Why the Polls are Low for President Bush and his Administration?

Lee Ellis

"Bush polls have fallen to a new low," shout the newspaper headlines or the news anchors on television. "President Bush and Congress have reached their lowest numbers yet," they continue, trying to speculate whether this is caused by the high gasoline prices, the current economy, or the war in Iraq.

This is strange since there is good news, mostly hidden by the media, about all three.

1. Recently, the U.S. Energy Department announced the results of a land survey: "We have more oil inside our borders, than all the other proven reserves on earth. Here are the official estimates: In Colorado and Utah, we have 8 times as much oil as in Saudi Arabia, 18 times as much oil as in Iraq, 21 times as much oil as in Kuwait, 22 times as much oil as in Iran, 500 times as much oil as in Yemen!" That's why on August 8, 2005, President Bush signed into law the Energy Policy Act of 2005. This historic legislation officially opened up the Green River Formation to a handful of drilling companies. In January, the government gave six companies 160 acres of the government's oil-rich land apiece - to test their oil shale drilling methods for commercial production."

Our newest technology is proving that getting this oil is much easier than a decade ago. Canada's oil shale is already being harvested by both Canadian and Chinese corporations. The US is now catching up.

2. Our economy is at its best today with unemployment at its lowest in decades and with three million new jobs added!

3. We are winning the war in Iraq and, as I write this, Jawad al-Maliki, an experienced political operator and advocate for Iraq's Shiite Muslims, has won the approval of Shiite party leaders for the post of prime minister. This move could end the political paralysis that has gripped Iraq since national elections were held on Dec. 15.

So, then, what is really causing these dangerous drops in the polls?

It is simple. Polls are based only upon what the populace learns and knows about its government operations. And how do they get this information? Why from our main stream media, of course. Our college students have another source to add to this mix --- the many socialist college professors and academicians who have managed to be granted tenure over the years and so have no worries about being fired for slander, libel or the indoctrination of our youth with false information about our history and our government.

We also suffer from what I call the "The New York Times" syndrome. Many reporters and editors have been taught to think that this newspaper is the Mount Olympus of the media, and if you do well in your career, you may one day be able to say that you either worked there or were published there. Most of our national news in our local newspapers is actually syndicated by either AP or The New York Times News Service. Check your local newspapers. I just looked at mine and the two main front page national news stories from today's issue came from the TNYT. AP news stories were inside. Many think that they do not read TNYT, but, in reality, the national stories in your local newspapers, along with some of the columns, are apt to come from there or other syndicated sources. When we read syndicated columns by pundits such as Maureen Dowd, Helen Thomas, Thomas Friedman, or Paul Krugman, we sometimes tend to think that they must know of what they write. T'aint always so.

Anti-Bush information also pours into our homes from the news on NBC, ABC, CBS, CNN and even Fox News. The latter says that it is fair and balanced, implying that it gives you news from both the left and right political wings. But if TV news is to be balanced, should we not have at least one TV network that tells us only the truth about our country without two commentators spinning in two different directions? Don't we get enough opinion, generally slanted to the Left, from all the other networks?

In case you do not think that this inundation of propaganda is really believed by the general public, have you read some of the letters printed daily in your local newspaper? They are supposed to be letters of opinion from readers. But look more closely - you will find that many contain malicious lies and propaganda against our government and even against our country. I will just randomly pick one letter from today's local newspaper to quote (I could pick any day and find several similar letters along the same line):

A reader writes, "Wouldn't you think we would remember the lessons of Watergate? Apparently the administration has taken those felonies as its libretto. Not being content to foment a phony war based on lies, they work to silence their critics in ways Orwell could never have dreamed."

Then the writer goes on to use as examples the Patriot Act and the NSA "spying." Most such anti-war letters also imply that this is a war for oil. Don't these writers ever stop to think that if we had already won all this imaginary oil, would not our gasoline prices be back to one dollar a gallon, instead of three?

No wonder the polls are low. Poll always reflect not what people think but rather how they react to the news they see and hear every day beamed or tossed into their homes by both television and print.

The latest poll average taken from Pew, Rasmussen, Fox News, Gallup, LA Times/Bloomberg, Cook/RT Strategies, CBS News and ABC/Washington Post news (www.realclearpolitics.com) shows that President Bush has a job approval rating of only 33%. The only saving grace for the President is that Congressional job approval is down to 25%!

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Lee Ellis is a retired journalist and narrator, formerly with both CBS and Gannett (USA Weekend). He was also a combat veteran of WWII, having fought in the South Pacific invasions. He had the pleasure of interviewing Ronald Reagan as an actor and then later working to help him become Governor of California. At the age of 80, he is keeping busy writing and doing free lance narrations for radio and television. He is an active member of Rotary and the VFW.

indiolee@dc.rr.com