What Americans Believe (America the Ignorant) MSNBC,Newsweek-

[Stuart G]

http://www.newsweek.com/photo/2010/08/24/dumb-things-americans-believe.html

By David A. Graham

Chances are that by now you've heard about the August 19, 2010 Pew poll that found that nearly one fifth of Americans (mistakenly) believe that President Obama is a Muslim. Perhaps you think that a terrifying outlier; or perhaps you're a believer, and then you are in good company. Either way, you're wrong: in fact, a remarkably high numbers of Americans believe the most unusual things. Although the portion of poll respondents who believe Obama is a Muslim has risen recently, some of these oddball opinions contain more consistent numbers of believers. Here's a sampling of the nuttiest.


This one is worth watching..some of what is presented is very very sad..

[mediaman007]

1. Why don't they have the courage to say that American "right" promotes ignorance?

[Stuart G]

2. Because Newsweek is part of the Mainstream Media that Presents the Ignorance..

Although it, Newsweek would never admit it.

[dkf]

3. I'm not sure it is ignorance. It seems to be more conspiracy theory

If you asked these people what religion Obama says he is, you may get a higher number of those who answer Christian.

[Fumesucker]

4. Copernicus be damned...

.. 20 percent of Americans were still sure that the sun revolved around the Earth in 1999.

[Arkansas Granny]

5. This is beyond sad, it's downright scary. It's hard to believe, at a time

when information is so easily available, that so many of the respondents to these polls seem to be so ignorant about things that I would expect elementary school students to know.

[mediaman007]

8. And their vote counts just like yours!

[bulloney]

6. Why is Obama's religion even an issue?

During the election, opponents were trying to bring Obama down by linking him with Rev. Jeremiah Wright, who is CHRISTIAN.

Now, the media gerbils keep stoking this non-issue by regurgitating the question of whether Obama is Muslim.

Un-freakin'-believable! America the Ignorant is right.

[Unca Jim]

7. I want to see the questions asked...

You can manipulate the results of any poll by asking questions to skew your results.

For example: "Saddam Hussien had *something to do* with 9/11" is very different from "...*responsible* for 9/11"

Further, the Supreme Court is almost always talked about in aggregate. Most people don't hear the names unless there is a confirmation going on or someone is in ill health, etc.

So, yes, I think there are many ignorant people out there. Yes, the right manipulates them constantly. But I'm not sure I think there are as many of them as this article purports.

Oh, and about Geography: Ditched years ago to keep up with stupid tests.

[sinkingfeeling]

9. Nice little series. I looked at it and followed their links.They really do state that these

'beliefs' aren't based on truth.

[Dennis Donovan]

10. This marks the beginning of the end of the US's superpower status...

...and the end of the beginning of the Idiocracy.

[wookie72]

11. One thing I have to say, though

Witches? I've known several Wiccans, and I'm pretty sure they would call themselves witches. (True, most of them are not "sorcerers" and don't believe that their spells are anything more than a type of prayer, but you know what I mean.)

[arenean]

12. Wait! It gets worse!

20% of Americans Think Obama is a Talking Car

[Uncle Joe]

13. Well, Hell even Dick Cheney didn't know #10.

http://rawstory.com/news/2007/Cheney_tells_agency_that_Vice_Presidents_0621.html

Cheney tells agency that Vice President's office is not part of the executive branch

The Office of Vice President Dick Cheney told an agency within the National Archives that for purposes of securing classified information, the Vice President's office is not an 'entity within the executive branch' according to a letter released Thursday by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.

And don't even ask Boehner to read from the Constitution; he can't tell the difference between that "which he claims to carry in his pocket everyday" and the Declaration of Independence.

Thanks for the thread, Stuart G.