I got a call yesterday from TRG Polling per my caller ID. There was no human on the other end of the call - it was all automated. The message promised me a two night stay in a hotel in various cities - New Orleans, Fort Lauderdale were two of them if I did the short survey. So I took the bait, and agreed to participate.
The nature of the questions were very surprising - all political - with extreme opinions to choose from - either being very liberal or very conservative.
Here are the last two questions: Question One:Are Julian Assage and Edward Snowden either whistle-blowers or traitors? Push 1 for Whistleblower or two for traitor.
Question Two: Do you approve of the way President Obama is handling the leaks about the IRS and NSA? One for "YES" and Two for "NO".
See below for what happened next.
You can imagine how I answered these two questions judging by my Daily Kos handle: Left of Center. At the end of the survey - the voice said "thank you for your participation. If you want the free gift - the two night hotel stay - push 1 or if you decline push 2." I indicated that I wanted the gift, and was told that I would hear from someone within the next hour.
While I was waiting for the call back, I googled TRG Polling, and was not happy with what I found out. Apparently they do a lot of research for Fortune 10 companies, governments, 50 countries, and THE MILITARY. My paranoia antenna went up with the mention of the last entity.
To add to my suspicion that I've been marked, NO ONE CALLED BACK! It's no secret that I've been pretty vocal lately where I live about what Obama has been doing to undermine our civil liberties - posting things on Facebook to my "friends" list.
Has anyone else received a call from these folks? What should I make of this "so called survey with the free gift enticement?"
Naturally, I'd like by paranoid feelings to be unwarranted, but with all this talk of NSA spying on average Americans - I wonder how I was selected to receive this particular call. Please let me hear from the Daily Kos community!!!!!!!