If the taxpayers of Delaware aren't startled by the following news, nothing will bother them:
The University of Delaware – which recently increased tuition by 7% on students – has just spent what we can only assume was a great deal of money to complete a "major survey" of how little Fox News viewers understand the Occupy Wall Street movement.
Seriously.
The earth-shaking evidence provided by this survey tells us that Fox viewers are the least likely among consumers of various media outlets to understand the "central message" of the Occupy movement: "Too few people control the majority of the nation's wealth and power." Viewers of the Daily Show and the Colbert Report – both Comedy Central shows – know the most, according to the intrepid research.
But is that really the main message of the movement? From what we can tell, Occupy has been a largely violent, disorganized and hyper-emotional mess that has conveyed many strange and frightening messages.
We've heard various Occupy crowds chanting for the overthrow of the government. We've seen them waving signs suggesting that wealthy Americans should be murdered and eaten. We've heard Occupiers suggest that the U.S. should be a lot more like totalitarian Cuba. More than anything, we've had the impression that Occupy is largely a bunch of unproductive people searching for a free meal and a tent to sleep in.
But the University of Delaware says it's about the concentration of wealth. For the sake of argument, we can accept that.
The question is, so what?
Is it worth spending tax dollars to “prove” to the nation that Fox viewers don't share the liberal professors' passion and empathy for the Occupy movement? We could have told you that for free. The Marxist professors who dominate our public universities hate Fox News, and will take any opportunity to publicly insult it. But that has more to do with their own political viewpoint than public policy. How can they get away with using tax dollars to attack their personal political enemies?
Recommended
Perhaps we shouldn't be surprised. Dannagal Young, an assistant professor of communications and lead researcher of this study, recently wasted even more tax dollars to tell us that viewers of "The Daily Show" and "The Colbert Report" - both satirical programs that lean to the left - are intellectually "deep."
It sounds to us like Young is more interested in angling for the presidency of the Colbert Report fan club than providing any worthwhile research.
As for Young's politics, there's no surprise there. She's a personal contributor to Barack Obama's presidential campaign.
If we were residents of Delaware, we would march up to the statehouse this afternoon and demand a full refund of our misused and wasted tax dollars.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member