CHICAGO (AP) - Americans apparently know more about "The Simpsons" than they do about the First Amendment.

Only one in four Americans can name more than one of the five freedoms guaranteed by the First Amendment (freedom of speech, religion, press, assembly and petition for redress of grievances.) But more than half can name at least two members of the cartoon family, according to a survey.

The study by the new McCormick Tribune Freedom Museum found that 22 percent of Americans could name all five Simpson family members, compared with just one in 1,000 people who could name all five First Amendment freedoms.

Joe Madeira, director of exhibitions at the museum, said he was surprised by the results.

"Part of the survey really shows there are misconceptions, and part of our mission is to clear up these misconceptions," said Madeira, whose museum will be dedicated to helping visitors understand the First Amendment when it opens in April. "It means we have our job cut out for us."

The survey found more people could name the three "American Idol" judges than identify three First Amendment rights. They were also more likely to remember popular advertising slogans.

It also showed that people misidentified First Amendment rights. About one in five people thought the right to own a pet was protected, and 38 percent said they believed the right against self-incrimination contained in the Fifth Amendment was a First Amendment right, the survey found.

The telephone survey of 1,000 adults was conducted Jan. 20-22 by the research firm Synovate and had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

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On the Net:

http://www.freedommuseum.us

http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org

EDIT: Ashamed to say that I would have missed the "freedom to petition for redress of grievances".

The Simpsons plays how many times a day on television? People are inundated by it. That doesn't surprise me that most can easily recall their names as opposed to constitutional amendments. Ideally, one would hope that the people recall the latter so it would appear that most Americans are not so glib and ill-informed. I don't think it has anything to do with that, it's a media saturation issue more than anything.

I agree with your points, completely.
I think the question is... how do we reverse this trend?
Can we?
Should we?

scary yes.....

but dumpjack brings a good point. we are a media generation - simpsons are on for how many hours a day? american idol last week alone was on for 5 hours. if education was put into place as opposed to commericals i am sure more people could answer the questions correctly.

and finally, proves the point that we take our freedoms for granted.

What ever happened to wholesome educational shows like School House Rock? That's how i learned how a bill became a law...catchy tune too.

personally
i'm a lot more concerned about the simpsons
than my first amendment rights

really, when im i going
to have to use that knowledge?

simpson references are daily
and i'd rather talk simpsons than politics

i dont really tend to memorize things
that i could figure out from the internet
when i actually need to know the shit

but apparently
first amendment says
i can be a haiku bitch
suckas

What percentage of people in this telephone survey answered with "Fuck no, I'm not taking a survey."?

i'm curious to know how many adults polled were 18-49 years old