[andyfox]

OK, you got me there. That's definitely superior to less simple and/or plain views.

I was thinking more of what passes for mainstream political views. The three biggest foreign policy debates in our country in my lifetime have been 1) the Cold War; 2) Vietnam; and 3) Iraq/War on Terror. The common knowledge and the "spin" given to us by our governments (both Democratic and Republican) have been a bunch of poppycock. Which is how it always is given that, as another poster pointed out, Caesar will never criticize Caesar. The bigger the issue, the bigger the incentive for the government to give us bigger whoppers.

I am a firm believer in I.F. Stone's dictum that every government official is a liar and nothing one says should be believed.

We are fighting for democracy in Vietnam. . .The terorists hate us for our freedom. . . The insurgency is in its last throes. . . There's a missile gap . . . All swallowed lock, stock and barrel by the public because the government said it was so. It takes the critics, the ankle biters, to show us otherwise.