The Envelope Please...
Fred Whitman, the institute's founder, often spoke of creating a '"Knucklehead Award" to be presented to...well knuckleheads. If we were to give out such an award, perhaps no one would be more deserving right now than the respondents to the latest Newsweek poll about all things current. And if these respondents are at all representative, then heaven help us, as we present the award to the American people.
Here are just a few of the disturbing highlights:
77% -- Americans who did not know, or answered incorrectly, a question about which country has the largest number of Muslims (correct: Indonesia)
55% -- Interestingly, a majority of respondents knew the current price of a barrel of oil (correct: about $70)
54% -- Also somewhat surprising a majority of respondents knew that the human brain continues to produce neurons well past the age of 65.
43% -- American who knew that the majority of the 9-11 hijackers came from Saudi Arabia
41% -- Americans who still believe that Saddam Hussein was behind the attack on 9-11 (up from 36 points since the last survey)
22% -- Americans who think that the Amazon River is in Africa
Perhaps now is the time to begin shooting our TV sets before we all go Hi-Definition, and put our AM radios on mute. It is truly remarkable how much incorrect information seems to get into the bloodstream of the body politic, and how difficult it is to leech it out.