and by the way, I feel that if more people knew just how much of an idiot Kerry was the vote wouldn’t have been as close as it was… which pretty much illustrates my point, that just like beauty, what is important it is all in the eyes of the beholder… and I’m no more entitled to push my view on others than they are to push theirs on me.

My political sensibilities, with a few exceptions, could not be more different from DLS, but quite frankly you need a certain KNOWLEDGE in order to have a qualified OPINION. You don’t think the fact that a large proportion of people thought there really were WMDs or that Saddam collaborated in 9/11 influenced the vote in ’04 at all? I firmly believe that if people were less ignorant, more engaged, Bush would never have been re-elected. In fact, I doubt he would have been nominated in the first place. Moreover, ignorance (and a giggling idiotic half-pride in such ignorance) is what allows politicians to spout absolute drivel instead of facts, evidence and policy, since a huge swath of air-heads can’t be bothered to read long sentences or watch television segments without big explosions and dramatic music.

Again, I don’t have any idea how one could impose a test without the risk of that test becoming corrupted or biased, but I am very convinced that the 11% of Americans who answered “yes” when asked if Osama bin Laden had been captured must be kept away from the voting booth for the safety of the rest of us.

ah, but unfit is in the eye of the beholder… and if some people had their druthers, you’d be among those deemed unfit.

and who are you to define what someone should or shouldn’t know? once you finish telling us what we’re supposed to consider important, perhaps you’d like to tell us how to live our lives, what movies we should see, books we should read, candidates we ought to vote for?

and why, since there are more of them (idiots) than you (smart guys), don’t they get to determine what society ought to know? heck, if you don’t know who won American Idol, then there are 50 million or so people who’d likely consider you in need of some educating. be glad they don’t bother with the things you find important, you might not like it if they did.

And, by the way, I’m sure they consider you (collectively) dumb for not knowing the things they know.

Of what value and importance are what they hold dear as opposed to so many people, merely happening to include us on here?

These poll items and citizenship questions should be used to screen and remove unfit voters.

I’m sure America is all bent out of shape that they don’t know all that you all do.

Many of them are clueless that they are clueless, or worse, know it but don’t care. What matters is not what we may or may not know, but what they do not know that they obviously should.

On a semi-serious note, I’m sure America is all bent out of shape that they don’t know all that you all do. I don’t know how they can get up in the morning not knowing who the Fed Chairman is, or which country (they’re not going to anytime soon) has the largest number of Muslims. And, by the way, I’m sure they consider you (collectively) dumb for not knowing the things they know.

And on a totally serious note, what difference does it make where most of the 9/11 hijackers came from? It’s not as if anyone is doing something about it; our politicians still suck up to Saudi Arabia as much as they ever have.

When did 9/11 happen?

Click on the link. There is nothing in this post that tops this!

I don’t think the point of the poll was to gauge whether or not people knew the exact date of Iraq’s creation/independence, but whether they knew it was relatively recent.

Chris, the poll (not just any questions about Iraq) was meant to test public knowledge of various issues the public should already know. It can be laughable sometimes when this happens*, but overall it’s disgusting. The suffrage should really be qualified, and weighted. (Yes, you, a lefty actually would qualify and carry a lot of weight with your vote. “Use it responsibly.”)

* Before I tired of and stopped listening to talk radio shows, one thing I actually wanted to hear on the Hannity show was the periodic broadcast of the “man on the street” who would walk in New York and ask passers-by on the air questions at the most basic level: “Do you know who the Secretary of State is? Who is the Vice President of the United States?” I wanted to hear this because it can be of interest, in the case of incorrect answers, to learn what the people believed the answers actually to be. But so many stupid kids would fail to answer correctly and when confronted, would actually find it funny! I was disgusted by that. These people are unfit to vote!

You’re right, I didn’t read the actual poll question closely enough. Independence is definitely 1932.

But don’t let me interrupt your nitpicking

Do some research: type in “Iraq independence” in google, and see what you get. Also – if Britain was able to declare Iraq completely independent in 1932 it kind of automatically means that Iraq was not truly independent before that time.

Iraq – independent: 1932. Quite simple.

Here is another source: “3 October 1932 (from League of Nations mandate under British administration); note – on 28 June 2004 the Coalition Provisional Authority transferred sovereignty to the Iraqi Interim Government”

And the CIA World Factbook: “in 1920, it was declared a League of Nations mandate under UK administration. In stages over the next dozen years, Iraq attained its independence as a kingdom in 1932.”

The League of nations declared it a mandate under UK administration.

It really isn’t that difficult.

Please, Wikipedia is not “research.”

It is hardly any kind of authority!

31% know that Ben Bernanke is the current Federal Reserve chairman, but only 11% that Roberts is the Chief Justice?

Part of the issue is determining when a nation actually becomes a “nation,” particularly one cobbled together from former Ottoman provinces.

1920 is the date Iraq officially fell under British mandate authorized by the League of Nations which legitimized the borders to the western powers (the borders were, of course, no legitimate to the locals since they unnaturally divided tribes and ethnicities). The actual borders were determined a year earlier (January 1919, actually) after being carved from the Ottoman provinces or “villayets” of Basra, Baghdad and Mosul. Ironically, Mosul was originally supposed to fall under the French who received the province of Syria after the Ottoman defeat, but the Brits got it instead. How much different might things be today if the Mosul villayet had been joined to Damascus and not Baghdad?

Anyway, 1932 is when Iraq became independent under a stooge Hashemite monarch and ceased being a British colonial protectorate.

So, when does an artificial “nation” like Iraq become a nation? When its borders were drawn in 1919? When it received a “mandate” from the League of Nations in 1920? Or when it became “independent” in 1932? Depends on ones perspective, but 1920 is probably the best date.

Dems wouldn’t like that, though!

mistakenly believing that rice patties are not a contributing factor

Global warming is far from sacrosanct except among the emotional True Believers; global warming is at this time simply a popular political topic. Moreover, rice patties are something you make and eat; rice paddies are the fields you may remember from tales of Vietnam.

I have hated the dumbing-down of English and of society for years! (Also how much more vulgar and less civilized it has become, beyond merely being a consequence of growing up ME, ME, ME.)