You're right, old dude. In today's society many pundits and politicians (of all partisan stripes) make their careers by getting people all fired up. Actually it's nothing new; the words firebrand, rabble-rouser, demagogue, muckraker, agitator—they're not new words. After WWII we seemed to have learned the evils of scapegoating (blaming single crimes on the influence of groups we don't like) and it became less common… for a while. Now it's back, with a vengeance. Literally.