CNN Poll Vs. CNN Spin on Presidential Debate

[HT:TP]
Everybody is talking about this poll from CNN declaring victory for Obama’s debate performance last night with an article titled “Round 1 in debates goes to Obama, poll says.” Noah Pollak reads the fine print of the article and takes a few notes from deeper down into the specifics and Buried way, way down at the bottom of the story — hopefully, one surmises, past the point where anyone would read — is the following:

The results may be favoring Obama simply because more Democrats than Republicans tuned in to the debate. Of the debate-watchers questioned in this poll, 41 percent of the respondents identified themselves as Democrats, 27 percent as Republicans and 30 percent as independents.

I’m far from being a polling expert, but this is obviously a slanted poll. A 14-point split between Republican and Democrat respondents? And what percentage of those “independents” were leaners for Obama?

That’s bad enough, but the really egregious part is CNN’s blatant reportage of opinion as fact, which allowed the creation of a news story announcing Obama’s victory.

[test it yourself: when next you hear of this poll {and you will}, note if its statistical bias is mentioned ]

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AOL Straw Poll: McCain 63%, Obama 37%

With all the mainstream media emphasis on [contrived, by virtue of the over representation of democrats] poll numbers that supposedly show strong leads for Barack Obama I was wondering if there should be any analysis of an AOL straw poll that shows John McCain solidly beating Barack Obama in a random sample of hundreds of thousands of readers.

A major difference between the AOL straw poll and that of other polls is that the AOL poll does not consist of people that are chosen by the pollsters.The poll runs over a number of days and is repeated on a weekly basis.

[highly suspicious to me, but as legitimacy of method evidently doesn't matter for reporting other polls his point is valid]

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Newsweek: 'McCain Won. But Will It Matter?'

[just offered to counter the MSM dumb beat to the contrary {and from Newsweek no less}]

As your humble correspondent noted earlier today, one needs to have some training in reading liberal tea leaves in order to determine which candidate actually wins presidential debates. However, in the case of this Newsweek article, written by Andrew Romano, absolutely no such training is needed. The title flat out tells us: "McCain Won."

However there is also one highly laughable caveat added on: "But Will It Matter?" First Romano tells us why he thinks McCain won (emphasis mine):

Tonight, John McCain was the more effective combatant... [snip]

Okay, so now that Romano states what we already know he goes on to claim that it doesn't really matter:

...The contours of the race and the climate in the country still favor Obama, who holds a small but consistent lead in recent polls. To remake the landscape, McCain would've had to score a knockout blow. He didn't come close. The question, then, is whether he can keep delivering such solid performances from now until Nov. 4--and whether even that will be enough.

Earth to Andrew Romano: Barack Obama pretty much delivered a knockout blow to himself by having to read the name on his bracelet in order to remember who it was.

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Media Fail to Correct Obama’s Claim of No Al-Qaeda in Iraq Before Invasi

Since Friday’s presidential debate, all three major broadcast networks have highlighted one of Barack Obama’s more commanding moments when he charged that John McCain was wrong in some of his pre-Iraq war predictions, but the media have so far ignored Obama’s incorrect assertion that "there was no Al-Qaeda presence in Iraq before America’s invasion in 2003.

Before the 2003 invasion, various news sources – some American, some from other countries – were already citing the governments of various countries as they reported that Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the former leader of Al-Qaeda in Iraq, not only was already in Iraq plotting attacks to be carried out in Europe, but that he already had an association with Osama bin Laden and had spent time in Afghanistan. [snip]

ABC, CBS, and NBC have all played the that soundbite of Obama from the debate, but none recalled the facts to the contrary to which their own past reporting referred. Below are transcripts of relevant portions of past CBS Evening News, NBC Nightly News, and ABC's World News...

[it's called revisionist history, with nary a peep from our 'professional' journalists... Recommended > ]

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Stage being set for Iraqi elections as violence flares

Baghdad, Iraq - At least 22 police officers and Awakening Council members were killed in an ambush southwest of Diyala Wednesday, a U.S. military official said. (Snip) the Iraqi Parliament in Baghdad passed a law setting guidelines for elections to select local governing bodies, Sunni legislator Salim Abdulla told CNN.

The bill's passage by 191 of the 275 members of Parliament is considered a major step toward national reconciliation among Iraqi Sunni Arabs, Shiites, and Kurds.

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Man guilty of plot to behead Canadian PM

BRAMPTON, Ontario (AP) -- A Canadian man was found guilty Thursday of knowingly participating in a terrorist group accused of plotting to storm Canada's Parliament and behead the prime minister.

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper was one of the terror group's targets.

Superior Court Justice John Sproat ruled that evidence of the alleged terrorist plot was "overwhelming."

He is the first person to be found guilty of a terrorist offense in Canada since the country enacted anti-terrorism laws in 2001.

He was one of 18 people arrested in connection with the terror plot, which also included plans to truck-bomb nuclear power plants and a building housing Canada's spy service...

[GWOT]

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Europe's Sharia question

In recent weeks, the European Commission and the UK have made apparent concessions to Islamic law, and with confrontations in Cologne over a proposed mosque, the role of Muslims in a future Europe is again in the spotlight.

Princeton University historian Bernard Lewis made his famous prediction in 2004: "Current trends show that Europe will have a Muslim majority by the end of the 21st century at the latest […]. Europe will be part of the Arab West-the Maghreb."

No one knows whether or not he reads Lewis, but not to be outdone, Libya's Colonel Muammar Gadhaffi speculated in February 2006 that "we have 50 million Muslims in Europe. There are other signs that Allah will grant Islam victory in Europe, without swords, without guns, without military conquests. The 50 million Muslims in Europe, will turn it into a Muslim continent within a few decades." [snip]

A slight majority of British blame al-Qaida for 9-11 (57 percent), but another 26 percent say they don't know who the perpetrators were. The numbers were roughly the same for French and the Italians, with 8 and 13 percent, respectively thinking the US authored the act. Among Germans, almost one-quarter - 23 percent - the US itself staged 9-11.

[still think a duplicitous press is harmless? These are western countries]

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Russian spies accused of agitating Czech public

Prague, Czech Republic - Russian spies operating in the Czech Republic have tried to increase public opposition to a planned U.S. missile defense facility here, the Czech counterintelligence service said Thursday.

The spies have contacted non-governmental organizations, politicians and the media in the past year about the U.S. missile facility. "The allegation 'is true,'' Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek told CT24 news television.

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Nato entry may spark war

Berlin - Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder warned Nato on Thursday that allowing aspiring member Georgia, with its ''unpredictable'' leader, to join the defence alliance could lead to an armed conflict with Russia.

Schroeder, a close personal friend of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, said he had been shocked at the one-sided approach western nations had taken in their dealings with Russia over its conflict with Georgia.

[just another useful idiot - including the 'reporter' who never got around to mentioning:

Schroeder Accepts Russian Pipeline Job
Gazprom declined to reveal how much Schroeder would be paid. Gazprom holds a 51 percent stake in the pipeline, with two German firms -- BASF and E.ON ...
- or -
German Politicians Attack Schroeder for Siding With Russia ...
Aug 18, 2008 ... Gerhard Schroeder sits before a Gazprom logo. Schroeder heads Nord Stream project, which is heavily connected to Gazprom ...
- or -
Gerhard Schröder, Gazprom and German foreign policy
Apr 14, 2006 ... A controversy has erupted in Germany over the links between the former Social Democratic chancellor Gerhard Schröder and Russian energy ...

or any of the other 54,000 hits that "Schroeder AND Gazprom" returns on google - too difficult I guess]

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Russia grants Venezuela $1B to buy arms

MOSCOW - Russia is lending one billion dollars (682 million euros) to Venezuela to buy Russian arms, the Kremlin said Thursday, ahead of a visit by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. "Russia has taken the decision to grant Venezuela a credit of one billion dollars for implementing programmes in the field of military-technical cooperation," it said in a statement, using diplomatic jargon for arms sales.

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Venezuela's Chavez sees America as a 'sinking ship'

President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela Thursday described the U.S. economy as "a sinking ship" in the final throes of capitalism but pledged that he would not cut off oil exports to the U.S. unless his nation were attacked.

Chavez, speaking moments before flying on to Russia as part of a five-nation tour, said Venezuela's sharply rising oil exports to China wouldn't cut into sales to U.S. or other markets

[if only we had our own oil deposits]

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A WILLING PRODUCER

Colombia is a rising energy producer that has just discovered huge new oil deposits in its Meta jungle, more than doubling its reserves to 4 billion barrels overnight. Nothing would help more than a partner with a permanent trade agreement -- as Colombia ought to have -- instead of a petrotyrant, says IBD:

Unlike its neighbors Venezuela and Ecuador, Colombia wants to be a reliable partner and supplier to the United States to attract the investment it needs to develop.

The U.S.-Colombia free-trade accord, stalled in Congress by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi since April, would promote investment and production. The United States benefited hugely from 1994's NAFTA deal, which made Canada our No. 1 oil supplier. A deal with Colombia would solidify its energy ties to the United States, too, says IBD.

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CNN's Dobbs Highlights Wall Street's Political Contributions

[credit where due]
As one who's been critical of CNN's Lou Dobbs a time or two, I was glad to see him and correspondents Louise Schiavone and Kitty Pilgrim perform a valuable public service on Friday's edition of Lou Dobbs Tonight.

They detailed political contributions made by finance, insurance and real estate firms to four members of Congress taking lead roles in crafting the Wall Street bailout:

DOBBS: Just four members of Congress will lead the negotiations of what President Bush and Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid want to be the largest government bailout in history. Democrats, Senator Dodd, Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, Congressman Frank, Chairman, House Financial Services Committee. Republicans Senator Judd Gregg and Congressman Roy Blunt, House Minority Whip.

That's your lineup, folks and over the past two decades, those four men have accepted almost $20 million in donations from finance, insurance and real estate firms. Yes, the very same firms that stand to benefit from that almost trillion dollar federal bailout. [snip]

DOBBS: Well he and -- I mean that's sort of shocking. He and Blunt are pikers (ph). I mean Christopher Dodd and Barney Frank have been making them look silly. I mean you're talking tremendous sums of money on the Democratic side. I'm a little embarrassed for the Republicans. They're supposed to be the party of business and they're not getting their fair share of the business.

Dobbs is right. The Republicans received chump change compared to the bucks pulled down by their Democratic counterparts. Then again, it seems to me that the Democrats bear considerably more culpability for the financial quagmire we find ourselves in.

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IS THE UNITED STATES GOING BROKE?

The current debt estimate represents the present value difference between all the government's projected future spending obligations and all its projected future tax receipts. This gap takes into account the government's need to service official and unofficial debts, including its obligation to pay baby boomers their Social Security and Medicare benefits.

But there are other obligations, too, that aren't calculated into the national debt for which the government remains at risk, says Kotlikoff. So, how do we pay for this, ? We have two options:

• Double employer plus employee payroll tax rates immediately and permanently, taking another 15 percent out of our pockets each payday.
• Cut benefits; Medicare could be scaled back to keep its cost growth in line with the growth in the economy.

Even though there is still time to put our fiscal house in order, the longer we wait, the more likely we are going to get hit by a true financial and economic earthquake...

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Villaraigosa to unveil L.A. housing plan

California
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa on Monday will unveil a $5-billion, five-year plan to build housing for the poor and middle class. The blueprint, which calls for thousands of new homes along subway and bus lines, and developments with people of all incomes living together, would, according to the mayor's deputies, alter the look and feel of the city forever.

[5 large. Wonder where they're getting the money?]

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Big Labor's Billion Dollar Bet on Obama

On June 26, the AFL-CIO brass officially endorsed Barack Obama for president. With Big Labor's largest umbrella organization and its member unions pouring unprecedented resources into the general election campaign, the public ought to fear the legislative payback that would ensue if Obama were elected. [snip]

Top on the union agenda is the so-called "Employee Free Choice Act" (EFCA), which is better described as the Employee "No Free Choice" Act. If it passes, employees would lose the ability to cast their vote by secret ballot... [snip]

Another union power grab on the fast track is the misnamed "Public Safety Employer-Employee Cooperation Act." If it becomes law, the bill would force state and local governments to collectively bargain with union officials over all contracts involving police officers, firefighters, and paramedics -- even in states with laws guaranteeing workers the right to choose... [snip]

But there's more. An Obama White House will also seek law changes that prohibit permanent replacement of striking workers. In advocating a ban on striker replacements union ordered strikes would be automatic winners, and American workplaces would come to a screeching halt in the face of extortionate union demands... [snip]

So the union bosses have found their man. With their billion dollar bet on Barack Obama, they know that the payoff of new union coercive powers will be worth the trouble.

[this will effect you - Recommended > ]

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Unions file appeal of bankruptcy ruling
California
Vallejo's police and fire unions have appealed a judge's ruling granting bankruptcy to the cash-strapped North Bay city. The unions filed their appeal in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Sacramento late Thursday, charging that the bankruptcy proceedings are endangering public safety because so many police and fire fighters have quit as a result.

[it's the unions that bankrupted the city in the first place - literally]

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Pa. Marine sues Rep. Murtha over Haditha comments

PITTSBURGH - A former Marine sued Rep. John Murtha for slander on Thursday, saying the congressman damaged his reputation by saying he and his comrades killed women and children "in cold blood" in Haditha, Iraq, in November 2005.

Former Lance Cpl. Justin Sharratt filed the federal lawsuit in Pittsburgh. Sharratt claims the comments the high-ranking Pennsylvania Democrat made on news shows in May 2006 also violated his constitutional rights to due process and presumption of innocence.

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Austrian teens prepare for historic vote

Vienna, Austria - For her birthday, Nina Stanke gets 16 candles — and one vote. Austria makes history in the European Union on Sunday by becoming the first member of the 27-nation bloc to give 16-year-olds a voice in national elections.

And Stanke, one of up to 200,000 eligible Austrian teenagers, isn't about to pass up this opportunity. The two main parties are flirting with first-time voters and — to some extent — making an effort to cater to a younger crowd.

[dumb. personally I'm in favor or raising the voting age to 36. minimum.]

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