You may be on to something. Definitely should be investigated.
Also, I wonder if maybe we can invent a new word - “Frummery.” I mean if Sarah Palin and George Bush can, why can’t we?
It would be sort of a transmogrification of “flummery.”
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/flummery
I remember back in the 70’s when Carter was president, his communications director was a guy named Gerald Rafshoon.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerald_Rafshoon
His media spin was called “Rafshoonery.”
Speaking of John Frum, I was on a Cargo Cult tangent recently, and came across a group from the same island (Tanna) who sincerely believe that Prince Philip is the Lord Incarnate. They sent him a war club as a gift, he sent back a portrait of himself holding it. To them, well, that's the Shroud of Turin.
Eventually- the Beeb or somebody got the idea to fly a delegation from this normally-loincloth-clad tribe to England. They did a really fun reverse-cultural-anthropolgy piece called Meet the Natives. Little bit lefty-preachy in parts, but overall good fun.