one thing i have found in all my history studies is just how vicious things were then...when people say we need to return to how politics used to be, i laugh. we don't fight duels or cane people anymore. the media is far kinder than it was, and so are the political cartoons.
the only real difference between now and then regarding the media is the speed of info, not the content. for instance, how different would our history be had the battle of new orleans not been fought? the war was already over, a treaty signed-but no one on the continent knew it. the news of jacksons victory over superior numbers in new orleans spread to new york and elsewhere before the treaty. jackson was a war hero, and subsequent winner in the presidential election. everyone thought england signed a treaty because of the battle. once the truth was known, it didn't matter....
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