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Through the 1960s we heard the term “brainwashing” frequently – but it always referred to what “communists” did, particularly the Soviets.

Then came a truth-telling potential presidential candidate, George Romney, who said the following about a prior visit to Vietnam:


Since that time, and once the media had done its job in ending his bid for the presidency before it even began, the word “brainwashed” has gone out of favor. We don’t hear it much at all anymore. I suppose that once Romney let the cat out of the bag and exposed the fact that our own government does it, we just couldn’t use the word anymore.

74, the answer to your obvious but excellent rhetorical question is embedded in history – a masterful job of brainwashing.