It all had an effect even on us kids, I think. Many of my Catholic friends stopped going to Mass, and I think that was only partly because of the usual teenage rebellion stuff.
What a difference a generation makes ...
The fact that Mahony is a crackpot is not in dispute. However, the equation of a “traditionalist” view of liturgy with Christian faith still seems to me to be stretched past its limits, given (for example) that 40% of “traditionalist” Catholics voted for Obama, according to an article in the most recent “First Things.”
But neither is that here nor there, since, when the persecution comes, it will sort out everyone who has the appearance of religion without the reality, whether his “appearance” is enthusiastic or rigorously formal.