Public opinion research is a scientific enterprise. But in the service of activism, its scientific precision and accuracy can go awry. For example, with the Johannesburg Summit on Sustainable Development throttling into gear, the company Politics Online has launched the "first ever Online Global Poll on the issues of the environment and sustainable development." The summit will be teeming with heads of state, government bureaucrats, business leaders, and all manner of non-profit activist groups. Politics Online seemingly wants to insert the opinions of ordinary folks from around the world into the cacophony of the summit. The most interesting results from...