Differences of opinion are fine, Ron. That's why I start threads. I really am interested in seeing how other Catters perceive issues. I'll have to think about whether the media is less likely to keep "secrets" these days. I think that on the issues that count, the media is far less open and fair-minded than it was in the 60's. All of this is perception of course, and I may be way off. Maybe it's just that our country seems much more fractured now than it was. Remember how united our country was during the Vietnam War? :-) The more generalizations I try to make the dumber I get.

The media does publish more of the private lives of politicians and public figures now than they did, I think.

That still doesn't give me any insight into whether the folk community has changed noticeably, or it's just the characteristic of the internet that makes conversations so fractious.

Jerry