Is this the only way our vote counts anymore...?

A New York Times/CBS News poll taken over the weekend found that 73% of Americans approve of President Bush's job performance — up from 59% the week before the war. His approval rating among Democrats (!) was 61%.

One person polled was quoted:

"We have all of Iraq right now," said Carol Hayward, 59, a Democrat [!] from New York City. "We don't need Saddam Hussein or his weapons. "We have all the oil fields under control and the cooperation of the people."

What weapons? All of Iraq? Cooperation of the people? Just exactly which newspaper is she reading?! Oh, what am I saying? Probably getting her news from Fox....

And this....

The poll found that Americans believe that their nation would continue its aggressive effort to police the world. About 6 in 10 said they thought it was very likely or somewhat likely that the success of the war in Iraq would prompt the United States to intervene in Korea or Syria, while 3 in 10 said it was not very likely. Half foresaw a very or somewhat likely military intervention in Iran.

Do they even know where Iran is?! ...There's more:

Ina Urness, 71, of Higginsville, Mo., said in a follow-up interview that she approved of the administration's moving pre-emptively against nations that posed a threat to the United States. "We ought to nip it right in the bud, because it's better them than us," she said. "Get over there and get them before they can have a chance to turn those missiles loose on us over here." [Emphasis mine.]

Omigod. ...And yet more:

The White House yesterday stepped up its criticism of Syria, accusing it of harboring Iraqi fugitives. But the Times/CBS News poll found that among Americans who said they believed another country posed a serious threat to the United States, North Korea was of far more concern than Syria: 39 percent of those respondents named North Korea, compared to just 5 percent who cited Syria. One percent named Iran.

That could change soon. The poll found that 81 percent of respondents said that Iraq probably had weapons of mass destruction, and of those in that group, 27 percent said they believed the weapons had been spirited off to another country. The White House yesterday suggested that that country was Syria.

Fasten your seatbelts, folks. Here we go again!

Hold your nose and read the entire poll here.