>

It wasn't that extreme but there was definitely propaganda although more for the revolution than against the revolution. Early protests against the British were actually filled with people who were mostly paid to be there.
The thing is prior to the revolution life was actually improving for most colonists. The only group it wasn't improving for were the wealthy land owners and merchants. They didn't like the taxes levied against them and they also didn't like that the crown had begun allowing people to buy directly from British merchants which cut out the colonial middle men. Many of the United States founders were these middle men.
The only issue the common man really had against the British government was that they wouldn't allow them past the proclamation line because of treaties with native tribes.
Personally I'm glad the American revolution happened but it was hella astroturfed at the start.
I'm beginning to think that political people who don't go through the normal vetting process to handle classified information aren't treating it as carefully as people who might lose their job for mishandling it. >

And who get mandatory refresher training twice a year to handle it. And who still continually make mistakes, which is why half the training is telling you what to do when you have spillage. 
Elected officials don't have to apply for clearance either, do they? They just get it automatically? Maybe that's something we should change, too, if my assumption is correct. >

100% assume they don't do the training. Too "busy". Trump forced the gov to give Kushner a clearance when he couldn't pass normal vetting standards. They play by different rules with no consequences. >

At the banks I have worked for, if you dont pass the tests and quizzes, they dont let you have the power to say open checking accounts. Even if their manager really felt they should be allowed to do it.
Sure it would disqualify tons of people from holding office, but basic reading and retention skills should be a job requirement of holding elected or appointed office.
Dont let people too stupid to operate the seashells make big important decisions >

That's what elections are supposed to be. The problem is that a third of the population thinks the other side of the fence are baby eating lizard people and will gladly vote for someone who failed high school rather than someone with a reasonable grasp of the issues but a slightly different opinion on who should be allowed to have sex with whom. >

During the American Revolution, one third supported the crown and one third supported the revolution and one third had no opinion.  
“In the beginning of a change the patriot is a scarce man, and brave, and hated and scorned. When his cause succeeds, the timid join him, for then it costs nothing to be a patriot.”
― Mark Twain >

Supporting the crown and supporting the revolution are clear distinctions rooted in reality. Unless of course the crown supporters were solely swayed by stories of the revolutionaries sucking the blood out of victims in the dead of the night and that mr. washignton's wooden dentures were funded by jews.