The 60 Minutes/Vanity Fair Poll
As Americans prepare to roll out those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer, the 60 Minutes/Vanity Fair Poll asks you to hold off on the partying long enough to voice your opinions on some diverse and controversial issues. We start with a question concerning Americans' reaction to the continuing scandal within the Roman Catholic church. Next, we ask about the concept of insuring body parts and also, whether it should be legal to sell human organs. Which American habits and pleasures are the most overpriced and should artists get a tax break? In our monthly "fantasy" questions, we ask you to travel back in time to give your younger self some sage advice and then we give you a day to spend as a famous character within a movie. Other questions include whether it is time to stop using Native American themed nicknames for sports teams, are CIA assassinations ever justified, and which part, if any, of our new healthcare plan would you like to see repealed? Finally, who is Robert M. Gates? Happy summer and let the good times poll...
Only 10 percent (12 percent of Catholics) of those asked knew anyone that was reconsidering their relationship with the Catholic Church. Possible reasons for such a low number may be that the majority of American Catholics have already undergone this crisis of confidence and conscience when it was being dealt with in many of our major cities, causing many people to leave or reevaluate their relationship with the church then. Another reason could be that many Americans have always been "cafeteria" Catholics, picking the things they like and disregarding the things they didn't like about church tenets. This trait allowed them to separate the faith and good works part of the church from the hierarchal rule from Rome. A large percentage of the church is comprised of selfless devoted people who are doing extraordinary works. Americans instinctively recognize this and tend to identify with that part of the church.
Thirty nine percent of Americans don't know, but of those that were game enough to offer an opinion, 37 percent of our respondents think that a signature rock voice is irreplaceable. Ask the legions of fans harboring hopes that Robert Plant will reconsider touring with Led Zeppelin or ask what Aerosmith was doing while Steve Tyler was recuperating from throat surgery. There's always another pretty supermodel or food critic to pick up the slack, but iconic voices are rare and valuable.
Yes, it's time to get in your hot tub time machine and visit the younger you whose dog ate your homework. Would you be smart enough to heed some sage advice from an older and wiser you? We'll never know, but to those who played along, 45 percent would tell themselves to take school more seriously. Fifteen percent would implore themselves to eat better (who shouldn't?) and 12 percent would give the advice of the drill sergeant in the movie "Stripes" to "Lighten up Francis." Only nine percent lamented their choice of a marriage partner, while a paltry seven percent said they should be nicer. We'll go out on a limb and guess that it wouldn't hurt the remaining 93 percent to be nicer too!
More than half of the respondents think that they pay too much to view their TV shows and movies. Whether it's cable TV (34 percent) or movie theaters (22 percent), Americans think their shows and movies are too pricey, and who's to say they are wrong? Seventeen percent think a baseball ticket is overpriced but they probably didn't factor in parking, hotdogs, popcorn and beer - cost of which could easily pay your monthly cable bill. Jeans (12 percent) are pretty reasonable these days and a cocktail (nine percent) is still an affordable guilty pleasure.
Here's another chance to suspend reality and dive into a fantasy world. This time it's the world of motion pictures. The big winner among men with 37 percent of the vote is Professor Indiana Jones, the indefatigable, adventure seeking archaeologist followed by Ferris Bueller (20 percent), the naughty, school skipping teen. They say nice guys finish last but in this poll question, two rich bad guys finished last, Don Corleone and Gordon Gekko. Nineteen percent of women would choose to be Carrie Bradshaw, the shoe shopping socialite from Sex and the City for a day. Ilsa Lund and Lara Croft get less than ten percent each.
The name of a sports franchise is a brand with few peers in business and 78 percent of Americans wish to keep even the controversial ones, while only 12 percent want them retired. It is interesting to note the history of the sports teams known as the Braves and the Redskins. Both were originally named for Boston teams, one baseball and one football, in 1912 and 1933, respectively. The Braves' name derived from an affectionate nickname of a club that the team owner belonged to. The Redskins were renamed in 1933 (they were also formerly known as the Braves) in honor of the team's Native American coach, Lone Star Dietz.
This question was a little tricky because the "computer pioneer" also happens to be America's richest man with a surname that can open up a lot of doors, gates and anything else you can name. So, 36 percent of our "pollees" mistook Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates for Microsoft founder Bill Gates. Twenty nine percent correctly identified him as a Cabinet member, while 26 percent didn't know. Both men have seemingly good intentions with billions of dollars at their disposal.
Forty five percent say assassinations may be justified, under certain circumstances, while 41 percent say never. Many of the controversial questions and issues facing our country seem to end up mirroring the narrow divide between the Reds and Blues. By the way, a bonus to anyone who also knew that Robert M. Gates served as the director of the CIA in the 1990s.
Another near dead heat with 46 percent saying we should consider not taxing some income derived from artistic endeavors and 44 percent saying no way. Also evenly divided were Democrats (51-39 usually pro-tax) that want to go easy on artists and Republicans (53-39, usually anti-tax) that said that they should be taxed the same. If you are an artist looking for a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, you better study our country's current economic deficits. They paint a gloomy picture for any future tax cuts.
Forty two percent of Americans would keep the new health care plan "as is." Thirty percent would not require all Americans to buy in, while only eight percent would deny covering sick people or older children up to 26. Almost nobody would be heartless enough to take grandma's heart pills away from her.
And since we liked this month's poll so much, a bonus: Americans voted two to one against legalizing the sale of human organs so if you were tempted to look on eBay for a good deal on a kidney, don't bother.