Nick:
As long as we're continuing to talk politics and such... I just heard that a
CBS poll showed that 2/3rds of Americans think that the Bush administration
is either hiding or covering up something about Enron.

Here's my question -- based on what?  Is there a shred of evidence that the
administration did so?  Unless I've missed something, there is not, so how
can the question be ethical for a supposed news organization?  Another new
low, in my opinion.
Nick Arnett
Phone/fax: 408-904-7198

Me:
I'm going to ring in the first sign of the Apocalypse by agreeing with Nick
again :-).  This poll really was inexcusable.  It becomes more clear why CBS
did this, though, when you see that it's a CBS/New York Times poll.  I'm
going to ask that anyone interested in such things to read two articles.
The first is the one detailing the "results" of the poll, as described in
the New York Times.  The URL is:
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/01/27/business/27POLL.html?pagewanted=all
Registration is required, but it's free and worth it.

Second, read Mickey Kaus's analysis of what the poll _actually_ says, and
how the NYT spun it.  Mickey Kaus, for those not familiar with his work, is
a self-described liberal who voted for Clinton and Gore and who published
this article in Slate, a liberal magazine edited by Michael Kinsley,
_another_ self-described liberal who voted for Clinton and Gore and used to
edit The New Republic - so I assume that this won't be dismissed as a
right-wing smear.  The URL is:
http://slate.msn.com/?id=2061236

I would note that Andrew Sullivan (a conservative - one who is,
fascinatingly enough, devoutly Catholic, gay, and HIV+, and also a Harvard
PhD and, like me, a student of Harvey Mansfield) independently made many of
the same points at his superb website:
http://www.andrewsullivan.com
Sullivan is my favorite conservative commentator, surpassing even George
Will, I should add.

I'd be interested to hear people's responses.  It might make it more clear
why conservatives (like me) complain fairly often about liberal media bias.

Gautam

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