WP: Will Terror Alert Level Show Its True Colors?

[kskiska]

A Cornell sociologist says he has found scientific evidence that, whenever the government issues a terrorism alert, President Bush's approval ratings go up, even on domestic issues, such as his handling of the economy.

Robb Willer, assistant director of the Sociology and Small Groups Laboratory at Cornell -- someone else runs Large Groups? -- tracked about 26 occasions since 2001, including the major Code Orange alerts by the Department of Homeland Security, when some agency -- the FBI, the State Department or someone else -- announced a potential threat to Americans.

He tracked those with 131 Gallup polls taken during that time up until May. Willer, a doctoral candidate in sociology, found that, on average, each warning prompted a 2.75 point increase in the president's approval rating the following week.

Willer said yesterday that his research "controlled" for various things such as the Afghan war, the beginning of the Iraq war and the capture of Saddam Hussein, though not for economic good news or other positive developments. His study says he conducted "several time-series analyses" and used "regression models" and stuff like that.

more…
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A28037-2004Oct12.html

[kysrsoze]

1. I believe it already has. Now it's just a question whether people are

smart enough to realize.

[MatrixEscape]

2. Clearly!

I caught this a while back. It is nothing more than an Orwellian cluster-mind-phuck! You know: 2+2=5 and Oceana is at war with Eastasia, etc.

The Administration must get a special, erotic thrill out of watching the sheeple react to their fear-tactic manipulation. Will the general populace catch on?

[gandalf]

3. I cannot understand that it still works

I cannot believe that it is so simple to manipulate the masses. Why can't the people see through it?

Yesterday I saw a woman on TV. She said, "perhaps Bush exaggerated some aspects of the WMD story, but I refuse to believe that our President led us to war on false premises". Why does she refuse? Never read the term BFEE???

[Moderator]

4. Duplicate

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=901092