[Romulus]

Quite possibly true, as the System’s organizing principle is to identify, isolate, and purge the Bannons of this world. Across the political spectrum, America hates independent thinkers who won’t be categorized. Perhaps we’re too stupid to process the cognitive dissonance.

[Alberta's Child]

All true, but there's nothing conspiratorial about it. The political world is generally the last place you'll ever find independent thinkers at all. Heck -- a democratic process by definition is designed to work against independent thinkers.

A very astute friend of mine who I greatly respect once pointed this out to me when describing the difference between a politician and a leader:

"A politician is always going to tell you what you want to hear. A leader is someone who will tell you what you don't want to hear."