l****z
发帖数: 29846 | 1 Caught cocooning in public: Here’s what the NYT‘s story on its latest poll
told readers:
In recent weeks, there has been much debate over the government’s role in
guaranteeing insurance coverage for contraception, including for those who
work for religious organizations. The poll found that women were split as to
whether health insurance plans should cover the costs of birth control and
whether employers with religious objections should be able to opt out. [E.A.]
If the Times says women were “split,” you know that must mean they were
actually narrowly against the NYT‘s preferred position. Sure enough, when
asked, “Should health insurance plans for all employees have to cover the
full cost of birth control for female employees or should employers be able
to opt out for moral or religious reasons?” women favored opting out by a
46-44 margin. The margin increased to a decisive 53-38 for “religiously
affiliated employers, such as a hospital or university.”
That’s among women. Unbeknownst to those who read only the Times‘ main
story, the poll asked the same question to men. They were not split. Men
favored opting out by a 20 point margin (57 vs. 37), except when a “
religiously affiliated employer” was involved, in which case the margin
increased to 25 points. Combining men and women, a substantial majority (51-
40) favors allowing an opt-out–increasing to 57-36 where religiously-
affiliated institutions are involved.
These are not close results. It’s hard to read this poll and not conclude
that, contrary to some accounts, Obama wasn’t such a genius to pick a fight
over mandated contraception coverage–because he appears to be losing the
public debate on the question. That’s a conclusion the Times story
effectively hides from readers.
It’s also one possible explanation for Obama’s otherwise somewhat
mystifying overall drop in approval during the period–March 7-11–when the
poll was in the field. But not an approved explanation.
Gas prices are the official MSM explanation. Got it? Gas prices.
P.S.: I’ve noticed that even solid NYT reporters–in this case, Jim
Rutenberg–have their bylines over wildly misleading copy when the subject
is the NYT/CBS poll. My working theory is that these stories are the most
heavily rewritten by the Times‘ fabled meddling mid-level liberal editors.
Can’t trust the cocoon to anyone else.
Backfill: WaPo also clinging to the birth-control-debate-hurts-GOPs
narrative … Neera Tanden more or less admits the contraceptive mandate was
originally ginned up as a wedge issue for the Dems. Initially, the Catholic
Church only protested quietly. How dare they kick up a fuss today? Don’t
they know there is a liberal ratchet–once you grudgingly agree to a step in
the great march of progress, you can never have second thoughts? … [
Thanks to Alert Reader E.]… |
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