[General Battuta]

Heck, I agree.

[Kosh]

Good points, but we should also consider that those were different times. Back then the world (and our nation) was a much bigger place, we didn't have the mass communications technology we have today.

[NGTM-1R]

That implies mass communication has made such things more, not less difficult...which is an interesting stance to take.

[Kosh]

It's a double edged sword because it also allows nuttery to spread a lot farther and faster than it would have otherwise.

[Blue Lion]

The upside is it allows anyone to spread their message faster and to more people. The downside is it allows anyone to spread their message faster and to more people.

[Kosh]

Well a good example of this has been the internet. You would think that our society would have become less polarized and more informed as a result of having access to a torrent of information......but that hasn't happened, instead it has become more polarized and in some cases even less informed.

[General Battuta]

Well, I'm not sure you'd think that. I would expect an echo chamber effect anywhere like the Internet.

Are we actually more polarized, though? I'm not sure...maybe.

[Rian]

I do think that modern access to information has made politicians more accountable for their behavior. The level of scrutiny public officials face means that they generally have to at least pretend to be civil, or they’ll face immediate losses in public opinion (and unflattering youtube remixes of their gaffes).

Unless, of course, their constituents are even more whacked out than they are, which I suppose is not actually that unusual.

[Inquisitor]

Killing and communication have gotten a lot easier in the last 200 years.

[Aardwolf]

Hey, this isn't news.

FYI, fairly early into Obama's term [I think], right-wing extremist groups were identified as [can't remember the term, but basically would-be terrorists] by the Homeland Security Deparment (yes, that thing Bush pulled out of his ass).

[MR_T3D]

Hey, this isn't news.

FYI, fairly early into Obama's term [I think], right-wing extremist groups were identified as [can't remember the term, but basically would-be terrorists] by the Homeland Security Deparment (yes, that thing Bush Dick Cheney pulled out of his ass).

Bush was just a moron puppet.
there was a lot of cheney working it slightly behind the scenes.

[NGTM-1R]

Cheney wasn't the eminence grise everyone wants to think. Sure, maybe he wanted to be it, but he couldn't, because in trying to play power behind the throne or whatever the hell he was playing at, he cut his contact with the day-to-day staff people who actually give the President his options and thereby shape policy.

[Blue Lion]

Hey, this isn't news.

FYI, fairly early into Obama's term [I think], right-wing extremist groups were identified as [can't remember the term, but basically would-be terrorists] by the Homeland Security Deparment (yes, that thing Bush pulled out of his ass).

At the request of the Bush Administration too! (It just took them that long to compile it)