WaPo distorts own polling to suggest public blames Obama, GOP equally
February 09, 2010 3:58 pm ET by Jamison Foser
Here's the lede of the Washington Post's report on its new poll:
Americans spread the blame when it comes to the lack of cooperation in Washington, and, in a new Washington Post-ABC News poll, most want the two sides to keep working to pass comprehensive health-care reform.
But if you scroll all the way to the end, you'll find that the poll actually paints a rather different picture: A plurality of Americans think President Obama is doing "about the right amount to compromise with Republicans." A majority think Obama is either doing the "about the right amount" or "too much" to compromise. Meanwhile, 58 percent of Americans think Republicans are doing too little to compromise.
I'll say that again: According to the Post poll, 54 percent of Americans think Barack Obama is doing either the right amount or too much to compromise with Republicans, while 58 percent think Republicans are doing too little to compromise with Obama.
And yet the Post writes that up as "Americans spread the blame when it comes to the lack of cooperation in Washington." That may be consistent with the Post's both-sides-are-equally-guilty approach to the lack of bipartisanship, but it isn't an accurate reflection of the poll.
Why keep repeating what the ABC poll already said? They said it clearly at the top of the article in paragraph two:
-- Nearly six in 10 in the new poll say the Republicans aren't doing enough to forge compromise with President Obama on important issues; more than four in 10 see Obama as doing too little to get GOP support --
That's a classic example of "spreading the blame". This article rates a great big "Duh".
Mr. Foser is pointing out that the WAPO headline is dishonest. If WAPO was simply repeating what ABC said than they wouldn't be misleading and dishonest, would they?
I'll guess maybe that's your writing style. Just as I'll guess you were criticizing Foser's writing style.
Nevertheless, I'll side with Foser on this. The Post did a bit of a reverse "when did you stop beating your wife" bit with this. Only a poll result of 100% and 100% could have prevented them from using the "Americans spread the blame. . ." line.
Was it a lie? No. Was it misleading? Oh, hells yeah.
So, no, that sentence is not remotely adequate -- certainly not when following a highly misleading lede.
It's your opinion that it looks "an awful lot like five in ten"...not the written opinion in the Wapo article.
It omits relevant data, which is that one side is deemed to be significantly more to blame, and significantly less cooperative.
Omission of relevant data CAN and DOES further the conservative agenda.
Or how about this: John is 50% taller than Joe is, but are otherwise similar. Would you say they are equally likely to succeed in the NBA?
"Americans spread the blame when it comes to the lack of cooperation in Washington."
It's the old both sides are equally guilty false equivalence argument, and it should be pointed out.
It poisons our national discourse when we lay blame equally when the blame is not equal. We can't identify solutions to fix the problems if we can't accurately identify the problem areas. Incorrectly assigning blame hinders that identification. It provides cover to the worst offenders, letting them get away with more than they should.
Why would WAPO want to purposely put itself in the line of fire?
It's much easier to kiss corporate conservative butt.
That's not 'spreading the blame'.
Top that off with the FACT that reality tells us that the Dems HAVE been pretty bipartisan, and the Republicans have been very partisan, and it's even MORE offensive. It means that Republicans aren't fairly judging the Dems efforts or the Republicans lack of the same, and independents are likely misled by the rightwing spin on things.
It'd still be worth it.
Thanks again.
John
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_HEALTH_CARE_OVERHAUL?SITE=SCFLO&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
Classic bully-victimization.
Step 1: projectionism -- accuse others of the crimes you're committing.
Step 2: victimization -- no matter what happens, it's always someone else's fault, never your's.
Step 3: combativeness -- violence is the solution of choice, especially when logic is injected into the argument.
Is it supposed to be a secret or something, that the reichwing is following the Nazis' playbook when it comes to propaganda and Fauxnewz as its public microphone?
Most of my friends don't listen to Fox News. ALL of my friends are brainwashed - mostly by CNN. Most teachers I know watch CNN and believe what they spew. Same FOX lies in a different burning bag. CNN is Fox News for "smart" people. It is rare these days for MMFA to go after them or any of the written press. This needs to change.
John
February 09, 2010 8:53 am ET by MMFA Staff"
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