Free Republic
Browse · Search
Bloggers & Personal
Topics · Post Article

To: Mr. Silverback
Did you know that over half of Americans won’t mind us having a banana republic government structure? That’s what a Fox News/ Opinion Dynamics poll found last week. Fifty-four percent of respondents said that our military should be run by military personnel, with only 20% coming out in favor of civilian control.

Can you say "red herring"? This was a dumb question, not just because it appears to exploit the lack of civics classes in our schools, but because the question depends on semantics ( OR as WJBC might say) on what the definition of "control" is. There are a dozen ways to "re-ask" the question (e.g. "Would you like to see the civilian Secretaries of Defense, Army, Navy and Air Force replaced by active duty military personnel, or do you think that is still important to guard against military takeovers of the government by maintaining civilian control?"). On the other hand, if you asked, "Who should be controlling the tactics, techniques and procedures of our military personnel, civilians who may never have served a day in the military, or Generals and Admirals?", in which case you'll probably get the same answer as the Fox poll.

18 posted on 05/25/2006 1:57:10 PM PDT by pawdoggie
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies ]


To: pawdoggie

Let me put it this way: If it had been a gallup poll, I probably wouldn't have mentioned it. Fox polls tend to be less prone to semantic games.


21 posted on 05/25/2006 2:08:07 PM PDT by Mr. Silverback (Try Jesus--If you don't like Him, the devil will always take you back.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 18 | View Replies ]

Free Republic
Browse · Search
Bloggers & Personal
Topics · Post Article


FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson