I don't take online polls seriously because they're utterly unscientific, and government officials don't base their decisions on them. The only people who benefit are the newspapers — these gimmicks boost web traffic in the guise of interactivity.
Sometimes, however, the questions reveal more about the pollsters themselves. Case in point: HonestReporting Canada spotted a Globe & Mail poll asking whether Washington needs to lean on Israel to bring peace to the Mideast.
Israel needs to be "leaned on" (i.e., pressured) either alone, or with the Palestinians. And the Palestinians can only be leaned on with Israel, but not by themselves. Plenty of children familiar with the multiple choice format could write out a question with the obvious options:
Who should Washington lean on to bring peace to the Mideast?
A) Israel
B) The Palestinians
C) All of the above
D) None of the above
E) Washington should lean on itself
As HR Canada aptly sums it up:
In other words, Globe Editors have already decided that Israel is the primary obstacle to peace and they’re asking you to kindly confirm their biased assumptions.
