Twitter roundup

	Brendan Nyhan Oct 15, 2010 at 2:40pm From my Twitter feed (10/12-10/15)
	BrendanNyhan Oct 15, 2010 at 2:18pm Study finds Fox News viewing correlated with NYC mosque misperceptions (via @ageofengagement) http://bit.ly/bR3UtZ
	BrendanNyhan Oct 14, 2010 at 12:41am TNR's Jonathan Chait predicts a second-term Obama impeachment by the GOP if he's re-elected http://j.mp/bQh1b3
	A Republican Congress Will Find A Reason To Impeach Barack Hussein Obama. | The New Republic The New Republic covers politics, culture, and the arts with a focus on the White House, foreign policy, Congress, Capitol Hill, the 2010 midterm elections, literature, and more.
	BrendanNyhan Oct 13, 2010 at 10:11pm Very useful explainer on how legal changes resulting from Citizens United have actually been "quite subtle" http://j.mp/bresLf
	The New York Times > Log In
	BrendanNyhan Oct 13, 2010 at 2:14am Via John Sides, the issue of PS where political scientists forecast the midterm elections is out (and free!): http://j.mp/b464pU
	Cambridge Journals Online - PS: Political Science & Politics Cambridge Journals Online (CJO) is the e-publishing service for over 230 journals published by Cambridge University Press and is entirely developed and hosted in-house. The platform's powerful c...
	BrendanNyhan Oct 13, 2010 at 1:38am Yet more nonsense about messaging debunked by @stevekornacki -- Obama's ability to "connect" is not the problem http://j.mp/dd1cyD
	Howard Fineman's Clinton cluelessness - War Room - Salon.com Let's stop acting like Barack Obama needs lessons in public speaking from the former president
	BrendanNyhan Oct 13, 2010 at 1:33am Interesting/disturbing econ article I hadn't seen before on political dynasties in Congress: http://j.mp/asFrxk (PDF)
	http://j.mp/asFrxk
	BrendanNyhan Oct 12, 2010 at 5:21pm A statistical model of White House Chief of Staff departures at Rule22 http://j.mp/9NrUyI
	Explaining White House Chief of Staff Departures | Rule22
	BrendanNyhan Oct 12, 2010 at 3:05pm New virtual issue: The Social Psychology of the 2008 U.S. Presidential Election, October 2010 http://j.mp/8YccPb
	Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy - Journal Information Analysis of Social Issues and Public Policy (ASAP): journal information, contents lists and abstracts on the Blackwell Publishing website.

Comments

[JP]

1) You updated your twitter picture. Very nice.

2) Great job finding that NYT video! I'm putting that one on my facebook.

3) I just bought a Projection TV and I'm reading this blog on a 122 inch screen. How awesome is that? Now it's time to watch Band of Brothers.

[MartyB]

Brendan -

You state "Study finds Fox News viewing correlated with NYC mosque misperceptions", which is fair enough.

However both the article you cite and the paper cited by the article say the survey "finds that Fox News viewing contributes significantly to the spread of false rumors about the New York City mosque", which is asserting un-provable causation, not just correlation.

http://www.comm.ohio-state.edu/kgarrett/MediaMosqueRumors.pdf

IMO, that in itself basically disqualifies this study from serious consideration.

In addition, some of the questions have weasel qualifiers embedded that makes it difficult to give a straight answer.

For example - "The Muslim groups building the proposed Islamic cultural center and mosque have deep ties to radical anti‐American and anti‐Semitic organizations."

If they have loose ties but not "deep" ties, this might be technically un-true, but it depends on the definition of "deep".

The same goes for the use of "primarily" in the following question: "The money for the proposed Islamic cultural center is coming primarily from foreign financial backers associated with terrorist organizations in Saudi Arabia and Iran."

It appears to me the survey designers were seeking a certain result, rigged the questions to get that result and then over-state the meaning of the results.

[MartyB]

BTW, I can't believe anybody is taking Chait seriously on this impeachment stuff. Unless Obama's approval numbers rise significantly, he will remain a perfect foil for congressional republicans, so why would they try to remove him?

[bnyhan]

Marty -- As always, no endorsement is implied by the link. I certainly agree they can't prove causality.

[David in Cal]

Brendan wrote, "As always, no endorsement is implied by the link." I would have thought Brendan linked only to items he considers substantially valid (as well as interesting). Otherwise, he could be linking to election predictions by the alien, as reported in the Weekly World News.