That GOP debate was a fear mongering jamboree. I watched. I listened as they talked about fear, fear and more fear and how much danger we are in, and how weak and bad our country and government is. To protect us, the candidates proposed vague propositions such as incarceration of US citizens without due process, eavesdropping on people, shutting down the border, shutting down the internet, killing entire families, carpet bombing countries, mass deportations and becoming a walled society where we shut out the rest of the world. For over two hundred years America has fought against countries who adopted the very same policies that these leaders are proposing. This sounds like a case where the cure is much worse than the disease.
After hearing focus groups, and as I see Trump's poll numbers surge, I have misgivings about public opinion going into the "real" election campaign.
As to the school-district hoax, I've actually seen a response from a friend -- who had been a Wilson Fellow -- suggesting little or no possibility that the hoax was anything other than a prank by teenagers, and that the teenagers had no awareness that the debate was scheduled that night.
Recent revised editions of this manual seem to have a wider readership than simply "yours truly:"
http://www.amazon.com/Psychological...0469561&sr=1-1&keywords=Psychological+Warfare
You can't dismiss the possibilities. We just don't know the probabilities. Or all the facts. I want the FBI to get to the bottom of it.
Just for emphasis, I discount the likelihood that the school-district hoax was perpetrated by someone in a campaign. That would REALLY tell you to what extent the candidates are either losers, or dangerous. But that isn't the point.
The point is that anyone could've anticipated the primary topics discussed in the debate. And it is simply a guess as to how the morning's events hyped the candidates' focus.
Meanwhile, the Dems seem to be intent on attenuating their audience, as the current flap over voter databases and a choice for scheduling the Saturday debate are much discussed.
Finally, with my experience as a local Dem activist, I've been stunned at the naïve attitude Dems take of possible, likely or known propaganda campaigns.