Meaningless Polls: A Source of Irritation

This is an example of the sort of thing that irritates me: CNN asks us the question about whether a Middle East peace treaty will be signed by the end of President Bush's term. Why does it matter what I think? It doesn't. Either a treaty will be signed (and subsequently broken by one or both parties), or it won't be. I don't know enough to have an opinion on this issue, and neither do the 97,797 people who actually voted (unless, of course, the people doing the voting are the ones actually in position to sign said treaty).

It seems that we are regularly asked to weigh in on matters of scientific fact (has the earth gotten warmer?), world politics (should Musharraf resign?) and law (should Michael Vick get the death penalty?) for which our opinion is meaningless. These things will not change, regardless of my opinion or yours. These questions should be answered by (in turn) global thermometer readers, Musharraf and the law books. Contrary to what we are sometimes told, on most issues, what we think doesn't matter.

So, to CNN and all of the people who make a living by thinking up inane questions on which you want our opinion: stop!

What do you think?