Replies

I think that the National Review's actions point up the crux of the problem. The want, wishes, opinions and will of the real American people, the ordinary, working class, law abiding citizen, the kind that is flocking by the thousands to hear plain spoken Trump; are being dismissed and belittled by the "political intellectuals" who think that their purpose is to tell us what to think. After all, what would common folk know about government and its complexities?

If I may, here's an excerpt from Origins of the American Revolution by John C. Miller which I believe parallels your observations:

"The American Revolution was one of the first great popular movements in which the newspapers played a vital part: 'The PRESS hath never done greater Service since its first Invention,' exclaimed an American patriot, as he surveyed the wonders wrought by propaganda. The newspapers kept the people in alarm for their liberties and made the controversy between mother country and colonies a great popular crusade in which every American could take part. The Tories groaned that by dint of reading newspapers, even 'the peasants and their housewives in every part of the land were able to dispute on politics and positively to determine upon our liberties."

The newspapers kept the people in alarm for their liberties and made the controversy between mother country and colonies a great popular crusade in which every American could take part. The Tories groaned that by dint of reading newspapers, even 'the peasants and their housewives in every part of the land were able to dispute on politics and positively to determine upon our liberties."

Wonderful quote! And when I taught a college course in communications, I loved the unit on how Benjamin Franklin -- a writer, printer, scholar, scientist, postmaster and diplomat -- changed the course of history with his all-fronts communications. He was the 18th century's "king of all media"!