We already know that Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul is getting public support from neo-Nazis. We also know that "non-partisan pollster" John Zogby is the guy Rush Limbaugh called "my favorite pollster," probably because he presents himself as "non-partisan" despite the fact that he’s done scores of polls for the National Republican Congressional Campaign, the rightwing/libertarian Cato Institute, and the "intelligent design" whackjobs at the Discovery Institute. But even by those standards, Zogby appears to have hit a new ethical low with a poll supposedly showing Ron Paul doing great in a "blind bio" survey:
Only those four candidates were included in the question, which was commissioned by Jones Productions, a media company based in Austin, Texas. The survey included 389 likely Republican primary or caucus voters and was conducted Nov. 14–17, 2007. It carries a margin of error of +/– 5.1 percentage points.
The blind bio question was also posed to a larger pool of 1,009 likely voters nationwide, including Democrats and independents, and Paul was the big winner among that universe of voters, winning 33%, compared to 19% for Giuliani, 15% for Romney, and 13% for Thompson.
Knowing that Zogby has a horrible reputation for presenting dubious results that support the dubious claims of his rightwing clients, but without disclosing his conflicts of interest, I decided to look in to this so-called "media company" that commissioned the poll. It has numerous media outlets; in fact, at one of its flagship outlets, they are currently touting their poll results.
That’s right, John Zogby is polling for Ron Paul supporter and conspiracy theorist entrepreneur Alex Jones.
I say Ron Paul supporter because, in addition to pushing Ron Paul all over his various websites—including prisonplanet.com—he’s also contributed $2,300 to Paul’s campaign, the maximum contribution allowed for a primary campaign. This is a fact that Zogby apparently doesn’t feel compelled to divulge, and its something reporters and news outlets seldom worry about, treating Zogby as if he’s as non-partisan as truly non-partisan operations like Gallup, Pew and the Field Poll.
But this isn’t just some simply a case of doing a poll for a candidate’s supporter and not revealing the conflict. Alex Jones is possibly the greatest trafficker in crackpot conspiracies in America. For instance, through Alex Jones, you can learn about the occult empire running the planet, you can learn about the bloodlines of the Illuminati, you can learn the truth about global warming, that it’s a ruse to bring about one-world government, and all of this will be obvious to you once you begin to use Biblical prophesy to foresee world events.
Alex Jones’ greatest achievements, however, lay in the field of 9-11 conspiracies:
SALE!! Alex Jones' new book, 911: Descent into Tryanny. This is Jones' first book and those ordering now will be getting a first edition. Descent into Tyranny is a brutal exposé documenting the New World Order crime syndicate's involvement in the September 11th attacks.
The book reveals how the controlled press is spinning and whitewashing the 911 story.
Jones covers the cashless society control grid, implantable microchip propaganda, the fact that Posse Comitatus had already been disolved decades ago, the US government concentration camp plan, the FBI and FEMA training police that the Founding Fathers and Christians are "terrorists," the global elite's goal to dumb down and kill off 80% of the world population, eugenics and much, much more...
If you want everything tied together, apparently you should check out Jones’ documentaries, in particular the American Dictators series:
American Dictators details:
That Bush and Kerry are closely related on both sides of their families,
That Bush the Skull and Kerry the Bone have both sworn an oath to a secret society with deep connections to organized crime, intelligence agencies, and the occult.
That the "Order of Death" known as Skull and Bones has its members at the highest levels of every sector of the US economy -- from banking to government.
Jones travels back to the elite encampment in Northern California, the Bohemian Grove where he infiltrated and got the only video footage of the bizarre rituals conducted by the bushes and others.
American Dictators shows that while Bush and Kerry spout different rhetoric their actions are almost identical. The film also takes a revealing look at Ralph Nader, the dark horse would-be political spoiler of '04.
Alex Jones takes you to the front lines of the fight against the expanding Police State: the new Super-Patriot Act and National ID Card, as well as some of the newest and most shocking revelations surrounding the September 11th cover-up.
American Dictators is a must-see for anyone who wants to know the truth concerning how the global elite has hijacked both parties and is giving the American people a false choice. By exposing this rigged game where the global mob owns all the horses, American Dictators is able to unlock minds so then freedom loving individuals can decipher the mainstream media propaganda for what it is: a Military-Industrial complex operation.
"Long after the election of 2004 is over, American Dictators will be just as pertinent to current events as when we first released it, because it exposes the fraudulent system itself - a system that continues to repeat the same tricks over and over again. American Dictators exposes the scam." -- Alex Jones
There are two huge problems with all of this. First, Zogby. What’s next from Zogby, "Poll shows Americans won't vote for an African-American" commissioned by fraternal organization Aryan Nations, inc? It’s time the press stopped lapping up his polls without question, and start scrutinizing—as Chris Mooney did back in 2003--whether his polls deliver the results desired by his right wing clients.
And when are the other Republicans going to stand up and call out Paul for accepting and not denouncing the open advocacy of his campaign by conspiracy theorists and Neo-Nazis? Are the Republicans so devoid of decency that they will not object to sharing a stage with someone who accepts the support of Neo-Nazis and people who push conspiracy theories about 9-11?
I know, I know, it’s a rhetorical question. Of course the Republicans won’t denounce one of their own for accepting support from extremists. Apparently the rest of the Republican Presidential candidates are afraid of antagonizing those parts of their base that support Ron Paul, and apparently the Republican base now includes conspiracy theorists and Neo-Nazis.
By the way, in case you were wondering if there’s an Arabic term for "the base" is, there is: it's Al Qaeda.
[UPDATE] Since most of the people commenting on the thread did not follow the two previous links to Chris Mooney's American Prospect article John Zogby's Creative Polls: And a closer look at his methods, I will provide that link again, because criticism of Zogby's methods and professional practices is nothing new.