With the presidential campaign now officially underway, there is a disturbing shift taking place among many American voters. Some of us are actually going back to the 18th century.

When U.S. Grant ran for president, most Americans knew he was a successful general in the Civil War, but that's all they knew. Grant was a big boozer, a poor manager, and timid when it came to defending Native Americans, who he knew were getting hosed.

Back then, the American media was only in print, and much of that was rank propaganda. Folks voted but had little idea what their ballots would actually lead to.

Today, we have a level of media saturation never before seen on the planet. Yet many American voters are as clueless as their ancestors were.

The reason is apathy. In order to be informed, you have to spend time reading and listening. That's not fun many times. Cruising the cell phone and watching idiotic reality shows is much more appealing.

The power seekers on all sides understand that propaganda rules. The electorate is largely incurious. And they are not, generally speaking, seeking enlightenment.

The Tower of Babel is back.

See you this evening for the No Spin News.