The World Wouldn't Listen

Or The Polls Don't Matter (unless, of course they are up, in which case, The People have Spoken). President Bush's poll numbers are down. So naturally, Conservatives, like Bill Murchinson, are explaining how meaningless polls are. I mean the fact that millions of Americans are apparently fed up with Bush is more a reflection of a few weeks of negative press than a reflection of any ongoing trends.

The natural tendency is to be suspicious of any news that doesn't fit your world view; and it goes both ways, so I'm not going to be too down on Mr. Murchinson. Besides he goes on to say something I kind of like. After going over the bad luck and how it could change in the coming months he says this.

None of which is to tell Bush doubters, "You're out of your mind!" Our present democratic fracas serves the ends of democracy by keeping adrenalin levels elevated -- and reminding politicians never to take our approval for granted.

It seems like a small thing; but in this age of Ann Coulter calling liberals traitors and Rush Limbaugh calling us vermin, it's nice to see somebody acknowledging that disagreeing with the President is something that's supposed to happen in a democracy. So bravo Mr. Murchinson.