Bill O'Reilly's Poll On Cannabis

[CarolKing]

Bill O’Reilly’s Marijuana Legalization Poll Completely Backfires
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BY BARRY BARD ON JULY 30, 2014MARIJUANA NEWS


Yesterday, Fox News pundit Bill O’Reilly and his team posed the following question on O’Reilly’s poll center:

Do you favor the legalization of marijuana?

The poll’s purpose was, in O’Reilly’s pipe dream world, to facilitate an extremely negative response and then to air a segment on The O’Reilly Factor derailing cannabis legalization (like he did Monday night). By polling his own audience, O’Reilly and his team could paint a delusional picture, but one supported by “data.”

And at first, it worked. 81% of the initial voters responded with a resolute “No.”

Then, the internet caught wind of the poll, made it go viral in the cannabis community, and worked its marijuana magic.

First, NORML posted the following message to its constituency on Facebook:

NORML Nation: Bill O’Reilly is hosting a poll on marijuana legalization, but unlike most polls, we are losing! Click to vote and turn the tide. Let’s show Prohibitionist O’Reilly that it is time to end the madness and legalize marijuana. Think we can flip these results?

That post got over 3,000 likes and 1,500 shares. Despite feeling “dirty” by giving O’Reilly’s poll serious web traffic, the NORML community rallied, and hit the poll hard.

UPDATE: We went from 18% for, 81% against (1,483 votes) to 70% for, 30% opposed (~4,000 votes) in about 20 minutes. Good work everyone!

Then, the same message made its to Reddit’s popular marijuana community. Then, this happened:



Update: The poll is holding steady with legal weed holding a comfortable 90%-10% lead.

This graphic paints a clear picture: the internet’s love of legal weed has become a force that cannot be reckoned with.

It’s unclear whether or not O’Reilly will ever air this ironic poll which pretty much derails his entire anti-pot hypothesis. It is clear that if Bill O’Reilly and Nancy Grace had a baby, the world would be doomed.


This is an old poll. I tried looking for this on FC but couldn't find it.

 

[lwien]

If I remember correctly (and that's debatable), I think I heard O'Riley talk about this stating something to the effect of , "The internet crazies screwed around with the poll so the results are no longer valid", or some such nonsense.

 

[CarolKing]

“The real reason — the unspoken marijuana play — is contained in the Times editorial:

“‘The social costs of the marijuana laws are vast. There were 658,000 arrests for marijuana possession in 2012, according to F.B.I. figures, compared with 256,000 for cocaine, heroin and their derivatives. Even worse, the result is racist, falling disproportionately on young black men, ruining their lives and creating new generations of career criminals.’

Bill O'Rielly: “There you have it. The Left believes American law enforcement targets African-Americans for drug prosecutions. Therefore, they want drug sales to be categorized as nonviolent offenses and marijuana to be legalized. It’s about race, not drugs.”

The Left believes African-Americans are targeted because it’s reality — demonstrable, verifiable reality. In 2010, whites and blacks used marijuana at similar rates, yet blacks were four times more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession.y


Bill O'Reilly: “The Times says marijuana is not a gateway drug, that it does not lead to other drug use. That is false. According to a recent study by the Yale School of Medicine, adolescents who use pot or alcohol are three times more likely to abuse hard drugs than children who do not use intoxicants.”

Kids start with marijuana because it’s typically the easiest and softest illegal drug one can get. And if they use and abuse hard drugs, that’s usually a sign that more serious than marijuana use is going on in their lives. But if O’Reilly really wants to play the gateway game, it turns out the alcohol is the real gateway drug.


This is part of Bill O'Rielly's rant about the NY Times editorial about legalizing cannabis. There was way more. This was also last July 2014.

 

[SSVUN~YAH]

 

[howie105]

The big O and Fox are just entrainment passing themselves off as news, unfortunately folks actually believe the presentation and let it shape their world view. Its all part of our stratified society with a ruling class and a ruled class (same as it ever was) with the entrainment industry just being a tool of control and diversion.

 

[lwien]

The big O and Fox are just entrainment passing themselves off as news, unfortunately folks actually believe the presentation and let it shape their world view.

What's also true is that they are the most successful "news" channel, both in viewership and generating advertising revenue on cable TV and, they have the most loyal viewership over any other channel but it's composed primarily of white folk over the age of 65 and, it just so happens that that demo is the most active demo when it comes to voting, especially in the primaries.

In my mind, Fox is nothing more an advertising proxy for the GOP.

 

[zor]

I agree lwien.

In a political world that is ever more deeply mired in lobbyism and growing increasingly more dependent on financing (looking at you miserable shitbags, Koch bros), news outlets (Fox being one of the most notorious) are really becoming unchecked soapboxes for didactic liars and manipulative crooks. Courteous debate and discussion, logic....toss it all out.

 

[Joel W.]

Wow. I visit a few car forums and I gotta say this place (FC) does my soul good..

 

[max]

I think I heard O'Riley talk about this stating something to the effect of , "The internet crazies screwed around with the poll so the results are no longer valid", or some such nonsense.

But a poll of 'ORiley fans' would have been valid? Yeah, just like a poll here, asking 'vapor or smoke? which do you like?'

Wow. I visit a few car forums and I gotta say this place (FC) does my soul good..

Well quit visiting those soulless car forums and hang out here instead.

 

[Enchantre]

...
Well quit visiting those soulless car forums and hang out here instead.

Unless it's Prius chat. that one is nice... much like FC.

I've pretty much bailed entirely on prius chat, though... still have the Prius, he's gonna be 8 years old next week (yes, the car is a he). I vape in my car frequently, usually in parking lots before shopping trips. Never while I'm driving.

News outlets are owned by entertainment corporations. Anyone expecting unbiased "news" is fooling themselves. Slant is unavoidable.
I've been on both ends of the political spectrum, AND politically active, from grass roots straw poling (btw, that really ISN'T a great way to nominate someone), to being on an executive committee for a major party.*
We all, every single last one of us, express our slant whenever we tell anyone about anything we've seen/heard/experienced. Best plan is @lwien 's... hit the widest spread of "slanted" news to get an idea of the central "facts"...

*sleezeballs. all politicians are sleezeballs. I backed out of running in one race because it was bringing out my own sleeziness. Don't trust any of them, at all, regardless of political affiliation.

 

[lwien]

Best plan is @lwien 's... hit the widest spread of "slanted" news to get an idea of the central "facts"...

I have a next door neighbor and the only place he get's his news is from Fox. As a matter fact, he leaves his television tuned into Fox ever hour that he's awake even as background noise when he's not watching.

I asked him once, "Why do you only watch Fox News all day?" His answer was, "Because it's the ONLY news station that is balanced in their reporting".

But, of course, being that that is all he watches, his answer should not come as a surprise to anyone, eh?

The scary part is, is that I have no doubt that at least 95% of their viewers, if not more, feel the exact same way and there are millions of them.

 

[Joel W.]

Well quit visiting those soulless car forums and hang out here instead.

My car is 26 yrs old, parts are discontinued. Sometime I have to get dirty to save her.

Edit:

 

[Eschient]

What's also true is that they are the most successful "news" channel, both in viewership and generating advertising revenue on cable TV and, they have the most loyal viewership over any other channel but it's composed primarily of white folk over the age of 65 and, it just so happens that that demo is the most active demo when it comes to voting, especially in the primaries.

In my mind, Fox is nothing more an advertising proxy for the GOP.

People still watch the news? I mean, I see it when I go to the laundrymat but I don't think I've sat down and watched news on the TV since 9/11. I'm addicted to being able to see the same story from 800 different news sources and cross-checking it on the Googles and Wikipedias. Gotta love the World Wide Intertubes.

 

[fogvalley]

I watch a lot of news. I watch more fox then any other because they actually tend to talk about current events going on around the world between the crap talking of the other side. Other networks seem to hit the news after fox if at all, not always but i like to see whats going on today Sometimes their conspiring cries are truth sometimes not, all polls on legal weed are slanted untill it's a census question delivered to everyone in the USA.

 

[CarolKing]

I don't watch Fox News very often. Only when someone else has it on and I happen to notice. But when i do it's usually something slanted toward the right. It's usually something I don't agree with. I find a lot of hate towards others in a political setting.

I can't stand all that Tea Party stuff It's too extreme, it pisses me off most of the time. It's not even regular Republicans anymore.

I'm so tired of the President not being able to get anything done because the republicans won't compromise on anything.

CNN shows the same thing all day long. That gets annoying.

EDIT
Fox News seems so mean spirited. Not hunting for solutions - it's just pointing fingers, using the blame game, almost juvenile. It's gotten to the point of ridiculousness.

 

[zor]

Fear is the best way to control your audience, especially when coupled with ignorance, xenophobia, and extreme rhetoric.

 

[lwien]

While it's true that for generating viewership, bad news is better than good news, I have never seen any station do as much fear mongering as Fox. As a matter of fact, many of the advertisers that they attract are into the exact same game which is............Scaring the shit out of old people.

For me though, I find most of it rather comical. What isn't comical though is that the majority of their viewership actually believe the crap that they spew.

 

[Joel W.]

I admit after 9/11, I started watching fox news because they had the best footage of the war and got hooked.

A few years later my folk and I were argueing about something and we all realized my thought process had changed. I no longer looked at situations objectively nor did I have empathy for the other side. Everyone trying take my wealth!! (Like I had any wealth. Lol)

Switched to MSNBC ( thanks olbermann) for a while to ballance back out but they are also too extreme sometimes..

Now I am cold turkey with local news only. Maybe some google news..

 

[lwien]

And THAT ^^ is exactly why one shouldn't get all their news from just one source, be it Fox, MSNBC or any other news source.

 

[zor]

Aye, which is why I like npr and other programs that have discussions on major events including representatives from multiple viewpoints. Sure, there may be no resolution other than "this is fucked, people are suffering and there is no direct solution" but the discourse and exchange of ideas can be edifying and a nice break from belligerent finger-pointing (fanaticism).

Still, what good is any of this if the majority of a country's constituents don't play an active role (e.g. vote)? Change is hard to effect but we're seeing it across the board, even with our favorite little plant

 

[arf777]

I admit after 9/11, I started watching fox news because they had the best footage of the war and got hooked.

A few years later my folk and I were argueing about something and we all realized my thought process had changed. I no longer looked at situations objectively nor did I have empathy for the other side. Everyone trying take my wealth!!

Swiched to MSNBC ( thanks olbermann) for a while to ballance back out but they are also too extreme sometimes..

Now I am cold turkey with local news only. Maybe some google news..

Al Jazeera America and Vice are both good, and not (for the most part) too slanted.

 

[cybrguy]

I like the way Chris Hayes put it. "The Republican party has become a con, and their base is their marks." They are lied to all day long on fox news and eventually they cave to the lies, sometimes out of exhaustion. Fox news is the mouthpiece of the republican party, that drives the news world with fear and lies, pretty blonds, and fact free speculation and hate.

For the person above who thinks everything is probably OK with fox other than their marijuana coverage, please think about what you just said. Fox news is epitomized by that line in "The American President" when Shepard is talking about his republican competitor: "And whatever your particular problem is, I promise you, Bob Rumson is not the least bit interested in solving it. He is interested in two things and two things only: making you afraid of it and telling you who's to blame for it."

THAT is Fox News. It isn't about solving anything, it's about smearing it with shit. Fox news doesn't tell the story. They write the story.

I'm not saying it is the news job to fix the world, but it IS the news job to accurately report what IS happening, not to drive the story and bend and shape it until it satisfies your agenda.

 

[howie105]

Lets face it the media be it print or electronic has always been slanted. Sometimes its state run, sometimes its corporate, sometimes its just an individual with an axe to grind. Don't let any of these tools sway your opinion or your perception.

 

[arf777]

Lets face it the media be it print or electronic has always been slanted. Sometimes its state run, sometimes its corporate, sometimes its just an individual with an axe to grind. Don't let any of these tools sway your opinion or your perception.

Really? Have you not seen any of Edward R Murrow's work from the 50s? Jimmy Breslin's work from the 60s through the 80s? Studs Terkel? The old Woodward and Bernstein (before they got famous)? Glenn Greenwald? These are people who broke stories, irrelevant of the political slant of the stories, because they thought getting the truth out is important. I fully admit that is very rare these days, but it does still happen. Glenn Greenwald is still doing it. He gave up a lucrative career as an attorney to do so and has risked prosecution to meet with Snowden repeatedly.

And how about Arianna Huffington? She was a doctrinaire conservative who had her mind changed by left-liberal journalists, and became one herself. Granted she is not the best journalist, but she is an example of someone in the business who is so open minded she changed sides completely.

 

[Gunky]

Fox News is the propaganda wing of the Republican party.