Education, politics and war

[OneFootInTheGrave]

We are doomed when more and more of the voters in the most powerful country on earth are becoming bloodthirsty buffoons.

In its poll, Public Policy Polling asked the 532 Republicans: “Would you support or oppose bombing Agrabah?” While 57 per cent of responders said they were not sure, 30 per cent said they supported bombing it. Only 13 per cent opposed it.
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Public Policy Polling also polled Democratic primary voters: only 19 per cent of them said they would support bombing Agrabah, while 36 per cent said they would oppose it.

Is it that only the uneducated ones are still bothered to go out and vote, or is the whole education system so poor that a majority cannot figure out that they have been asked a trick question.

I like how it is phrased "only" 19 percent of Dems would bomb it. You put them together and you get a quarter of voting population who would bomb, no problem... injure, disfigure, kill, it will resolve stuff.

There are some other noteworthy points from that poll, about the "quality" of the voter and their opinions, but we are screwed, either way even half way around the world, as this is not going to get better - ever - just worse.

[Egbert]

Why am I not surprised by this?

[OneFootInTheGrave]

Your expectations of US voters have already been set at an appropriate level.

[Aeson]

To be fair, they probably mostly want to kill Iago for the annoying voice. But seriously, Jafar and Iago are terrorists and the lamp is a weapon of mass destruction.

[C0ckney]

as we can see from our own pro-war posters here, many people are wholly ignorant about such matters, yet they still vote and help to provide political cover for policies that make the world worse.

[Kidlicious]

It is some comfort to me that people from powerless nations are just as stupid.

[C0ckney]

^ exhibit a.

[Kidlicious]

Even your signature is stupid. "The Christian way ... left untried"? You are a moron. At least get a signature that isn't stupid and false.

[C0ckney]

in a thread about ignorance too. i think i'm suffering from an irony overdose.

[Kidlicious]

You are suffering from stupidly. If you think Christianity is the right way, why haven't you tried it. Or have you?

[C0ckney]

your stupidity doesn't make me suffer, i find it rather amusing. although, admittedly, finding new ways to call you an imbecile does get a little tiresome after a while so i think i'll leave it there.

[Kidlicious]

You are most likely the stupidest person that I've ever met. Unfortunately you'll likely convince someone stupider than you to become a suicide bomber, if you haven't already.

[Egbert]

Your expectations of US voters have already been set at an appropriate level.

Unfortunately, I imagine we would get similar results in a poll of Australian voters.

Dumb Aussies also tend to bomb whatever the dumb Yanks are bombing.

[Lorizael]

This stuff makes people sound dumb, but there is a slightly more prosaic explanation. People don't think Agrabah is real; they likely don't remember the name of the city from Aladdin at all. They don't recognize the name, but it sounds vaguely like some Middle East hellhole, and they assume they're being asked a question about something topical rather than a made up city from a Disney movie. Thus, they answer what they have a decent reason to suspect is the real question: "Do you support bombing Middle East hellhole X (which is probably a source of terrorism)?" It makes sense why a fair number of people would say yes.

[giblets]

Yep, a third of Republicans will automatically rubber-stamp whatever military action a Republican politician proposes.