The Kind-Hearted Smart Aleck

The Pew Research Center just released some poll results which were rather troubling, but sadly unsurprising. In this survey, 2,000 people were asked how they felt about different institutions and whether they had a positive or negative effect on the country. Here's how the results turned out: Churches, religious organizations Republicans: 73% positive/14% negative (net +59%) Democrats: 50/36 (+14%) Banks/Financial institutions Republicans: 46/37 (+9%) Democrats: 33/54 (-21%) Labor unions Republicans: 33/46 (-13%) Democrats: 59/22 (+37%) The national news media Republicans: 10/85 (-75%) Democrats: 44/46 (-2%) Colleges and universities Republicans: 36/58 (-22%) Democrats: 72/19 (+53%) The two sets of numbers which stand out the most are with regard to the GOP's views on college and the media. In my opinion, the Democrats' numbers with regard to the media are rather understandable. If someone were to ask me what I felt the effects were of the national new...

Over the past year, the Pew Research Center has been conducting a study with regard to where people of different political persuasions get their news and how they discuss such matters. Here were some of the findings: Consistent liberals... - ...were rather divided when it came to a main news source they consistently went to for information: 15% went to CNN, 13% relied on NPR, 12% checked out MSNBC, and 10% read The New York Times . - ...trusted 28 of 36 news outlets which were listed in the survey (NPR, PBS, and BBC were the three most trusted). Consistent conservatives... - ...went to Fox News first and foremost for news throughout the day. An astounding 47% listed Fox News as their main source for news. - ...distrusted 28 of 36 news outlets which were listed in the survey. However, 88% said they trusted Fox News. I can't say these results were surprising, but they're still quite frustrating. It's like I've said all along, while I despise Fox News and t...