[TheThinker]

Yeah, but that was Reagan. Reagan could inspire you like no other president in memory. He was so charming, forthright and eloquent that even with a true hegemony over information, the MSM just couldn't beat him.

[LS]

That's kind of the point. The media didn't then, nor do they now, have a "hegemony" over information. In fact, some of the most important stuff they never know about.

At any rate, if I have to choose between a highly successful secret operation that, say, destroys Iran's nuke capabilities, yet have the administration blamed for "failing," or, like Clinton, have the administration "credited" for succeeding when in fact it failed (and we get a 9/11), I'll take the former every time, and damn public perceptions.

For example, it's not well known that Weinberger and Reagan allowed news of a "successful" SDI test to leak out---when in fact the test failed. But they wanted the Soviets to tremble. On the other hand, they never once mentioned a highly secret program to feed the Soviets crap technology that would break only after passing all the tests. Reagan never once took credit for that, even in his diaries or memoirs.