# Good news for the Bush Administration
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-news-for-the-bush-administration/287680
**Category:** The BBQ Pit
**Created:** [January 31, 2005, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-news-for-the-bush-administration/287680 "2005-01-31T22:47:19Z")
**Posts on this page:** 14
**Page:** 3
### Author:  [@Dob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dob)
#### Post date: [February 1, 2005, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-news-for-the-bush-administration/287680/41 "2005-02-01T15:08:29Z")
haha…so a survey showed that a bunch of teenagers are apathetic and clueless about the 1st amendment? Well damn…whats this world coming too?
I think asking a group of people who dont truly have free speech, ie kids, is a silly way to do a poll. I mean kids are told all day what to say, and what not to say! What do they know of free speech? I wouldnt consider this any kind of death bell for free speech!
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### Author:  [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)
#### Post date: [February 1, 2005, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-news-for-the-bush-administration/287680/42 "2005-02-01T16:09:45Z")
OK, most teenagers are apathetic, clueless, ignorant. Hi kids! Welcome to the same world the “adults” live in!
At least they have a valid excuse -
In school, depending on the school policies, and also depending on peer pressure, they may have learned that there is no truely free speech for them. There is only regurgitating whatever is deemed “acceptable” or “politically correct”, in order to fit in, and in order to graduate. This survey would seem to bear this out. So before dumping on the students, try to find out where they got their ideas.
Anyone remember that pearl of wisdom “Children should be seen and not heard”? How about “I’ll tell you what opinion to have”?
The apathy may just be a “Screw this, I just want to graduate and get out, so meanwhile I’ll just, like whatever”.
It’s hard to understand or care about rights you don’t have yet. I still have some hope for them.
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### Author:  [@UncleBeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBeer)
#### Post date: [February 1, 2005, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-news-for-the-bush-administration/287680/43 "2005-02-01T17:29:11Z")
> [@Miller](#):
>
> Well, The Man Show once took a camera crew around asking women to sign a petition to help end Women’s Sufferage.
>
> Got a lot of signatures, from what I saw…
Women’s _Sufferage_? Or _suffrage_. The way you typed it, it makes perfect sense.
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### Author:  [@manhattan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manhattan)
#### Post date: [February 1, 2005, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-news-for-the-bush-administration/287680/44 "2005-02-01T17:30:12Z")
> [@CynicalGabe](#):
>
> Ok. Im renting a van and moving to Canada. I’ll have room for 7 Dopers. Who’s coming?
As good as it would be for the United States to be rid of you, what makes you think a fine country like Canada would take your sorry ass? You only get to be a US citizen because you won gene lotto. Canada is way, way out of your league, son. Maybe you should consider a country more your own speed, if such a place exists.
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### Author:  [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)
#### Post date: [February 1, 2005, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-news-for-the-bush-administration/287680/45 "2005-02-01T20:07:35Z")
It’s not all that surprising, considering that we treat our kids like prisoners. My high school had a ban on _having any marks or items on your backpack_. I got in trouble for wearing my home made tee shirts saying stuff like “The ban on hats sucks because my ears get cold waiting for the rooms to open in the morning”. Most of this is done in the name of stopping gang violence. Kids just don’t know what freedom is.
But there is something deeply wrong. Ever listen to pop music nowdays? Theres not a hint of rebellion in it. Teen drug use is going down. Teen sex rates are going down. What is wrong with our nation when the teens arn’t causing trouble? It deeply troubles me.
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### Author:  [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)
#### Post date: [February 1, 2005, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-news-for-the-bush-administration/287680/46 "2005-02-01T20:17:24Z")
> [@even sven](#):
>
> But there is something deeply wrong. Ever listen to pop music nowdays? Theres not a hint of rebellion in it. Teen drug use is going down. Teen sex rates are going down. What is wrong with our nation when the teens arn’t causing trouble? It deeply troubles me.
A huma. . . a person who does not understand the importance of conformity. Here, you look sleepy. I have a large, green throw pillow for you to rest your head upon; ignore its pod-like appearance, I got it at the store. In the morning, you will be fully assimil. . . relaxed and ready to embrace the new order. Would you like a “W” button?
You will.
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### Author:  [@clayton\_e](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clayton_e)
#### Post date: [February 1, 2005, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-news-for-the-bush-administration/287680/47 "2005-02-01T20:58:37Z")
_My God! Look at these polls! We should raise the voting age! etc… etc… etc…_
What those polls show is that high school students are apathetic. Big shock there. What those polls _don’t_ show is what people 5 or 10 years older than them think. These stupid kids grow up to be, wait for it… stupid adults. I’m sure there are just as many adults who are as apathetic, stupid, and ignorant.
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### Author:  [@neutron\_star](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neutron_star)
#### Post date: [February 1, 2005, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-news-for-the-bush-administration/287680/48 "2005-02-01T21:11:24Z")
> [@Early Out](#):
>
> A full 83% of the students said that one should be allowed to express unpopular views.
Well, that one is slightly misleading in that “Don’t Know” was the answer chosen by 10% of students. So really only 7% think that one shouldn’t be allowed to express unpopular views. Presumably, the other 10% grow up to be the adults in surveys who can’t find Canada on a map.
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### Author:  [@Age\_Quod\_Agis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Age_Quod_Agis)
#### Post date: [February 1, 2005, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-news-for-the-bush-administration/287680/49 "2005-02-01T22:13:08Z")
> [@silenus](#):
>
> [High School students think 1st Amendment “goes too far”](http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,145931,00.html)
>
> Jesus wept!
>
> I try, I really do try to make my students understand why their rights are important. But things like this just make me want to quit teaching and go hide out in a monestary somewhere. ☹
From the linked article:
> [@](#):
>
> Yet, when told of the exact text of the First Amendment, more than one in three high school students said it goes “too far” in the rights it guarantees.
You know who else thinks the text of the 1st Amendment goes “too far” in the rights it guarantees? The Supreme Court. That’s why they’ve fashioned exceptions to the 1st Amendment for obscenity, sedition, incitement to crime, causing panic, defamation, and “fighting words.”
I realize it’s much more intellectually simple to spout bumper sticker slogans and blankly espouse the virtues of “free speech” above all else. But maybe we should be more concerned about the 2 out of 3 students who think the government has no business regulating snuff films or keeping troop movements secret in a time of war. Instead of criticizing the 1 in 3 students who’ve gotten it right, maybe we should be concerned about the adults in this thread who have no appreciation for how far the text of the 1st Amendment actually goes.
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### Author:  [@blowero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blowero)
#### Post date: [February 1, 2005, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-news-for-the-bush-administration/287680/50 "2005-02-01T22:33:07Z")
> [@World Eater](#):
>
> No screw the 21 thing, you should be able to pass a test in order to vote.
>
> /wish I was joking ☹
signed,
Jim Crow
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### Author:  [@kniz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kniz)
#### Post date: [February 2, 2005, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-news-for-the-bush-administration/287680/51 "2005-02-02T19:23:32Z")
> [@Early Out](#):
>
> I’ll bet you’d have gotten a lower percentage during the 1950s, and lower still during the 1910s.
Would a **cite** be too much to ask for?
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### Author:  [@Hazel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hazel)
#### Post date: [February 5, 2005, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-news-for-the-bush-administration/287680/52 "2005-02-05T05:13:26Z")
> [@danceswithcats](#):
>
> I disagree with the thread title-ignorance isn’t beneficial to any administration or society.
I too believe that ignorance is not beneficial. I think most ordinary citizens would agree with that – but the quesion is, what do the people with power think? I fear that throughout our history, some of them have believed that that it’s best (for them) that the masses be as ignorant, uninvolved, and distracted by trivia as possible.
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### Author:  [@Hazel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hazel)
#### Post date: [February 5, 2005, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-news-for-the-bush-administration/287680/53 "2005-02-05T05:20:26Z")
> [@Frostillicus](#):
>
> During the height of McCarthyism, people were given the text of the Declaration of Independence and asked if they would be willing to sign it. Only 1% agreed to do so. I guess the “all men are created equal” line sounded a bit suspiciious.
Well, yeah – probably sounded like some kind of attempt to suggest that the non-WASPs should not be discriminated against.
It would probably have been about 1/2 of 1% if there’d been any hint of equality for (gasp!) women.
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### Author:  [@Hazel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hazel)
#### Post date: [February 5, 2005, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-news-for-the-bush-administration/287680/54 "2005-02-05T05:27:18Z")
> [@ShibbOleth](#):
>
> Question: did the draft during Vietnam induce younger people to vote in higher numbers than normal?
I would guess “no” – because ending the draft via voting would not have seemed remotely possible. I don’t think there was anyone you could vote for to that end. At least, no major party candidate.
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