Posted on 08/05/2015 5:46:15 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
I was just thinking yesterday: Despite Obama’s disastrous Iran deal, Trumpmania wrecking the GOP’s presidential field, and the fact that I’ll be stuck watching the season finale of “True Detective” on Sunday night, life hasn’t been nearly as discouraging as this eeyore would like lately.
Fortunately, there’s always good ol’ YouGov to give me a shot of despair when I need one.
Barely a flutter in the polls despite weeks of news about PP doctors chattering about selling dismembered baby parts. There seemed to be two likely explanations for that. One: The word wasn’t getting out to the broader public. This is a story that most mainstream reporters are verrrrry uncomfortable with given how it challenges the orthodoxy of their preferred political party. They’re not going to cover it, and you can’t move the polls if the only place to find this story is on right-wing blogs. Two: Even among those who have heard about the videos, the absence of any smoking gun of criminal behavior is giving PP fans a cognitive “out” to continue supporting them. Sure, they’ll crush a baby’s chest cavity just right to preserve the liver for sale, and sure, it’s unclear precisely how well informed its patients are about that, but there’s no law against it if it’s for research purposes, is there? Well, there you go. What’s on TV?
Mollie Hemingway argues that the first explanation accounts for the stasis in public opinion. I’m sure that’s true — but not to the extent we’d all like. Behold:
Only 30 percent have heard a lot about the PP videos — but frankly, that’s more than I would have guessed, and yet all we see is a measly five-point shift in public opinion against PP since last year. Another 38 percent have heard “a little” about the videos. “A little” can mean anything, but even something as small as a headline in this case — “Planned Parenthood Doctors Caught on Camera Discussing Sale of Baby Parts” — could be shocking enough to move opinion. And yet … just five points. Huh. When asked if they’d seen at least a little of the videos themselves, nearly half (45 percent) said yes; again, I’d guess that if you’ve seen a clip, it’s probably a clip of the more shocking stuff, like one of the doctors joking about buying a Lamborghini from the proceeds of sale of baby parts. And yet … just five points. The good news is that, at that rate, saturation media coverage of PP would doubtless put a real dent in the group’s public approval. The bad news is that even 30 percent awareness, I would have thought, would put a real dent in it. Hasn’t happened. How come?
Maybe the other explanation accounts for it. Say what you will about PP but they can claim (for now) that they weren’t breaking any laws. There’s a problem with that theory too, though:
A majority of those who’ve heard “a little” about the videos think Planned Parenthood did break the law. And yet … just five points. Still 50/36 in terms of overall favorability (45/30 in the recent NBC/WSJ poll) and 56/32 among women. If you think Mitch McConnell’s reluctant to shut down the government over PP now, wait until he sees these numbers.
Let me gently suggest an additional explanation for why the numbers haven’t moved much: Maybe most Planned Parenthood fans don’t care what the group is doing with dead babies.
We’re talking about the biggest abortion provider in America, responsible for 40 percent of all terminations by some estimates, and among those who view the group favorably, abortion doesn’t even crack the top three of what it’s best known for. You can explain that any way you like — as outright denial, as ignorance of how huge PP’s abortion business is, as a success of Democratic/feminist spin about what “women’s health” requires, as a legit assessment made by people who’ve used PP’s services, or as some mix of all of them. Either way, it may be that most PP supporters value the rest of their operation so highly that they’re willing to give them carte blanche on the less … pleasant aspects of their business. Even for an eeyore, that’s a depressing conclusion.
The MSM has ignored it so it doesn’t exist.
The Sheeple have been propagandized to accept such things as commonplace. Anyone who thinks voting will change things back is delusional.
Yup. We can live happily as one united nation with people joyous about baby butchery.
Nope, no civil war coming. Happy times.
You got it right. The average American is seething with outrage about a damn lion but has no idea what’s happening at PP. All they see is the MSM headline about the GOP voting to cut women’s health. Or they hear about the ‘fraudulant videos’. Until someone in the conservative media figures out how to do an end-around on the MSM, it’s a tough job to get a message out when the opposition has 24/7 message control of the news, pop-culture and entertainment.
There is little reaction because some news sources don’t hardly mention it.
Another thing is that unless there is some type of accountability for this outrage, people will just think it is bad, but oh well, nothing will be done about it anyway.
I doubt 20% of Americans could tell you what Planned Parenthood is.
If one is okay with killing an innocent, defenseless baby, what happens afterwards is irrelevant.
The power of the MSM to manipulate the minds of the LIVs, et al. cannot be underestimated.
They’ve been at this since at least the mid-1960s, so that’s what 50 years? (OMG I feel old now, I should just go lie down and expire!)
We are not going to turn that boat around in one or two or ten election cycles, but we’ve got to keep trying.
It’s not just whether or not they report things, it’s HOW they report them.
Nevertheless what’s wrong is wrong and, you know, the public be damned.
The PP videos have not been publicized. A lion and some other crap has sucked up the media coverage.
I am so beyond outraged that planned parenthood is dismembering and selling baby parts.
This is our modern day holocaust.
Do we sit back in silence?
What can one person do?
After much prayer for guidance, an idea came to me.
Everyone knows what pink ribbons and yellow ribbons stand for.
What if every American opposing these barbarous and demonic procedures placed red ribbons on their cars, houses, trees, wrists, etc
If we could line every street in every town
it would raise awareness and give us a way of taking a public stand
If this grassroots movement took off it would be an IN YOUR FACE very public display of our opposition.
Please help me get the word out.
CSC talk radio in Missouri is announcing this today but we need this to go viral.
There are millions of us. We need to show just how many of us there are
Great idea! I’ll move it along on Twitter!
It’s the immorality. Abortion is the solution to immorality. They really don’t care.
It is also how we respond to the reporting. We just accept the propaganda at face value, instead of acting with incredulity. We let the MSM get away with making all kinds of untrue claims because we don't question enough or encourage others to question enough.
It is ironic that the generation of "Question Authority" is the generation to give us non-stop leftist propaganda. Sadly, they seem to believe that the novel 1984 described a goal to strive for...
Please spar us the slanted nonsense so called analysis from that lib blogger named Allahidiot at the DC Lib Rhino Blogger site.
Can't think of anything else that would solve this mess. It's that or ISIS all the way.
Public education has done an excellent job in brainwashing the sheeple to hold human life in contempt. Some dumb animal named Cecil is esteemed like a god, but humans are a virus to be eliminated.
A YouGov poll is a Huffington Post poll (they’re ‘partners’).
Worth nothing.
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