Some Frightening Statistics

Politics is a very passionate thing for many of us.   We have beliefs, and we think our beliefs are the ones that can make this country a better place for all of its citizens.   This is true of both people on the left and on the right and those who are centrist in their thinking.   In light of the recent tragic shooting in Arizona (and other far too numerous political shootings), I think most Americans want to think that this kind of violence is understandably rare and only restricted to very few people.

But that may not be true at all.   A new poll for CBS News (conducted on January 9-10) shows that a belief in violence may be a lot more widespread that anyone would have thought.   The poll showed that 16% of the population thinks it could be justified to take violent action against the government (which is exactly what the Arizona shooter did).

Now 16% may not sound like a lot -- after all, that means that 84% of the population does not believe this.   But this is not a small country.   Considering our population is more than 305,000,000, that means nearly 49 million people in America believe a violent attack on the U.S. government could be justified.   That is more than a little frightening, especially considering the amount of guns in our society.

Here is the breakdown by party affiliation of those who think violence is justified:
Democrats...............11%
Republicans...............28%
Independents...............11%