By Mark Esposito, Guest Blogger
In yet another sign of the apocalypse by ignorance, a recently released poll by Public Policy shows that 29 percent of Louisiana Republicans believe Barack Obama was more responsible than George W. Bush for the inept federal response to the Hurricane Katrina disaster. The poll asked: “Who do you think was more responsible for the poor response to Hurricane Katrina: George W. Bush or Barack Obama?” The results were startling. Only 28 percent picked the right answer and 44 percent answered “Not sure.” Never mind that at the time of the great storm Barack Obama could only get into the White House by invitation or that he had barely a year under his belt in the U.S. Senate, the state with a quarter of its population being deemed functionally illiterate blames the current President.
Propaganda is the likely culprit. For years, Louisiana schools taught that the Great Depression was a “socialist myth” created by author John Steinbeck; that the Loch Ness monster is real; the KKK were actually social reformers bent on restoring morality; and that African-Americans can’t read because of communists. Bruce Wilson of Talk To Action has documented that three of the textbook companies — Accelerated Christian Education, A Beka Book, and Bob Jones University Press — have infiltrated Louisiana’s school voucher system with books advancing a conservative, religion-based public school agenda. This teaching of ignorance seems to have taken hold even among Republicans whose brain-washing is now complete.
Here’s a preview of the new documentary detailing how taught ignorance is the new weapon in the culture wars:
And how is the coiner of that epic phrase — “The Party of Stupid” — doing in his own state? Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindral’s popularity is sinking like a rock. In the latest scorecard for shot messengers, Jindral is polling at 28% favorable ratings compared to 59% unfavorable ones. That puts him at the dead bottom in popularity among Republican governors, and second only to Democrat Pat Quinn in Illinois.
Proof, I suppose, that no good deed goes unpunished and that the karma of ignorance is a B-word indeed.
Source: The National Memo
~Mark Esposito, Guest Blogger
They needed a few follow up questions like; would it affect your decision if Obama wasn’t president at the time and GWB has, or would it affect your decision if Obama was working as a janitor in Chicago at the time Katrina hit. Probably get the same results.
Mark,
A wonderful story that just amazes me. The low information voter is intriguing to me because many time even when you present them with the correct information, they wont’ believe you.
What the POTUS did yesterday was force the Republicans to turn on their own policies from the Bush years.
mespo, Thanks. I’m tired, old and heading to bed.
but to be fair 50% of louisiana republicans think pres Obama is the antichrist and is personally responsible for hurricanes in general.
This dog hails from Metarie. Or however ya spull it. All RepubliCons there were dumb. Some of them think that Bobby Jindal is an American Indian.
That’s not necessarily true. Mr. Obama CHANGED his mind after the JCoS Dempsey briefed him on the “folly” of moving forward here. It appears Mr. Putin and the Chinese President seem to KNOW who really did this heinous act and it wasn’t Assad! They will inform him at the G-20 this week.
Congress should NOT approve this until we know for sure who really did this heinous act.