Dueling Dogs: Controversy Returns to the Coney Island Eating Contest
A majority of Americans agree with the Declaration of Independence's statement “governments derive their only just powers from the consent of the governed," according to a survey from Rasmussen Reports. That's good, right?
Well, if you look at it the way Dan Amira at New York's Daily Intel did, it's actually kind of shocking. Whereas Rasmussen focused on the positive in their headline, "Americans Still Agree With Declaration of Independence," Amira went for "Disturbingly Large Number of Americans Don't Agree with Declaration of Independence." So, it's all about perspective.
According to the national survey of 1,000 adults, 70 percent of Americans concur with that central tenet of our nation's founding text. That means that 13 percent disagree (who are you?!) and 17 percent are undecided (again, who are you!?!). The real question is, What are those people doing for their awkward day off tomorrow?
But in good news: the number of people who agree with the Declaration is up from last year's 66 percent and 2008's 58 percent. Happy birthday, America! At least 70 percent of us will be celebrating tomorrow.
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Esther Zuckerman
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