It's not stupidity, though that is a factor. And it goes far before the times of Jerry Springer. 'Member these hoary sayings:

"There's a sucker born every minute!"

"No one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public."

"Few peoples' confidence in democracy would survive a 30 minute conversation with the average voter."

I could go on, but I won't.

It's not just America, either. There is a confidence in 'The wisdom of crowds'. But then there's the Dutch Tulip Mania. And "irrational exuberance."

I think more appropriate and somewhat hopeful is Lincoln's quote: "You can fool some of the people all of the time and all of the people some of the time, but you can't fool all of the people all of the time."

But let us not forget Trump's interjection "-and that's good enough for me!"