I shouldn't be because it gives me a good opportunity to tell you how to read an AmeriKan media poll.
"Occupy’s support divided, poll says; Backing in Mass. split on political, geographic lines" December 05, 2011|By Todd Wallack, Globe Staff
Massachusetts residents are starkly divided over the Occupy movement, splitting along political, economic, and geographic lines, according to a new Suffolk University/Boston Globe poll.
The survey found that 41 percent approved of the movement, 38 percent disapproved, and 21 percent were undecided or would not answer the question.
Take the first number and divide by two, then add it to the original number. There is your true level of support. Take the second number and divide by two. Now you have a true representation of those opposed.
Though the survey did not ask residents directly about their party affiliation, it found a strong correlation between support for the Occupy movement and approval of President Obama’s handling of the economy.
Stop pigeonholing the protesters, agenda-pushing pos.
Forty-six percent approved of the president’s economic policies, 42 percent disapproved.
That's not very good.
Women, blacks, younger adults, renters, and Suffolk County residents - all key Democratic constituencies - tended to hold more favorable views of the Occupy movement, which has taken over parks across the country and clashed with police in some cities. In Boston, police arrested 141 protesters in October after demonstrators tried to expand their tent city....
The Occupy movement began in September, when protesters took over Zuccotti Park in New York City’s financial district to protest corporate power, the influence of Wall Street, and growing stratification of wealth in the country. Similar tent cities soon sprouted in cities around the world, including Boston, where protesters have been camped in Dewey Square, across from the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, for more than two months.
Most of the protests have been relatively peaceful, but have caused friction with neighbors. Many cities have complained the encampments have become health hazards and sought to evict protesters. Mayor Thomas M. Menino of Boston has said he does not have immediate plans to evict the protesters, but his administration has asked a Suffolk Superior Court judge to lift a temporary court order barring the city from doing so.
Jill O’Loughlin, a 47-year-old crossing guard from Norwell, said the Occupy protests have largely had a positive impact, encouraging people to focus on issues such as the role of the financial sector in the financial crisis.
“The banks are too big to fail, so they got bailed out by the government,’’ O’Loughlin said. “I think Occupy Boston is bringing that to the attention of people.’’
But Peter Bekarian, 43, a commercial real estate broker, said he has a negative view of the protests because they do not seem to have clear objectives.
They have, they did, and yet the corporate press continues with the same tired line.
“I have yet to find a single person that could articulate why these people are camping out in a public park and what they hope to achieve,’’ said Bekarian, who lives in Boston. “It seems like a protest for protest’s sake.’’
That won't be the first time I see that talking point.
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Overall, the movement had more support in Massachusetts, known for its liberal leanings, than the nation as a whole.
That sentence makes me laugh. Yeah, the alleged antiwar liberal state that is steeped in one-party dominance.
A Quinnipiac University survey last month found that only 29 percent of American voters polled had a favorable opinion of the Occupy movement, about the same percentage that had a positive impression of the Tea Party....
Look, we came together again! That has to be one of the worst cases of made up numbers I've seen.
Ariel Oshinsky, a spokeswoman for Occupy Boston, said the movement transcends ideological and political lines. It has attracted conservatives, unhappy with corporate subsidies, as well as liberals worried about the growing concentration of wealth.
Yeah, I KNOW, the WORLD KNOWS, and yet the corporate press will revert back to the same agenda-pushing propaganda because they serve the money.
“There’s a lot of strong diversity down there,’’ Oshinsky said. “We have more support from the left, but I have stood here arm and arm with people who are very much on the right, but also see the practices at banks and financial institutions have really disabled parts of our economy.’’
They didn't disable it; they destroyed it.
Oshinsky said she was not discouraged that so many have negative opinions of the movement. She said it is more important that it has sparked debate on the economy and other issues.
I will give you ONE GUESS WHOM I HOLD RESPONSIBLE for that!
“We are creating a dialogue that didn’t exist three months ago,’’ she said. “Even if people don’t come down here or agree with the movement, it’s a win that they are talking about the movement.’’
But as the protest drags on, views of Occupy Boston may be changing.
Kind of lets you know how the Globe reporter really feels about them.
Claire Cheevers, 61, an employee benefits manager from Shrewsbury, said she was initially sympathetic, but now believes the occupations have become counterproductive. They are generating some negative headlines, she said, and forcing cities to spend money on police overtime and other expenses - money that could be used instead for programs that could help the poor, unemployed, and others.
First of all, no one is making the cops be there. The park didn't need all the guard.
And JUST WHOOOOOOOOO would be responsible for NEGATIVE HEADLINES, hmmmmmm?
Btw, the millions of dollars a month in debt service to Wall Street banks that sold the state s***ty deals and overcharged the state pension fund (I call it stealing) for currency trading could be used for the poor, unemployed, et al. Or they could stop handing out millions to bio-tech and green tech losers and profitable Hollywood.
“It’s time for them to disperse now and focus their energy somewhere where it’s going to do some good,’’ Cheevers said.
I'm just wondering WHERE IS THAT? The political arena?
Well, we BEEN THERE, DONE THAT and gone from Repuglican rule to Democrat supermajority and not a damn thing was done. The wars went on (even had another one), the banks continue to get bailed out, it's business as usual again on Wall Street, etc, etc.
I would like to know WHAT IS STOPPING the CURRENT CROP of ELECTED OFFICIALS from DOING WHAT WE HAVE WANTED for SO LONG NOW? What is the whole energy-wasting diversion of politics and what, electing Democrats, going to accomplish?
“I don’t think anybody is going to go out to a tent and say ‘Here you go. Here’s a job.’ ’’
That is not why they are there!
Where does the Globe find these people?
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Btw, this the same poll that said "three-fourths of those surveyed said the recession in Massachusetts has yet to end?"
Yeah, thought so.
