NBC's 'Random Sampling': 2/3 Think Bush-Lied-People-Died or Americans Are Terrorists

March 20th, 2006 7:53 AM

On the third anniversary of the Iraq war, the Today show ran a generally predictable segment assessing successes and failures and looking to the future. To be sure, former Clinton administration official Wendy Sherman insisted that the President needs to start "telling the truth." And Gen. Barry McCaffrey thought that not deploying what he considered to be an adequate number of troops was a huge mistake. And yes, former Bush admin spokesman Dan Senor was more sanguine.

But when it came to revealing Today's bias, most telling were the three man-in-the-street interviews.

The first was a man who expressed support for the Commander-in-Chief, if not for the war per se, and hoped for the mission "to go through as smooth as possible, with as many, with the least number of lives lost as possible."

But then it was on to an angry lady at a demonstration, exclaiming: "There were no weapons of mass destruction. Too many people are dying daily around the world because of this lie."

She was followed by a man who said: "We are all here asked to support our troops, but really it's not about that. It's about America going and becoming terrorists themselves."

Hmm, let's summarize the NBC flash poll. Among Americans: 33% support the war, 33% think Bush-lied-people-died, and 33% think Americans are terrorists.

Oh, by the way, Katie informed us that the man-in-the-street interviews were "a random sampling." Check.

Finkelstein lives in Ithaca, NY, where he hosts the award-winning public-access TV show 'Right Angle'. Contact him at: mark@gunhill.net