[Wallace T.]

If the Iranians were somehow able to arrange a mass casualty event on the order of Pearl Harbor or 9-11, a large portion of the American population would blame the CIA, Israel, or some other party than Iran for the destruction. The level of cynicism about official government reports has slowly risen over the decades, since the assassination of President Kennedy in 1963. It is common to hear conservatives and other rightists quote George Carlin, a lifelong left winger, in his cynical statements about government and powerful people who are behind the scenes. The COVID pandemic and the overreach of governments and Big Tech in reaction to the pandemic accelerated the distrust.

[Alberta's Child]

The problem here is that no intelligent American has any reason to believe anything their government tells them -- and for good reason.

We can't even put someone like Fauci in jail even though he and his fellow "public health official" morons arguably did more damage to the U.S. than a half-dozen Iranian nuclear warheads could do.

[Leaning Right]

You make a very good point, one that I should have added to my previous post.

I guess the Vietnam War was the turning point.

“We are fighting to stop the spread of communism.”
“There is light at the end of the tunnel.”
Etc.

That war turned most Americans into doubters and cynics.