samedi 27 mars 2010

Une communauté cadienne de Louisiane, descendante des Acadiens déportés en 1755, se réunit pour discuter de l'état de la langue française et des moyens de la promouvoir. Ce faisant, ils réalisent à quel point les enseignants étrangers, venus des quatre coins de la francophonie depuis 1969, ont contribué à la renaissance du français en Louisiane et à la transmission de la culture cadienne aux nouvelles générations. Une résistance vitale aux allures de David contre Goliath, « afin que les ancêtres naient pas perdu leur vie et leurs terres pour rien. »

jeudi 25 mars 2010

Socialist?Muslim?Anti-American?TheAnti-Christ?

A large minorities of Americans hold some remarkable opinions

A new book, Wingnuts: How the Lunatic Fringe Is Hijacking America by John Avlon describes the large numbers of Americans who hold extreme views of President Obama. This Harris Poll seeks to measure how many people are involved. It finds that 40% of adults believe he is a socialist. More than 30% think he wants to take away Americans' right to own guns and that he is a Muslim. More than 25% believe he wants to turn over the sovereignty of the United States to a world government, has done many things that are unconstitutional, that he resents America's heritage, and that he does what Wall Street tells him to do.

More than 20% believe he was not born in the United States, that he is "the domestic enemy the U.S. Constitution speaks of," that he is racist and anti-American, and that he "wants to use an economic collapse or terrorist attack as an excuse to take dictatorial powers." Fully 20% think he is "doing many of the things that Hitler did," while 14% believe "he may be the anti-Christ" and 13% think "he wants the terrorists to win."

These are some of the results of The Harris Poll of 2,320 adults surveyed online between March 1 and 8, 2010 by Harris Interactive.

The actual percentages of adults who believe these things are true are as follows:

  • He is a socialist (40%)
  • He wants to take away Americans' right to own guns (38%)
  • He is a Muslim (32%)
  • He wants to turn over the sovereignty of the United States to a one world government (29%)
  • He has done many things that are unconstitutional (29%)
  • He resents America's heritage (27%)
  • He does what Wall Street and the bankers tell him to do (27%)
  • He was not born in the United States and so is not eligible to be president (25%)
  • He is a domestic enemy that the U.S. Constitutions speaks of (25%)
  • He is a racist (23%)
  • He is anti-American (23%)
  • He wants to use an economic collapse or terrorist attack as an excuse to take dictatorial powers (23%)
  • He is doing many of the things that Hitler did (20%)
  • He may be the Anti-Christ (14%)
  • He wants the terrorists to win (13%)

What Republicans, Democrats and Independents think

There are – no surprise here – huge differences between what Republicans and Democrats believe. Majorities of Republicans believe that President Obama:

  • Is a socialist (67%)
  • Wants to take away Americans' right to own guns (61%)
  • Is a Muslim (57%)
  • Wants to turn over the sovereignty of the United States to a one world government (51%); and
  • Has done many things that are unconstitutional (55%).

Also large numbers of Republicans also believe that President Obama:

  • Resents America's heritage (47%)
  • Does what Wall Street and the bankers tell him to do (40%)
  • Was not born in the United States and so is not eligible to be president (45%)
  • Is the "domestic enemy that the U.S. Constitution speaks of" (45%)
  • Is a racist (42%)
  • Want to use an economic collapse or terrorist attack as an excuse to take dictatorial powers (41%)
  • Is doing many of the things that Hitler did (38%).

Even more remarkable perhaps, fully 24% of Republicans believe that "he may be the Anti-Christ" and 22% believe "he wants the terrorists to win."

While few Democrats believe any of these things, the proportions of Independents who do so are close to the national averages.

One big surprise is that many more Republicans (40%) than Democrats (15%) believe the president does what Wall Street and the bankers tell him to do.

Differences by education

These replies are also strongly correlated with education. The less education people have had the more likely they are to believe all of these statements. Consider these differences between those with no college education and those with post-graduate education:

  • He is a socialist (45% and 20%)
  • He wants to take away Americans' right to own guns (45% and 19%)
  • He is a Muslim (43% and 9%)
  • He was not born in the United States so is not eligible to be president (32% and 7%)
  • He is a racist (28% and 9%)
  • He is anti-American (27% and 9%)
  • He is doing many of the things Hitler did (24% and 10%).

After reviewing these findings, John Avlon comments, "These new numbers are shocking but not surprising – they detail the extent to which Wingnuts are hijacking our politics. This poll should be a wake-up call to all Americans about the real costs of using fear and hate to pump up hyper-partisanship. We are playing with dynamite by demonizing our president and dividing our country in the process. Americans need to remember the perspective that Wingnuts always forget – patriotism is more important than partisanship."

So what?

So what indeed! These responses recall a favorite saying of our founder Lou Harris that "when you don't want to publish a poll finding you dislike, you should get out of the business." The very large numbers of people who believe all these things of President Obama help to explain the size and strength of the Tea Party Movement, a topic that will be addressed in another Harris Poll in a few days time.

TABLE 1

PEOPLE WHO BELIEVE VARIOUS STATEMENTS ABOUT PRESIDENT OBAMA ARE TRUE

"On another subject, here are some things people have said about President Obama. Please indicate for each whether you
believe it is true or false."

Summary of True

Base: All adults

TotalEducationPolitical PhilosophyPolitical Party

H.S. or
less

Some
College

College
Grad

Post
Grad

Cons.Mod.Lib.Rep.Dem.Ind.
%%%%%%%%%%%
He is a socialist4045384220673015671442

He wants to take away
Americans' right to own guns

3845373219632815611739
He is a Muslim324330249512616571529

He wants to turn over the
sovereignty of the United States
to a one world government

2937282112522013511228

He has done many things that
are unconstitutional

293528261353201055927
He resents America's heritage273126251849199471227

He does what Wall Street and
the bankers tell him to do

2735242011382317401527

He was not born in the United
States and so is not eligible to
be president

25322221741191045824

He is a domestic enemy that the
U.S. Constitutions speaks of

25322317104516945824
He is a racist2328222094215742722
He is anti-American2327222094314841722

He wants to use an economic
collapse or terrorist attack as an
excuse to take dictatorial
powers

232821181140141241821

He is doing many of the things
that Hitler did

20

24

2018103613938619
He may be the Anti-Christ14181394249824613
He wants the terrorists to win131611116239622512

Note: Percentages may not add up to 100% due to rounding


©2010 Harris Interactive.

Alyssa Hall