The media is very persuasive. We are barraged with their brainwashing, every second, every minute of every day. It's hard work to fight one's way through it. That's one of the great values of Free Republic. There's always someone at one point in time with the vision to see through that circus tent we're all inside that will remind us.
And we fight against it. Give them time, don't lose heart. My pet peeve is all those here who think it's fine and dandy for the government to say what chemicals are to be injected into everyone else's children or "we're all gonna die!" Aarrgh!
“We are barraged with their brainwashing, every second, every minute of every day.”
The natural disposition is always to believe. It is acquired wisdom and experience only that teach incredulity, and they very seldom teach it enough. The wisest and most cautious of us all frequently gives credit to stories which he himself is afterwards both ashamed and astonished that he could possibly think of believing. - Adam Smith, Theory of Moral Sentiments (1759)The function of FR is the pooling of our “incredulity.” A story might have a superficial plausibility - but be unceremoniously punctured by the insight of a single FReeper. Famous example: Buckhead and the fabulous "Texas Air National Guard Memos."