Re: Mass hysteria, sightings of the Virgin Mary, the Emperor's New Clothes, false positives
"That's when the US government actually started to kill its own people on its own territory, complete with smearing campaigns by the MSM, and it was all considered kosher."
_what_ the US government was killing and smearing its own people about is more interesting.
It came out in Ollie North's trial that CIA aircraft were used to fly hundreds of tons of cocaine into the USA in the early 1980s, as part of the complicated arrangements funding the Iran/Contra deal. That cocaine flooded USA inner cities, crashing the price and creating the crack epidemic. The guy signing off on authorisation for that was one Ronald Reagan - the same guy pushing the war on drugs.(*)
The journalist who discovered and exposed the connections was driven out of his job and eventually committed suicide. By shooting himself. In the back of the head. Twice.
(*) A "war on drugs" or a "war on terror" are very convenient if you're an authoritarian because you can't possibly win them. They're symptoms not causes. But you can use the fact you're not winning to take away freedoms....
Biting the hand that feeds IT
