For more than four years, the American people have been anesthetized by a steady flow of propaganda that has influenced the public to believe "facts" that aren't facts and to ignore ugly realities that would otherwise shame the nation's conscience. Only recently have Americans begun to shake themselves awake, but the Bush administration's residual success in misshaping U.S. opinion was underscored again when a poll found that 85 percent of American troops in Iraq believed they were there to avenge the Sept. 11 terror attacks. |