WP/ABC Poll: 50% In Favor Of INVESTIGATIONS

[kpete]

WE THE PEOPLE

With A Little Leadership

Often the people get it right.

On Torture

A majority of Americans in a new Washington Post-ABC News poll oppose the use of torture in terrorism investigations, backing Barack Obama's pledge that "under my administration, the United States does not torture." But there's an even split on whether he should investigate whether laws were broken in the way suspects were treated under the Bush administration.

Overall, 58 percent support the prohibition Obama declared before taking office, but there's a wide gap across party lines: 71 percent of Democrats and 56 percent of independents in the poll said torture should never be used, but most Republicans, 55 percent, said there are cases in which the U.S. should consider using torture against terrorism suspects.

...

Put together, all Americans break 50 percent in favor of investigations, 47 percent opposed.

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/behind-the-numbers/2009/01/on_torture.html

via:
http://www.eschatonblog.com/2009_01_18_archive.html#4054443273016567343

.................

edit to add - a great pic
An amazing photo of the masses of people who turned out for the inauguration

[ComtesseDeSpair]

1. How can 47% be opposed?

What's wrong with those people?

[mmonk]

6. Propaganda and lack of knowledge coupled with a lack of intellectual curiosity.

It's everywhere.

[Usrename]

17. I agree. But the propaganda works on everyone.

Even the very smart and the well-informed.

We need to push back even harder.

[mmonk]

20. Yes

[NNN0LHI]

10. Pretty sure McCain got around 47% of the vote

[texastoast]

14. They are the same as the WWII German people

They don't really want to know that to which they acquiesced.

I've even heard one of my co-workers say, "I don't care if it's torture."

They are very fearful and I daresay race-centric people.

[Uncle Joe]

21. Their partisanship is overriding their humanity. n/t

[bullimiami]

2. that proves that the majority of those who identify as republicans are unamerican.

they dont believe in our constitution, law or treaty obligations.

[Enthusiast]

18. They don't even understand the

constitution, except for the second amendment. Uneducated, for the most part.

[DCKit]

29. The triumph of Nationalism over Patriotism.

Well, that and too many movies and TV shows ("24" and "The Unit" come to mind) which illustrate the "ticking time bomb" scenario over and over and over.....

Thanks for the propaganda Hollywood.

[bdamomma]

3. kick

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

4. Whether paople want it or not is immaterial. It will IS and WILL BE an issue due to trials

and prisoners already in place.

[aquart]

5. ONLY fifty percent? Good grief, people.

[Pacifist Patriot]

7. 50% plus one. No one asked me my opinion.

:)

[calimary]

19. Or mine.

Sorry, Mr. President. I'm not quite ready to unclench my fists yet. Especially around THESE people.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x8125215

[grannie4peace]

8. the # will go up as the whistleblowers come forward!!

[John Q. Citizen]

9. Notice the subtle narrowing of debate going on in this article?

"But there's an even split on whether he should investigate whether laws were broken in the way suspects were treated under the Bush administration."

What about investigating about cooking the intel?

What about investigating refusing subpoenas?

What about all the other crimes bush appears to have committed?

what do people think about law enforcement? Should law enforcement be primarily about the social rank of possible law breakers?

Let's ask real questions, not the little narrow queries designed to miss what's really going on.

[Greyhound]

23. Yes, on this and an assortment of other crimes as well.

They have also been slowly fudging statistical and performance numbers for year as well. The first example that pops into my head is the number of jobs that have to be created every month not stay even, over the course of two years they halved that one.

It works too. How many people do you hear from that talk about how dramatically our standard of living has declined over the last three decades?

[John Q. Citizen]

28. Yep, not many point out the new poverty of our former middle classes. It's like the dust bowl all

over again, but instead of everyone from one region, it's some ones from every region. It's not quite as noticeable, and Katrina will further obscure an accurate picture.

[formercia]

11. Just wait until the whistle-blowers start singing

It will be torches and pitchfork time.

[Juan_de_la_Dem]

12. As the country sees what real leadership can do, that number will change

Eyes will be opened

[formercia]

13. I think President Obama was right to use the reconciliation theme

At least none can accuse him of starting off in a vindictive mood.

[GOTV]

15. That's disappointingly tepid

[kenny blankenship]

24. Maybe so but consider the entire establishment is against it and hushes anyone who dares suggest

that enormous crimes have been committed and that the Constitution has been demoted from its central role in the workings of our government.

There was a time that you couldn't find 50% opposition to the Iraq War. Almost no one in officialdom dared to question the wisdom of Bush's Global War On Islam or his pretexts for launching the Iraq War. The corporate media cheered every bomb strike, repeated and amplified every Bush lie a thousand times, and lashed the public into a frenzy of paranoia over the Evil Muslims. But one by one Americans began to recoil from what they saw their country doing. They turned even though the media continued to program them for war. And when 50% had eventually come around to seeing that catastrophe for what it was, and 50% was headed to 60%, the media began to shift too. In the end, the media cannot alienate the public by continually pushing something the public has rejected.

That 50% favor criminal investigation of the Bush Administration's abuse of national security power is pretty good considering how averse the corporate media is to talking about that subject and the fact that the Bush Administration has controlled the agenda and available information for the past 8 yrs. With Bush gone, people who have information can come forward and you may see that 50% rising to 60% very quickly and then the media freeze out will probably melt.

[gratuitous]

16. That's 50% with virtually no coverage

Think what the number will be once the evidence stops just bleeding out in dribs and drabs, and the whole loathesome package is put together.

[wiggs]

25. That's exactly right. Not even a fraction of the evidence and information has

been put before most people; most media outlets haven't focused on it at all.

So 50% might be considered quite high given that a lot of people listen to FOX and Rush and Hannity. Even MSM hasn't built much of a case or put much info out there. So I think the percentage would only go up if media and journalists would do their jobs and if congress would do theirs.

[sohndrsmith]

22. Those are the same percentages msnbc presented for those

in favor/not in favor for closing Gitmo... I think the exact numbers... wonder if it was part of the same poll (or I misunderstood?). Interesting!

Update: yep part of the same poll. It was 50/42 for closing Gitmo, 50/47 for investigations (all Americans)...

I'm surprised it's that even, actually... that's a little scary to me.

[Festivito]

26. What %think we should erase the word justice from the Constitution?

If we are not going to effect our first established ideal, then let's delete it.

[McCamy Taylor]

27. Nuremberg, USA. Americans will be glued to their TV sets.

And it will never happen again.

:popcorn:

[DCKit]

30. They're still grossly overcounting the Republics.

That, and Old Habits Die Hard.

The MSM deserves just as much payback for the * years as anyone else.