>>Every day in the White House the daily polls are pored over to
>>see what that average American is feeling. The economy depends on how they
>>feel. The war depends on how they feel. Sure, their feelings are manipulated
>>by politicians and entertainers just like a big fat dog rolls over when
>>given a treat and tickled on the tummy. Is that an excuse?
>
>Well the problem here is that you're assuming the average American
>is a subject. The average American is not a subject but an object
>that reacts in an object-like way to a changing context and to the
>way that context is represented culturally.
"We can't tell people what to think, but we can tell them what to think about." - public opinion industry maxim