(THREAD) A lot of hand-wringing over Monmouth poll showing 74% of Americans believe the "Deep State" manipulates policy. As if this proves Donald Trump has Alex Jones-ified America, or at least that his attacks on the FBI are working. But I'm skeptical. Here's why:
-
-
"Deep State" has negative connotations. "Permanent bureaucracy" is less loaded. But unless you're already familiar with the topic, they're the same thing. In that context, the plurality answer of "probably exists" sounds like survey respondents acknowledging reality. 7/x
Show this thread -
Here's the other part of the poll prompting "EVERYONE'S A PRO-TRUMP CONSPIRACY THEORIST NOW!!!" hyperventilating. 53% worry US government is monitoring their activities. And 53% think it's widespread. 8/xpic.twitter.com/Q0OT9yGiCg
Show this thread -
Some trying to spin this as support for Nunes memo, conviction Carter Page is innocent, FBI conspiring against Trump, and so on. But, once again, they're right. Not about those conspiracy theories. But about US government monitoring. Snowden docs proved it. 9/x
Show this thread -
People cherry-picking those questions as proof Americans buy Trumpist conspiracy theories ignored the next question from the very same poll. Asked if government spying on American citizens is justified, a majority (53%) said sometimes yes. And 18% said usually yes. 10/xpic.twitter.com/gI84KOdZhk
Show this thread -
The takeaway is not we're all conspiracy theorists now. Or even that Trump changed public perception. Most Americans think there's an influential unelected bureaucracy, and that it sometimes spies on citizens. They're right. Reading much more into the results is projecting. (END)
Show this thread -
PS: Here's the link to the full survey, if you're curious. https://www.monmouth.edu/polling-institute/documents/monmouthpoll_us_031918.pdf/ …
Show this thread
End of conversation
New conversation -
Loading seems to be taking a while.
Twitter may be over capacity or experiencing a momentary hiccup. Try again or visit Twitter Status for more information.