I bet Bush is hoping somebody will boost his poll. 

Gee, ya got something against public participation? 

By the way, the final verdict was 97 percent to 3 percent.  Today they're doing a "when does life begin" poll.  Top answers:  "when the kids leave the house" and "Several billion years ago."

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There's lots of other good stuff over at Pharyngula, by the way:

http://scienceblogs.com/pha...

I suppose it was to be expected, but like you as a daily responder to that TBC poll it does make me feel violated and there is no excuse for such behavior.

Actually, I think the technical term is "freeping".  Glad to see PZ taking an interest in our little berg.

BLT, not even Viagra could do that.

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By the way, I'll bet the boost in the shoe poll is a hangover from the Pharyngula crowd, mixed with a bit of Eschatonblog.  They arrived late for the atheist question and decided to vote anyway.

http://scienceblogs.com/pha...

May I suggest shame rather than violation as the most appropriate emotion to be experiencing.

Who thought it was a good idea to have a poll on, "Should atheists be barred from public office?"

Why not polls on, "Should negros be lynched?", "Should jews be considered human beings?", or "is raping women OK?"

All this poll has done is shine a light on the bigotry of those responsible for placing it here.

A few thousand atheists defended their right to be elected to public office. It's unfortunate they had to do this. What's the problem with the people who answered 'yes' to the question "Should atheists be barred from public office?" What if the question was should African Americans be barred from public office? Only a racist would answer yes to that question. The people who voted to take away the rights of atheists were Christians. Apparently some Christians are no better than racists.

Agree with Kevin.

Can you identify this quotation?

The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.

Now, tell me again when it would be appropriate even to ask your ridiculous question?

Did you bother to read the story that brought about the poll question in the first place? Or did you just read the poll question and assume it was a random question to make people angry?

I feel insulted by the poll boosts. It feels to me like the folks over there are chuckling and making fun of us.

It's that Bakersfield curse Robin. Woe to those who speak a good word about the town or TBC.

Robin, they did know the context of the poll.  This happened to be a particularly in-aptly-written poll.  They might have done better with an option stating "Atheism should be REQUIRED for public office," or some such.

As for the laughing at Bakersfield, well, that's hardly new.

I was very surprised and happy at yesterday's poll results.  I hoped that the results indicated a new acceptance in Bakersfield for different POVs. 

Now you say the poll was "boosted".    It was too good to be true.

Yes, I know. It irks me so much. Bakersfield isn't a bad place to live, but the people who don't live here continue to laugh at us like they know what they're talking about.

I find it ridiculous, by the way, that this post has received 1,000 hits within two hours. What are they doing over there? Are they spying on our every move over here? Jeez.

While I'm here, how did you find out the poll was boosted?

"Should Atheists be barred from public office?"

Context does not change the fact that the constitution states that no religious test should be required for public office. Such an act would be a violation of the constitution.

And you feel violated?

I suppose I'll make this analogy. There are fewer Jews in American than Atheists, but the Jews have a larger lobby in congress. There would seem to be fewer secularists in American than fundamentalists but in this case the secularists raised more noise. Such is the way of things I suppose.

I think the technical term is "freeping"

In dishonor of FreeRepublic.com, a rightwing web site out of Fresno, that puts out a daily call to bomb political polls on the web to skew the results. They started the practice, as the owner of the web site (Jim Robinson) likes to brag about.

While I'm here, how did you find out the poll was boosted?

The Californian web master can track where the traffic is coming from and found most of it coming from the web site they cited. And the web site posted a blog about bombing the poll.

i agree with bakosphere.

Good one, Bakosphere. I'm laughing. Did you do that purposely or forget to switch accounts?

Are they spying on our every move over here? Jeez

Atheists Are Everywhere.

To the lovely girl who said the poll boosting made her feel like we were chuckling and making fun of you...

We definitely are.

I wish they would freep the daily polls more often. The results are better that way!

The "poll" question are usually framed like a joke~ this one certainly was. However the issue behind it~ Mr. Vegas's ridiculous statement~ is not so funny.

This is the internet, Robin. No one is looking for this information. The information find them.

I understand why people laugh at Bakersfield. I used to live there.

In Bakersfield, Information finds You.

(+)... anybody recognize this?

I just don't understand why you would feel 'violated'.  Was the poll supposed to be open only to people living in the Bakersfield area?  Was it only open to people who think atheists should be barred from public office?  Both?  I don't get it.  When an open poll is posted on the Internet it is open for all to express their vote.  How does their voting in any way violate you?  I wish someone would explain.

Mikeg51, I was *LOOKING* for that.  I've got the other one: (-)

Now, if what upset you was that the person posing the question then pretended to be someone else in order to leave a comment supporting himself....and that person, though supposedly a journalist, didn't seem to know that when writing of oneself the 'I' is in uppercase, then yes, I would support your right to be upset.  Perhaps it's things like that which make people laugh at Bakersfield.  I don't know that but it does make one wonder.

Thanks for sticking up for me, Random. I appreciate it.

I was smart enough to find the new post by The Violator, so it appears I have more brains than John Yates seems to think. I don't care what he says. He's doesn't know me. I believe I am a smart kid, so bite me if you think otherwise. I was having a hard time deciding what to post on that blog, because I know that no matter what I post he's going to twist my words around and come up with something else to call me stupid.

I thought it was this one.... (x)

I have a feeling that if a Christian or nine circulated the poll to their blogs or e-mail glurge list, then we wouldn't be having this discussion.  It's not the numbers that people are annoyed with.  It's the fact that the "wrong group" of people answered the poll.  Besides, it's just a poll.  And, fortunately, the Consttution has already answered this question and the answer is a firm "no" on preventing atheists from holding an office. 

I have a feeling that a Christianist or nine *DID* circulate the poll.  I wouldn't be surprised to learn that Inga Woofs played it up. 

Spam Code BELLO:  Latin for "to war!"  Of course, it also means "pretty" in Spanish.

It isn't.... not <, not>, but = to ?

I thought "Bello/a" was Italian and the Spanish for pretty was Bonito/a

It's the masculine of "bella."  Which is also Italian.

In Latin, it's the ablative case, I think, of "bellus," war.  It gets way complicated from that point, and a long time since fourth-year Latin.

I just have to ask why the word "violated" keeps coming up?  Here's what bothers me about it: it's a bit alarmist.  Violated implies that someone did something without being invited to do it and used force to do so.  Women who are raped or children who are beaten are "violated".   A poll on a newspaper site which has no residential requirement for participating in said poll...that's not "violated".  Continuing to label it so only demeans that actual suffering of those who really know what that word means. 

Furthermore, PZ generally doesn't skulk around the internet looking for polls to crash.  Odds are that someone sent the link to him.  I wish I'd have been the one to do it.  What Vegas said was ridiculous and infantile.  Worse, it shows us that a member of a school board feels it's okay to devalue the goals and/or rights of some students based on religious bigotry.  That's not something to be proud of. 

Odds are that someone who posts here and at Pharyngula sent the link to PZ.  ;)

And that would be randomfactor!

Why would you feel violated?  Your poll was open to all comers.  No restrictions on who could vote were posted.  Do you feel violated because my fellow godless heathens and I had the temerity to bomb a undeniably bigoted poll?  Remove the word 'atheists' from the poll question and insert any oppressed minority and you'll quickly see what I'm talking about.  Furthermore, Article VI of the Constitution of the United States of America, the supreme law of the land, clearly and unequivocally states:

"The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the members of the several state legislatures, and all executive and judicial officers, both of the United States and of the several states, shall be bound by oath or affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States."

So, even if you ignore the inherent bigotry expressed by the poll in question, you cannot ignore the fact that any religious test for office is unconstitutional and illegal.  Theocrats of all stripes in America need to have a coke and a smile and stfu.

"The day will come when the mystical generation of Jesus, by the Supreme Being as his father, in the womb of a virgin, will be classed with the fable of the generation of Minerva in the brain of Jupiter." -- Thomas Jefferson

3839 views and only 39, well now 40 comments? WOW!!

Rock on Dreadneck. You should post here more often.

Isn't it great that someone takes the time to point out the problems with polls when what is being polled is outright silly?

Pharyngula RULES!

robinislost wrote:

> Did you bother to read the story that brought about the poll question in the first place?

Actually, I'd love to see what kind of story that could provide context justifying the need to take such a poll.  Unfortunately, no context is provided.  Care to share with the rest of us?

Personally, I don't take much stock in polls, because they tend to be tilted towards the pollster's desired outcome (unless they're very confident that the outcome will be acceptable to them).  It's rare these days that polls are generated without some agenda behind it.  However, some people, knowingly or unknowingly, can be influenced by such polls, making them fuel for propaganda.  Those of us marginalized by such polls are therefore merely taking appropriate defensive measures.

sagefever wrote:

> The "poll" question are usually framed like a joke~ this one certainly was.

Whether indended as a light-hearted poll or not (it sure didn't seem that way), it got what it deserved.

Monkboon

 And that would be randomfactor!

It come be one of many people, actually.   There are a few of us Bako bloggers who run into one another on Pharyngula. 

Sorry, possummomma. His "name" was the only one I recognized. I never said I was a genius. Or that I am so entrenched in the Bako blogging world that I would know that. I stand corrected.

Hey, Robin, some of us Pharynguloids knew what you were talking about. Some of us got it that Bakosphere's  "violated" was a jest, too. Some of us have even heard that song about walking the streets of Bakersfield. All kinds of educated folks hang out there.

Copyeditor, huh? I've worked both sides of that one. Sharpen that red pencil and have at it! And hang around Pharyngula; Myers is a good enough writer to make the esoterica of evo-devo pretty clear to the average old Eng. Lit. major/garden writer. 

Hmmm ... all kinds of new profiles created today. Fun!!

A poster on Pharyngula lamented the b.com registration policy, calling them "f*c*e*s." That's classy!

http://scienceblogs.com/pha...

 Sorry, possummomma. His "name" was the only one I recognized. I never said I was a genius. Or that I am so entrenched in the Bako blogging world that I would know that. I stand corrected.

You have nothing to apologize for!  I'm sorry if you took it in that way.  What I meant was that we shouldn't put this on Random's shoulders since there are quite a few of us who post both places.  That's all.  Your genius status was not in question. :)

It sounds to me like you're bitter because you designed a poll specifically around the expectation of a desired outcome due to the perceived demographic of your site's visitors. In other words, it was a sham poll designed to reinforce the views of your intended audience and someone had the audacity to try and balance out the poll by drawing many more people, many of whom are from a very different demographic. So you feel violated because your sham poll backfired.