Osama bin Laden's Porn

You know it had to be -- according to news reports, they found porn on Osama bin Laden's computers.

I find this somehow, curiously, reassuring.

Osama bin Laden -- in Hell?

When it comes to what people know, at least among U.S. adults, partisan differences get set aside for one clear answer -- Americans think Osama bin Laden is resting uncomfortably in Hell.

A May 2 CNN poll (warning, slow to load pdf) asked the following question:


Do you think Osama bin Laden is in Hell, or don't you think so?

•  61 percent say yep, he's toast
• 10 percent said he's not in Hell
• 5 percent said they don't believe in Hell
• And 24 percent had no opinion on his eternal damnation status

It's possible among the 10 percent who said he's not in Hell answered that way because they don't believe in the place.  The 5 percent who said they didn't believe in Hell volunteered this response rather than accept the either/or answer provided to them.  And the 24 percent "no opinion" folks?  My guess is, having read a lot of survey data over the years, that some simply do not want to judge his status, some don't care, some don't recall who he is, and some honestly have no opinion about pretty much anything.

What can we take from this?  Absolutely nothing, beyond noting that three-out-of-five Americans are willing to guess the eternal fate of an infamous (and yes, now dead, sorry deathers) terrorist.

How about partisan and demographic breakdowns?  If you scroll to the bottom of the pdf, you'll find some crosstabs.  Lemme save you some time and give you the highlights.

• Men and women, about the same on thinking bin Laden would love a glass of ice water
• Age?  No big difference seen.  General Hell agreement.
• Dems and Republicans, roughly the same, at least well within the margin of error.
• Same with income.  Some differences, but within the statistical margin of error.
• But ... those Tea Party folks are significantly more likely to assign Osama to the hot place than those who do not identify themselves as Tea Partiers (75 percent in Hell to 43 percent in Hell, with a 7 percent margin of error).

 I suppose it's nice to see Americans coming together on something.

Obama Bump II

I wrote a day or so ago about the Obama poll bump after the Osama bin Laden takedown.  That one was based on a new Pew poll and my big point was the lack of a GOP bump for Obama (it all seemed to come from Dems and Independents).  Well, today the NYTimes/CBS poll shows a bump across the political board.

Or, as the Times puts it:

The glow of national pride seemed to rise above partisan politics, as support for the president rose significantly among both Republicans and independents. In all, 57 percent said they now approved of the president’s job performance, up from 46 percent last month. 

Among GOPers in the Pew poll, 16 percent "approved" of Obama both before and after the death of bin Laden.  The NYTimes poll has it differently:

The increase in Mr. Obama’s ratings came largely from Republicans and independents. Among independents, his approval rating increased 11 points from last month, to 52 percent, while among Republicans it rose 15 points, to 24 percent. 

It may be that the NYT/CBS poll is a bit later, so people have absorbed the death of bin Laden and thus we're seeing more of an "approval" effect.  It's a reasonable hypothesis.

An Obama Bump

President Obama got a public opinion bump -- hardly surprising -- after the killing of Osama bin Laden, according to a new Pew poll.  His "approval" numbers went from 47 percent in April to 56 percent on May 2.  Republicans were unchanged.  The "approval" jump came from Dems and, to a greater extent, self-described Independents.  In other words, no matter what Obama does, the GOPers aren't really going to change their mind.

"Disapprovals" did inch down from Republicans (81 to 79 percent), but that's well within the margin of error.

All age groups moved up in "approval" of Obama.  He got his biggest bump from non-whites, at least compared to the bump from whites.

In terms of what people know, or where they heard what they know, it's interesting to note that young people heard about the bin Laden news from social media significantly more than other age groups.  Not surprising, mind you, but interesting.