I'd like to think that my last diary scared the masses into lowering Bush's approval rating some more. But I know better. The question is: assuming my rant was just that, what exactly will this president do with such a dismal approval rating?

Only 8 think George is great. Tell your friends!

"The poll" is a time-honored method of argument, most often employed against those too naïve to know any better than to believe in the raw numbers. "Numbers don't lie!" the naive say to themselves. "Numbers are pure, sweet truth! Therefore, polls are the heavenly truths of the gods themselves!" Of course, more reasonably minded folk know better, but polls are still used to excite the masses, inflame the passions, and push the agendas of all who desire a certain end. The "poll" can be their means to that end.

Alas for all who seek the basest of truth that lies in the recesses of all polls. One would think that the method of asking a bunch of people their opinions on several topics and then coming up with the percentile data of those opinions wouldn't result in such dissembling, but here we are. Polls and their results are clouded with mystery. How does a poll come into existence? Certainly some people must have been contacted to participate in these things. Certainly questions were asked, answers were given, and numbers were spawned. Unfortunately, the numbers, while not lies, do not tell the entire story and should be viewed with a critical eye.