I came across a disturbing poll and thought you might find it interesting (or shocking).

Admittedly, it's from a website that doesn't hide its liberal agenda and stands to it, and I am not sure whether the institute that conducted the poll for it has a good reputation (Research 2000, if you know more about it, please let us know), so maybe we should take the numbers with a grain of salt. But considering there were similar results in other polls from other institutes in the past, I suspect the numbers are not that far off. At least it wouldn't surprise me.

Here we go:

• 39 percent of Republicans believe Obama should be impeached, 29 percent are not sure, 32 percent said he should not be voted out of office.
• 36 percent of Republicans believe Obama was not born in the United States, 22 percent are not sure, 42 percent think he is a natural citizen.
• 31 percent of Republicans believe Obama is a "Racist who hates White people" -- the description once adopted by Fox News's Glenn Beck. 33 percent were not sure, and 36 percent said he was not a racist.
• 63 percent of Republicans think Obama is a socialist, 16 percent are not sure, 21 percent say he is not
• 24 percent of Republicans believe Obama wants "the terrorists to win," 33 percent aren't sure, 43 percent said he did not want the terrorist to win.
• 21 percent of Republicans believe ACORN stole the 2008 election, 55 percent are not sure, 24 percent said the community organizing group did not steal the election.
• 23 percent of Republicans believe that their state should secede from the United States, 19 percent aren't sure, 58 percent said no.
• 53 percent of Republicans said they believe Sarah Palin is more qualified to be president than Obama.

Here the source:
Daily Kos: The 2010 Comprehensive Daily Kos/Research 2000 Poll of Self-Identified Republicans

So apparently, Obama is not just a political opponent one disagrees with, but evil incarnate, a socialist racist who wants the terrorists to win and whose Presidency is illigetimate, because he both stole the election and is not an American citizen. I'm curious what the approval rate for assassination or a military coup to remove him from office would have been.

Civilized debate, political culture and well informed public opinion vs. lies, hatred and disinformation -- 0:1.

At least if we take this poll seriously, although I doubt they are outright fabricated lies. But the results get qualified when we consider that only self-identified Republicans were polled, and that possibly many self-identified idependents, who tend to the Reps, are not included, which may be a considerable number of Rep supporters.

Any thoughts?

It's kind of sad that such a large percentage of this country are that ignorant. Some of the questions are a matter of opinion. Others are just downright ridiculous to believe.

Not really. Just like most people think George Bush was the cause of the recession, some of those are matters of opinion and some are just nuts to think.

How many of them, do you think, understand what impeached means?I guess a lot of these guys didn't bother to Google the birth certificate, and most don't realize that he can't be President if he's not born in the USWOW.Again, how many people know what socialist is? Out of the ones that answered blindly, how many are too lazy to make an honest living and would actually benefit from socialism?I really have to wonder about those 24%...
Really, though, remember how much vitriol was directed at Bush?

The thing is, how was the question asked and in what format. And how were the responses gauged. For example, Would I like for him to be impeached? No, I don't want the country to go through that but I can understand and agree with someone if they wish he weren't president anymore. Plus he hasn't done anything to be impeached but I'm sure there are those whose opinions are he has.

So would my answer be counted as a yes in that survey?

Agreed, some are matter of opinion (like the preference of Palin over Obama), and others are nuts -- but what I find shocking is that some of the nuttier points are supported by such a large share of Republicans (even when that's not a majority), which has serious implications for political culture.

For example, when a considerable share of the Republican base outright *hates* Obama and considers him not just an opponent, but a treasonous enemy -- then the Republicans have a hard time explaining to their own folks why they should cooperate with him in Congress for the sake of improving the country (as it usually was the case when the President's party didn't have a solid majority), instead of just resorting to radical obstructionism.

In these regards, this stat is interesting:

The Rise Of Cloture: How GOP Filibuster Threats Have Changed The Senate | TPMDC

Cloture votes have reached a new high, and even before the Democrats took the Senate, it had risen considerably already. That may be an indication the political climate has become increasingly hostile and mutual cooperation is decreasing.


Also, the fact that so many Reps hold such views means that serious, level-headed arguments against Obama's policies are likely going to be replaced by baseless talking points à la Godwin's Law (Obama = socialist = Lenin = USSR = THE DEVIL AND ANTICHRIST COMBINED) and hysteric hyperbole.

Is that really a desirable level for political discourse? I find it frightening.

The thing is though Sim the Republicans don't really have to defend their positions to their constituents, their constituents don't like a lot of what has been going on. I think it's unfair to label them as obstructionists, maybe, just maybe, they don't like Obama's policies and genuinely feel they would be bad for the country, as I do. I can say honestly if I were a representative or a senator I wouldn't vote for most if not all of what Obama has passed or proposed. Not for political reasons, I couldn't care less what party he is, but because I don't agree with him.

EDIT: I should add all I've heard and read are level headed arguments against most of Obama's policies.

I still think that we've got about as much anger and hatred toward this president as we did at Bush; that guy got skewered for everything by the press and public, so I'm not sure if you're right about this being an escalation.

For disclosure's sake, I'm a liberal and a fan of Obama.

Maybe that's true (at least for the time from around 2005/06 to 2008, and certainly not from 9/11/2001 to 11/2/2004), but you have to admit the situation was a little different -- after all, Bush was responsible for starting two wars under most questionable circumstances, rather radical cuts into individual freedom and for throwing basic Western values over board, like the ban on torture, the Geneva Convention and the right on fair trials.

I don't see anything about Obama's decisions so far that's equally fundamental -- sure, you can oppose his stimulus plan and health care plan. But how does this justify nonsense like calling him a "racist", or accusing him of siding with terrorists?

By the same token, how does opposing his policies warrant being called racist or obstructionists?