Some Americans rreally believe this is the end of America.

[bamademo]

Source: None

I wonder if there was loud vocalized opponents back then?

No link yet.

[Bicoastal]

1. I see a wine glass--started drinking early, did you?

:shrug:

[NRaleighLiberal]

2. I would strongly encourage them to leave. I don't want selfish greedy hypocrites screwing things up

[Proletariatprincess]

3. I would love to leave

but I'm not well enough to travel and too old to start over. I urge my children and grandchildren to leave as soon as they can. There is no future for them here.
So I will stay and perform whatever small acts of resistance I am capable of doing within my limitations and encourage others to do likewise.

[Newest Reality]

4. We should just start calling this:

The United States of Hyperbole!

People watch TV. TV has been the altar on which the glowing, video sacrament is delivered to the faithful watchers of the Holy Presentations divined by the Grand Viziers who dwell in the mystical catacombs of the corporate sanctums. The adherents watch the unfolding dogma faithfully and absorb what they see, mimicking the behavior that they observe repetitively. Repetition, (in a myriad of ways) is the key.

Loud mouths scream out hyperbolic rhetoric and make a big deal about inane bullshit daily, etc. The devout suspend belief, possibly too much, as they sink into their alpha states to escape the real world outside the screen. Of course, the irony is that the more the "real" world decays, breaks down and shoves them their share of what's left after the wealthy top-percentile take their share, the more the disciples of TV Land want to escape into the mindless, black hole of mental entropy and Simulated, hyper-reality.

I tend to laugh about how people on both sides of the fence get worked-up about Limbaugh, Beck, and others. Oh, I know it is easy if you take these carnival barkers seriously. To me, they are actors and they play a part in the big show and the results that you see across the spectrum are totally intentional. Those talking heads are working the crowd in a way that gets the rubes riled-up and fighting amongst themselves. That result would not be possible or problematic if the shows were seen as nothing more than works of pure fiction very crudely disguised as serious, relevant commentary.

On one side, these gas-filled clowns are seen as "telling it like it is" and "speaking for them" and on the other side, there is disgust, anger and disdain for the "lies" and "distortions". Everyone forgets that it is all just a show. They get their ratings and attention and the pay is good!

It is always JUST A SHOW ... all of it! Who do you blame when people forget that and are confused about the nature of the beast?