http://www.usatoday.com/...
This is a poll on Evolution and Creationism. The first two questions asked if you thought the following two statements were true:
"Evolution, that is, the idea that human beings developed over millions of years from less advanced forms of life"
"Creationism, that is, the idea that God created human beings pretty much in their present form at one time within the last 10,000 years"
Obviously, one can't agree with both statements-they are mutually exclusive. You can't think both that "God created human beings pretty much in their present form at one time within the last 10,000 years" and also think that "human beings developed over millions of years from less advanced forms of life". They are contradictory. However...
...at least 19% of the population agreed with both statements. 53% thought that Evolution (as defined above) was probably or definitely true, and 66% thought that Creationism (as defined above) was probably or definitely true, which means at least 19% of the population agreed with both. And that figure is almost certainly even higher than 19%, since it was possible to disagree with both statements. And there was no wiggle room-the definitions given were clearly mutually exclusive.
So, our problem is not even merely winning over the 47% of people who believe exclusively in Creationism, but also winning over the 19% of people who can agree with two completely contradictory belief systems. Oh, and yes, these morons vote. I guess this explains how Bush won office.
So every time you see a canidate appealing to emotion over logic, or dumbing down an issue to a second grade level, remember the brain-dead 19%. Most elections are decided by a much smaller percentage; you have to have the drooling idiots on your side to win.
Sad, isn't it?