"Was it just another alleged conspiracy case or is it real?"
Probably didn't happen that way. But it was widely believed, and Reagan with his "secret plan" to get the hostages back and the timing of the release didn't do anything to quell the suspicions. After the election, the Administration looked into the allegations and dismissed them as groundless. Of course. Given that Congress was a Reagan lap dog, they weren't going to do anything. And the press fawned over Reagan as much as they do over Dubya now, so they weren't going to do anything.
This isn't a red state/blue state issue, it isn't even a uniquely American phenomena. Dirty politics go back to the founding of the country, which is one reason the FFs tried to eliminate political parties. There are times when it is worse than others, and it doesn't always work. But it can work, especially if one of the parties tries to pretend that it doesn't exist. Now it may be true that Roveco is more sophisticated than those past attempts. I am dubious though. I don't think we are any brighter than our ancestors, and they had a lot of history to draw on.
You can fool some of the people all of the time. Those are the ones to concentrate on...
Scandal sells. Look at the history of William Randolph Hearst. Fox is cut from the same cloth as yellow journalism. They also pretended to just report the facts and let the readers decide. The mainstream newspapers in reaction, tried to elevate the level of discourse in the wake of that. When television news started, they followed in the same mold. But Fox cut them off at the knees because people prefer scandals and hype. They always have. I in no way, shape or form am claiming that people are stupid. But they do, as a group, seem to like the yellow journalism approach. It sells. |
