From “Crackdown on dissent means honeymoon is over,” in our forum:

If only there had been some mechanism by which we could have found out about this man before he was elected President. If only there had been a person, or a group of people who would have accompanied the candidate as he traveled from place to place and asked real, substantive questions; demanded real answers; ferreted out information and background independently; and then even-handedly reported their findings to the American people as we weighed our options back in the summer and fall of 2008. If there had been, we would be in a much better position today.

Come to think of it, that sort of mechanism would be a good idea generally. We should consider the idea of forming a group of people whose job it would be to inform Americans of what their elected officials are doing. And why limit their job to elected officials? They might find any number of facts the airing of which would help us make better decisions in many aspects of our daily lives.

It’s an idea worth considering.

I’m not sure how the information they gather would be disseminated; it could be printed perhaps, and then mailed or actually delivered to us in our homes. There must be a way to do that using vehicles to carry the printed material. Perhaps it could be broadcast on radio and/or television. These informational updates could even be performed on a regular basis – daily, weekly, or whatever works. I doubt that this would involve much additional expense or effort — any affable-seeming dunce who can read material prepared in advance will be more than adequate.

Who’s with me on this? It’s clearly an unmet need, and there could be money in it. Or if not money, then at least the satisfaction of earning the instant and eternal enmity of the independent, individualistic, affable-seeming dunces already in the mass media, which simply Does. Not. Permit. criticism of their anointed leader.