Funny how the Leftist Media never does any polls on how many people believe that Islamo-Fascists were really behind the Oklahoma City Bombing, instead of "Right-wing Gun Nuts".
--- In [email protected], Julius No <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Almost safe to have an opinion! > > Source: http://www.scrippsnews.com/911poll#comment-59 > > (See also: http://www.newspolls.org/story.php?story_id=55 ) > > By THOMAS HARGROVE > Scripps Howard News Service > > More than a third of the American public suspects that federal > officials assisted in the 9/11 terrorist attacks or took no > action to stop them so the United States could go to war in the > Middle East, according to a new Scripps Howard/Ohio University > poll. > > The national survey of 1,010 adults also found that anger > against the federal government is at record levels, with 54 > percent saying they "personally are more angry" at the > government than they used to be. > > Widespread resentment and alienation toward the national > government appears to be fueling a growing acceptance of > conspiracy theories about the 2001 attacks on the World Trade > Center and the Pentagon. > > Suspicions that the 9/11 attacks were "an inside job" _ the > common phrase used by conspiracy theorists on the Internet _ > quickly have become nearly as popular as decades-old conspiracy > theories that the federal government was responsible for > President John F. Kennedy's assassination and that it has > covered up proof of space aliens. > > Seventy percent of people who give credence to these theories > also say they've become angrier with the federal government than > they used to be. > > Thirty-six percent of respondents overall said it is "very > likely" or "somewhat likely" that federal officials either > participated in the attacks on the World Trade Center and the > Pentagon or took no action to stop them "because they wanted the > United States to go to war in the Middle East." > > "One out of three sounds high, but that may very well be right," > said Lee Hamilton, former vice chairman of the National > Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States (also > called the 9/11 commission.) His congressionally appointed > investigation concluded that federal officials bungled their > attempts to prevent, but did not participate in, the attacks by > al Qaeda five years ago. > > "A lot of people I've encountered believe the U.S. government > was involved," Hamilton said. "Many say the government planned > the whole thing. Of course, we don't think the evidence leads > that way at all." > > The poll also found that 16 percent of Americans speculate that > secretly planted explosives, not burning passenger jets, were > the real reason the massive twin towers of the World Trade > Center collapsed. > > Conspiracy groups for at least two years have also questioned > why the World Trade Center collapsed when fires that heavily > damaged similar skyscrapers around the world did not cause such > destruction. Sixteen percent said it's "very likely" or > "somewhat likely" that "the collapse of the twin towers in New > York was aided by explosives secretly planted in the two > buildings." > > Twelve percent suspect the Pentagon was struck by a military > cruise missile in 2001 rather than by an airliner captured by > terrorists. > > That lower percentage may result from an effort by the > conservative Washington-based Judicial Watch advocacy group to > debunk the claim. The group filed claims under the Freedom of > Information Act and got two fill loops released from Pentagon > security cameras. > > "Some people claim they can't see anything, but I see a plane > hitting the Pentagon at incredibly high speed," said Judicial > Watch President Tom Fitton. "I see the nose of the plane clearly > entering the frame of one video and the tail of the plane > entering the Pentagon in the other video." > > Many conspiracy Web sites have posted the video loops and report > the films are inconclusive or were manipulated by the > government. > > "Some folks will never be convinced," Fitton said. "But I'm > hoping that these videos will dissuade reasonable people from > falling into a trap with these conspiracy theories." > > University of Florida law professor Mark Fenster, author of the > book "Conspiracy Theories: Secrecy and Power in American > Culture," said the poll's findings reflect public anger at the > unpopular Iraq war, realization that Saddam Hussein did not have > weapons of mass destruction and growing doubts of the veracity > of the Bush administration. > > "What has amazed me is not that there are conspiracy theories, > but that they didn't seem to be getting any purchase among the > American public until the last year or so," Fenster said. > "Although the Iraq war was not directly related to the 9/11 > attacks, people are now looking back at 9/11 with much more > skepticism than they used to." > > Conspiracy-believing participants in the poll agree their > suspicions are recent. > > "I certainly didn't think of conspiracies when 9/11 first > happened," said Elaine Tripp, 62, of Tabernacle, N.J. "I don't > know if President Bush was aware of the exact time it was going > to happen. But he certainly didn't do enough to stop it. Bush > was so intent on having his own little war." > > Garrett Johnson, 19, of Manassas, Va., said it was "well after > the fact" before he started questioning the official explanation > of the attacks. "But then people I know started talking about > it. And the Internet had a lot to do with this. After reading > all of the different articles there, I started to think we > weren't being told the truth." > > The Scripps Survey Research Center at Ohio University has > tracked the level of resentment people feel toward the federal > government since 1995, starting shortly after Timothy McVeigh > bombed the federal building in Oklahoma City. Forty-seven > percent then said they, personally, feel "more angry at the > federal government" than they used to. That percentage dropped > to 42 percent in 1997, 34 percent in 1998 and only 12 percent > shortly after 9/11 during the groundswell of patriotism and > support for the government after the attacks. > > But the new survey found that 77 percent say their friends and > acquaintances have become angrier with government recently and > 54 percent say they, themselves, have become angrier _ both > record levels. > > The survey also found that people who regularly use the Internet > but who do not regularly use so-called "mainstream" media are > significantly more likely to believe in 9/11 conspiracies. > People who regularly read daily newspapers or listen to radio > newscasts were especially unlikely to believe in the > conspiracies. > > "We know that there are a lot of people now asking questions," > said Janice Matthews, executive director of 911Truth.org, one of > the most sophisticated Internet sites raising doubts about > official explanations of the attacks. "We didn't have the > Internet after Pearl Harbor, the Gulf of Tonkin or the Kennedy > assassination. But we live in different times now." > > Matthews' Web site averaged 4,000 "hits" a day last year, but > currently has at least 12,000 visits every 24 hours. The site, > according to its online policy statement, is dedicated to > showing the public that "elements within the U.S. government > must have orchestrated or participated in the execution of the > attacks for these to have happened the way in which they did." > > Participants in the poll were asked to respond to "several > serious accusations that some people have made against the > federal government in recent years." Five conspiracy theories > were described and participants were asked if each was "very > likely, somewhat likely or unlikely." > > The level of suspicion of U.S. official involvement in a 9/11 > conspiracy was only slightly behind the 40 percent who suspect > "officials in the federal government were directly responsible > for the assassination of President Kennedy" and the 38 percent > who believe "the federal government is withholding proof of the > existence of intelligent life from other planets." > > The poll found that a majority of young adults give at least > some credence to a 9/11 conspiracy compared to less than a > fourth of people 65 or older. Members of racial and ethnic > minorities, people with only a high school education and > Democrats were especially likely to suspect federal involvement > in 9/11. > > The survey was conducted by telephone from July 6-24 at the > Scripps Survey Research Center at the University of Ohio under a > grant from the Scripps Howard Foundation. The poll has a margin > of error of 4 percentage points. > > (Thomas Hargrove is a reporter for Scripps Howard News Service. > Guido H. Stempel III is director of the Scripps Survey Research > Center at Ohio University.) > > > > __________________________________________________ > Do You Yahoo!? > Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around > http://mail.yahoo.com > ForumWebSiteAt http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Libertarian Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Libertarian/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! 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