
Edit: Full poll results can be found here: Vanity Fair
NEW YORK – Half the respondents of a new poll say taxing the richest Americans by at least 50 percent is a great idea, while more than a third consider Twitter a fad that will likely fade.
Those are among the findings of a new "60 Minutes"-Vanity Fair Poll released Sunday.
Nearly half of the respondents chose Wal-Mart as the institution that best symbolizes America today, leaving in the dust runners-up Google, Microsoft, the NFL, and the banking and securities firm Goldman Sachs.
Dining out was chosen most often by respondents as a luxury they hate sacrificing in these tough economic times. And 5 percent thought the best way to fight obesity among patrons of fast-food chains is to equip each restaurant with scales for them to weigh themselves.
A politician taking bribes is considered by far the greater sin (chosen by 37 percent of the respondents) when stacked against extramarital affairs (just 2 percent).
President Barack Obama has set a time table for a troop pullout in Iraq by 2011. But one-third of poll respondents predicted he won't be setting a time table for removing troops from Afghanistan. Meanwhile, 31 percent said he would time it to the beginning of the next presidential campaign, and 25 percent chose "in about a year."
Obama was edged out by George Clooney (24 percent to 26 percent) among respondents choosing "which man they would most like to trade places with for a week," followed by Tom Brady and Bruce Springsteen.
But among woman, First Lady Michelle Obama was the favorite, chosen by 26 percent, with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton picked by 16 percent, actress Angelina Jolie by 13 percent and singer Beyonce selected by 12 percent.
The poll is based on a random sample of 1,097 respondents nationwide. It was conducted by phone between Aug. 27 and 31 by CBS News.
Source: Yahoo! News
Paul's Boutique
I hate Wal-Mart. I hate that people see it as the symbol of America. If I had any place else to shop, believe me, I would... but Wal-Mart came in and everything else had to close down.
I. Hate. Wal-Mart.
1I see George Clooney as a symbol of America, but I don't even think of WalMart as especially 'American'.
"A politician taking bribes is considered by far the greater sin (chosen by 37 percent of the respondents) when stacked against extramarital affairs (just 2 percent)."
2Whatever someone else does is always worse than what you might do...
I wouldn't want to trade places with George for a week, but I'd love to be with him for a week. I hear he is such a nice guy... and nice looking.
3That guy has the world by the tail: success in a cool job that gives him plenty of time off to work on things he thinks are important, people genuinely adore and respect him - I'd trade places for a week (and probably wreck it all for him!) to try and figure out exactly what he does right.
4George Clooney does seem to be just an all around nice guy.
Wal Mart symbolize America? Bleck. I despise that store, and luckily have other options so I don't have to shop there. That sucks Star.
5"A politician taking bribes is considered by far the greater sin (chosen by 37 percent of the respondents) when stacked against extramarital affairs (just 2 percent)."
Wow. Guess we're not as puritanical in the bedroom as people claim.
6I wonder if people were given a list of possible institutions to choose from - given the word 'institution' Wal Mart wouldn't have come to my mind, but neither would Google, Microsoft, the NFL, or Goldman Sachs.
McDonalds, Starbucks or Disney.
7McDonald's most definitely.
8I think Wal-Mart symbolizes America pretty well, in good and bad ways.
As far as trading places, I would pick Clooney, Brady, Springsteen, and Jolie (of the choices given). Steph gives great reasons for picking Clooney; I think it'd be an amazing thrill to play in an NFL game; Springsteen is just, well, Springsteen, and Jolie seems to have it all together. Her family is adorable, she, like Clooney, fights for the causes she believes in, and dating Brad Pitt wouldn't be too shabby, either.
9"and dating Brad Pitt wouldn't be too shabby, either"
10I watched Fight Club the other day. In my opinion, that was when he was at the height of his hotness. :swoon:
11Found this link for the full poll results. Looks like it was an multiple choice thing: http://www.vanityfair.com/magazine/2009/11/60-minutes-poll200911?current...
12I love the fact that "tax credit for liposuction" was one of the options for how to best reduce obesity.
13Having George pop in my Tracker is very cool. Maybe he should accompany more posts!
14Yeah, I couldn't post this article without the George pic...
15I'd rather trade places with Jolie than Michelle.
I just want to know what REALLY went down in that Aniston/Pitt/Jolie thing.
And I want to know if her kids are any kind of well adjusted because I'd bet money they probably aren't.
16So unskilled, underpaid, workers who have no work ethic are what symbolizes america? a dirty dirty, unorganized mess of a store? cheaply made goods? eek.
17Hmm, I'd trade with Jolie and go to Cannes or something - not sure I'd want to juggle work, lovelife and all those small kids, though shopping with the little girls would be fun.
18Haus, I don't think any hollyweird children are well adjusted. But they seem like perfectly happy kids to me. Who knows.
19And are they for real? WalMart. I'd have thought McDonalds, Disney, something along those lines.
20Yeah, they actually posed that question (but didn't give the choices) at the end of 60 Minutes last night. Coke actually popped into my mind first, immediately followed by McDonald's.
Travel Channel has a really cool special with the 10 most interesting McDonald's. I've seen that thing at least 10 times, but I still watch it whenever it's on.
21I always feel out of the loop cuz I don't see the appeal in Clooney. He's alright but, meh.
Coke is a good one Kim!
22I think the McDonalds in Mumbai are pretty cool. Those veggie burgers are to die for.
23And I've seen that special too, very interesting! Of course now that Subway is posed to overtake them...
24I was told years ago that there were more Subways in the world than McDonald's, then I just recently read the article about Subway getting ready to overtake McDonald's. Obviously I was lied to at one point.
25I cant stand GC myself.
26Aw... why not CG?
kim - I read that article too. It was kind of interesting. I didn't think anything would be bigger than McDs.
27I loved Clooney way back in his Sisters/ER days. (I was too young to love him on Roseanne plus I wasn't allowed to watch it anyway.)
28It's okay Haus, George surely sees the appeal in you anyway. He's like that.
29This synopsis from the south park episode "smug alert" sums up my feelings about GC..he is too smug.
"The cloud of smug forms over South Park and begins to combine with that of San Francisco. McFriendly informs us that a cloud of smug from George Clooney's 78th Academy Awards acceptance speech will soon drift between the two potential storms, merging them together to create "the perfect storm of self-satisfaction", which will heavily damage South Park and completely destroy San Francisco"
30I just like that George seems like a nice guy. Every article/interview I've ever read about him talks about how down to Earth he is. Plus I love the work he is doing in Darfur. Sexy.
31CG -
I must have missed that South Park episode!
32its a good one.
33Come on girls. CG is a total Spuffy fan. So George isn't going to be her type. He's cute, but he doesn't get my engines running. Now Clive Owen on the other hand......
34I've always liked Clooney. I just rewatched from Dusk Til Dawn on cable last night. He just looks yummy with that Ceasar cut. I loved him with Jennifer Lopez in Out of Sight too.
I hate Walmart. I refuse to shop there for a number of reasons. I'm glad I live in an area with a lot of choices when it comes to shopping.
35"So unskilled, underpaid, workers who have no work ethic are what symbolizes america? a dirty dirty, unorganized mess of a store? cheaply made goods? eek."
Gonna have to second that.
36"Travel Channel has a really cool special with the 10 most interesting McDonald's. I've seen that thing at least 10 times, but I still watch it whenever it's on. "
I've watched that special a few times.
37This is my favorite part of that episode of south park:
"With all their cars destroyed, the townspeople vow never again to buy hybrids. Kyle points out that hybrids really are a good thing; the people who drive them should just not be smug about it, or act as if they are above everybody else. The people, however, are not ready to drive them without being smug — "it's simply asking too much" — so they return to SUVs and other high-fuel-consumption vehicles"
38That is one of the best South Parks ever!
39But without George, would we have South Park?
40It’s looong been rumored that George Clooney is the person who circulated “Jesus vs. Santa” (the video greeting card that birthed the show South Park). Early in the series, Clooney guest starred as Stan Marsh's gay dog Sparky - no dialogue, just dog noises. When he was lampooned in Team America for being too political, Clooney said he would have been offended if he hadn’t been a target.
Yes, we would still have South Park. It was fated, meant to be.
41But without that first push...
42My favorite line of the whole series is "screw you guys, I'm going home!"
43God wouldn't make us live in a world without South Park
New episodes start in 2 weeks! Woot!
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