[Seattle-editorial] FP: Poll finds strong support for impeachment

[Sheri Herndon]

====== Forwarded Message ======
Date: 11/22/03 1:02 PM
Received: 11/22/03 10:42 PM -0000
From: peter.phillips at SONOMA.EDU (Peter Phillips)
To: louisfree at hotmail.com, devlee at ap.net, mfromer at seiulocal707.org, mnagler at igc.org, 
	chossudovsky at videotron.ca, mediabeat at igc.org
CC: mbr at atlas-publi.dk, JMCKendr at dhs.ca.gov

>
>
>Press Release: From:--Retro Poll ---www.retropoll.org (600 word text).
>
>To: political reporters, columnists, editors, editorial page editors,
>opinion page editors, justice reporters
>
>Contact: Dr. Marc Sapir 510-848-3826, Msapir at compuserve.com
>
>Release Date: November 24, 2003
>
>Public Growing Tired of Being Mislead on Facts in Iraq
>
>Dateline: Berkeley.
>
>At least one in three Americans believe that George W. Bush should face
>impeachment for misleading the public and Congress about Saddam's weapons
>of mass destruction to create support for war on Iraq.  This is a new
>finding from a national survey conducted by the Retro Poll organization
>between October 29 and November 12.  The actual proportion supporting
>impeachment was 40% but with a margin of error of plus or minus 8%, 1 in 3
>remains a conservative population estimate.  "We are seeing a rising tide
>of public anger that no one is paying attention to", said Dr. Marc Sapir,
>Retro Poll's Director.
>
>Currently 47% of those polled know that Saddam's Iraq had no connection to
>the 9/11 attacks, up from 36% in a Retro Poll last April.   Of that 47% who
>are now clear on this fact, 52% favored impeachment.  Even more dramatic
>was the strength of support for impeachment among those who know that the
>Al Qaeda-Saddam connection was also a media-government fabrication, based
>on little evidence.   Of the still small 32% who know that Saddam Hussein
>and Al Qaeda were never partners a whopping 73% favor impeachment and 78%
>think the U.S. should not have invaded Iraq.  (54% of the total sample said
>the U.S. should not have invaded Iraq which is consistent with recent
>findings of major polling organizations).
>
>These correlations suggest that the public will likely turn more and more
>against the war and the Bush group for lying as the facts versus the
>propaganda are clarified over time. On the other hand, since it was the
>corporate media that collaborated in the misleading stories about nuclear,
>chemical and biological materials in Iraq in the first place the
>possibility of renewed efforts to mislead the public and distort
>actualities can not be ruled out.   However, Sapir claims, "these
>correlations lend evidence to the assertion that most differences among
>Americans on these important issues are driven less by different values or
>ideology than through the daily infusion via the media of fabricated
>misinformation."
>
>Other important findings concern the war on terrorism and also health care.
>  Support for the anti-terror campaign is based among the same group that
>has absorbed incorrect information put out by the government-media combo,
>but that group is declining.  For example, only 15% of those polled thought
>that the Patriot Act was strengthening their rights  (down from 34% last
>April) while 32% said it removes important rights (up from 19% in April).
>61% of those polled supported a national health insurance fund covering
>everyone, similar to other polls' findings.
>
>Knowledge on Retro Poll's fact questions ranged widely.  Highs were the 75%
>who knew that we have a constitutional right to a speedy trial and to be
>released unless charged; and 67% knowing that Nixon and Clinton were the
>two recent presidents who faced potential or actual impeachment.  Very low
>knowledge levels were found concerning which of three countries did not
>supply Saddam Hussein with nuclear, chemical and biological materials for
>weapons (17% right) and U.S. poor international ranking in health care
>outcomes (20-54th) (19% correct). Only 26% of respondents knew that about
>200 cities and 3 states have passed resolutions calling for repeal of key
>parts of the Patriot Act that remove democratic rights. 
>
>The poll sampled 165 persons from 38 states. 51% were women and 49% men.
>61.5% had European-American backgrounds, 11.5% African American, 12.2 %
>Latino, 1.3 % Native American, 1.9% Asian-Pacific, 9% decline to state.
>Highest state sampling included California (10.8%), New York (8.9%), Texas
>(7.6%), Ohio (5.7%), Illinois (5.1%), Pennsylvania and New Jersey (4.4%).
>For More Info www.retropoll.org or 510-848-3826.
>


-- 
Peter Phillips Ph.D.
Sociology Department/Project Censored
Sonoma State University
1801 East Cotati Ave.
Rohnert Park, CA 94928
707-664-2588
http://www.projectcensored.org/


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