriate.
–Nearly half (49%) of Americans think the President has the authority to suspend the Constitution.
Clearly so! If the last 8 years serve as evidence...
Samson- @ 17:
im not the proofs in the pudding !
barkleyg @ 15:
A survey of Faux News Viewers
Kay @ 5:
I am thinking thoughtcrimes, guilty your honor.
swampfox @ 1:
A good example of an uneducated McSame troll!
Paul's Bunions @ 23:
Glad to see the illusion of American superiority shattered. In this new century we should not look to a "leader" but consider all nations as equals surviving in a fragile world.
swampfox @ 1:
swampfox,
firmly in the forty-nine percentile.
idiocracy.
swampfox @ 24:
ha ha boy you got me ,nailed my ass to the barn door, hit the nail on the head ,
Well we know that fortysome % of voters are f__king idiots...along with stolen and repressed votes and the SCOTUS, election interuptus.
joe cantwell @ 26:
how you spell that?
American voters and the public in general has had it's head in the sand for years. The government has done some truly horrendous things in the name of American security and the public doesn't blink an eye at it. The list of American atrocities around the world is a long and sordid one. Every single country from Mexico to the tip of South America has been invaded or had their affairs meddled with by the US. Iran, Indonesia, Viet Nam, Laos, Cambodia, The Phillipines, Japan, South Korea. The list goes on and on. Every country that the US government turns it's eyes upon, the population suffers. All in the name of US national security. The empire is crumbling and we're all going to be in peril.
1 in 3 think that Bush is doing a fine job.
Since World War II the United States bombed 72 countries and you wonder why it is the most hated country on the planet ?
Time for a general strike.
Quit work. Stop paying bills. Don't vote.
A couple of months of this and the corporations and their fucks in D.C. will come hat in hand to Americans -- as it should be.
That is very scary, but as long as the people in charge know the President can't suspend the constitution... oh crap.
A reality check is needed here though. What were the numbers for the same questions 50 years ago, 100 years ago, etc. Has it gotten worse? This post doesn't give us any frame of reference.
100 years ago most Americans lived in rural areas. Literacy and education rates were lower. Presidential candidates were chosen at state conventions closed to the public. Fewer people could vote. It's likely that back then most people didn't know anything about the Federal government or world geography. With that in mind, 20%-40% is starting to sound better.
I think that voting machine is rigged. Last time I checked it was the Republicans that were the squares, and the Democrats who were the triangles.
Paul @ 6:
^^^
This, right here. The education system is specifically and systematically removing the teaching of civics and government. In fact, most critical thinking skills are being tossed out the window in favor of teaching towards specific standardized tests. The arts, be it painting, drawing, or music, are likewise being systematically removed. Those arts programs are well-documented to increase critical thinking skills, and also make for a happier, better-adjusted student community. No Child Left Behind ensures that the schools that most need aid do not receive it, and the schools least in need of aid receive the most. You know, just like corporations and the wealthy in modern America: If you have more, you get progressively more. If you have less, you get progressively less. Trickle-down education! Why, I'd bet that'd work as well as trickle-down economics! Better, even!
The fact that organizations like FOX "News" are apparently legally allowed to LIE to their watchers has allowed for an absolutely tremendous amount of disinformation to be spread with little to no opposition, little to no fact checking, and little to no respect for the history of the fourth estate and their role in checking the power of all three branches of our government via thorough exposure of the factual goings-on in said branches of government. Instead, they are allowed to lie to their viewers day in and day out. They are allowed to lie while using ENTERTAINMENT to draw in more customers, and likewise turning the news itself into an entertainment endeavor, rather than a fact-finding endeavor.
Uneducated populace + disinformation spread through tightly controlled media outlets = our current situation. :(
we talk about that here all the time.
Meanwhile back at the ranch, McHoover is promising
a chicken in every pota bigger tax deduction for every dependent child (doubling from $3500 to $7000).swampfox @ 20:
i don't think you got what i meant.
oh well...
OK - I will claim ignorance on this one - but I don't know all the details... didn't Bush sign something into law that effectively states the President has the right to declare martial law for anything he feels necessary? Is that what we're talking about here?
..... durrrr.....
"–Nearly half (49%) of Americans think the President has the authority to suspend the Constitution."
Well, why not,Oliver North did it in the 80s?
McCain gets mad at a soldier.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzr3pdXqZ98
http://digg.com/2008_us_elections/John_McCain_Gets_Testy_With_Vet_Over_G...
How ignorant are American voters? Ignorant enough to believe that there's no difference between McBush and Obama....the same suckers who also suggested that Dubya and Gore would be the same in 2000.
Samson- @ 39:
well explain it then im all ears!
Jeez... they should take a look at the people in my office. I think those figures would be reversed. Then again, I work in a very "blue" office, so we're not all retarded. There's a few though...
Left&Left @ 43:
You don't mean, do ya?
Nadir?
DC @ 42:
Very nice! :D
WakeUpAmerica @ 10:
Ironic. The ad embedded in this post is for Ask.com asking what toys are safe for toddlers?
Answer: These toys are off limits: books of any size and shape and length. Be especially careful with big heavy books.
These toys are safe: surveillance cameras, voting machines, and guns.
I find it intriguing that a good percentage you all think that we still HAVE a Constitution. With as many signing statements as that SOB has put into effect; what Constitution are you referring to???
In addition, 65% of those polled did not actually understand 80% or more of the questions, but answered them anyway because they didn't want to appear stupid...
Seriously, even if we still taught civics in school, most kids would forget anyway with all the brainwashing on tv news...and blogs are bad, any blog, must only trust Sean Hannity...
Just another dose of evidence that the brainwashing campaign has been and is wildly successful. A nation of idiot, medicated consumers almost as bad as the sub-human blobs depicted in the movie "WALL-E."
swampfox @ 44:
ok, all ears
:-)
you are saying that education is the problem, and you use bush (and others) to support your claim.
my point is that members of the ruling class are, oftentimes, put ("elected") into positions of power b/c of who they are, not what they have accomplished. (nepotism: patronage bestowed or favoritism shown on the basis of family relationship, as in business and politics)
thus, being educated (reading, learning, going to school) is not the problem. it should be the solution. that is, if the rightwing can be kept away from school curriculum
akvagabond @ 49:
Hmmm. I wonder how many elected officials would pass these simple tests? As I mentioned on another post, one business leader likes to tell kids that A students work for B students, and C students name the buildings...
Come on now! Three out of five people don't know the three branches of government!? The Judical, The Legislative, and The Executive. How hard can that be?
Left&Left @ 43:
you should switch your name to dem&dem....
you get what they feed you! take movies for example in the old days we had comic books, today the kids set at thier desks and dream about the neew hellboy movie or batman movies, comeing to a theater near you, and thats just the kids in college!
From a world perspective as long as the majority of the US votes Democratic rather than Republican we don't care what you can find on a map!
:)
Samson- @ 53:
ok thats good , so then you not only have to have college you have to be related to someone who has college! now i get it!
swampfox @ 59:
i don't think you do
Samson- @ 56:
Oh, I see what you're doing...You're avoiding the point and making a personal attack on the commenter.
That's brilliant! Mind sharing the rest of your playbook with us? When do you use the old "I know you are, but what am I?" reverse?
Wait. Are we talking about the ignorance of American voters, or the ignorance of those with sufficient idle time to participate in such a poll...
Andy K Jong Il @ 61:
no, andy.
"personal attack", bwhahahaaa.
what i am doing is pointing out that left&left takes a partisan position. and that someone on the left would balk at the "free" market policies that centrist dems support. yet, he supports them. that's it.
I think those stats may be deceptive...
I consider myself very well informed, I know a lot about our government... but I stink at geography and probably couldn't find Iraq on a map and plenty of other places as well.
anyway, the conservatives have wanted us to be stupid and uneducated... how else would they get people to vote for them
DC @ 42:
ROFL...I guess McCain's people gonna have to start screening for veterans and 60 yo librarians.
uk visa @ 58:
Ha!...Even some in the US think that way, me included
Yes, these are the same brain dead fat greedy creeps who drive around in their gas guzzlers with the yellow ribbons with "support the troops" on them.
They also believe that some fantasy god created the earth 6,000 years ago. Welcome to America, land of the mentally weak religious freaks.
How ignorant are the American voters?
An equally good question is "How ignorant are our politicians?"
Is there any American national politician who hasn't said something similar to the following?
"The American voter is not stupid." (or dumb or ignorant, etc.)
That shows what they know.
That's Mark Twain lifting from Benjamin Disraeli.
Cal @ 12:
Del Tweed @ 64:
Although not specified in this case, in each of similar polls I'm aware of, the map in question has had all borders clearly marked and each country clearly labeled.
I would imagine most who failed to find Iraq on the map, did not even try to.
Education is simply one part of the problem. The brainwashing begins at birth. Brainwashing on TV, in schools and churches. Cultural and gender stereotypes. Mindless propaganda. Pledge allegiance, sound-bite marketing techniques, superstitious mumbo-jumbo, fear and the non-stop mind shock marketing of violence and the bogey man. Commercials for useless poisonous shit made in China that you don't really want or need. They divide you by gender, location, class, grade, subject, school, team, blue versus red, Redskings versus Cowboys, Republifuckers versus Demomorons. Divide and conquer with bread and circuses. The police and our troops "protect and serve." What, you have no idea. Low IQ fools spreading their legs and reproducing like roaches. Top end power infrastructure that's as corrupt and filled with criminal intent, execution of crimes and there cover-up on an endless basis. Consumerism based on currency that is printed and managed by private bankers who just make each other rich and steal from the poor. For the sole purpose of financial slavery for life. All enhanced by a repugnant government filled with slander, more propaganda, and insidious plans to enslave all humans in any way they can with any method they can. Enabled by maniacal corporate interests with examples likw genetic modification of plants and animals, providing those animals with grotesque growth hormones, vaccines which cause disease, mass diagnosis of mental disorders and thus anti-psychotic drugs, the massive use of corn syrup in almost all of our foods, and on and on and on. And in the schools little to no facts are covered and taught. Especially in history where an augmented, dumbed-down view of topics is covered. Why are people so stupid? People have always been stupid. The only difference is that now an enormous system is in place to almost certainly guarantee at least some level of insanity, stupidity, and dysfunction.
–Only 2 in 5 voters can name the three branches of the federal government.
Is that the Democratic, Republican and Independant parties?
Toss me a bone people!!
;)
Sigh...
That's what I'm talkin' bout Carlos
CYNICISM!!! :>)
proud to be an 'murikan....
ThankGodImAnAtheist @ 11:
more importantly, the ignorance of the american people serves the status quo . . . and that serves corporations, which are risk averse and slow to adapt to change
Actually I think the term is idiotocracy rather than idiocracy as "idio" by itself would mean something else.
That's a trick question. There are actually four branches of the Federal government (Hint: Cheney is one of them).
Umm... hasn't there been executive orders around since the Truman days that allow the President to declare martial law and suspend the Constitution during catastrophic emergencies?
This explains how we ended up having to choose these two loser nominees for president. Bad and worse.
Four thousand American soldiers dead, tens of
thousands wounded, hundreds of thousands of
dead & crippled Iraqis plus 5 million displaced,
a cost that will mount into trillions of dollars. This
compounded with the dumbbells in the USA that
don't know who their governor is. People who vote
for a president who is against their own interests.
This is America. Love it or leave it. :-(
The constitution thing confuses me. A president can, and has, suspended part of the constitution.
Are we sure there's nothing in current law allowing the President to suspend the Constitution in the event of a national emergency or insurrection?
In 1970, during the October Crisis, Canada's Prime Minister Trudeau invoked the War Measures Act, suspending civil liberties in the hunt for members of the extreme separatist group, the FLQ. It has been used thrice before: during WW I to intern Germans and other Austro-Hungarian "enemy aliens", in WW II to intern Japanese Canadians, and during the Cold War as part of a spy ring hunt (eleven individuals were detained). This act was replaced in 1988 with the Emergencies Act, which specifically prohibits applying any orders or regulations to citizens or landed immigrants "on the basis of race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, sex, age or mental or physical disability." Any orders are subject to scrutiny by the Parliament (of Canada, not Funk); you can't just turn the government off.
Might there be something in a dusty book somewhere that deals with foreign invasion? Plainly, anyone can be declared an "enemy combatant".
Most Americans believe in angels but don't believe that evolution is real.
And, according to my very careful calculations, most Americans think they belong to a free society. Cracks me up every time I think about it.
Too bad they don't have additional figures & stats on the religious affiliations and depth of belief along with those facts in the survey. Any takers on what they might come up with if asked?
BTW: my big Bro who recently retired from teaching in Tenn could tell some tales about what the 'young yutes' of America don't know about history and their government and interference from certain religious groups.
Ratface @ 79:
4115.
Well, how many people here have ever taken one of these quizzes, honestly, even if it's one you downloaded yourself?
I think you'd be surprised at the scores.
(If anyone wants a link to the National Geographic one, I can provide it.)
John @ 85:
Please link it! :D
Finally, someone said it out loud. We are the most politically ignorant people. Other countries citizens know what their government is, we think we have the best in the world. How else would you explain Bush being elected twice(I know, I know). How else could you explain McCain polling over 40%. We keeping sending morons like Virgil Goode in Virginia, Rick Santorium in Pennsylvania, Paul Broun in Georgia, and many others like them to Congress and wonder why they can't accomplish anything good for the American people. These people have no concept of the constitution or what it means to a Democratic society. They are ideologues period. Mr. Shenkman and Susan Jacoby have the guts to say what many public figures won't say. Now maybe we can get about solving the problem.
My neice has a girl in her class who says she is voting for McCain because he is a moral man, and Democrats aren't. As long as we have people voting who have no concept what government is for and who is to be representing us in government, we are doomed to keep repeating the same mistakes. Maybe someone will pay attention to Mr. Shenkman and get the Christian Moralist off the school boards and put real educators on the school boards again. Evolution vs Intelligent Design is not the great crisis of education, it is a curriculum that teaches our kids to be worker bees, not thinkers and innovators.
There is more to education than just reading, writing, and arithmetic. We need a more progressive school curriculum that teaches more of the liberal arts, civics, and challenges the imagination. And we need to give teachers back the flexibility to design curricula that best meets the needs of their communities. Scrap No Child Left Behind, because it accomplishes the exact opposite of its title.
Americans are as fat and sloppy as they are stupid.
Worthless sacks of shit.
The Complete survey and report (including the questions and the answers) can be found
here.
But you can also take a sample 20 question test, here :
After each question it gives you the answer, and the breakdown of how Americans in the 18-35 age bracket answered.
Samson- @ 14:
It was pretty clear we'd crossed that particular point of no return in the mid 1980s when they changed the names of Grocery Stores to Food Stores, the spelling of Light to Lite, and started using Bruce Springsteen's song Born in the USA as some kind of a chest-beating patriotic song, without really listening to the lyrics.
That was also about the time that Republicans started switching their campaign tactics from economic/defense issues to three word slogans and emotional wedge issues. Also about the same time they started talking about the Republican Brand. This, more than anything else, highlights the difference between Republicans and Democrats. The former are good marketing experts who know how to sell Coke vs. Pepsi, and their only goal is to stay in power. They recognized that the American voter was getting dumber, and simply found a way to exploit it to win elections. At the same time the Democrats saw this, and spent their time banging their heads against a wall of ignorance, trying to EXPLAIN their policy issues, and tearing their hair out in frustration because the voters didn't understand what they were talking about.
3? I thought there were 4 branches! :0
–Nearly half (49%) of Americans think the President has the authority to suspend the Constitution.
Did they only poll Democratic members of Congress?
Well I had to read after a title like that !
Ricky @ 92:
Now that made me laugh :)
Ratface @ 79:
Oh don't leave it, stay inside it's borders thanks.
uk visa @ 58:
Yes we do.
And even if Obama does get in, there is 8 years of Bush damage that has to be cleaned up and many of those wounds will never heal.
Franco @ 25:
That's one of the major issues though, very few americans believe that, they all chant that they are #1 and the perfect country in the world and every where else is awful (not that 97% have ever left the country) ...... there has been no shattering and most faced with this info call it liberal lies, or say that Europe made it up or other such nonsense.
LibertyLover @ 16:
We're a while ago, but yes, nice and crispy on both sides now.
Paul @ 6:
Very much so, it's why america has the worst educational standards and results in the western world.
John @ 89:
90% on the NG quiz- missed the "population growth" and "largest exporter" questions. I had to make a stab on the earthquake question, but I got it right. Everything else was a can of corn.
Udon Nomee @ 50:
Hey, that's about as good and clean summazation of the poll as I have seen. Thanks
for the chuckle/hoot...
ThankGodImAnAtheist @ 11:
exactly... this should be enough motivation for the remaining 51% who know better about the constitution to really get pissed at the state of education and do something about it...
swampfox @ 13:
Just because they have degrees from prestigious institutions does not mean they are educated.
That in fact IS the problem.
You can go to school in America & get good grades & "earn" a degree - and still be very poorly educated.
Getting the degree is the priority, not getting educated.
Ratface @ 79:
On the day the US invaded Iraq some 75% of 'murkins favored the invasion.
And yet this study shows only 1 in 7 (about 14%) can find Iraq on a map.
And these 49% are the same assholes who will yell how great a country America is - but the truth is they don't know if American is any good or not, it's just something they heard over the years.
I know why American has been the greatest country in the world...and I also understand why we are no longer as great as we once were.
What is scary, to me, is when Jay Leno does comedy acts showing how ignorant Americans are on his Jay Walking and Battle of the All Stars and people think it is funny! I think it is sad! I cringe when one of them is a teacher or college student. Tsk ... tsk ... tsk...
doggiebobo @ 95:
Joking aside, a REAL poll or survey that's intended to get USEFUL information, rather than simply a push poll that's designed to influence opinion, or a survey that's designed to support a pre-existing bias is designed to take that into account. If you look at a really good survey you'll see the same question asked in different ways, scattered around in different parts of it. If somebody answers the same question, worded differently in different places with different answers you have to give their responses less weight, because it's clear that they weren't reading it very carefully, or thinking about the questions.
Unfortunately, though, most people use statistics the way drunken sailors use lamp posts. For support rather than illumination.
How dumb are the voters?
Theyve almost turned us one big giant ALABAMA! Cain't get much dumber than that, can ya!!
Oh yes they can. New dickless tv pundit Harold Ford Jr. just said, talking about Obama overseas trip, he "hopes the people of West Viginia don't see the Germans liking Obama too much."
What the hell does that mean??
swampfox @ 1:
Spoken by one of the truest dumb ones on the planet.
MountainMan23 @ 98:
Was that the same 75% of 'murkins who thought Saddam was behind the 9/11 attacks, or the 75% of 'murkins who didn't see anything wrong with the United States going around randomly invading countries we didn't like as long as it would be easy, cheap, and they didn't personally have to fight? Or maybe the 75% of 'murkins who don't own a passport because they can learn everything they need to know about foreign countries by visiting Disneyland? I think I'm getting all these tribes of well meaning Troglodytes confused. I need an anthropological textbook to sort it out.
How long did the Roman Empire last? 500 or so years? What did them in? They left lots children behind and adults for sure. They did care what happened to themselves because life was basically OK. Too much vino and copper in the water, maybe.?
Who cares about our general intelligence?
"Obviously education is not a priority in the United States. Ignorant people are easy to control and manipulate so you can be sure that education will never be a priority in the States."
education is over rated , look at the educated clods who run this country, all university or college schooled ,
**************
[Deleted. Abusive. Site Monitor]
You get the kind of government you deserve. I don't.
YouTube: Frank Zappa - Hungry Freaks Daddy
Lyrics
well there is precident. abrahem lincoln for example:
"During the Civil War, Lincoln appropriated powers no previous President had wielded: he used his war powers to proclaim a blockade, suspended the writ of habeas corpus, spent money without congressional authorization, and imprisoned 18,000 suspected Confederate sympathizers without trial" .
also there is the little known NSPD 51 National Security and Homeland Security Presidential Directive in which bush declares he has the right to declare martial law in a national emergency, suspending all other branches of government and the constitution.
there has never been such a danger to our system of government than that posed by bush.
It is a paradox of freedom that populations must be forcibly educated in order to remain free.
LibertyLover @ 38:
Time to get busy and take America towards 1 billion since they are going to pay us to have kids.
And 3 out of 10 Americans think the phsyco in the Whitehouse is doing a good job.
How does it feel to be the most uneducated and delusional country in the world?
Wait, senators? Is this Rome or something?
The lack of civics education could most likely be attributed to the fact that teachers and schools have to prepare students for those damned proficiency exams. Conveniently, for those who wish the citizenry to be ignorant about their government, civics isn't one of the required subjects.
lj @ 105:
Actually, I think it was the lead water pipes, not copper.
pissedcanuck @ 111:
and 12 out of 10 americans voted for him and most still think Iraq is the Iraqis fault ........... I can't wait till the chickens come home to roost on that one, it's going to be colossal.
lj @ 105:
Try 1400 years gibbon, classic Roman Empire and rule for about 700 yers ........ I wonder where you went to school.......
The Catholics ended Constantinople because god likes it when you kill, much like the american version of god.
lj @ 105:
Your population obviously dosen't, I just care about having to tolerate the side effects of such an ignorant nation and the effects it has on the world, let alone having to hear the whiny accents rant on about how amazing they are ....... if it wasn't for the latter points, you could rot your obese society with it's lack of culture ..... though as it is, ignorance of the scale that america suffers from has some very bad side effects.
i.e. if you're all sheep, which the vast majority are, people like Bush can turn the place into a dictatorship in no time flat and the people beg for more.
lj @ 105:
True dat. And all Roman males had to spend a compulsory 20 years in the army, basically to serve as guards for all of the conquered provinces and subjugated people who provided cheap labor to do all their work. Also, Rome wasn't a republic, it was a Plutocracy and an Oligarchy that was governed by the top 5% of the families that were wealthy and educated.
So, why don't we just get it over with now, and save ourselves the anguish of wondering WHEN this is going to happen? Lets install the Bush, Reagan, Cheney and Rockafeller families in the Senate (we'll call them the 'Patricians' instead of the Republicans, just to be accurate); and the Clinton and Kennedy familes too (calling them the 'Plebians'), rename the Secret Service as the 'Preatorian Guard,' pay homage to President Nero, and the rest of us can haul our ignorant asses off to the army.
Jerry @ 116:
1400 years? How about nearly 2000 years, from the founding of the Republic in 509 BC to the fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Turks in 1453 AD? That's, what, 1962 (or is it 1963? there's no year 0, right?) years.
For the three braches of government one, if you answered bu$h, Cheney and Rove, collect your prize on the way out.
The good news was more people can find America on a map (see Miss S.C. vid.), than Iraq. Iraq is kinda hard to find, if you don't know where to look.
Now I don't feel so bad about getting on the internet and saying Americans are stooopid. This proves, I'm not far from the mark.
Part of the problem is being totally incurious. Even if you didn't learn at school, anyone can open an atlas and find out where their country has been fighting for 6 years-- Iraq (and Afghanistan). Imagine the initiative needed though.
Warning: for real self-starters only!!!
chicano2nd @ 103:
thank you thank you oh god bless you i shall now slither back to my basement home and light a candle for obummer, hes my hero, my rock , he has me slobber on command, thankya thankya jesus!
Andy K Jong Il @ 118:
I was drawing a difference between existing and being an Empire and ruling like one. Either way it's a lot longer than 500, and vastly longer than the flash in the pan of 80 or so years that the US had.
Luckily it is now in sharp decline so the damage it can do is becoming limited. With short sighted energy policies and the most excessive, obese and wasteful life styles on the plant (let alone the lack of self-awareness of interconnectivity to the rest of the world, i.e. ignorance), peak oil and other such wonderful things will garotte the US back into place and let the let level out and ignore their jingoistic crap. Given that the dollar is worthless and the economy has stalled, once the euro becomes the foreign reserve currency and trade between the rest of the nations of the world becomes a real open market opposed to a US sanctioned one, the US will likely get what's coming to it.
they are correct ... he obviously does
Americans believe that government is bad, we are the best country in all things, and Bushco has protected us from harm. Oh, and our cars are all made in America and the brown people all hate us and we hate them. Rush Limbaugh knows everything and tells the truth. The rush to the bottom has been going on for a long time and we will all pay the price.
This is how ignorant some Voters are.
I copied this from PoliPundit.
This pretty much says it all.
notice the name at the bottom.
"Hmmm, and if she were living in Africa I wonder what, exactly, she’d be signing then!
The ignorance of these people is astounding.
Celebrate the 4th properly, deport and illegal, a liberal San Franciscan, and an America hating singer!"
Comment by The Ace | 7/3/2008 - 2:47 pm
It has been extremely expensive having a populace so lacking in knowledge or the satisfaction with the status quo. It has cost us thousands of Americans lives and billions of dollars due to lack of knowledge of the USA voter. Just imagine how much better if Gore was president. The lives saved and the dollars spent on hopefully better pursuits. But, combine ignorance with apathy and we are going down a slipper slope. I loathe every person that voted for Bush not once but twice and all the others that did not bother to vote at all.
The Left bashes the Right.
The Right Bashes the left
But, they seem to agree that the Democrat Congress gets a 9% approval rating. You don't have to know about the Executive, Legislative and Judicial branches or where Iraq is located to know this incredible fact.
If there is one thing I have learned in life, it is this:
People are stupid.
People are really really stupid. Stupid beyond what YOU THINK is stupid to some ultra stupid threshold that you thought impossible.
An ignorant and fearful populace is much easier to control....
Elazarus @ 127:
A "Democrat congress" has a 9% approval rating? Of course according to you the Repubs have nothing to do with that 9%. And how ignorant are American voters?
I enjoyed my high school civics class back in '72. But, i must not have been much paying attention on the day that the 3 branches of government was discussed....when did the change occur so that now the vice-president's position is not be part of the executive branch? ("civics according to Cheney")
Pericles @ 104:
Good use of the Word of the Day in a sentence. I like it.
No surprise here , not at all , the biggest threat to this country and the greatest danger is stupidity and total ignorance especially when it comes to our government , politics / politicians and voting . I was totally shocked to find out just how stupid and ignorant a good percentage of Americans are , but over the last eight years it has become very apparent , seriously our country has to have one of the most ignorant , apathetic and stupid populations on the planet . I am ashamed of America , my government and the American people , thank God there are people like you here and others , a counter balance , who have functioning brains , who inform themselves and think , who care , do their part and keep up the good fight .
When I took Government my first semester in college, our Prof started out by asking how many people knew who the president was, and then went all the way down to our local State congressman. With each successive question, more hands went down. I was the only person with my hand up at the end. Only one other person knew the pres, vp, gov, and one u.s. senator. He then asked me to name them, which I did. He then told me I was the first person in about 10 years to know ALL of the elected officials. He then thanked me, and admitted that he himself had forgotten the name of the local State Senator, but recognized it when I answered his question.
He then asked how many people had voted in the last election, and voted for every position on the ballot. About 65% of the hands went up. I was only 18 at the time, but I remember thinking to myself; WTF! These people don't even know who the hell they voted for. And this was in January, 2 months after an election!
mike judge was flamed for his film, idiocracy
he was flamed, not because the movie wasnt good...but because it was too close to the truth
and idiocracy isnt some time in the future, it is now
As Forrest would say: "Stupid is as stupid does".
VietVet8666 @ 33:
A-fucking-men.
mudshark @ 125:
From the same place.
#
"The fact is this country is being run over by negroes, spicks, and all cultures in between and the guilty whites won’t step up to crush them."
Comment by Klan Member | 7/6/2008 - 2:36 pm
note the name.
Exactly what happens to the constitution during times of invasion or rebellion again?
Did Lincoln suspend Habeus or not?
I'm not trying to troll. I just want to make sure I know myself before I become one of those 49%
It all comes down to a willingness to learn and whether people are happier believing their own concocted lies over the reality of the world. If people are happier with their ignorance, then they'll never want to trade up for reality, because it just might mean more work with less personal benefit.
Spiritual conservatives don't want to give up their automatic pseudo-validations and their posthumous rewards.
Economic conservatives don't want to give up their annual bonuses, their yacht clubs or their million dollar estates.
Social conservatives don't want to surrender the lie that being straight or white automatically makes you a better person.
Political conservatives don't want to try and sell their bullshit on their own merit - because without establishing fear or ignorance, they can't.
Democracy (or a democratic republic) requires an educated and informed citizenry in order to function and survive. One must at least be able to READ in order to even learn about the documents upon which this nation was founded and in order to descern what is important and thruthful in the day-to-day political realities of our workd,
Obviously, the decline of public education in America has been allowed on purpose. Corporate marketers and politicians in our country - who are really one and the same - only want people to do what they're told - to buy more stuff and be very afraid!
The President CAN suspend The Constitution. A Presidential Power not designated by the Constitution: The Presidential Executive Order, whether Constitutional or not, becomes law simply by its publication in the Federal Registry. Congress is by-passed. Here are just a few Executive Orders that would suspend the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. These Executive Orders have been on record for nearly 30 years and could be enacted by the stroke of a Presidential pen...http://sonic.net/sentinel/gvcon5.html
Here are Monkey-Butts contributions:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/orders/
Someone is getting complacency, apathy and indifference mixed up with stupidity.
Kelvin Phillips @ 55:
Hannity, what a great American! Anyway, he said the three branches are The Judicial, The Legislative, and The Decider. Kevin, you are not getting enough radio and TV me thinks! Let's you and me tune into the Mogul of Oz and learn us some stuff.
Wanna know what's REALLY scary regarding ignorance of Americans? At least 80% of the posters here are partisan political numbskulls, blaming the other party for the country's troubles. The truth is that Americans have been systematically dumbed down since the Civil War by the government schools, and both Democrats and Republicans are complicit.
Democrats: the problem didn't start in 2000. The Left's record of destroying the educational system is a national disgrace.
Republicans: the problem got worse in the last 8 years. You're just as much to blame.
Americans: educate yourselves, the schools and the mainstream media have will never do it, in fact they consciously leave you in the dark. With the internet's resources available to you, there is no longer any excuse for your ignorance. Use it or lose it... the elites are already plotting to take it away.
the president takes an oath to "preserve, protect and defend the Constitution". Only congress can make laws. the president can either accept them or not. executive orders only apply to the executive departments and the people that work in that branch. the president cannot suspend the Constitution for any reason.
49% of Americans think Bush has the right to suspend the Constitution because they simply see that he has are every available opportunity.
"How ignorant are American voters? Ignorant enough to believe that there’s no difference between McBush and Obama….the same suckers who also suggested that Dubya and Gore would be the same in 2000."
That's funny considering that Al Gore supported the trade sanctions and bombings in Iraq throughout the 90's that cost thousands of lives and supported the Iraqi Liberation Action near the end of Clinton's term. If anything the truly ignorant people are those who believe that in practice, both parties are different. Republicans may talk a lot about cutting spending and getting the government off of people's backs, but the only walks the walk is Ron Paul and he was eviserated by the G.O.P.
Here's an interesting fact: There are over 70,000 pages of economic regulations at the Federal level recorded on the Federal Registry alone, yet most liberals who insist that we need regulation can't cite 20% of the regulations.
“Obviously education is not a priority in the United States. Ignorant people are easy to control and manipulate so you can be sure that education will never be a priority in the States.”
Keep in mind that the Public Schools in this country were largely founded by people who despised actual democracy and self-rule and believed that education was "too important to be left to the parents".
"It is a paradox of freedom that populations must be forcibly educated in order to remain free."
How's about "the trouble with liberty is that it requires responsibility. That's why so few want it." I forget who said that. It isn't just public schools that are the problem. It's the whole damn system. It's the regulations, housing laws, licenses, tariffs, high taxes, high inflation, restrictions against private schools and home schooling, etc. all of which make people more and more dependant on government and thus less critical of it. Sometimes I think that the problem with Bush in many people's eyes isn't that he bombed and invaded Iraq, but that he didn't offer "free" health care to the American people while doing so.
if...
Only 2 in 5 voters can name the three branches of the federal government.
–Only 1 in 7 can find Iraq on a map.
–Only 1 in 5 know that there are 100 federal senators.
... One wonders what the percentages work out to when these same questions are asked of NON-VOTERS... Huumm...
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