[AP] Military Shares Public's Declining support for Bush, war

Interesting, I would've bet the complete opposite, that our men and women in uniform had much more faith in the president than civilians were, because that tends to be the norm. I was wrong...

http://www.wcnc.com/sharedcontent/APStories/stories/D8DH767G0.html

Military shares public's declining support for Bush, war

10/28/2005
Associated Press

More than half the North Carolina military members surveyed in the latest Elon University poll don't like the way President Bush is handling his job and the war in Iraq.

The survey results were released today.

Of the 539 adults surveyed, nearly 53 percent of military members said they strongly disapproved or disapproved of Bush's handling of his job. And 56 percent of that same group said they strongly disapproved or disapproved of his handling of the Iraq war.

Overall, slightly more than 53 percent of those surveyed did not approve of Bush's job performance, while 57 percent didn't approve of his handling of the Iraq war.

The telephone poll was conducted between Monday and Thursday and has a margin of error for the entire sample of plus or minus four-point-three percentage points.

 

Another poll reveals that most Americans are more interested in addressing domestic priorities than foreign ones...

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/n/a/2005/10/27/state/n154107D21.DTL&type=printable

Poll results: Eliminating poverty should be No. 1 U.S. priority

- By PETER PRENGAMAN, Associated Press Writer
Friday, October 28, 2005

(10-28) 00:29 PDT Los Angeles (AP) --

Eliminating poverty in America is more important than fighting terrorism, U.S. troops should be pulled out of Iraq, and money saved on war should be used to rebuild hurricane-scarred New Orleans, according to a national poll.

When asked, "What do you think should be the most important priority for the U.S.?" 58 percent of blacks chose "eliminating poverty" over "rebuilding our own cities,""fighting terrorism," and "establishing democracy in Iraq and Afghanistan," according to poll results released Thursday.

Pluralities of other ethnic groups — 43 percent of Hispanics, 40 percent of Asians and 36 percent of whites — also chose eliminating poverty as their top priority.

"I don't remember poverty ever finishing as the No. 1 priority on any kind of list," said Sergio Bendixen, whose firm Bendixen & Associates conducted the poll. "The aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and the images of poverty have clearly made a large impact on many Americans."

The poll was commissioned by New California Media, a nonprofit San Francisco-based umbrella organization for ethnic media.

Hurricane Katrina pummeled the Gulf Coast in September, killing more than 1,000 people and devastating New Orleans. President Bush and the Federal Emergency Management Agency were sharply criticized for sluggish response efforts as millions of television viewers watched New Orleans residents — many black_ struggling to survive amid abject poverty.

The survey was conducted by telephone Oct. 14-21 among 1,035 adults nationwide — 258 whites, 268 Hispanics, 259 blacks and 250 Asians. The margin of error for each subgroup was plus or minus 6 percentage points.

The poll found that a majority of blacks, Asians and Hispanics, and a plurality of whites believed U.S. troops should be pulled from Iraq to pay for rebuilding in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast.

When asked "How should the government finance its share of the Hurricane Katrina relief effort?" 77 percent of blacks, 69 percent of Hispanics, 60 percent of Asians and 46 percent of whites chose "By getting our troops out of Iraq as soon as possible."

The findings were similar to an AP-Ipsos poll last month that found 42 percent favored cutting spending on Iraq to pay for relief efforts in the Gulf Coast.

Thursday's poll found a solid majority in all four ethnic groups would first look to nongovernment groups such as community and religious organizations for help during a future natural disaster.

A point of divergence between whites and blacks centered on interpretations of television images showing people in New Orleans breaking into supermarkets and other stores in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

Respondents were asked, "Do you think they were looters and criminals or do you think they were people trying to take care of their families and their needs?"

Fifty-seven percent of blacks answered "trying to take care of their families." Only 31 percent of whites chose that answer, while 46 percent of whites said the people "were looters and criminals."

Hispanics and Asians were almost evenly split on their interpretations.

 

Yes, of course, divert from the topic at hand and change the subject.

Brilliant tactic, bigtexxx. As for the thread title, I tend to use the same one as the article's. Oh, and I have added the link, thanks for the reminder.

BTW, you do know that when conducting a poll, you take a 'sample' of whatever your subject happens to be, which in this case is the military. Are you arguing that NC military personnel are somehow different than the rest of the country's? Isn't NC a southern Republican stronghold, which would mean that those from there are more likely to have a positive opinion about a sitting Republican president?

I would be interested in hearing your argument as to why you feel this is a 'misleading' article/poll.

 

I have pasted the article from the link above, which expands more on the inital link I provided.

 

I fully agree, and I have always had this feeling that our military personnels are rooting for the terrorists, but I was waiting for proof before I said so.

Today is a shameful day for all patriotic Americans (military excluded of course).

 

Damn! Even his Church?

http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut?bid=7&pid=31572

United Methodist Church Calls For Withdrawal

It's one thing when former high-ranking members of your own Administration come out against your war. It's another thing when two-thirds of the country calls the invasion and occupation a mistake. It's really something when your own church issues a statement urging you to pull out the troops now.

Last week, the United Methodist Church Board of Church and Society--the social action committee of the church that both President Bush and Vice President Cheney belong to--resoundingly passed a resolution calling for withdrawal with only two 'no' votes and one abstention.

"As people of faith, we raise our voice in protest against the tragedy of the unjust war in Iraq," the statement read. "Thousands of lives have been lost and hundreds of billions of dollars wasted in a war the United States initiated and should never have fought.... We grieve for all those whose lives have been lost or destroyed in this needless and avoidable tragedy. Military families have suffered undue hardship from prolonged troop rotations in Iraq and loss of loved ones. It is time to bring them home."

The board also issued a strong statement against torture, urging Congress to create an independent, bipartisan commission to investigate detention and interrogation practices at Guantanamo, Iraq and Afghanistan.

"It is my hope and prayer that our statement against the war in Iraq will be heard loud and clear by our fellow United Methodists, President Bush and Vice President Cheney," said Jim Winkler, General Secretary of the UMC's Board of Church and Society. "Conservative and liberal board members worked together to craft a strong statement calling for the troops to come home and for those responsible for leading us into this disastrous war to be held accountable."

With its bold stands against the Administration, the UMC is fulfilling the words of Martin Luther King Jr., who called for the church to be "not merely a thermometer that recorded the ideas and principles of popular opinion" but "a thermostat that transformed the mores of society."

Bush has asserted that he entered Iraq on a direct order from God. Now, he has a direct order from his own church to leave. Is he listening?

 

I don't know, but I am still against an immediate withdrawal, it would be a major mistake, IMO.