I hear the same jokes about the mainstream American media today as I heard from Russian immigrants talking about Pravda after coming over from the old Soviet Union in the late 1970's.

Many in the old SU knew Pravda was lying to them, accepted it and joked about it. But they too had what we in America today recognize as liberals / progressives / Democrats that accept all the contradictory information and (tip of the hat to Ben Rhodes) become part of the echo chamber that repeat the propaganda.

It's like all the stories on "Climate Change". I've talked to dozens of people about it the past year. Only a few self-centered college students felt they had to opine on it. All the others I asked either shook their head, or (most of them) actually started LOL'ing.

(By the way - in one of Obama's last speeches, he said countries needed to prepare to take in immigrants from countries that are "burning up".  Not one single "journalist" asked him to name one so they could fly cover and cover it.)