The American system is in crisis and increasingly it relies on its corporate media to prepare public opinion to meet its political ends. Militarily caught in a quagmire in Iraq and Afghanistan, economically buffeted by wasteful military spending and financial crisis, and facing calamitous global warming, it ignores important social responsibilities like medical care or disaster relief in the aftermath of events like Katrina. To divert attention from its dismal failures, it demonizes foreign countries and leaders and scapegoats segments of the population here at home.