Arms inspectors vote on BBC

[Jon Johanning]

My take on the state of U.S. public opinion about the impending war is 
that a larger proportion of Americans are against it, or at least have 
negative feelings and forebodings about it, than most polls show. But 
far from being ignorant bumpkins, most Americans are pretty 
knowledgeable about how the political system works, and how likely it is 
to respond to what they really think about the war. They are also well 
aware that Bush is determined to push ahead with it whatever anyone 
says -- Americans, French, Germans, or anyone else. (Anyone remember 
Pete Seeger's "Waist deep in the Big Muddy/And the big fool says to push 
on?") And they are too busy with their private lives, trying to make a 
buck and keep their heads above water, to spend time quixotically 
protesting what seems to be inevitable.

Given this, it is well nigh astounding that the poll figures for 
opposition to the war are as large as they are, even after Powell's big 
show at the UN, and that turn-outs for demos, both local and national, 
have been as big as they have been. They seem to indicate that a sizable 
segment of the people, beyond the reliable peace activist types, is 
moved enough to express opposition in some fashion or other.

Jon Johanning // jjohanning at igc.org
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Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it's too 
dark to read. - Groucho Marx