Just Had to Respond...

K-Lo posted this on the Corner a while ago.

Nothing amazes me anymore, especially when the MSM's chronic obtuseness is occasionally assaulted by reality but I tried to put it in some kind of context in a response I sent in (reproduced below). I KNOW there are hundreds of better examples to cite but, you know me...ready, fire, aim.

Instapilot

From: INSTAPILOT
Sent: Friday, October 15, 2004 2:48 PM
To: klopez@nationalreview.com
Cc:
Subject: Well, Duh...

Poll: GIs, families trust Bush over Kerry

10/15/2004, 2:06 p.m. ET

By WILL LESTER
The Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) - When asked whom they would trust as commander in chief, people in military service and their families chose
President Bush over Sen. John Kerry, a decorated Vietnam veteran, by almost a 3-to-1 margin.

Among military people, the "...decorated Vietnam Veteran..." association is considered null and void when one unfairly maligns
57,000 dead and falsely accuses the survivors of dishonorable conduct (atrocities, et al.). It is FAR worse than not having gone to Vietnam at all.

Bush, who served in the Texas Air National Guard, was more trusted by 69 percent while 24 percent said they trusted Kerry more, according to the National Annenberg Election Survey released Friday.

Among all Americans, Bush has a narrower advantage on trust to be commander in chief, 50-41.

With military people, who assumes the role of Commander-in-Chief of the US Armed Forces has a much more direct effect on one's life (and possible death).

The military sample was far more likely to be Republican than Democratic, which could help explain the more favorable view of the president. Four in 10, 43 percent, of the military sample said they were Republicans, while 19 percent said Democrats and 27 percent independents.

Those in the military and their families have a more favorable view of Bush than Americans generally, and they take a more optimistic view about Iraq, the economy and the nation's direction.

Iraq: They are there; they see it; they don't have an MSM filter to deal with.

The Economy: Many come from Europe where 10% unemployement is the norm and oppressive state controls on virtually every facet of economic life show marked contrasts with the US (not to mention the Status of Forces Agreements that effectively prohibit their sposes from working).

The nation's direction: We are fighting. We are winning. Kerry represents withdrawing and losing...and 1000+ deaths in vain. Most see America as an exceptional (but not perfect) country that is getting better with age. They don't think Michael Moore or Whoopie Goldberg represent, in Kerry's words, "...the heart and soul of America."

A majority in the military sample, 64 percent, said the country is on the right track. Among Americans generally, 55 percent said the country is headed in the wrong direction.

Military people, more than most, live overseas. They get their perspectives by direct experience...a powerful counter to the prevailing MSM conventional wisdom about where the US is headed.

The National Annenberg Election Survey found that seven in 10, 69 percent, had a favorable view of Bush. Only three in 10, 29 percent, had a favorable view of Kerry.

Bush is a man, Kerry is a mook. The former knows how to salute, loves his wife and kids without making an issue of it, talks funny and laughs at himself, and had the balls to go to the sound of the guns last Thanksgiving to say "thank you" to the troops. The latter voted against every significant tool that helps them be effective today, courted the enemy leadership in a time of war while still holding a commission, lauded dictatorships in the Western Hemisphere, "married up"...twice..., rides a bicycle that would cost a junior NCO (E-4, over 2) about 5 months base pay and cusses out his protectors when they get in his way on the ski slopes. See http://www.dfas.mil/money/milpay/pay/2004paytable.pdf

The Annenberg poll, which does not report head-to-head preferences, did not ask the military respondents whom they support for president. The report cited a 1948 law that prohibits polling members of the military about their voting intent.

Yeah, whatever...

Instapilot

The poll of 655 in the active military and their families was taken Sept. 22-Oct. 5 and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 4 percentage points. Their answers were compared to those of 2,436 adults surveyed between Sept. 7-Oct. 3 with a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points.