When it comes to 9/11 and Islam, we're not the crazy ones
When Rush mentioned this on the air on Friday, I could scarcely believe it. It took me a while to dig into the story--on Saturday I had kids playing both Pop Warner and high school football games, and then I found myself glued for a couple of hours to replays of the Dartmouth's narrow victory over Sacred Heart University and Stanford's astoundingly big win over Notre Dame; and I remain, even in this election season, just sane enough to recognize that football comes ahead of politics--but sure enough, Rush was right. The poll he quoted may have been taken three years ago, but it said just what Rush claimed: over a third of Democrats believed President Bush knew about the 9/11 attacks before they took place.
From Rasmussen Reports of May 4, 2007:
Democrats in America are evenly divided on the question of whether George W. Bush knew about the 9/11 terrorist attacks in advance. Thirty-five percent (35%) of Democrats believe he did know, 39% say he did not know, and 26% are not sure.
As of three years ago, I repeat, over a third of Democrats believed President Bush knew about the 9/11 attacks before they took place.
Contrast this with the poll earlier this summer showing that 18 percent of Americans believe President Obama is Muslim.
Ordinary Americans--the people with jobs to do, bills to pay, and kids to get through their homework before they can devote any time to reading up on the life of our chief executive--ordinary Americans have very good reasons for being confused about Barack Obama's religious beliefs. He was raised in part in Indonesia, a Muslim country. He has given speech after speech about the respect due to Islam. When introduced to the King of Saudi Arabia, he bowed. And his middle name--has the entire mainstream press forgotten this?--is, after all, "Hussein," a name, Wikipedia informs us, that "is commonly given as a male given name among Muslims."
But does anyone have any good reason for supposing that President Bush knew about the terrorist attacks in advance? Has anyone ever brought forward the merest shrewd of evidence? No. Never. Not once. Not in any way whatsoever. Zero, zip, zilch, rien, nada.
Now a couple of questions.
How many times this past summer did we hear members of the mainstream media quote, in smug, disapproving, mock-disbelief the poll showing that something under one American in five made an easy-to-understand mistake about President Obama's religion? Dozens and dozens and dozens. But how often do you recall hearing anyone in the mainstream media note that more than one Democrat in three subscribed to the utterly insane view that President Bush knew about 9/11 before it took place? Did the media trumpet the poll when it appeared three years ago? Have you heard it quoted in the mainstream media at any time since? If you're like me, you heard about the poll for the first time from the lips of Mr. Limbaugh.
Why go into all this?
Because it's good to remind ourselves every once in awhile that we're not the crazy ones.
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Comments :
May '10
Re: When it comes to 9/11 and Islam, we're not the crazy ones
...and the 26% unsure is even more astounding, since it means 61% of Dems think Bush might have been complicit. A strong majority!
As for the lack of coverage, the problem is that, since the press is overwhelmingly liberal, it's entirely possible that a majority of the MSM also indulges in this nuttiness. Why would they report it? To them, it's a dog-bites-man story.
Jun '10
Re: When it comes to 9/11 and Islam, we're not the crazy ones
I blame a lot of this on Hollywood, and movies like "Enemy of the State." In the movies, the White House, or the CIA, can swivel over to a computer screen and instantly know everything about you, who you called today, what you bought today, your GPS position, everything. So, if you buy what you see in the movies, or on "24," it's hard to believe there are any real surprises. It's all there on the big computer screen in the futuristic bunker...why didn't they look?
Aug '10
Re: When it comes to 9/11 and Islam, we're not the crazy ones
A sanity defense requires a sane jury.
May '10
Re: When it comes to 9/11 and Islam, we're not the crazy ones
When I heard Rush mention that poll, my first thought was: "If those poll results are even roughly accurate, then liberals make up a much larger portion of the American population than the '20%' I've heard on Ricochet."
May '10
Re: When it comes to 9/11 and Islam, we're not the crazy ones
Leave us not forget Madeleine Albright's theory that Bush had bin Laden squirrelled away in some hidey hole, and would miraculously produce him at some politically convenient moment.
And she was Secretary of State, my lords, ladies and gentlemen.
May '10
Re: When it comes to 9/11 and Islam, we're not the crazy ones
And those of us who spend our Saturdays in a TV production truck parked on an American campus somewhere... we thank you.
Re: When it comes to 9/11 and Islam, we're not the crazy ones
This would suggest that a substantial proportion of Dems see this country through eyes like those of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. When the midterms are over and done with, they are going to be hopping mad.
May '10
Re: When it comes to 9/11 and Islam, we're not the crazy ones
You know, I wonder how many Americans, even wacky liberals, who say they believe in Bush's complicity in 9/11 actually do, deep down. Reminds me of a poll cited by Steyn that a majority of Egyptians (I think) believe that 9/11 was both the work of Mossad and a great victory for Islam.
Jun '10
Re: When it comes to 9/11 and Islam, we're not the crazy ones
Hey! What could be wrong with Democrats believing any of this stuff? Significant tranches of the population believe shenanigans took place in Area 51, that AIDS is a disease concocted by the CIA to kill Blacks, that Christ and Mary Magdalene married and had children, and, for all I know, twenty or thirty percent of Muslims believe the Pope is Jewish—he does wear a papal yarmulke from time to time, dontcha know. Oye vey! I knew I should have studied the Kabbalah more; maybe then I could work out the numbers on this stuff better. In some parts of this city Lysol is an under the counter purchase, given that mixed with water it makes a passably good cocktail, so who am I to say that any particular fringe belief is wrong, especially after a couple of Lysol-and-waters.
Jul '10
Re: When it comes to 9/11 and Islam, we're not the crazy ones
Peter Robinson:
From Rasmussen Reports of May 4, 2007:
Who knew nearly 40% of Democrats were so reasonable?
I'd be interested to see a poll in which respondents were asked about the president's religion and for their view (fav/unfav) of Islam. I would guess that a correlation between those who have an unfavorable view of Islam and those who believe the president is a Muslim would be evident.
I mention this because (perhaps coincidentally) that poll you linked to noted, "Roughly a third of conservative Republicans (34%) say Obama is a Muslim, as do 30% of those who disapprove of Obama's job performance."
Peter, you're right that it's very different to wrongly think a man practices a given religion, than it is to falsely believe a man is a mass-murdering psychopath. It's interesting, though, that about one third of partisans are willing to say they believe such things about presidents from opposing parties.
May '10
Re: When it comes to 9/11 and Islam, we're not the crazy ones
Of course, it is Rasmussen, aka Obersturmfuhrer von Pollster. But what I mean is that it's a robo-poll. This produces better results on basic questions than a live interview, where some people are embarrassed to say what they really think. In that respect, it mimics a ballot box, where nobody's watching you.
On the other hand, on goofy questions, like "Is Obama the Anti-Christ", it gives people free rein to jerk around the poll without repercussion. So some of that is in play. That said, I know otherwise reasonable people who think this way.
May '10
Re: When it comes to 9/11 and Islam, we're not the crazy ones
Ahh, 2007. A vintage year for BDS. Living as I do in a family of leftists with only me, my husband and my 86 year old mother qualifying as "sane" at least as I define it, I can attest that 2007 was something special. The three of us left a family vacation at the Jersey shore in 2007 after only 3 1/2 days. And it wasn't even that we were all that pro-Bush; there was just some toxic leftist brew percolating back then.
Aug '10
Re: When it comes to 9/11 and Islam, we're not the crazy ones
In the corner of Europe I inhabit the Birther is more scorned by the chattering classes than the Truther!
Jul '10
Re: When it comes to 9/11 and Islam, we're not the crazy ones
If President Bush "knew," then Clinton knew about World Trade Center 02/93, Khobar Towers, Kenya embassy, Tanzania embassy, USS Cole.........
Jul '10
Re: When it comes to 9/11 and Islam, we're not the crazy ones
I always figured that poll was skewed by people who interpreted "knew about" to mean that they believed he knew enough intel and indicators that he should have seen it coming.
At least, I sure hope that's what they meant.