As long as there’s a sucker ready and willing to be separated from his money, snake-oil salesmen will thrive.
The real problem nowadays, I think, is not huckersterism, but political correctness. PC maintains that left-wing positions are unquestionable. Those who mouth PC platitudes are virtuous; those who question them, evil. If you say that Al Gore is a hypocrite, because his lifestyle contradicts his message, you want the planet to die! If you think Senator Barack Obama is a lightweight who is unqualified for the presidency, you are a racist! If you question Rigoberta Menchu, you are a hater!
It doesn’t take too many encounters with the PC cops for a person to learn to keep his opinions to himself, if only to keep peace on the family or workplace. My guess is that among the many people who saw or read Mortensen over the last five years, quite a few knowledgeable, sensible people saw through his bullshit. But they either did not speak out, or if they did, they went unheard, because Mortensen was PC.
A culture that declares certain opinions to be unquestionable, and, worse, confers sainthood on all those who mouth those opinions, is setting itself up to be scammed.
