[Publius6961]

"Egregious misconceptions", huh?
This should be good.
I better go read that study.

[Howlin]

The PIPA study suggests a strong link between people's understanding of the news and its source. That link held true throughout different demographic segments, such as those based on education level, viewing habits, and partisan leanings, Ramsay said. "It proves that what we're doing is great journalism," says NPR spokeswoman Laura Gross. "We're telling the truth and we let our audience decide."

Absolutely, positively RUBBISH.

In fact, it might be an out and out lie.

[Publius6961]

Saddam has been linked directly to Al Qaeda.
Weapons of mass destructions have been found in Iraq.
The "whole" world was in agreement in attacking Iraq.

The focus on these three "beliefs" tells me all I want to know about this so-called study.
Only a propagandist or a peace activist would word "beliefs" that way. Some study.

First of all I don't believe any of those things. I still support the war in Iraq, and a couple more ASAP.
Adults make choices every day, made by inferences, experience, prior knowlege, a grasp of history and an mature grasp of human nature.

For example, if you own a dog and a rabbit, and the rabbit turns up dead, and you find fur stuck between the dog's teeth, you have no "direct" link of who the perp is; no one saw the deed and the dog isn't about to confess. But I know who killed the rabbit.

In a world of children, or academics, that might be a "serious" study.
Logic and reason are circumscribed by the limitations of the mind that addresses complex questions.

[Criminal Number 18F]

The three "egregious misperceptions" were (drum roll please):

1. Saddam was behind 9/11
2. Iraq had WMDs
3. World opinion was with us.

#1 almost certainly is false. An honest person could call it an egregious misperception. #2 almost certainly is not, and #3 can be credibly argued either way. We didn't have old europe with us, and we didn't have the tinhorn dictators and third world welfare cases who make up the bulk of the UN, but we had the young lions of eastern europe and many other countries.

Tentative conclusion: these lefties had their results in hand before they started gathering data.

For the record I don't get any of my news from Fox (and I can prove it: no TV) or from NPR (I seldom listen to radio, and those whiny, navel-gazing "typical NPR" voices actuate my "scan-seek button reflex"). Actually maybe it's something in the EQ they use but anyone can tell NPR and switch it off the instant they hear it. Must be why they depend on welfare.

d.o.l.

Criminal Number 18F